20 in 2024: what i bought in may + june
let's see how much shame writing this makes me feel (or doesn't)
Hi! If you’re new here, “20 in 2024” is my attempt to only buy 20 non-essential items in 2024. Every month, I update on what I’ve bought (and haven’t bought) and how the project is going. Thanks for reading!
We’re halfway through 2024. What a surreal thing. There are lots of things that feel they happened yesterday, and lots of things it is hard to believe are still happening—the genocide in Palestine continues to haunt and define our humanity in such horrible ways.
For those that don’t know, I write professionally, mostly as a marketer. Since dealing with a tech layoff in January, I’ve been doing a blend of part-time work and freelancing for tech companies. . . not really out of choice, but mostly out of necessity. The job market in the United States is stressful, at the moment, as jobs for those making $50K are going up, but jobs for those making $90K+ are becoming slightly less available. In my personal case, a job similar to the job I held before, if it’s being offered, is paying about $30K USD less per year.
It’s been a strange time because, if you compare what I’d made last year and what I made this year, it’s a pretty high disparity. On the other hand, as I’ve gotten more comfortable with buying fewer things and doing more, I’ve found that while I am still financially stressed, I’m less stressed in some ways (like my month-to-month budget) and more stressed about how I will afford future things (which, aren’t we all).
With that being said, here’s what I bought this month. At the end of April, I’d bought 17 out of 20 items. I know! That doesn’t leave a lot of room for error or purchasing. So let’s see how I did.
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