DOGE Yourself

Blog Post Still Under Construction 🚧

I liked the story behind the term DOGE. Originally referring to the crypto coin and then Elon Musk joking around with the acronym Dept. of Government Efficiency and then actually becoming an actual department of the U.S. government. It was a fun way to get into people minds to think about how Government was spending more than it was taking in.

But then I thought about myself and the way I spend money. We falling into so many marketing traps making you feel like you just hit the discount of the year. With things like the Klarna and Shop app where you can buy and pay over time through four bi-weekly payments, what was originally $100, all you have to pay now is just $25. You forget the rest of the $75 cause the checkout just says all you need to pay right this moment is $25 and your $100 worth of goods will ship in 5-7 business days. I’ll be honest I fell for the trap also feeling like I was hitting up deal after deal and it got to the point where almost every 4-6 days, my bank account was being deducted $30-$50 for those Klarna payments.

With all those numerous Klarna payments I saw that I was going way over my budget and like other people, I also have some credit card debt to pay off that’s manageable (not student debt amount w/ years worth of compounded interest) but all of it adds up and you realize that American consumerism is financially draining you.

Then I had to think about how I spend on a daily basis. Do I really need to spend $4 on Dunkin’ coffee every morning? Do I need to spend $25 on popcorn, drink and buncha crunch every time I watch a movie at AMC? Do I need to buy the heavily discounted books and blu-rays on Amazon?

For the past year I’ve been trying to save up for a new camera but couldn’t because these small purchases were nibbling away at my savings.

Now I have growing stacks of unread books growing in my room because at the time they were listed half the original price on Amazon or less than $5 at the used bookstore I frequently go to.

You get tired of having to start at square one. I know no one is going to check my finances for me and give me some magical tips.

Now I’m “DOGE’ing” myself.

It’s not perfect but I have a daily notebook now to write down the expenses to make sure my budget is not going off track.