December Daily 2019 MEGAAA thread

Join us, join us, join us! Welcome, please take a seat and make yourself at home. This thread is full of DD old-timers so if you need any help, give us a shout. 

Huzzah! So happy they are helping some of us. ALL the feels, here. 

Piano piano. You're doing great focusing on "will I really use this?" but I totally understand the pain of having to drag stuff downstairs. It's the extra hassle you just don't want to deal with it... (been there, done that)

There sure are, mon amie. Are you in for a browsing treat... (I know you love it, XOXO, Gossip Booty  )

CONGRATULATIOOOONS! That must ful *so* great. Weight off the shoulders, mental load gone, cue Elsa singing Let It Go.    Seriously though, well done. I hope you managed to catch up on some of the sleep you lost in the process... 

It adds up quickly, doesn't it? I've been forcing myself to track expenses more diligently in the past year and yeah, it ain't pretty. If you have a bit of a stash, it's absolutely worth setting yourself the challenge to shop from it. You've paid for this in-house store supplies anyway, might as well just use it...

Well done! Photoshop can be intimidating but once you start having some fun with it, it's far less scary. 

Great Home Economics/Mathematics exercise as well for your kiddo: make a wish list of stuff and experiences you want to enjoy in the next few years and then calculate how many hours of work it will cost your parents, yourself with a job at XYZ, yourself with a better job after having acquired some sort of higher education (be it strictly academic or different). I grew up raised by a struggling single parent and was aware of how little there was in her accounts (she'd check her balance at the dinner table where I did my homework and was very open about it), how much she made per hour and was told to calculate how many hours she'd need to work to buy something (anything: something to fix the home, food, a pair of shoes, clothes at the consignment store, etc.) and I barely ever asked for anything expensive growing up with that amount of knowledge. It actually harms children not being aware of the reality of how much things costs for the sake of "protecting their childhood." You need to learn these tools early on. 

Shoutout to all the December documenters in here who have been/are single parents! You're doing a tough job but know that I appreciate everything you do/did. I'm super grateful for my single parent. 

Yes. This is what I've been doing more and more over the past few years. Then, this summer, my boyriend pointed out that it wasn't just "money of the present" that you pay with when you make bonus purchases, but also "money of the future." And that hit me hard: if I invest this extra money, even just 1 or 2h worth of wages, now that I'm still in my early thirties, it will be quite a bit more down the line when I retire and could mean leaving work earlier than expected (especially as a millennial since we'll be working far later into life to support the growing aging population). When I went to Sephora earlier this month (putting it off as long as possible), no bonus goodies fell into my basket, trust me. I had a plan and stuck to it.   It's great to shift your thinking in such ways. I'd rather work less than own more. 

Well done! I still haven't spent anything but I do think I'll eventually cave and get this year's Simple Stories holiday binder. It is kind of daunting when you realise how much of your life you're spending doing stuff to buy stuff, isn't it? I'm not trying to discourage anyone from making fun, crafty purchases but 99% of the community is enabling spending so I do feel like it's only fair to encourage the low and non-spenders. And stash-shopping has its benefits: finding stuff you once loved but have stopped thinking about, being more creative working with limited supplies, having a more original and unique December album, etc. Anyhoo, kudos to you. 


A winter wonderland forest of your own! 

No problem! I totally get it: it's becoming harder and harder to spot ALL the product that goes into an album these days... I look forward to seeing someone complete the 1 kit challenge someday. 

Let's just say she was trying to save money and make-do with what was in storage?... 

I do love watercolours and painting but this garland came all printed with even some gold foil finish. It was a total lucky (and super cheap at only 2.50€) find! 

Isn't it the cutest? I wasn't going to buy anything but having lived in an old town full of old gable rooftop houses for a few years as a child, I just couldn't walk away from the store without it. ALL the nostalgic feels!