What I spend in a week

[Music] money is often a sensitive topic as everyone has different financial backgrounds and perspectives on how to use it wisely I'm no financial expert but have been asked to share my perspective on finances and budgeting in light of minimalistic and sustainable living as I recently ran across a few videos of other people sharing what they spend in a week I thought it would be interesting to bring you along an average week in the life to show our expenses in light of our lifestyle note that this video doesn't cover other month-long expenses such as rent and utilities which is also part of our monthly budget we started off this weekend in December with a trip to visit my sister brother-in-law and nephew most weekends we try to hit up a farmers market to get in season produce and support local farmers and usually average around twenty to thirty dollars a week in produce this week we spent 25 85 on variety of winter squash greens and more for upcoming meals Peter and I had lunch at one of our favorite spots in Oakland bake sale Betty they always have a line out the door and I always love getting their fried tofu sandwich it's a treat that isn't too heavy on the stomach but definitely keeps you full both sandwiches cost us 23 dollars total which isn't the cheapest meal but we only treat ourselves every so often the rest of our Saturday was spent hanging out with family and I baked chocolate chip cookies for them for the rest of the afternoon using whatever I had in my pantry this is one of my favorite ways to show appreciation to others and my sister is one of my biggest cookie fan I tried a new cookie recipe that tried to replicate the levain bakery chocolate chip walnut cookie and they were so big but the perfect size to share the following Sunday was a busy one as Peter and I are out all morning doing worship ministry for our church as it's not always easy to cook lunch we decide to go for some Chipotle we spent $19 total getting three burritos two for us and one for a friend who came over Chipotle is an easy option for us when we're busy and waste wise we can usually recycle the aluminum foil and recycle or compost the paper bags if we do get one once we rested a bit that afternoon we put all of our farmers market items to use and made a simple veggie pasta for dinner sometimes we make noodles from scratch but today we use a dry pasta add our pasta sauce and plenty of greens this was the perfect comfort food as we paired our dinner with watching a Korean drama called reply 1994 Monday's are typically my ketchup day to run any errands I spent that morning doing laundry and washing some of our whites which costs us two dollars and 25 cents I do my best to hang dry everything to save some more money and carbon emissions from using a dryer we still needed to grab some additional groceries for the week that we couldn't find at the farmers market I stopped by my local Whole Foods which has the best bulk selection and got a few bulk goods some cans soups for a rainy day bread and other produce items I typically do one main grocery store run each week and spend around thirty to fifty dollars depending on the week but spent thirty seven dollars and sixty six cents on this particular grocery run [Music] on Tuesday I worked at the zero waste store and stocked up on a few items I needed for my home Peter and I were about to finish our shampoo bar so I purchased a new one that was mint scented I also got two new charcoal sticks for water filtering and a reusable boba cup for my small groups gift exchange which would happen later that week most of my small group members have reusable boba straws but not a reasonable cup to go with it so I thought it would get a perfect idea all these items hold to $58 and 86 cents I know that for some purchasing sustainable products may seem out of reach but know that sustainable goods often come from smaller companies that one make higher quality products that last and are made with exceptional ingredients and to need to make ends meet and pay fair wages to their employees so if you have some wiggle room in your budget consider supporting small sustainable brands when you can as the more demand they get the more they can grow and make their products more accessible and affordable for all Wednesday pass without any purchases as it was simply a workday for me but I did another batch of laundry for two dollars and 25 cents on Thursday again I hung everything to dry within our home to save a bit of money and emissions in light of the holiday season though I made another trip to Whole Foods to stock up on additional ingredients for cookies Peter and I thought it would be nice to bake fresh cookies for our small groups gift exchange and also to gift our neighbors some cookies for the holidays in total I spent forty eight dollars and seventy two cents for additional chocolate and cookie ingredients to make two giant batches as well as a slice of pizza that I treated myself to even though I try to save money when I can I do treat myself to things like a slice of pizza when I have the craving and Peter and I try to do our best to not hold back too much when it comes to baking for our friends and family to show our appreciation $48 does sound like a lot when it comes to baking and seeing that number can often make me nervous but I was reminded that as much as I may fret over how much to spend and not spend that I have been blessed immensely and can always stretch my finances here and there to bless others [Music] so as I wrapped up the week I have to be honest that while filming and reflecting on my finances it was easy to be anxious and wonder what my community would think of me and if all of you were going to judge me for spending too much but day after day and had to tell myself that money isn't my god as it says in Matthew 6:24 no one can serve two masters you cannot serve both God and money but when I worry and obsess over my spending habits it's easy to put money on a pedestal and think that it will solve all my problems if I manage it perfectly yeah and being obsessive with money management I know how miserable I can become feeling trapped with every purchase as if it defines me so if you get anything from this video I hope you're reminded that money is a tool to support yourself and others it is a way for you to bless others and be blessed while it is important to be wise if you're spending don't feel trapped into never treating yourself to that fresh cookie or a slice of pizza and if you're in a place where you're struggling with finances I pray that God would provide exactly what you need each day I know he will as he has for our family so with that I hope you all enjoyed this video and if you have any encouraging tips or suggestions on managing finances please let me know in the comments below thanks all for watching and I'll see you guys in the next video [Music] you

Channel: simply by christine

Views: 83,853

Rating: 4.9480519 out of 5

Keywords: millennial money, what i spend in a week, money, budget, vlog, minimalist, simple living, sustainable, zero waste, minimalist living, simplicity, zero waste store, christian, faith

Id: 0y9caMoPCds

Length: 8min 46sec (526 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 17 2020