Category: Just me being me

I love summer. I really do with the sunny days, trips to the beach, and all the ice cream and snow-cones you could want. However, autumn has a special place in my heart. My birthday is in September. We were married in October. I geek out over the foliage changing color and my husband and I do that weird thing where we point out especially beautiful trees to each other.

Maryland is pretty much known for our crazy seesaw weather – we might get a nice day or two in August, only to suddenly have the heat and humidity punch us in the face. Same with September – sure we may have some days in the 70’s where you want to pull out your comfy cardigans and motorcycle boots. But as soon as you look forward to dressing like a ‘basic fall girl’, the weather flips again and you’re digging out your tank tops.

The last couple of weeks have been absolutely perfect though, with sunny days in the mid 70’s and low 80’s. So, I thought it was time that I channel Taylor Swift with her Autumn Lovers post/poem and wax poetic about the summer to fall transition.

Things I Love About This Time of Year:

Buying a New Day Planner. Sure, school starting is no longer a year-start for me, but I love the promise of buying a blank day planner and adding everything to it nice and fresh. And yes, I color code. (PS, did you know that erasable highlighters are a thing?! I’m OBSESSED with them)

An End-of-Summer Purge. This is the time of year when I like to do a nice cleanout of my unworn/unloved summer clothing items. With my eyes pointed towards fall, it just seems a little bit easier to let go of those items that I never bothered to wear over the last season. So, I go through and make my piles for Poshmark or to donate, and I start the new season with a little extra room in my closet.

Fall Home Projects & Décor. I haven’t gone full pumpkin yet, but it’s right around the corner. I typically like to get past my birthday first, but then I enjoy switching out a few things around the house to make it feel a little cozier for the shorter days/longer nights just around the corner. That means adorable pumpkins, apple and vanilla scented candles, and lots of fluffy blankets and thrifted hand-crocheted afgans for all the snuggling. I also always feel a bit of an itch to do some home projects, and this year I think I may finally repaint my upstairs hallway.

Cool Nights & An Oversized Hoodie. YES, I love my dresses and skirts. And I wear them year-round… but there is just something about a chilly night and throwing on an oversized hoodie. It’s cozy and comfy and perfect for all the snuggling – whether it be with Travis, Jack, Ollie… or all of the above.

{Yes, I know we are not wearing hoodies in this photo, but this little cuddle pile was too cute not to share}

The Smell of a Bonfire When You’re Driving Around. I love having our own outdoor bonfire. However, there is just something about driving home from dinner in the evening and having the window cracked just a bit for some cool air… and smelling that whiff of bonfire as you drive by. Absolute heaven.

Disclaimer: This post contains an Amazon affiliate link — because I’m obsessed with my erasable highlighters. This means that clicking on a link may help me earn a small commission at no cost to you.

I posted back on July 3^rd that our family was planning to do a “Low Buy July” due to the fact that we had a one-two punch of my husband’s work slowing down as a result of the Port of Baltimore tragedy and Jack breaking his arm and needing emergency surgery. With a stampede of bills around the bend, we decided to tighten the reins and cut back as much as possible.

While it wasn’t a full spending freeze, we did make a few adjustments for the month, including: avoiding our trigger stores where money just gets sucked out of our wallets, ignoring all those ‘sale’ emails unless we really truly needed something, eating at home more often (no lunches out at work, coffee stops or random ice cream treats), and trying to eat through our current supply in the fridge/freezer/pantry. In addition to this list, we also made sure not to re-order things until we are FULLY out of them (rather than stocking up on low beauty supplies, home needs, etc). I also paused a couple of our non-essential subscriptions, such as my Peloton app.

While it wasn’t the most fun month, we did a pretty darn good job! However, those hospital bills keep coming. We have received 6 bills so far for everything from emergency room fees, surgery, anesthesia, and more. Thankfully, most of them offer interest free payment plans, so I’ve divided the payments into three months to help with cash flow. We are also hoping my husband’s work picks back up soon, which would be really helpful.

One more big bill is around the bend – I see it in my Carefirst EOB list, but haven’t gotten the invoice yet – so that’s like a shark just stalking me until it shows up at my door. All in all, it looks like an extra $6,000 in medical bills that we were not expecting this summer.

Which means… we are doing Low Buy August too.

And yes, we have medical insurance (thankfully!), but with a high deductible plan… hence, the $6,000 in out of pocket payments.

It’s been quite a while since I did a ‘no buy’ or ‘low buy’ month with purpose. The last time I wrote about it on the blog was 2018, where I also popped off a bit about the idea that my husband is the boss of me and our money (I actually still very much enjoy this blog post, so here it is: How Much My Husband Allows Me To Spend on Clothing & No Buy July).

Anywho. This time we are doing a “Low Buy July” as a family for a few reasons. First of all, my husband’s job has been impacted by the Port of Baltimore tragedy, so there have been weeks with very low work as the supply chain is switching back from the Norfolk port to the Baltimore port. Since we are a two-income household, this means that we need to tighten up our spending. The second big impact is that our son broke his arm a couple weeks ago and the emergency room/emergency surgery bills are around the bend.

Not that you need a stampede of bills coming in order to decide to cut back a bit. And I do realize how extremely fortunate we are when many (if not all) families are struggling with the rising cost of everything right now.

If you also want to participate in a Low Buy July, please feel free to join in with me.

I was going to write out my list of rules here, but honestly everyone’s rules will be different. While we are not going on a full spending freeze, we are taking a closer look at wants and needs throughout the month.

Also, we each have our own trigger stores that we are planning to avoid. For me, it’s TJ Maxx/Marshalls/Homegoods. For my husband it’s Walmart and Home Depot. And for Jack, it’s Target. These stores just suck the money right out of our wallets, so we figure it’s just easier to avoid them all together as much as possible. Thrifting is still allowed for my mental sanity. Because I’m not really spending a bunch of money there anyways.

We are all also going to try to just use what we have before getting any new stuff. This includes beauty products/toiletries/etc when they run out, food in the fridge/freezer/pantry, and of course restyling clothing we already own (okay, this one’s just for me) rather than hitting up the Anthropologie ‘sale on sale’ they have each summer. Any ‘wants’ will be added into my Notes app to look at in August and we will see then if we still want each item, or if the desire has passed. I also already went ahead and paused a couple of our non-essential subscriptions.

So yeah, we aren’t going into full money lockdown mode, but more of a bit of a palate cleanser for the month. And hopefully, as those hospital bills trickle in we can get them paid off ASAP… and look forward to our next vacation!