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August 18, 2021

Consumption Diary #36

A key part of this challenge is to record a weekly consumption diary. This will both hold me accountable to readers of this blog, and will allow me to think about my consumption habits.

As a reminder:

  • Exempt items are those classes of goods that I am allowed to purchase new, such as food and cleaning supplies.

  • Watched items are items that I am allowed to purchase, but that I would like to cut back on. Examples include travel and certain productivity softwares. I will also always include a justification for these items.

  • Restricted items are items I am not allowed to buy new.

Finally, I will also record the goods I have sold or donated.

Physical EXEMPT Items Purchased

  • $666, a factory refurbished used laptop. This new laptop is going to be a breath of fresh air! It's a light 2-in-1 tablet from 2017 that I bought at half price. It's both thinner and significantly more performant than my current laptop.

  • $145, restaurants and wine tastings for two in Santa Barbara.

  • $99, a used North Face Recon backpack. Though I've yet to scribble down all my impressions from being a digital nomad, a lack of suitable equipment made my travels quite uncomfortable. A lot of back pain ensued from my usage of a cheap day pack. The North Face Recon is the only product I've seen with a [full five stars](https://www.amazon.com/North-Face-Womens-Recon-Backpack/dp/B0764GHT2F/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=recon+back+pack&qid=1629292301&s=instant-video&sr=1-1) on Amazon, so I am very excited to try it out.

  • $300, restaurants and groceries. When you return from traveling, you need to restock your kitchen and get back in the habit of cooking for yourself. As evidenced by the price tag, I haven't succeeded at the latter, but I didn't go hungry at least!

Digital EXEMPT Items Purchased

Physical WATCHED Items Purchased

Digital WATCHED Items Purchased

RESTRICTED Items Purchased

Items Sold or Donated.

Final Thoughts

  • This week really has been the great splurge, and the splurging may continue on to next week. This is largely in response to the issues I faced while pretending to be a digital nomad. More on that later.
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