Another month down, and we are officially one-third of the way through this 2024 stationery no-spend challenge!
Since the mid-month update, I’ve stayed strong, and I haven’t purchased any new stationery items. I bought two acrylic boxes for my washi tapes, which fall under the storage rule/exception.
The UNI PIN 0.05mm fineliner that I use for watercolor line work ran out of ink, so I purchased a three pack under the replenishment rule. I wanted to buy a single pen, but I couldn’t find any locally and the three pack was my cheapest option when I factored in the free shipping.
Most importantly, I’m thrilled to share that thanks to my husband working a ton of overtime and our commitment to decrease spending, we successfully paid off my vehicle! This achievement marks a significant milestone for us in our journey towards financial improvement.
New Stuff!
In the previous post, I wrote about some purchases I made, and how bittersweet it felt because I didn’t have any of those items in hand. Well, they’re here now! The package from Judy arrived first, bringing some much-welcomed new goodies into my stash. It came from Taiwan much faster than I was expecting, and I tore into the package as soon as it landed on my desk!
Judy consistently impresses with her generosity in distributing stamped stickers from events as freebies. She even got her fiancee to help! But out of all the freebies, the standout was a selfie reminding me to use what I bought. Judy needs to send me this photo so it can be my new phone wallpaper. I also picked up a cute wooden stamp of a little fox mail carrier on a bike by Hello Studio. I hope it inspires me to send more mail, especially the mail that I’ve been putting off.
Pictured above are the tapes I purchased. On the left, the top two are from one of my favorite artists, Maruco, and the bottom tape is from hanksdiary. I split those with other participants in the personal shopping, so I only paid for half a roll. The two on the right are actually sample loops of a dog tape from YStudio. She has two tapes that feature different dog breeds and they’re so good that I ended up sacrificing a sticker sheet to get both. Worth it!
Here’s a sampling of what the different tapes offer. I love them all so much! I’ve already ended up using several elements from the tapes to do some spreads.
There were a few other items in the package, but they contain some cartoonish borderline NSFW content, so I’ll leave them out of this post. Let me just say, I love them and they were so worth it!
The part where I hope I capitalized all the right things.
My other early April purchases were from TRAVELER’S COMPANY. Last month, they announced their new TOKYO EDITION and while I didn’t have the budget to get all the pieces, I preordered the ones that I wanted the most. I ended up doing a pickup order for these at Dromgoole’s to support my local business and save on shipping.
I went for the charms, stickers, and the Tokyo insert. I’m trying not to succumb to the temptation of the notebook itself, but some photos make it look so enticing, especially with the charm attached. Admittedly, I haven’t been using my TRAVELER’S notebooks all that much since last year’s Japan trip, but I want to use them again. I’ve even toyed with the idea of switching back to one for all my journaling. I have plenty of inserts and accessories! Mainly, I wanted to secure these items while they were still available because I knew I wanted them, and I expected they would become scarce. Based on my observations on various websites, the three items I purchased have been among the first to sell out.
Using my Stuff
I’m attempting to share my journal spreads more often, because it’s the best way to show how I’m putting my stuff to use!
As soon as I got my Maruco tapes, I couldn’t help but make this charming coffee shop-themed spread. These characters are delightful, and the result was incredibly cute! I'm eagerly looking forward to incorporating the rest of the Maruco tapes into future spreads.
I also used some of the dog tape from Ystudio to make a spread that I’m calling an ode to my dog, Kirby. I love how the tapes capture the French bulldog personality.
I even used Judy’s packaging and freebie goodies from Illustration Taipei (and some bits from the hanksdiary tape) to make a spread!
While my husband was working night shifts, I tackled stationery organization. I used the additional washi storage containers to arrange everything by color, leaving myself room to add more in the future. I even destashed a few rolls at our last journal club meetup, freeing up even more space.
While sorting through my stationery, I found some tape samples and sticker sheets tucked away in a basket. It was like discovering hidden treasures—I had completely forgotten about some of these items, and now they’re integrated into my collection to ensure future use.
I still want to come up with a way to sort my items into stationery capsules for easier use. I just haven’t found anything that works for me yet. Does anyone else do a capsule? I’d love to know how you organize your stationery!
Temptations
The TRAVELER’S COMPANY TOKYO Edition release was undeniably tempting. Part of me wanted to hoard a second set of stickers and buy one of everything. However, knowing that they will restock later in the year helped me resist the urge to splurge on additional items. I feel content with my decision to only purchase the three items I did, as my priority is to use and enjoy my belongings rather than hoarding them.
Sailor announced a new pen that took me by surprise. It’s called Sunlight from the Ocean Floor, and it looks beautiful. While most of the recent Sailor releases haven’t piqued my interest, this one is very tempting. I'm particularly intrigued by the King of Pen version, as I've always wanted to add one to my collection. However, most of the pens that are released in this size are not to my liking or out of my price range. Since I do have an allowance to buy one pen this year outside of my budget, this pen could be a contender for that purchase. However, I want to see it in person first.
I also have to decide if this will be the purchase that I use that allowance on, or if I should save it for something that’s ultra rare that I would have to snag immediately instead of saving up for. Or save it for the upcoming brutal gauntlet that will be August.
What I’ve Learned
This challenge has proven to be both easier and harder than I initially expected. While I've stayed within the rules so far, I know August will present the ultimate test. With events like Yoseka Stationery Fest and the San Francisco Pen Show coming up, both featuring an ever-expanding lineup of amazing vendors, resisting the temptation to buy EVERYTHING will require serious determination. At the end of July, I'll need to compile a list of desired items and rank them by priority, knowing that I won't be able to acquire everything.
One thing that has become abundantly clear to me is the significant expense associated with maintaining this hobby. I've spent more money on replenishment, storage, and displays than I initially expected. These expenses are essential for both using and preserving my collection. Moving forward with this challenge, it's important to focus on how these replenishment items are used and to explore ways to minimize their impact on my larger household budget.
The public accountability of sharing my no-spend journey has been instrumental in helping me stick to my budget. Without this platform, I might have succumbed to temptation, especially now that we've made significant strides in paying off debts. It would have been easy to justify treating myself to something nice, like a new Horse Hair II PLOTTER or a shiny King of Pen. However, I'm reminded that the goal wasn't just to clear debts but also to build savings, change spending habits, and set myself up for a potential career change. These regular check-ins and the support of my subscribers serve as reminders of my end goals.
So, to everyone who has subscribed and followed along so far, thank you so much for coming along for this ride! We’ve got eight more months to go, and we’re only just getting warmed up.
If there’s anything you’d like to see from me in a future post, please leave a comment!
Totals
No new spending in the quarter so far, so still sitting at $10.98 remaining. The only increase was in the Replenishment/Supplies/Storage category.
As always, you can monitor the tracker here, or copy it and use it yourself if you’d like!
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Im really enjoying following you on this challenge. As far as storage I recently bought a plastic box at Michaels during a 40% off sale to try and organize all the small bits of paper, stickers, tags ect. I think Its called a photo and craft keeper and it has 16 flat plastic containers in it. There not quite long enough for some of the sticker sheets but It wasnt a problem to trim thoes sheets down a bit. i also cut strips of my washis to put in there as well. My idea was to have each little box a theme so it would be easier to find things. I can send you a photo of Instagram if you like.