One day I added up every recurring beauty and maintenance expense. Lash extensions every three weeks. Nails every two weeks. Hair color and cut every six weeks. Monthly facial. Waxing. Skincare products. The annual total was over eight thousand dollars. I sat with that number for a long time. Eight thousand dollars a year on maintenance. Not because I needed it, but because I'd gradually normalized each individual expense until the total became invisible.
I didn't cut everything. I cut the things I was doing for other people versus the things I was doing for myself. Lash extensions? Those were for Instagram. Gone. My natural lashes are fine. Monthly facials? Those were for me. Kept them. The exercise wasn't about spending less — it was about spending intentionally. After the audit, I was spending about $4,000 a year instead of $8,000, and the difference went straight to my investment account.
The maintenance era is real and nobody judges you for participating. But know the number. Know what you're spending annually. And make sure it's a choice, not a habit you drifted into because everyone else was doing it.
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