Q1 Review: Stationery Spending

It has been a full three months since I told myself I would get my stationery spending more under control. In this blog post, I wanted to honestly reflect on what I purchased in Q1, and how I plan to set stationery spending goals for Q2.

Why Did I Do This?

Towards the end of last year, I started feeling overwhelmed with the amount of stationery I own. I was receiving things in the mail faster than I could use them in a reasonable amount of time, which resulted in a pile of stationery goods that I liked, but often forgot about. Another problem I had - and admittedly still have - was hoarding some of the items I received instead of using them right away, “saving” them for some type of special occasion that never came. If I had a really nice sheet of stickers, I would think, "I should save this for a better time.” If 2020 taught me anything, it’s that there is no better time than now to use what I have!

I also became a homeowner in 2020, and with it came a set of financial obligations I had to fulfill alongside my partner. I began taking personal finance more seriously and have reevaluated my retirement plan and investments since then, which meant I naturally had to purchase less in order to keep my saving levels consistent.

Although I could have joined many others who decided to go on a 365-day no spend in 2021, I felt that a complete no spend was unrealistic for someone like me. One thing I’ve discovered about myself through past no spend attempts is that I’ll succeed for a given period of time and not buy anything, then explode in the weeks following the no spend almost as if to make up for the money I didn’t spend. I wanted to avoid impulse purchases this year, so I decided to try and be more mindful of what I buy for a quarter and observe the results before continuing on.

January

I only made one purchase in January on the 25th, but it was a big one. I ordered a Field Notes wide leather cover from LeRight that day as a future treat to myself - I was going through a hectic time at work and wanted to give myself a reward at the end of a large ongoing project that was set to end in February. Knowing that the LeRight custom covers take a few weeks to be made, I timed my purchase so that I would receive my order in February.

When the cover landed in my mailbox the following month, I began to use it right away as a cover for my Korean journal. Even though this purchase was an investment, I’m happy to say that I’ve been using it almost on a daily basis. I also plan to carry it outside for stationery meetups in the future when it’s safe again for people to gather in bigger groups!

February

The two items on my list initially were the TWSBI smoke rose gold ECO fountain pen and the Colorverse fountain pen ink in the color Coffee Break. I ordered those two items right away when the ECO released in early February and thought to myself, I’m all set!

Despite that, I ended up buying a washi drawer from Michael’s later in the month because the previous washi storage I had wasn’t working for me. It was always a little too far from the working area of my desk, which meant I had to overreach every single time, and having them in a wooden drawer meant that some of them were hidden in the back, making them more difficult to access. The new acrylic drawers I got were specifically made for washi storage, and it has been so much easier since then to get the rolls I need quickly.

Then, I sent my passport camel traveler’s notebook to Baum-kuchen (BK) for the Truly Yours customization service, which I’ve discussed at length in the previous blog post. After I got it back in the mail, I changed my wallet setup back into it immediately and have been using it on a regular basis. I had a gift card to BK from the holiday season that I hadn’t used yet, so the amount of money I actually ended up paying was only for the priority tracked shipping. Nonetheless, it counted as a fairly sizable purchase in my mind - the last time I customized a traveler’s notebook was more than two years prior, after all. I mentally counted this customization as an early March spend, and really told myself not to buy as much as possible during the actual month of March.

March

I did much better during March - the only items I purchased were refills for the Sarasa Mark-ON gel pen, an extra pen clip from Midori to use on an existing A6 notebook, and two refills for the Kokuyo Dotliner tape runner. One of the reasons I was able to hold back more this month has to do with the upcoming April Traveler’s Company B-Sides & Rarities release, where I know I’m going to be buying a few things. I figured I could wait it out since I already had a future purchase “locked in.”

What Worked? What Didn’t Work?

My initial goal was to make one meaningful stationery-related purchase each month. February clearly didn’t go as well as the other months, but overall I think I did pretty well for a first attempt. I definitely paused more before thinking about purchases and somehow resisted going to the various websites that were shared through numerous stationery Twitch streams over the past few weeks!

In terms of what didn’t work - I felt caught between the self-imposed controlled spend and the amazing small businesses in the stationery community that either restocked or came out with new products in Q1. There are so many creators who make their unique art into products, and I wish I could have supported them more actively this quarter.

Because I didn’t set a monthly budget, I also confused myself on whether or not I was doing a low spend or a meaningful spend. I’d ideally like to strike a balance between the two - supporting amazing small businesses is always going to be meaningful, but that doesn’t mean I can constantly spend money on stationery with every new release or restock either. Instead of doing one meaningful purchase each month, I think I’m going to set a rough monthly budget going forward and really assess what I want to add.

I hope my Q1 spending review was interesting for you to read. There are new releases and brands that I discover frequently through the stationery community, so I always try to remind myself that I don’t have to have one of everything. I own quite a large collection already, and I’m looking forward to using as much as of it as possible this year and adding to it meaningfully where possible!

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