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Well

My plan to have a no-spend year got off to a non-start when my health insurance premiums only increased $200.00 for January and February*. Hopefully that remains the case for the months that remain until I go on Medicare later in the year.

Although I had no reason (yet) to curtail my spending, I still watched every penny, and did not spend as I usually do. Aside from the $418.23 I spent on food and medications, books for research for my day job (didn't think about that) pet supplies (ditto), and Sunpass funds for our car's transponder ($50.00 which was reimbursed by my guy), I spent $90.31 on yarn and fabric (I should note that half of that was paid in cash with money I'd saved from last Christmas.) Compare that ninety bucks to the nearly $2K I paid out in December for gifts, yarn bargains and other non-necessities, and I'd say I did a fair job in reducing my spending.

What I discovered is that it's really difficult not to spend money. Even though by using cash I set aside last year for what little I did buy, and resisting all the bargains I saw, I still used forty-five dollars and change from this month's earnings. It added up faster than I realized.

As I'm still not optimistic about the health insurance situation I'm going to try another no-spend month in February. As before I'll only spend money on food and medications, and I'll add to that job and pet expenses**. By the time March rolls around I'll know one way or another whether I need to go full no-spend, or I have a bit more money to buy what I'd like to have.

*As of the writing of this post, subject to change if the government does not restart the health care subsidies.

**I am going to thrift yarn to replace what I use from my stash if my finances permit.

Image by Pabitra Kaity from Pixabay

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Maria Zannini said…
One of my sisters is about to retire and go on Medicare. She's a little more stressed because she has a husband who's an invalid and entirely dependent on her. I told her it was many years before we could relax after we retired because you just don't know what's around the bend. We had our roof and both AC compressors go out just after we retired. Luckily the roof was covered, but we had to eat the new AC systems.
January 31, 2026 at 7:07 AM
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