So, I saw the news about Yordan Alvarez locking down that big contract with the Astros. What was it, like $115 million over six years? Crazy money, man. Makes your head spin a bit.
It actually got me thinking about my own situation, not the millions, obviously, but just getting things in order. So, the other weekend, I decided to really sit down and map out my own finances. Not something I do often enough, you know?
My Budgeting Grind
First thing I did was just dump everything out. Pulled up my bank statements online, grabbed the credit card bills, even found that pile of receipts I shoved in a drawer. Spread it all out on the kitchen table. Looked like a mess.
Then, I started sorting. Had to figure out where the money was actually going. I made a few simple lists:
- Needs: Rent, utilities, groceries, car payment, insurance. The stuff you gotta pay.
- Wants: Eating out, subscriptions I barely use, random online shopping. The fun stuff, but also the budget killers.
- Savings/Debt: What little I was putting away, plus what I owed on the credit card.
I just used a plain notebook and a pen. Nothing fancy. Wrote down the numbers for the last couple of months. It took a while, honestly. Had to really dig through the statements line by line. Seeing it all written down was… well, an eye-opener.
Seeing Alvarez get that guaranteed $115 million, including a $5 million bonus just to sign, while I’m trying to figure out how to save an extra fifty bucks a month is kind of funny, in a way. Different worlds entirely.
Anyway, after getting all the numbers down, I started trying to make a plan. Looked hard at the ‘Wants’ list. Cut out a couple of streaming services I forgot I even had. Decided to try packing lunch more often instead of buying it every day.
It wasn’t some magic fix, but by the end of the afternoon, I had a clearer picture. Felt like I actually did something useful. It’s not exactly negotiating a multi-million dollar deal like Alvarez’s people did, locking him in through 2028, but it felt like taking a bit more control of my own small corner of the world. Just a practical thing I got done, prompted by some baseball news.
