2020 Takeaways | What I've Learned This Year

 

 

2020 has been a whirlwind to say the very least.  Everyone has been through A LOT whether it's from global happenings, the pandemic, the election, or things they've experienced in their own life personally.  Ever the optimist, I decided from the month of March that I would continue to find lessons from whatever the year held for me and I would try to find the positive.  So for my year in summary themed post I decided to write about what I've learned from this year. 



Simplicity Makes Me Happy

One of the first things I did when the pandemic started and I began working from home full time, was I made a list of everything I could eliminate from my life to save money, time, and energy.  The pandemic inspired this because there were certain things I couldn't do for a while like get my hair and nails done and go shopping on a whim.  I sat down and made a list of what I could eliminate. 

 

I stopped putting money aside for getting my hair colored and getting my nails done.  Instead I do them myself and I no longer color my hair.  I decided to embrace my natural hair and just go for cuts every 3 months.  This saves me A LOT of money and time actually.  I also began to do things like cut out certain subscription costs.  In the end I saved a lot of time each month, hundreds of dollars in my monthly budget, and no longer feel like I'm pulled in many different directions from monthly commitments. 

 

My Strength is Powerful

Of course, in July tragedy stuck when we lost Stella unexpectedly. It was extremely tough and I was so devastated.  I also did not expect the outpouring of love and support I got from friends.  The first two days alone we had 6 flower deliveries come in the mail.  So of course my support system helped so much but also I was surprised at how well I embraced my grief in order to get through it.  They always say there's no way through it except to GO THROUGH IT.  So I did and it totally sucked but it was important to let myself feel.  We of course got a new puppy in October and that helped heal our hearts as well.  

Community Is Important

So while forced to stay home we actually became even closer to our awesome neighbors.  We hung out while social distancing outside and when restrictions were lifted we had regular dinners every weekend and helped each other with home projects.  There wasn't a single weekend that went by this past summer where we weren't gathered at one of our 3 homes.  So when people asked how I was handling it stuck at home I actually told them it just made us closer to our neighbors which is super important.  Remember that friends don't have to be people you grew up with or work with.  They can be the people that live right around you.  

 

I CAN Control My Finances

Instead  of spending money online while I was stuck at home, I saved as much of it as I could.  I put it towards big necessary expenses I was saving for as well as my general savings fund so I can hit my financial goal of having my 6 month savings fund full funded by Spring of 2021.  By working towards my goals, I didn't give in to the temptation of buying things I saw other people buying.  My stimulus money went straight to my goals too! 

These are just the things I learned from my own experiences.  At times, I dug deep to find the positive and see what lessons and life changes I could make, and it worked out very well from me.  I also thrived because working from home was much better for me than being in the office where there are so many interruptions and distractions.  

What did you learn this year?

 

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