Knowing My Priorities

Today at the gym, I had a revelation while admiring a girl's purse. No, not some crazy "I'm superwoman" revelation in the middle of a hard workout, but a calming revelation while admiring a bag. 

I complimented the bag, and found out it was a Kate Spade. I joked that it was beautiful and that a lot of bags lately that had been catching my eye lately were Kate Spade but that I couldn't afford one. 

That, statement however, is completely false.

If having a really nice, designer handbag was a priority of mine, I could buy it. But it's not, so I don't. I don't think wanting a nice bag is wrong, it's just not a top priority for me, and it was really refreshing to realize that today.

I want to clarify that I am by no means rolling in the dough, but I am fortunate enough to be able to budget for things I really want. In the past year, I have made room in my budget for a European vacation, a flight to Austin for my birthday, a flight to Boston to visit my brother, a new Canon Rebel T3 (which I have been wanting to purchase since I was 16 and used to take the photo above <3), buy my family and friends nice birthday and Christmas gifts, and still have money to go out to eat and on other adventures with my friends.

Clearly, my priorities are traveling, connecting with my friends, and having a creative outlet. I also always make sure to budget for healthy food and my gym membership to keep my health in balance and of course have a few 'extras' like my Spotify and Netflix accounts. The 'extras' are always things I know I can cut if a top priority isn't being met though.

Yes, I could buy myself a Kate Spade bag, but it felt really good today to realize that right now, that's not what is important in my life. I want to travel, document my travels and beautiful city with my new camera, feel healthy, and always make sure I have enough for adventures with my friends.

It's maybe not the biggest revelation ever but an important one. I am so thankful for everything I am able to do and am going to make a conscious effort to not complain about money this week. If whatever I was complaining about was really a priority, I would make time and room in my budget for it.

Thanks for listening to my rambling story of the day :)