Ease Your Financial Payne

Stop Forcing Yourself to Like Things Just Because Other People Like Them..

Recently, I have realized many things I thought I liked as a teenager & college student that I actually dislike/hate.

It’s wild how society will have you thinking you want something when you actually don’t.

So here is a list of things that most people love that I dislike or hate:

(Disclaimer: It’s okay to change your mind. You grow over time, what you want changes, and your values/morals may change. Permission to change your mind. In fact, it’s probably a good thing.)

Travelling (I love some destinations though)
The Ocean/Beach
Shopping
House Projects
Cooking
Elaborate skin/body/hair care routines
Hanging out with people frequently
Giving & receiving gifts
Working out in the gym
Coffee
Decluttering
Eating/Food (For me, I eat to survive, it’s not that pleasurable to me..)
Having a lot of décor/clutter
Drinking alcohol
Going out/parties
Having lots of clothes/shoes, especially dressy ones.
Staying up late
Eating meat, I’ve never really enjoyed it..
The idea of having a big house/mansion
Professional massages/getting my nails done/things like that
Having an expensive car & 1 vehicle per adult in the household
Living somewhere with only warm weather.

What I ACTUALLY love:

Being home
Being alone
Reading
Writing
Cleaning
Organizing
Having less items
Tea
Watching Netflix/YouTube/Twitch
Personal Finance -Particularly helping others
Planning!
Anything comfy & warm
Playing Board or Card games!
The Sun
Environmental Sustainability -Helping others live more sustainably
Yoga
Going for walks (If its not super cold or super hot)
Going to a waterpark
Animals, particularly cats.
The Morning/Day Time
Having a minimal wardrobe and dressing casual
Mindful/Present time with my friends or family
Not eating meat
I want a small home, less to take care of/manage/pay for.
A vehicle that can get me from point A to point B, preferably a hybrid or an EV and sharing one vehicle with my spouse.
Being in the forest
Concerts!
Living somewhere that has all 4 seasons

Essentially, I want to change the world, but from the comfort of my own home. 🙂 (INFJ Life) I am a house cat trapped in a human’s body, it’s challenging.

Have you fallen into this same trap?? Or am I alone in this? lol

I’m sure I’ve left something(s) out, but this is everything I could think of.

Feel free to reflect or comment below! I would love to hear about you evolving as a person.

Also, no hate to people that love what I don’t like! We all love what we love and that’s great!

-Meghan 🙂

My Links:

ThriftBooks -I LOVE them as a company & order all of my books from them now! They ship super fast, great service, books always show up as described, super cheap, & good for the planet because they’re second-hand, but you get to choose the quality!
Mint -Great site/app to manage all of your finances in one spot!
BetterHelp -A week of Therapy for FREE!
Betterment -Invest your first $5,000 for FREE!
Back Market -My referral code: 6888f588d6f85083 -$10 off your order! Refurbished Tech! My sister & I both got “new” phones from there. They’re awesome, great quality, so much cheaper than buying new (by up to 70%), came super fast, was super easy to buy, AND we saved 123 pounds of carbon emissions, each!

How to Declutter SUSTAINABLY:

I follow many people (on social media & YouTube, not real life, that would be creepy.) who create Minimalism content, which I love. There is one problem though that sticks out to me and is never fully addressed: What they do with the stuff they declutter. Most of them say they donate it, but is that a sustainable option?

Let’s look up the facts:

Donated Clothing: “While you may donate your old clothing to charity, the truth is, even then, a whopping 84 percent of our clothing ends up in landfills and incinerators, according to the EPA.”
“Goodwill does recycle lots of what it can’t sell. The nonprofit reuses textiles and refurbishes some broken electronics. But last year, it threw away more than 13 million pounds of waste — technically other people’s garbage — across its locations in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.” 13 million pounds for just 3 small states… I can’t imagine what the waste is like from states like California or Texas.

Clearly, donating isn’t as sustainable as we think it is.. It seems like the source of the problem is over a billion people buying stuff they don’t need or won’t want long-term, particularly in North America & Europe.

The next problem seems to be people donating stuff that should really just be thrown away. Examples: Anything that’s broken, clothes with holes or stains, etc. I went on to a subreddit and someone who worked at a Thrift Store also said if you don’t wash things before donating them, they will be thrown away. The item is going to end up in the landfill either way, so don’t waste gas & your time driving to the thrift store, and the worker’s time.

The best place to start is to stop buying things you won’t want to keep until they totally wear out/break. You can also refuse free gifts, like a goody bag at a work conference.

When first decluttering, just throw out (or recycle/compost) obvious trash first like expired food, items that are broken beyond repair, or paper clutter.

Then you can reuse, repair, repurpose, & refurbish.

And finally, Recycle the items properly instead of donating them. No one is going to want the TV that’s been in your basement since 2000.

Now, what if you have items that you just want out of your house, but don’t want them going to the landfill?

The first & best option is to sell it! Even if you have to give it away for free on Facebook. This way you know exactly where the item is going. Also, if someone is willing to come meet you somewhere to get the item at least, it shows they really want it. Keep in mind that the majority of your donations are probably going to be thrown away.
Have a good, old fashioned garage sale. 🙂 -Most towns have an annual one, or you can just do one.
See if any family members or friends want the item(s)!
Host a clothing swap with your friends/family.
Then if no one wants to buy your item, or take it for free, then I say donate it. Give it some time before you jump right into the donating, maybe 30 days, but also don’t let it stay in your house forever, hoping someone will buy it. Put a time limit on how long you will keep it.
Think outside of the box for donating. Most people just default to Goodwill because it’s the only one they know of in their town, but even in my small town we have multiple thrift shops, I think the younger generations just don’t know about them. So do some googling for in your area! You may be surprised. The different thrift stores in our town even specialize in selling different items! This will give your item more of a chance to be properly used.
Think about WHEN you’re donating certain items. I would not recommend donating all of your unused Christmas décor AFTER Christmas. The Thrift Shops won’t be able to put it out for another year and will most likely not want to take up a lot of their storage space with it. The best time to donate seasonal items (again, after you’ve exhausted your other options first) is right at the start of that season. For example, now would be a great time to donate Christmas décor! (Mid-Late November when I’m writing this)

That’s everything I can think of on how to declutter as sustainably as you can! Of course, no method is perfect, but it’s about all of us doing better. I hope this helps!

-Meghan 🙂

My Links:

ThriftBooks -I LOVE them as a company & order all of my books from them now! They ship super fast, great service, books always show up as described, super cheap, & good for the planet because they’re second-hand, but you get to choose the quality!
Mint -Great site/app to manage all of your finances in one spot!
BetterHelp -A week of Therapy for FREE!
Betterment -Invest your first $5,000 for FREE!
Back Market -My referral code: 6888f588d6f85083 -$10 off your order! Refurbished Tech! My sister & I both got “new” phones from there. They’re awesome, great quality, so much cheaper than buying new (by up to 70%), came super fast, was super easy to buy, AND we saved 123 pounds of carbon emissions, each!

November 2021 Financial Update:

For us, November was a chill month. I mostly just cleaned & worked on my blog and Instagram. Then we had Thanksgiving with our families, that’s about it. I did decide to start up my easeyourfinancialpayne TikTok account again.

Our investments went down a bit because the market is down, which is fine. We’re focusing on the long term. Don’t get too caught up in the daily highs & lows. It always comes back and goes up over time.

Our Partial Financial Independence Goals:

$0 Debt.
Brandon works part time at his job.
I am self-employed through the Ease Your Financial Payne blog & Instagram. I can choose how much or how little I want to work & when.
We need $2,000+/month in income, whether that comes from investments, Brandon’s part time job, or my blog, it doesn’t matter.

Our Current Numbers as of December 1st, 2021:

Roth IRAs (Betterment -SRI Sustainable): $47,961
My small Traditional IRA (From an old 401(k) rollover -Betterment): $1,816
Tesla: $1,123.98
AYRO (Free Crypto from signing up with Robinhood): $2.33
Money in Robinhood waiting to be invested: $1,570 -I will probably buy Bitcoin when it majorly drops again.
Total Invested/to be invested: $52,473.31
Savings: $18,000.08 -transferred money to be invested.
Debt: -$122,319.52 (Mortgage)
Just Brandon is working full time.

(I decided to add more detail, just in case people are curious.)

As always, thanks for reading!

-Meghan

My Links:

ThriftBooks -I LOVE them as a company & order all of my books from them now! They ship super fast, great service, books always show up as described, super cheap, & good for the planet because they’re second-hand, but you get to choose the quality!
BetterHelp -A week of Therapy for FREE!
Betterment -Invest your first $5,000 for FREE!
Back Market -My referral code: 6888f588d6f85083 -$10 off your order! Refurbished Tech! My sister & I both got “new” phones from there. They’re awesome, great quality, so much cheaper than buying new (by up to 70%), came super fast, was super easy to buy, AND we saved 123 pounds of carbon emissions, each!

How to Deal With People Giving You Gifts as a Minimalist..

Wanted to repost this because of the Holiday season.
I hope you find it helpful!

Ease Your Financial Payne

Are you someone who is trying to attain or maintain a minimalist lifestyle, but has friends or family that love giving gifts? This post is for you! My husband and I also struggle with this, but we’ve found some ways to hopefully lessen the influx of stuff that comes into our house.

Some back story…

My husband & I are trying our hardest to become eco-minimalists. Consuming & purchasing as little as we can for environmental, financial, & ethical reasons. We also believe less is more & crave a clutter-free, minimal home.

For both of us, our least favorite love language is gift giving. We both no longer buy each other gifts for holidays or birthdays. We already have everything we could possibly need & don’t want something if we don’t need it. Here’s the problem.. both of our mom’s top love language is gift giving.. this is a struggle…

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Books That Will Change Your Life!!!

Hello and welcome to a post I am very excited for! All of the books that have changed my life & may change yours too! These books majorly influenced my mind and outlook on life.

*Links are affiliate! Which is awesome because now I can make a bit of money by promoting a company I believe in and can help others learn & buy cheap secondhand books!

Retire Young Retire Rich -The first personal finance book I ever read, and the first time I learned you can retire early. This book really started everything back in 2017, not long after I graduated high school, and completely changed my mindset about money.
Quit Like a Millionaire -Made me realize I can retire VERY young and how to do it!
The Power of Now -A classic. Teaches you that you are not your thoughts, feelings, or mind and that all we ever have is NOW. This helped me get out of my head a bit and have more peace in my life.
Lightly -A guide to live your life in a light, stress free way. It mainly talks about minimalism, sustainability and how to let go.
Women with Money -The first 3 chapters lead me to some major epiphanies about my relationship with money, based upon what I witnessed growing up, and how that impacts my relationships with people, particularly my spouse. The first section is like financial therapy, much needed for everyone (even if you’re not a woman).
7 Habits of Highly Effective People -This book taught me to base my life around principles, and so much more.
How To Break Up With Your Phone -Provides great assistance in attempting to break your technology addiction, especially to your smart phone. Today, I think everyone needs to read this and work through it. I now need to use Instagram for my job, but I will definitely come back to this book some day! Even so, it did give helpful tips to get me to be on my phone less.
The Light Between Us -I’ve always believed in life after death, but this book proves it. It’s comforting to know other people have experienced what I have too.
Me and White Supremacy -A guide to combat racism, change the world, and become a good ancestor. This book is for everyone, even people who are mixed race, but particularly non-black people and especially white people. It’s very challenging, but necessary. It makes you come face to face with how you’ve upheld racism, even if subconsciously. It has helped me become a better person, a better friend and a better ally.
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k -A book that slaps your ego across the face, which is needed. This book helps you get out of your head and stop caring what others think of you.
You Are a Badass -Another classic. Teaches you that you are in control of your life, to stop doubting yourself and live the life of your dreams.
How to Avoid A Climate Disaster -The solutions we have and the breakthroughs we need. The culmination of decades of scientific research in numerous areas comprises this book. No matter what you think of Bill Gates, it’s a great book full of scientific facts. It is what the title describes: A guide on how the human race can avoid a climate disaster and how much time we have.
Harry Potter -To end on a light and fun note. I decided to throw in Harry Potter, because I seriously don’t know what my life would be like without it, which I know sounds crazy.

In the future, I will add more to this post and re-share it!

I believe you are always one book away from changing your life.

-Meghan 🙂

My Links:

ThriftBooks -I LOVE them as a company & order all of my books from them now! They ship super fast, great service, books always show up as described, super cheap, & good for the planet because they’re second-hand, but you get to choose the quality!
Mint -Great site/app to manage all of your finances in one spot!
BetterHelp -A week of Therapy for FREE!
Betterment -Invest your first $5,000 for FREE!
Back Market -My referral code: 6888f588d6f85083 -$10 off your order! Refurbished Tech! My sister & I both got “new” phones from there. They’re awesome, great quality, so much cheaper than buying new (by up to 70%), came super fast, was super easy to buy, AND we saved 123 pounds of carbon emissions, each!

How Living Sustainably Saves You Money:

There is a misconception that living a more sustainable lifestyle automatically means it’s more expensive. In many ways, it’s actually cheaper than living an unsustainable lifestyle. I’m going to provide different examples of how living sustainably will save you money, most of these are self-explanatory.

You can have a smaller trash can, which minimizes your garbage bill.
You buy less/spend less, especially in the long run. When you care about the planet, you try to consume/buy as little as you can.
Lower energy & water bills because you’re much more mindful to use less electricity & water.
Eating healthy/plant based/less red meat can save your health & therefore future medical bill costs. Also, health is wealth.
Less vehicles or using vehicles less= lower cost. (gas, maintenance, insurance, etc.) Or using public transportation!
Any reusable products. Examples: Reusable water bottles, reusable cotton rounds, reusable storage bags, etc. You most likely won’t have to buy that product again!
Buying second-hand is almost always way cheaper.
Now that I use period underwear, I don’t have to buy pads/tampons anymore!
Sustainability is all about using what you already have first. Then reusing items, reducing your consumption, buying second-hand, repairing what you have and borrowing or renting things you may only use a handful of times.

I didn’t realize how a lot of these practices save you a lot of money until I started doing them myself. When I started my sustainability journey, I didn’t even think about some of these aspects.

I’m not going to get into the large scale costs of climate change for governments (or the whole planet). Examples: The costs of cities being destroyed by hurricanes more regularly, droughts, wildfires, etc.

It’s nearly impossible to evaluate the true price of every living being on Earth & the Earth’s resources as a whole. In my opinion, there is no limit to the value.

What is the true cost of ignoring climate change? The death of every living being, or at least the human race, except the few billionaires that escape to Mars of course. 😉

So if living sustainably saves you money NOW and decreases the likelihood of the extinction of the human race, even if your action(s) only buys us one more second of time, I think it’s worth it. Don’t get me wrong, we need larger scale action, but as I have said before, most big businesses’ top priority is making more money, so if we stop giving them our money, they’ll start to care & make changes.

I do genuinely believe with a lot of people making small changes, we can seriously help stop climate change. We can see that governments most likely aren’t going to stop it in time, but we can still keep trying to get them to!

Please feel free to add anything I may have missed in the comments!

Thank you for reading!

-Meghan

My Links:

ThriftBooks -I LOVE them as a company & order all of my books from them now! They ship super fast, great service, books always show up as described, super cheap, & good for the planet because they’re second-hand, but you get to choose the quality!
BetterHelp -A week of Therapy for FREE!
Betterment -Invest your first $5,000 for FREE!
Back Market -My referral code: 6888f588d6f85083 -$10 off your order! Refurbished Tech! My sister & I both got “new” phones from there. They’re awesome, great quality, so much cheaper than buying new (by up to 70%), came super fast, was super easy to buy, AND we saved 123 pounds of carbon emissions, each!

How to Find Your Life’s Purpose:

The Meaning Of Life Is To Give Life Meaning: Daily Success, Motivation and Everyday Inspiration For Your Best Year Ever, 365 days to more Happiness ... Year Long Journal / Daily Notebook / — ― **Viktor** E. Frankl.

Finding your reason for being here on Earth is not a simple task, well, for some it is. Some people don’t even care to think about why they’re here and what for. This blog post is for the people who do care and want to figure out why.

Why you’re here, is mostly up to you.

Some ways to help you find your life’s purpose:

Quote from Carl Jung: “Where your fear is there is your task.” -For example, I fear climate change. I also fear working my life away, & don’t want others to work their lives away at jobs they hate. I fear doing meaningless or pointless work, I need to feel like I’m making a difference. So, I am doing everything in my power to help solve those problems and support others who share the same fear(s). You can even think about what you dislike/hate and how you can help provide a solution!
Your purpose is somewhere in the intersection of what you love, what you’re good at, and what the world needs. Create a Venn diagram or list for each category and circle the topics that that are in each category. You may need to look at two unrelated subjects & see how you can connect them. My example: I love creating financial plans, I’m good at it, and people need help getting their financial lives planned & organized.
Remember, your purpose can absolutely change & evolve over time. You can try something out & find out you don’t love it as much as you thought. Everything in life is temporary.
Ask yourself “Why?” frequently. Why do you do what you do? Why do you want to achieve that certain goal? Then when you give your first answer, ask “why?” again, and again, and again, until you find the real motivation behind what you’re doing. Example: Why do I want to retire early? Because I want to spend more time with my kid. Why do I want to spend more time with my kid? Because I prioritize the loving relationships in my life. Why? Because I’ve learned a job can’t hug you and I’ve seen other people miss out on their kid’s childhood because they prioritize their work instead. -See how it’s hard to ask “Why?” again now? We’ve learned the true reason/fear that provides motivation to achieve this goal. There are usually multiple “whys” to any given scenario too!
Create the most detailed vision of your dream life you possibly can, include the 5 senses & emotions. Once you have it all written up, break it down into categories and create actionable steps & timelines for each goal. While keeping in mind your “why”/life purpose. This method will propel you so much faster into your dream life. WITH THIS BEING SAID… things will turn out different than you expect, usually better. Plan & go for your dreams, but do not expect anything from them. I am always SO thankful every time something did not work out how I wanted. Something better always happened instead later on.
Talk with others & help others, you can go so much further & longer with other people, even if you can go faster by yourself.

Life is all about not taking short cuts, making meaningful & purposeful choices, being mindful, helping other living beings, focusing on the long-term, and not getting caught up on tiny details.

I hope this post helps people out!

As always thank you for reading & if you have anything to add, feel free to comment below!

-Meghan 🙂

My Links:

ThriftBooks -I LOVE them as a company & order all of my books from them now! They ship super fast, great service, books always show up as described, super cheap, & good for the planet because they’re second-hand, but you get to choose the quality!
BetterHelp -A week of Therapy for FREE!
Betterment -Invest your first $5,000 for FREE!
Back Market -My referral code: 6888f588d6f85083 -$10 off your order! Refurbished Tech! My sister & I both got “new” phones from there. They’re awesome, great quality, so much cheaper than buying new (by up to 70%), came super fast, was super easy to buy, AND we saved 123 pounds of carbon emissions, each!

Sustainable Holiday & Gift Guide:

Hello, this year I wanted to do something fun & helpful, by creating a sustainable gift guide! I’m really excited for this post & looking forward to what I come up with. If you have anything to add, please feel free to comment down below! 🙂

In addition to gifts, I will also be adding in some other ways you can make the holiday season more sustainable!

I’m going to start off with some facts about gifts:

$15.2 billion is spent every year on unwanted Christmas gifts.. of this number, 31% keep the gift out of guilt, letting it clutter their home, 31% give it to someone else, 20% exchange the gift, & 4% throw it away, with some sources saying up to 10% get thrown. (I’m not listing all of the different options.) That means at least 608 million dollars are thrown away annually & all of those items end up in landfill.
61% of Americans surveyed admit to getting at least one unwanted gift over the holidays, totaling roughly 154 million American adults.

So here is how we all can do our best to avoid this situation:

General Ideas to Make Your Gifts More Sustainable:

Shop local & small. Obviously, the shorter distance an item had to travel to get to you, the better it is for the planet. During Covid especially, small businesses need our support. I know in my town, there are a lot of cute boutiques/shops downtown.
Avoid gag gifts & joke wrapping. Sure they’re funny for a couple minutes when the person first gets the item, but then what about after that? If it’s a gag gift or a joke, they probably won’t use it after those few moments of laughter. Meaning it will most likely end up in being thrown away. As for joke wrapping, using one box after another & wrapping or taping things obnoxiously, it can be funny for a few minutes, but in the end, it ends up being super wasteful.
Do not give pets as gifts… they are a huge responsibility. Unless the person has asked multiple times for the animal & has shown how they are capable of taking care of it, then don’t do it. Don’t assume someone wants a dog because they mentioned it one or two times in front of you, there is a reason why they haven’t gotten one yet. You need to keep in mind the additional financial burden you are putting on the gift receiver. The cost of food, toys, vet bills, not to mention cleaning up after them, etc.
You don’t need to buy an entire gift set. Often in a set of things, you end up not using one or two of the items. So rather than buying a person a whole entire bath set, just buy them a single bar soap & bath bomb.
Second-hand gifts. This can be something you already have that you know they’ll love or buying it second hand online, at a thrift store, at an estate sale, etc.
Finally, make sure it is something person will actually use (& can use year round), not just something you think they will use, you need to be certain. I know people are worried about “ruining the surprise” but I’m sure the gift receiver would rather receive something they love because you made sure of it than something they don’t like and now have to deal with the guilt/hassle of keeping it or getting rid of it.

Sustainable Gift Ideas:

Soy candles in a glass jar (Be mindful of the scents the gift receiver likes or if they have kids or pets). Often, you can find someone who makes & sells these locally.
Gift certificates or gift cards to their fav place(s)! -Or for them to get a massage or their nails done or something, if they like things like that.
Ethical chocolate/sweets –Beyond Good Chocolate, Alter Eco Chocolate, & Smart Sweets.
Lush bath & body products -They have wonderful festive products!
A Plant if they love plants.
Useful things for their pet, like treats or toys you know they’ll love.
Books from ThriftBooks -If the person likes reading.
If you are planning to gift your child or spouse a more expensive tech item, like a phone or laptop, I highly recommend using Back Market! -They sell great refurbished tech items.
Anything they’ll use over & over and have asked for, like maybe they really want a clothes drying rack or an air fryer.

Ways to Have a Sustainable Holiday Season Overall:

Reuse Holiday cards people mail you as gift tags. You can cut out a tree on the front of it or the word joy, or whatever is on the front of it, punch a hole in it & tie a string through! BAM a new gift tag you can write your to/from on!
Plant based meals, this works for any time of year, but you can try to focus your food not on meat/animal products.
Use paper & string for wrapping. You can try to reuse your paper bags by turning them inside out, or reuse boxes you’ve saved, or reuse gift bags from previous years, or buy paper gift wrap instead, or skip the gift wrap & just tie a bow on it; the options are endless.
You don’t need any more décor, if you really do, there is a ton at the thrift store & in your mom’s basement.

Remember the classic phrase: 1. REDUCE 2. REUSE 3. RECYCLE. Try to focus on the first two the most.

Overall, if you’re not sure, just ask the person! They will appreciate it more than getting a gift they don’t like! 🙂

I hope you all have a great holiday season!

-Meghan

Here is another post I made that will be helpful during the gift giving season as well: How to Deal With People Giving You Gifts as a Minimalist.

My Links:

ThriftBooks -I LOVE them as a company & order all of my books from them now! They ship super fast, great service, books always show up as described, super cheap, & good for the planet because they’re second-hand, but you get to choose the quality!
BetterHelp -A week of Therapy for FREE!
Betterment -Invest your first $5,000 for FREE!
Back Market -My referral code: 6888f588d6f85083 -$10 off your order! Refurbished Tech! My sister & I both got “new” phones from there. They’re awesome, great quality, so much cheaper than buying new (by up to 70%), came super fast, was super easy to buy, AND we saved 123 pounds of carbon emissions, each!

October 2021 Financial Update:

October 1st feels like it was three months ago, not one month. The beginning of October, for lack of a better phrase, was a cluster f**k. After freaking out a bit & doing some research, I calmed down again.

Since losing my job, I have been working on the easeyourfinancialpayne Instagram usually daily, as well as posting at least weekly on here. I would love to get it up to posting 2-3 times a week on here, but ideas for blog posts don’t come to me quite that fast. If you don’t follow me yet on Instagram, I suggest you do since I am active on there daily! I also got my first official affiliate link!!! I’m screaming because I’m so excited and have been trying so hard to work with this company! –ThriftBooks!! I love them & get all of my books from them! Now if you use my link I get a tiny commission off of your order! No added cost to you, you’re just helping me out! I’m going to go tell all of my friends and family now, lol.

We’ve also been working on house projects, nothing expensive just painting & tearing up old carpet. Other than that, I’ve been cleaning up after our new cat daily. He either pees somewhere or destroys something, every. single. day. Not to mention that the cats fight almost everyday too, but then they’ll be fine & cuddle each other later, so I’m not sure what’s up with that.

More info on our newer cat:

We have taken him to the vet & done everything we can to try & change his behavior & absolutely nothing is working. The vet said we were doing everything right (correct number of litter boxes, tearing up carpet, giving him other things to chew on, etc.) and that this is a behavioral issue (she tested his urine & did an ultrasound). Our new cat suffers from OCD & anxiety. I bought some different cat sprays too, some are for cleaning up the urine, one is to calm him, another is to deter biting/scratching & peeing on surfaces. We have 1-2 other things we can try that the vet recommended: Feliway outlet plug-ins (diffusers to help calm cats) & Purina calming care feline probiotic (this is better than just putting him on meds right away). If after all of this, he still continues to pee or wreck things daily, we will have to get rid of him. It’s really messing with my mental health, having to watch him as much as possible, having belongings I care about chewed up, cleaning up pee off my floor daily, the cats fighting & hurting each other, etc. It’s just not worth it. We’ve been trying to work with him for months. Like I said though, we will try the outlet diffusers & then the probiotic if that doesn’t work. Then we may try medication. I really hope one of these last options helps! We do not want to get rid of him.. we do like him when he doesn’t chew on our things or pee on our floor. I hate it when people just get rid of their pets, they’re living beings with feelings too. So even if these don’t work, we may just keep him anyway, we don’t want him being bounced around from house to house for his whole life.. Also I don’t know any sane person that would take him at this point, I know I wouldn’t have taken him off of our friend’s hands if I knew he was going to behave this way.

Anyway, on to the financial update..

Now that I’ve lost my job, our numbers will not be improving as much as they were, which we’re fine with. I don’t have to be employed anymore if I don’t want to, so I’m not complaining! I am working on monetizing this blog & my Instagram though!

Our Partial Financial Independence Goals:

$0 Debt.
Brandon works part time at his job.
I am self-employed through the Ease Your Financial Payne blog & Instagram. I can choose how much or how little I want to work & when.
We need $2,000/month in income, whether that comes from investments, Brandon’s part time job, or my blog, it doesn’t matter.

Once we pay off our mortgage we will be golden! Our expenses would only be $1,200/month, but I want to leave room in the budget for having a kid & emergencies, so that’s why I have a goal of $2,000/month or more in income.

Our Current Numbers as of November 1st, 2021:

Investments: $50,232
Savings: $20,608.33
Debt: -$122,984.77 (Mortgage)
Just Brandon is working full time.

As always, thanks for reading!

-Meghan

My Links:

ThriftBooks -I LOVE them as a company & order all of my books from them now! They ship super fast, great service, books always show up as described, super cheap, & good for the planet because they’re second-hand, but you get to choose the quality!
BetterHelp -A week of Therapy for FREE!
Betterment -Invest your first $5,000 for FREE!
Back Market -My referral code: 6888f588d6f85083 -$10 off your order! Refurbished Tech! My sister & I both got “new” phones from there. They’re awesome, great quality, so much cheaper than buying new (by up to 70%), came super fast, was super easy to buy, AND we saved 123 pounds of carbon emissions, each!

Your Productivity ≠ Your Worth:

I had a conversation the other day that led to some very interesting realizations: I equate my value as a person to how much I accomplish in a day. I also only consider days a “good day” when I get a lot completed. When I don’t get a lot done, I feel guilty and shameful. If you do this too, or know someone who does, this post is for you.

Our society, particularly in the United States, operates by this standard. We always think more is better and our job performance, reviews, & raises depend on our productivity. I also realized some personal reasons why I feel this way: because of how I was raised and the family dynamic I witnessed as a child. These are the main factors that influence my behavior.

Now that I am unemployed, the fear of not doing enough to be a “valid” person who is worthy of love and attention, has been amplified. I find myself listing off everything I have done that day to my husband when he gets home, seeking compliments & validation.. fascinating.

Generally, we as humans, love to see tangible results of our efforts, but the most important things in life are not tangible: energy, love, knowledge, etc. Valuing tangible results isn’t all bad, and a lot of it is necessary work, like the dishes, laundry, house repairs, etc.

But.. we need to make sure we are doing a task or two a day that aligns with our purpose, something we can not see immediate results from. Examples: Spending time with your child to strengthen your bond, reading a self-help book, listening to a finance podcast, meditation, etc. and doing these things purposefully & following through on the advice they give. This is what makes us feel truly fulfilled in our lives.

People who value tangible results too much, often overspend on items to have a way to prove to others what they’ve accomplished/how productive they’ve been/what they can afford. They feel like they need the validation from others; the compliments and the attention. At the end of the day though, those things are hollow, leaving people feeling unfulfilled, looking for the next rush, often a bigger purchase than their last, or a trip, or a drastic life change like moving.

This goes back to principles, choose what you do with your day based off of those and you can’t go wrong. Recognize that just because you cannot see love, spiritual growth, or mental growth, doesn’t mean it is any less valuable. In fact, they are the most valuable things in this world. You can’t buy love, intelligence, or non-physical growth.

So I challenge you to find your “why” and write out your principles. Also to do at least one task a day that supports your purpose that you can’t see tangible results from. I will be doing the same, as well as try not to report what I accomplished that day to anyone, to try and break the habit of needing external validation for my work.

I think I’m going to write another blog post to help people find their why/life purpose.

Links to more of my posts that will help you with this:

My Links:

ThriftBooks -I LOVE them as a company & order all of my books from them now! They ship super fast, great service, books always show up as described, super cheap, & good for the planet because they’re second-hand, but you get to choose the quality!
BetterHelp -A week of Therapy for FREE!
Betterment -Invest your first $5,000 for FREE!
Back Market -My referral code: 6888f588d6f85083 -$10 off your order! Refurbished Tech! My sister & I both got “new” phones from there. They’re awesome, great quality, so much cheaper than buying new (by up to 70%), came super fast, was super easy to buy, AND we saved 123 pounds of carbon emissions, each!

As always, thanks for reading! Please share with anyone who may need it.

-Meghan 🙂