While I haven’t always had a budget I lived by, I’ve always lived on a budget. There’s this misconception, I feel, that you need to be substantially well off in order to be luxurious and live an expensive life. I used to subscribe to this ideal until I realized I wanted more for my life. Wanted to live a BIG life even with my small budget because aren’t I worth that? With this thought in mind, I made living luxuriously on a budget my frame of mind and way of life.
I brought the outside in
Something about fresh flowers makes me happy. Like, brings a genuine smile to my face and brightens my day. I realized recently the reason I have a love affair with flowers is not actually what I thought it was. The true reason is that once upon a time, I used to feel like flowers were a waste of money. A frivolous expense that I couldn’t afford to “waste” money on when I had two children I needed to provide more important things like food and clothes for. I started buying them here and there because they made me happy, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that I realized getting flowers was therapeutic for me.
I became rich in the arts
We didn’t visit art museums when I was younger, at least not that I can recall. I introduced myself in college and fell in love with the sophistication and beauty of the pieces. For the longest time, I had a family membership to the Mint Museums and we made a point to go every month to the Family First Saturday to walk around and view the new exhibits. Eventually, it became an expense that I gave up, but I didn’t give up the museum. I still go to the museums during Wednesday Night Live.
The theater and symphony are 2 others that add that extra bit of expansiveness to my life. I started going in college using my student id to acquire the 2 student tickets you’re allotted for $10 apiece (the price at the time – I’m sure they’ve gone up now but still cheaper than the regular price). After that, I joined the young professional affinity clubs, like Club Blume, (there’s no cost to join) that come with the perk of informances to give you a behind-the-scenes on the play and accompany light bites and wine. If you decide to see the play, you usually get a substantial amount off of the regular ticket price. For the symphony, there are various inexpensive performances throughout the year, and if you have a SNAP card, you can see performances for $1.
I give my time
Oftentimes, you either seem to have time or money. I usually have more of the former, so I devote my time. It hasn’t happened in a while due to Covid, but I get immense joy from volunteering with organizations I feel are making a difference, like MedAssist who provides prescription and over-the-counter medications to those who can’t afford them. With all the medications my daughter takes and needs to survive, that could easily be us and may very well one day. Life is so unpredictable.
I also volunteer with my daughter at the Children’s Theater of Charlotte, which is something fun for us to do together that we’ve been doing since she was 8. It’s been a great way to experience a bit of culture with her revolving around books I’ve either read to her when she was younger or that she read in school over the years. It doesn’t hurt that we get to sit and enjoy the plays when we’re done with our immediate Usher duties.
I get out and see the world
I finally got my passport in 2021, but I had a fabulous time frolicking on the beach with my kids in Turks & Caicos well before I even thought to apply for one. It was one of many stops on a cruise I took with my mother who is an avid traveler, along with my father, in their retirement. She gifted the trip to us for spring break one year but cruising really isn’t that expensive and it’s a great way to see many places in a short span of time while also having lodging and food at your fingertips.
Cruising aside, travel doesn’t have to be out of my reach. I’m guilty of thinking it was only for those with disposable incomes, especially when traveling for me meant paying for 3, but it’s simply not true. There’s always a way.
I took on a weekend housekeeping job at a hotel for the amazing discount offered by that particular chain and used said discount to stay at the most luxurious hotels in cities I’d get to utilizing whatever mode of transportation made the most sense financially, which sometimes meant a plane ride on a budget airline where I could only take a personal item or a $5 roundtrip on the bus. With my discount, hotel rooms were between $35 – $75 when they’d normally be in the hundreds, sometimes thousands, otherwise.
I stopped buying clothes … mostly
I’ve always loved clothes, but I’ve also always hated shopping. I don’t enjoy being in malls for hours, dodging rude people, or trying on clothes and feeling disappointed when they don’t fit. I’ve made it no secret my weight fluctuated during the pandemic and I simply wasn’t interested in spending a ton on clothes I may or may not be able to wear in a few more months. I do still buy clothes here and there but they rarely come from stores unless it’s a closet staple or something I want in my capsule wardrobe. I started doing a mixture of buying well-preserved clothes from thrift stores and renting clothes online on a monthly subscription. Doing a combination of the two allows me to maintain a clothing budget I’m happy with, while also allowing me to rotate quality items in and out I wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise.
If you keep a budget, what are some things you’ve incorporated into your life to allow you to make living luxuriously on a budget a priority? Please, let me know in the comments and, as always, thank you for reading, and don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter!
