Though I've alluded to some splurge-y shenanigans recently (so many pairs of jeans! perfume samples! sassy boots!), overall my finances are fairly solid and fairly frugal. I save a significant portion of my monthly income. I usually pay off my credit card every other month. Not only will I have a reasonably comfortable savings cushion by the time my fellowship runs out, I also have smaller savings accounts for other expenses and goals: clothing, taxes, medical expenses, new computer fund, gifts, and travel. This helps me to feel secure and future-oriented.
When I graduate and find employment and thereby become a Real Person, I will set up other accounts for other purposes:
Iceland.
Once I devise a plan for aggressive repayment of my student loans, I will save nearly as aggressively for a trip to Iceland. I just love the idea of it: mountains, snow, steaming water, and bleak, dark, somber skies. I will go alone, at least the first time. And I'll journal everything so that maybe, a year or two after I return, I might write my way into understanding what it is about Iceland that so fascinates me.
Flowers.
When my budget has enough flexibility that I can buy one pair of rubber gloves every single month--or more even, if I like--(for dishwashing and other damp chores) instead of stretching them out for three or four, then there will be flexibility enough to buy flowers regularly. Nothing too fancy or extravagant. Single blooms may be all I require some weeks. But there will be plant life in my life: something alive and with no other purpose than to be beautiful.
Coffee.
How I long for the day when I can return to quality coffee!
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