Clean Slate
#Backloggers,
Remember that this is January 2020 and it is a new year which means everyone starts off with a clean slate. What happened in 2019 does not matter. 2020 has that new car smell and it is time to treat it like it deserves, with love and affection.
Look at the year ahead and plan accordingly. The best weapon that a #backlogger has is not time, it is foresight. Do you know what games you want to buy this year? Is there anything big that you plan on purchasing? I know most of you are eyeing up that Playstation 5 or the Xbox Series X. Heck, some of you are eyeing up both of them.
This means that you know you will end up spending at least $1200 in November alone with just the new console purchases. However, you might need a couple of games or some extra controllers. Don't put your gaming on a credit card, plan accordingly.
With that in mind I'm going to give you a simple plan to help you achieve this goal.
Save.
One word: save. Save some money now so that you don't have to finance the purchase later.
Assuming two paychecks a month and doing a bit of fancy rounding to make everything prettier, you just need to save up $30 per paycheck per console that you plan on buying. Start with your first paycheck in January and do not stop until you make the purchase.
So, if you are buying both consoles in November then start saving $60 per paycheck immediately. You can thank me later.
I personally have an Amazon piggy bank that I started last year because people love to give me Amazon gift cards for X-Mas. This is what I want and it helps me out in the long run. So, when I do something that earns myself a reward this year all of my extra money will turn into Amazon Gift Cards and go into that virtual piggy bank that I am not touching until the day I transfer it over to a purchase.
Also, since I set my New Years Revolutions (you can click the link, it won't bite) I have a lot of goals for the year and I am adopting some things I have done previously to help me achieve everything I want this year.
Reading:
Because I want to read more this year (and also listen to audio books), I am adopting something I have done for years. My bookmark is a $20 bill when I read and when I get to the end of that book the $20 is mine to do with as I please. I'm going to add $5 to that and give myself $25 every time I complete a book. Early in the year this will work well because I already have several: books that I have previously purchased that I want to read. However, if something new is coming out I'll have to make sure to pay attention to sales and put some of my "reading reward" money aside so that I can purchase it without taking from any other fund that I have.
Video Games:
This year I am going to treat Video Games the same way I treat books. If I actually beat the game (in my case this means roll credits since I don't generally 100% complete a game) then I will give myself $25 to spend however I see fit. If I want to buy a new game it will have to come out of this fund. I cannot take money that is not set aside to spend it because I have a spending addiction.
Those of you who have followed me the last couple of years know that I generally only beat 10-12 games a year if I'm pushing myself so it's not like I'm going to allot myself a ton of money because I'm beating multiple games every single month.
Movies:
Since my goal is to get to 100 horror movies by the time PSVG does their DLC for October, generally a horror themed one, I am giving myself $2 per horror movie that I finish to put towards my spending funds.
Weight Loss:
Since my goal is to lose 40 pounds in 2020 I'm going to give myself $5 for every pound lost. This money will be payable to myself on the 1st of every month and if I gained weight during the month I will deduct money from the jar. This will help keep me honest and on track. Pushing harder and harder to hit my weight loss goals.
With some hard work and dedication this will give me upwards of $1000 to spend on my hobbies in 2020. Sure, it might seem like a lot but in reality it is less than $100 per month.
Incentive.
Incentive.
Incentive.
This is how I am attempting to get through the year and have enough money to buy the things I want at the end of the year.
If any of you have anything creative you do feel free to let me know.
Also, just as an FYI, a new Episode of the Backlog Busters has been recorded and will be out sometime this month. We will be a work-in-progress this year until we figure out what works and what doesn't during this time of change for us. I hope you like the content we are and will be putting out and we value your feed back.
- Backlog Blues
Remember that this is January 2020 and it is a new year which means everyone starts off with a clean slate. What happened in 2019 does not matter. 2020 has that new car smell and it is time to treat it like it deserves, with love and affection.
Look at the year ahead and plan accordingly. The best weapon that a #backlogger has is not time, it is foresight. Do you know what games you want to buy this year? Is there anything big that you plan on purchasing? I know most of you are eyeing up that Playstation 5 or the Xbox Series X. Heck, some of you are eyeing up both of them.
This means that you know you will end up spending at least $1200 in November alone with just the new console purchases. However, you might need a couple of games or some extra controllers. Don't put your gaming on a credit card, plan accordingly.
With that in mind I'm going to give you a simple plan to help you achieve this goal.
Save.
One word: save. Save some money now so that you don't have to finance the purchase later.
Assuming two paychecks a month and doing a bit of fancy rounding to make everything prettier, you just need to save up $30 per paycheck per console that you plan on buying. Start with your first paycheck in January and do not stop until you make the purchase.
So, if you are buying both consoles in November then start saving $60 per paycheck immediately. You can thank me later.
I personally have an Amazon piggy bank that I started last year because people love to give me Amazon gift cards for X-Mas. This is what I want and it helps me out in the long run. So, when I do something that earns myself a reward this year all of my extra money will turn into Amazon Gift Cards and go into that virtual piggy bank that I am not touching until the day I transfer it over to a purchase.
Also, since I set my New Years Revolutions (you can click the link, it won't bite) I have a lot of goals for the year and I am adopting some things I have done previously to help me achieve everything I want this year.
Reading:
Because I want to read more this year (and also listen to audio books), I am adopting something I have done for years. My bookmark is a $20 bill when I read and when I get to the end of that book the $20 is mine to do with as I please. I'm going to add $5 to that and give myself $25 every time I complete a book. Early in the year this will work well because I already have several: books that I have previously purchased that I want to read. However, if something new is coming out I'll have to make sure to pay attention to sales and put some of my "reading reward" money aside so that I can purchase it without taking from any other fund that I have.
Video Games:
This year I am going to treat Video Games the same way I treat books. If I actually beat the game (in my case this means roll credits since I don't generally 100% complete a game) then I will give myself $25 to spend however I see fit. If I want to buy a new game it will have to come out of this fund. I cannot take money that is not set aside to spend it because I have a spending addiction.
Those of you who have followed me the last couple of years know that I generally only beat 10-12 games a year if I'm pushing myself so it's not like I'm going to allot myself a ton of money because I'm beating multiple games every single month.
Movies:
Since my goal is to get to 100 horror movies by the time PSVG does their DLC for October, generally a horror themed one, I am giving myself $2 per horror movie that I finish to put towards my spending funds.
Weight Loss:
Since my goal is to lose 40 pounds in 2020 I'm going to give myself $5 for every pound lost. This money will be payable to myself on the 1st of every month and if I gained weight during the month I will deduct money from the jar. This will help keep me honest and on track. Pushing harder and harder to hit my weight loss goals.
With some hard work and dedication this will give me upwards of $1000 to spend on my hobbies in 2020. Sure, it might seem like a lot but in reality it is less than $100 per month.
Incentive.
Incentive.
Incentive.
This is how I am attempting to get through the year and have enough money to buy the things I want at the end of the year.
If any of you have anything creative you do feel free to let me know.
Also, just as an FYI, a new Episode of the Backlog Busters has been recorded and will be out sometime this month. We will be a work-in-progress this year until we figure out what works and what doesn't during this time of change for us. I hope you like the content we are and will be putting out and we value your feed back.
- Backlog Blues
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