glow-up-girlie - Tumblr blog

[glow-up-girlie]

Day 10: April 20th, 2024.

Care Tasks: I've been cleaning my room today. I found a couple pieces of clothing to give away in the process.

Health: I slept for 10 hours last night bc I was exhausted.

Finances: Paid my bills for the week, and checked on some of my investment accounts.

[glow-up-girlie]

[glow-up-girlie]

Day 9: April 13th, 2024.

Care Tasks: I'm going to attempt some of the tasks I didn't complete yesterday, like making my bed and throwing away some things.

Health: My focus today is on eating healthier and tracking my water intake.

Finances: Checking my investment account and spending as little as I can on my lunch (while getting something healthy). So probably skipping getting a drink to go with the food and just making some of the tea in the breakroom at work.

[glow-up-girlie]

Day 8: April 12th, 2024.

Care Tasks: I'll be making my bed, doing some laundry, and finding some things that I don't use anymore to dispose of. I ended up doing none of those things today. :(

Health: My new Fitbit came in today, and I did a 45-minute workout on the treadmill.

Finances: I paid all my bills today and set aside a little for my savings account.

[glow-up-girlie]

Do it for you.

[glow-up-girlie]

Day 7: April 11th, 2024.

Care Tasks: I put away all my products that were out in the bathroom, and threw away some things. I also worked on putting away some of my laundry.

Health: A 1-mile walk/run. My knee started to feel achy yesterday while I was running so I wanted to do just enough to keep a routine going but not irritate it more. I also focused on drinking more water and tea.

Finances: Tomorrow I get paid, so I'm in a bit of a holding pattern but I'll look at my transactions and figure out what I'll invest in this week.

[Extra] Aesthetics: Whitened my teeth, and shaved & did an at-home laser hair removal treatment.

[glow-up-girlie]

Moodboard for some of my beauty goals for April 2024.

I want to:

Dye my hair [Done]

Work on my skin [In-progress]

Start using self-tanner [Need to start]

Start wearing makeup more often. The goal is very fresh and minimal. [In-progress]

Regularly whiten my teeth [In-progress]

[glow-up-girlie]

Day 6: April 10th, 2024.

Care Tasks: I'm going to spend some time decluttering my bedroom. Specifically, I'm going to be finding home decor items to get rid of. I found this guide on Pinterest and will be referencing it over the next few weeks.

Health: Today I'm going to focus on staying hydrated and take time to sit down and enjoy some of my teas throughout the day. One of my favorites is spearmint tea, which is supposed to be good for hormone regulation (it has anti-androgenic properties) and digestion.

Finances: I'm going to do my local taxes!

[Extra] Aesthetics: I used my teeth whitening kit this morning.

[glow-up-girlie]

Day 5: April 9th, 2024.

(I typed this up yesterday and apparently didn't post it.)

Care Tasks: Decluttering & vacuuming. This one is going to take a lot out of me. I always struggle with maintaining a clean space.

Health: 20-minute workout & drinking more water. These ones are getting easier to keep up with, but I am struggling with not putting myself down for not working out for like 40min to an hour. I hadn't worked out for a bit and need to ease back into it instead of going all out.

Finances: No-spend challenge. This one always kicks my butt because I will always make exceptions for myself. But today I'm off from work so it should be easier.

[glow-up-girlie]

Girlie's Guide to Money

One thing I have always been passionate about is the importance of good financial health, and I wanted to share my tips to get better with money.

💖 Step 1: Reevaluate your relationship with money as a whole.

Ask yourself these 3 questions:

"What is money's purpose?"

"What do I want more money for?"

"How can I spend money in a way that is respectful towards myself and my time?"

If your answers for any of these involve wanting more stuff or wanting to impress yourself or others, you've got a long way to go, and that is okay.

My answer for "What is money's purpose?"

Security. The most important role money has in a person's life is its ability to bring peace of mind. The notion that you will continue to have food on the table and a roof over your head, even if your circumstances change in the future is a powerful thing for you and your family's overall health.

My answer for "What do I want more money for?"

Progress. I want to have more money so I can have the resources I need to move forward in my life. I want a house so I don't lose money on rent every month with nothing to show for it. I want to pay off my car so I have more liquid assets available to me at the end of each month to use to invest or set aside for the future.

I also want to be able to help people. Generosity is a value that is important to me and my identity as a person. If someone needs something, I want to be the one to help them, no strings attached, because that is what doing good in the world looks like to me.

My answer for "How can I spend money in a way that is respectful towards myself and my time?"

Recognizing that every dollar I have represents time that I can't get back. Taking time before each purchase to really evaluate what purpose it will serve in my life.

💖 Step 2: Reevaluate your relationship with material goods.

Ask yourself these 3 questions:

"What was the last thing I purchased?"

"Why did I purchase it?"

"What effect will it have on my life beyond the 24hr mark?

For me, the last purchase I made was a new Fitbit. I purchased it because my current one is acting wonky and the improved features will work better for the type of workouts I like to do. It will positively impact my ongoing wellness journey. I'm especially looking forward to better monitoring my stress levels and utilizing the workout readiness score feature.

If your answer was a piece of clothing, fast food/takeout, or home decor, for example, there is nothing wrong with that. Just be mindful not to consistently make short-term purchases that do not coincide with your long-term goals.

💖 Step 3: Reevaluate your relationship with your overall mental health.

You might be tempted to ask, "What does mental health have to do with saving money?" And let me tell you: everything.

The reason why I didn't put this before step 2 is that I want you to think about what kind of place you were in mentally when you bought that last thing. Were you stressed? Were you feeling self-conscious about your appearance? Were you in crisis and self-medicating?

You need to learn to seek comfort from within, stop distracting yourself all the time, and be happier with less.

If you don't have a solid foundation in regards to your mental health, you will keep spending money on little kid bandages when the situation calls for stitches.

If you drink or smoke, stop. If you got really mad at the fact that I just told you to stop, take a moment to reflect on what that means. I don't actually care if you do those things, I just wanted you to gauge that visceral reaction.

Do you have a healthy relationship with substances? Think about how much you spend on substances in a year. If you're in debt and it's impacting your mental health but you're spending at least a thousand a year on substances, it's unlikely that your relationship with them is healthy.

Someone close to me is horrendous with money, and the number one difference between them and I is this: I found comfort in silence and in doing nothing. They always have to be doing things, playing video games, watching movies, drinking, smoking weed, eating something, you name it.

The bottom line is this: When you have a mindset where you cannot be satisfied, there are no limits to what you will spend in the search for satisfaction.

If you are unhappy with yourself, please invest in better means of helping yourself. Therapy is not cheap, but it may be necessary for you. If you're looking for permission to seek help: Whatever you are suffering from that isn't "that bad yet" is bad enough. Because I said so. Get help please.

💖 Step 4: Reflect on Past Behaviors

Look through your past transactions on your credit card statements, bank statements, or through an app like Empower or Rocket Money.

Ask yourself these questions:

"How much damage did I do within the last 30 days?"

"How much of that can I reverse?"

"What steps can I take to not make the same mistakes in the future?"

You may have spent too much on clothing. If so, look in your closet. How many of those things still have tags on them? Do you still have the receipts? If so, go ahead and return them.

Look through automatic payments/subscriptions and cancel what you can as long as there's no cancellation fees. Even if you have to sign up again later a few months from now, that's a month or two you saved.

The bottom line here though is that what's done is done. Learn what you can from it.

💖 Step 5: Take Action

Adopt a 24hr mindset. Outside of bills and subscriptions, spending happens in chunks of 24hrs at a time. Every time you put off buying something for a bit or choose the cheaper alternatives, it adds up. Learn to resist instant gratification.

I will lose some of you here, but one of my biggest tips is to spend less on beauty products. Use every last drop of what you have, and buy generic/cheaper brands when you can. You will not magically turn more beautiful when you find the right $50 face cream, and it is not your duty as a person to be physically beautiful. At the end of the day, it will all wash down the drain, and you will be the same person you were.

If you look at your bank account and find that you are in good shape, do not splurge. Instead, invest. I'm not a financial advisor, so I will not go into specifics. But, look into things like making contributions to an IRA or HSA account. Buy stocks or money markets. Do something with your money to make more money down the road and you'll have even more to save later.

[glow-up-girlie]

My Story

I go by girlie or dollie on Tumblr. I am 28 years old, and I'm trying my best to navigate through life while suffering from mental illness in ways that impact the quality of my day-to-day life.

This sideblog is where I reflect on my progress and post content that I think could help others in a similar place in life.

Take care of yourself as best as you can, and thank you for being here.

[glow-up-girlie]

Day 4: April 8th, 2024.

(I missed posting yesterday, so I won't count it)

Care Tasks: I will be doing some laundry and decluttering today.

Health: I will be doing 20 minutes of cardio today. I fell off of the whole regular exercise thing for awhile (depression!), so I'm getting back into it slowly.

Finances: I failed my no-spending challenge the other day (But for good reason - I ordered a new Fitbit), so that challenge transfers over to today.

[Extra] Aesthetics: Teeth whitening again today.

[glow-up-girlie]

Day 3: April 6th, 2024.

Care Tasks: When I get home from work today, I will do a load of laundry.

Health: I failed at my no vending machine snack personal challenge yesterday, so I will be attempting that again. Also, while my clothes are in the washer I'm going to run on the treadmill for a bit.

Finances: My goal is to see if I can utilize only things I already have and spend $0 today.

[Extra] Aesthetics: I used my teeth whitening kit this morning before work. I use it occasionally because I drink coffee and tea, and I'm fairly certain it does something but it's sorta hard to tell.

[glow-up-girlie]

Day 2: April 5th, 2024.

Care Tasks: Spent some time this morning before work throwing away old products in the bathroom. I'm slowly inching my way towards a more minimalist approach to beauty. It's painful because I'm finding all these things that I "wasted money on" but I'm trying to remind myself that they were once things that brought me enjoyment.

Health: I've set a goal for today that I won't have any snacks from the vending machine at work. I live with my parents so my mom picks up my groceries for me. I gave her a list of healthy foods I'll have for lunch, as I've been in a rut where I haven't been packing.

Finances: I got paid, so I paid all my bills this morning. I was happy with the amounts. I've found that I am successfully spending less money lately.

[glow-up-girlie]

(Mine will be Chores, Health, and Finances.)

Day 1: April 4th, 2024.

Chores: Doing laundry. I suffer from depression so keeping up with daily tasks is very hard for me. I'm getting better, but still not great.

Health: Drinking more water. I am sooo bad with this normally. I am like, highkey addicted to diet soda so another task you may see me doing soon is a no diet soda day.

Finances: Reviewing my recent purchases/transactions and correctly categorizing them in my finance app. I don't really budget, but I like keeping an eyeball on how much I've been spending. I find that I've been saving a lot more recently as a result.

glow up with me ·∗ˈ‧₊° 60 day challenge!

i wanted to start a 60 day challenge bc tracking my daily progress/healthy habits helps me romanticize my life and stay consistent :-) i love sharing this online space with everyone, too, so feel free to join me <3

rules

🖇️ reblog/reply to this post with 3 valuable parts of your life that you want to give energy to! mine are academics, physical health, and spiritual growth <3

🖇️ every day, post what you did to invest in those goals :) like 1 hr studying, working out, etc.

🖇️ use & follow #nodalchallenge to see my and others’ progress :)

🖇️ join by friday, april 5th!

prizes???

🧸 1st & 2nd place in consistency by june 4th will get a custom pinterest moodboard and spotify playlist :)

[glow-up-girlie]

Life Hack:

You quite literally don't have to fold your bras and underwear before putting them away if you don't have the energy to. Just throwing them in your drawers is enough. No one will know or care if they're wrinkled.

This can help you conserve time and energy for another task if you're prone to experiencing fatigue. Don't let the pursuit of perfection keep you from making meaningful progress!

[glow-up-girlie]

My challenge to everyone for today or whenever you can: Throw one thing out.

It doesn't have to be everything that needs to be thrown out. It doesn't need to be the thing that's been haunting you for the longest amount of time. Just something.