In the world of Save. Spend. Splurge.: How much money is enough? Here’s how to figure it out.

1. Enough

Run this mini experiment to figure out how much money is enough. Basically, instead of using FIRE where you take your expenses and multiply it by 25, you simply just pull a number out of the air and ask yourself: How much do I need to have today to stop working forever?

This is a lot harder for me to answer. If you asked me that, I’d be inclined to be nervous, super conservative and blurt out I need at least $10 million dollars to feel secure. But do I really need $10M? I do not. Yet, psychologically, I think I do, and that’s probably something I should explore.

2. Costanza

For some reason, I have been extremely keen on finding (?) or wearing velvet robes. There is something so luxurious about them to pull on over your house outfit, so when I saw this belted velvet robe by Sleeping with Jacques, I immediately wondered if I could pull it off or justify the pricetag!!

3. War

Age 93, and she waged a war on her grandsons, for elder abuse. This is such a serious matter where seniors and the elderly are taken advantage of. There are so many cases of elderly having their bank accounts drained, their executors basically living it up on their income while taking worse than subpar care of them.. it’s horrifying. Even worse if they are suffering dementia as well. It’s such a disgusting practice, truly.

4. Gilet

I have absolutely nowhere to wear this, and no point in ever, EVER needing this especially at this price tag.. but I strangely want this wrap around leather vest. I mean then again, I also want this ostentatious, gold-leaf Hermès bag too just because it’s shiny but that is neither here nor there.

5. Imaginary friends

I must admit, I subscribe to this idea of influencers being a ‘friend’ in an online environment. I sometimes think that the people I follow, are like my friends. It sounds sad, but apparently I am quite normal. I watch their stories, their videos, I sometimes even message them on occasion, and they reply (okay, so I only messaged one person, Sheena Melwani and she’s very kind), and it almost makes you think: I COULD BE THEIR FRIEND, IRL.

And maybe I could, but I am (currently) not. What a strange internet world we live in that we could be their friends, IRL. Of course, some readers of the blog from years ago, and even followers on Instagram have become my IRL friends. We have met, some may not remember me any more (haha), but we have met up occasionally over the years when I am in their city, or their area. I genuinely do enjoy meeting people and being friends with those I have formed a connection to via the interwebs (one even moved to my city recently but because of the big C, sadly, we cannot meet and hang together).

6. Paring off

I needed to buy a handy gift to give that would be useful, reasonable and something no one would really buy for themselves because they would think it isn’t useful for the price (even though it is), and immediately I thought – proper knives in the kitchen. So as a gift, I picked up this Wusthof paring knife because it is not something people would ever think of buying for themselves but comes so in handy when you want to peel things properly. You can also sharpen it to keep the knives sharp because there is nothing more dangerous that cutting with dull knives, so along with the knife, I also bought this knife sharpener to go with it.

7. *vomit emoji*

I have no other way to express how I feel about these high schoolers in Texas pretending to auction off their black schoolmates. In this day and age… I have no words. I cannot.

8. Duster

I am starting to enjoy sweaters and coats that are longer so they cover my back and keep me cosy and warm, kind of like a wearable blanket, so I have been eying this alpaca-blend duster and other similar styles that are minimalist and sleek so they could be worn inside or outside. It also needs pockets for your phone or keys outside, or inside, to put napkins (we use cloth handkerchiefs like these Hankettes from Eco-Freako).