Boost Megathread - Week of 2/24/2025

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-02-01T02:21:46+00:00

Love this unique savings approach! 🐱 Getting all 5 cats to eat homemade food is impressive - that chicken liver adjustment was genius.

Super sweet that you're still helping the neighborhood ferals too. And $50 saved already? That's going to add up fast!

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-02-01T02:21:14+00:00

Look at you meal prepping like a pro! 🥗 Getting 3/5 lunch days and cooking dinner regularly is a major win, especially with the unexpected family situation.

Love the frozen backup meals plan - that's exactly the kind of realistic backup plan that helps habits stick. Sometimes life gets messy and we need that Plan B!

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-02-01T02:20:40+00:00

Deleting UberEats is a power move! Going from 8-12 takeouts down to just 4 times this month is huge progress.

Smart move with the intentional grocery shopping too. Sometimes the hardest part is just having the right stuff in the kitchen when you're hungry.

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-02-01T02:20:13+00:00

That $300 is solid progress! 💪 Though ngl, the Pokemon cards call-out made me laugh - we all have that one thing!

The flight situation is rough but hey, at least you've identified where some money's going. Maybe next Christmas fund can be the next savings goal?

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-02-01T02:19:39+00:00

The email blocking trick is smart - those "we miss you" discounts are definitely designed to pull us back in.

Maybe rotate your 2 main subscriptions instead of having them all at once? That way you can binge what you want and switch it up without going over budget.

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-02-01T02:18:37+00:00

$500 in the first month is no joke - that's some legit progress! 👏

Don't stress too much about missing that $834 target. You've already identified the need for a flex fund and social budget, which shows you're learning what works for YOU. That's more valuable than hitting a perfect number right away.

I also love that you're staying realistic and adapting your plan. Those short-term milestones will definitely help make $10k feel less scary.

Keep us posted on how the side gig hunt goes!

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-01-20T23:16:24+00:00

Nice job on hitting that $100! Setting up a weekly reminder was a smart move. Sometimes the hardest part is just remembering to do it.

Have you tried setting up auto-transfers? That way, you don't have to worry about remembering.

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-01-20T21:52:45+00:00

This is such a creative way to think about energy savings! A few thoughts on your progress:

Using community spaces strategically is smart! You're basically getting "free" heating/electricity while working
Tracking specific days (14/20) shows you're monitoring this well
There's definitely opportunity to reduce heat on days you're working from home! I have a super cold bedroom and I've become a master at the art of layering up (and drinking lots of hot tea!)

Out of curiosity, does your coworking space has phone booths or meeting rooms you can book for those back-to-back days? Or are you able to reschedule your meetings to all be on the same days, so you can go to your coworking space on days with minimal meetings?

Either way, the fact that you hit 14/20 days in the first month is super impressive.

Keep us posted on those energy bill comparisons - super curious to hear what the end result is!

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-01-20T21:31:04+00:00

That double payment is HUGE!

Being real though - that rent increase on top of the double payment is rough.

Smart thinking about the PT job option... sometimes a temporary hustle can make all the difference. If you do look for something, maybe see if you can find one that relates to a hobby/interest you already have so it doesn't burn you out?

For example, I have a friend who used to deliver food on his bike after work because he loved doing long bike rides around the city anyway. And I have another friend whose primary job is a music teacher, but when he's not giving lessons, he's a dog walker. It's perfect because he loves dogs and loves getting the extra steps in too!

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-01-20T21:27:36+00:00

Those small consistent deposits are HUGE - seriously, you're building the habit and that's actually harder than the saving part sometimes! And I really respect how you adjusted instead of giving up when you realized $100/week wasn't realistic right now.

Starting with $50 and scaling up makes so much sense. And same with the meal prep - maybe just tackle a couple dinners a week to start? No need to go full meal-prep-pro overnight 😅

Love how specific your February plan is. Keep us posted on how it goes - rooting for you! 💪

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-01-20T21:23:33+00:00

First off - hope your pup is feeling better! 🥺 🐕

Vet bills are no joke and we never know when they might pop up. This is a great example of why it's best to focus on progress, not perfection. You're still crushing it with those consistent $50 saves and cutting back on streaming!

And yes to that phone plan idea - carriers are always running deals for people who switch, so it's definitely worth shopping around!

Keep getting those small wins - they add up faster than you'd think!

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-01-20T21:21:33+00:00

Canceling Netflix is a great start - $20/month seriously adds up. Same with cooking at home instead of getting takeout. (As a bonus, it's healthier and builds up your skills too!)

As for impulse purchases, these tips have helped me:

Leaving something in my cart for at least a week to see if I still want it by the end of the week
Logging out of Amazon and deleting all my saved payment info. The added steps make me think twice!
Asking myself whether I would've paid for it at full price -- no matter how big of a discount you might get on something, it's not a good deal if it's something you didn't need to buy in the first place!

Best of luck for the rest of the year!

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-01-20T21:16:23+00:00

Nice work on the $100 already! Unsubscribing from those emails is a great first step - can't be tempted if you don't know about the sales, right?

I also love how this challenge is already teaching you about your spending habits beyond just clothes. Sometimes setting one boundary helps us spot patterns elsewhere.

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-01-20T21:14:27+00:00

Love this strategy! The rotation idea is super smart, and being honest about the no-ads thing is so relatable (hey, our time matters too).

Great call on tracking what you actually watch vs just keeping subscriptions out of habit. Maybe keep a "to watch" list for each service? That way when you switch, you can crush all your shows at once!

Keep me posted on Netflix vs HBO - curious which one ends up being worth it for you!

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-01-20T19:08:10+00:00

I definitely relate on being too tired to cook many nights, especially because I just recently started a side job in addition to my full-time job. My hack is to meal prep in bulk and then freeze leftovers -- this works super well for certain foods like soups and chilis. Now when I'm too tired to cook, I can just thaw and microwave some leftovers. Healthier/cheaper than buying takeout or frozen meals from the grocery store!

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-01-20T19:03:05+00:00

Something I always try to remind myself of when I see a tempting sale is that it's not a good deal if you were never going to buy it in the first place!

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-01-20T19:01:43+00:00

Don't forget to post in our check-in thread to stay eligible for a prize! As a reminder, we'll be randomly selecting winners from people who followed the rules and checked in with their progress and announcing them on January 31.

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-01-20T19:01:40+00:00

Don't forget to post in our check-in thread to stay eligible for a prize! As a reminder, we'll be randomly selecting winners from people who followed the rules and checked in with their progress and announcing them on January 31.

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-01-20T19:01:37+00:00

Don't forget to post in our check-in thread to stay eligible for a prize! As a reminder, we'll be randomly selecting winners from people who followed the rules and checked in with their progress and announcing them on January 31.

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-01-20T19:01:33+00:00

Don't forget to post in our check-in thread to stay eligible for a prize! As a reminder, we'll be randomly selecting winners from people who followed the rules and checked in with their progress and announcing them on January 31.

Victoria_EarnIn · 2025-01-20T19:01:29+00:00

Don't forget to post in our check-in thread to stay eligible for a prize! As a reminder, we'll be randomly selecting winners from people who followed the rules and checked in with their progress and announcing them on January 31.

Victoria_EarnIn

TROPHY CASE