Low(er) Buy 2026

Happy Tuesday,

The formatting on this got majorly messed up between draft to post... I might fix it at some point.

Also, I'm just going to stop acknowledging the huge gaps between blog posts.

Sincerely,

Totally Ky's team (aka me and my cat Batty)

This is my second year of having buying rules to try to limit the clutter and over consumption in my life. These are my rules for this year which are very repetitive, detailed, repetitive, long and repetitive because I found loop holes in my rules for last year. For example I put "watermelon lip oil" in my list of exceptions. I meant the one I love from dollar tree but because I didn't specify that I bought one from five below that I didn't like. And then I did a lip product inventory and realized I have five of the dollar tree watermelon lip oils so I took it off the exception list completely. I also put "Shein hauls" in my exceptions list last year so I changed that to mean that I could break the other buying rules if I bought it during my once a month shein purchase.

I also took that out of my exception list and now I've limited shein or redbubble to every other month.     I added accountability partners and punishments that I'm hoping will be such a deterrent that I won't even need them... We shall see how that works out.     I also added a reward. If I finish five non-chapstick branded lip products then I get to buy one to replace them.      I'm super excited about this and have been keeping a list of lip products I want. And that excitement is driving me to really try to get through products. I've already finished a lip product that I've had since around 2017.

I took screen shots of my rules to post here and send to my accountability partners so that I can't change the rules and I just noticed a typo that I will not be fixing.

Bonus: How did I get here? 

I've managed to limit my anxiety to five years in the future. Meaning I am allowed to worry about aspects of my life and plans within the next five years and past that is future Ky's problem. That means I'm worried about moving which my family is planning to do sometime after my brother graduates highschool.

Now what I am worried about is moving. I mean literally moving all of my shit (do I curse on this blog?... Well I do now) from one place to another. I have lived in my current house as long as I can remember. I lived in a few different places when I was very little but I don't remember even moving in to my current home. The only moving I've done is from one side of the house to another. We moved out of the granny pad and into the main part of the house after my grandpa passed.

So I've collected a lot of stuff. I got really into taking inventory this year so I can tell you I have 97 stuffed animals, 67 lip products, 45 Halloween headbands, 99 articles of outer clothing, about 95 books. And this is after years of decluttering... And buying more things.

Totally Ky

New Year's Resolutions 2025

 Happy Tuesday,

See also: New Year's Resolutions 2016,  2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

Looking back on 2024 Resolutions

1. Turn 27 Success.

2. Hydrate. Success.

3. Keep up with my meds. Success.

I got a monthly pill holder ($12 on Amazon) which helped a lot with consistently
taking them but it brought less attention to the days I missed. While I do think I did better this year I am guessing the number of missed days. I plan to add another strategy to help keep a more accurate count.

2020 - 20, 2021 - 42, 2022 - 42, 2023 - 16, 2024 - 10

4. Post Resolutions in January. Success. Success.

5. Post 2021 and 2022 Book Review. Success.

6. Keep consistent with my newly started reading journal. Success.

7. Read ≥ 60. Success

2017 - 41, 2018 - 69, 2019 - 19, 2020 - 53, 2021 - 51, 2022 - 45, 2023 - 65, 2024 - 82

8. Read two books from my 2023 TBR List. Success.

9. Write more (Goal is 340) - Fail.

Project C 2022 - 206 pgs, 2023 - 244, 2024 - 281.

10. Journal more - or rather keep up the good work. Success.

2019 - 77, 2020 - 40, 2021 - 139, 2022 - 75, 2023 - 82, 2024 - 97

11. Be more mindful about buying stationery. Success.

12. Create more art. Fail.

13. Finish a coloring book. I was so close! Fail.

14. Achieve more resolutions. Success.

2016 - 4/12, 2017 - 5/8, 2018 - 7/13, 2019 - 4/11, 2020 - 7/12, 2021 - 6/12, 2022 - 3/12, 2023 - 7/13, 2024 - 11/14

2025 Resolutions

1. Turn 28

2. Hydrate

3. Keep up with my meds

2020 - 20, 2021 - 42, 2022 - 42, 2023 - 16, 2024 - 10

4. Post Resolutions in January. Oops. Fail.

5. Post 2023 and 2024 Book Review. I'm considering giving up on posting reviews because it's a lot of work and I don't wanna.

6. Keep consistent with my reading log

7. Read ≥ 65
2017 - 41, 2018 - 69, 2019 - 19, 2020 - 53, 2021 - 51, 2022 - 45, 2023 - 63, 2024 - 82

8. Read 2 books from my 2025 TBR List.

9. Write more - ≥ 50 pages
Project C 2022 - 206 pgs, 2023 - 244, 2024 - 281.

10. Journal more - or rather keep up the good work.
2019 - 77, 2020 - 40, 2021 - 139, 2022 - 75, 2023 - 82, 2024 - 97

11. Keep under 50 violations of my new buying rules. (I may make a separate post about this).

12. Create more art

13. Finish a coloring book

14. Achieve more resolutions

2016 - 4/12, 2017 - 5/8, 2018 - 7/13, 2019 - 4/11, 2020 - 7/12, 2021 - 6/12, 2022 - 3/12, 2023 - 7/13, 2024 - 11/14

Totally Ky

Book Review 2021 & 2022

Happy Tuesday,

A lot of these reviews I finished writing recently which means I don't remember all of the books very well and my notes were not always helpful. But I can't keep adding years to this post because it's already making the typing lag horrifically long.

Unhaul: I read the book and for whatever reason I will not be keeping it.

See also: Book Review 2020 (52)

2021 (51)

1. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (Unhaul)

    Plot twist she is not fine. 

    Trigger warning for depression and ideation. Used the word "f@g" twice for cigarette (I don't care about the context. That's a no for me). 

    Eleanor is seemingly completely fine. She lives a solitary life of routine and too much vodka. She makes maybe her first friend ever who teaches her what it's like to care and be cared for, but when infatuation for another man goes wrong she spirals into a depressive episode where her friend finds her on the floor and encourages her to seek help. She then confronts a childhood full of trauma she'd kept at bay with denial and alcohol.

    This book was a Christmas present and while it was good enough for me to finish I don't love it enough to keep it on my small bookshelf.

New Year's Resolutions 2024

Happy Tuesday,

See also: New Year's Resolutions 2016,  2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Looking back on 2023 Resolutions

1. Turn 26. Success.

2. Hydrate. Success.

3. Keep up with my meds. Success.

2020 - 20, 2021 - 42, 2022 - 42, 

2023 - 16

4. Blog (2) Fail.

5. Book Reviews - Post and track. Fail.

6. Read more (>45) Success.

2017 - 41, 2018 - 69, 2019 - 19, 2020 - 53, 2021 - 51, 2022 - 45, 

2023 - 65

7. Finish the Sherlock Series!!!! Fail.

8. Write more - I've been working on a project that had 206 pages as of 12/31/22. 

I'd like to get to 306 pages this year. Fail.

Project C 2022 - 206 pgs, 

2023 - 244 pgs.

9. Journal more - or rather keep up the good work. Success.

2019 - 77 pgs, 2020 - 40 pgs, 2021 - 139 pgs, 2022 - 75 pgs, 

2023 - 82 pgs

10. Buy less notebooks. Success.

11. Create more art. Success.

12. Finish a coloring book. Fail.

13. Achieve more resolutions. Fail.

2016 - 4/12, 2017 - 5/8, 2018 - 7/13, 2019 - 4/11, 2020 - 7/12, 2021 - 6/12, 2022 - 3/12,

2023 - 7/13

2024 Resolutions

1. Turn 27

2. Hydrate

3. Keep up with my meds

2020 - 20, 2021 - 42, 2022 - 42, 2023 - 16

4. Post Resolutions in January. I'm separating the two blog post resolutions starting this year so that if I only do one I still get to call it a success.

5. Post 2021 and 2022 Book Review.

6. Keep consistent with my newly started reading journal

7. Read ≥ 60. I would like to stay in the 60s again this year but over 65 might not be doable. I want to leave myself some wiggle room in case I need it.
2017 - 41, 2018 - 69, 2019 - 19, 2020 - 53, 2021 - 51, 2022 - 45
2023 - 65

8. Read two books from my 2023 TBR List. (I'm replacing the Sherlock series resolutions with this. I will finish the series someday but or now I'm taking it off of my resolutions.)

9. Write more - 
Project C 2022 - 206 pgs
2023 - 244
2024 - Goal is 340. I chose to make the goal 96 pages for the year so that I can break it down evenly into 8 pages a month to make sure I'm keeping on track.

10. Journal more - or rather keep up the good work.
2019 - 77, 2020 - 40, 2021 - 139, 2022 - 75
2023 - 82

11. Be more mindful about buying stationary - (I'm broadening the notebook resolution because I've mostly conquered my need to buy notebooks but I also have a problem with stationary in general. That includes notebooks, notepads, sticky notes, stickers, coloring books, and pencil cases. The exceptions are stickers from Red Bubble and Etsy, and anything Scooby-Doo.)

12. Create more art

13. Finish a coloring book

14. Achieve more resolutions

2016 - 4/12, 2017 - 5/8, 2018 - 7/13, 2019 - 4/11, 2020 - 7/12, 2021 - 6/12, 2022 - 3/12, 2023 - 7/13

Totally Ky

New Year's Resolutions 2023

 Happy Tuesday, 
See also: New Year's Resolutions 2016,  2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022

2022 Resolutions

1. Turn 25 - Success.

2. Drink more water - I'm calling this a Success because not only did I drink a lot of water I learned there's more to hydrating than just drinking water. Who the heck knew?! So this resolution thus forth shall be known simply as "Hydrate".

3. Keep up with my meds - Epic fail.

2020 - 20

2021 - 42 days missed

4. Blog (2) - Fail. I'm hoping to post my book review for the last two years soon.

5. Book Reviews - Fail. 

6. Read more (>53) Fail. I didn't check on my progress for this resolution as the year progressed which I think is key for nailing this one,

2017 - 41

2018 - 69
2019 - 19

2020 - 53

2021 - 51

2022 - 45

7. Finish the Sherlock Series!!!!! (There is now an exclamation for every year this has been a resolution) 2022 2023 will be the year I finish this series!  Fail.

8. Write more - Success.

9. Journal more - or rather keep up the good work.

2019 - 77

2020 - 40

2021 - 139

2022 - 75 My cat sprayed on this journal which forced me to abandon it and Fail.

10. Buy less notebooks  - Fail.

11. Create more art - Fail.

12. Achieve more resolutions

2016 4/12

2017 5/8

2018 7/13

2019 4/11

2020 7/12

2021 6/12

2022 3/12 Fail.

2023 Resolutions

1. Turn 26

2. Hydrate

3. Keep up with my meds

2020 - 20

2021 - 42

2022 - 42

4. Blog (2) - 

5. Book Reviews - Post and track

6. Read more (>45)

2017 - 41

2018 - 69
2019 - 19

2020 - 53

2021 - 51

2022 - 45

7. Finish the Sherlock Series!!!!

8. Write more - I've been working on a project that had 206 pages as of 12/31/22. I'd like to get to 306 pages this year. 

Project C 2022 - 206 pgs

2023 -

9. Journal more - or rather keep up the good work.

2019 - 77

2020 - 40

2021 - 139

2022 - 75

10. Buy less notebooks

11. Create more art

12. Finish a coloring book

13. Achieve more resolutions

2016 4/12

2017 5/8

2018 7/13

2019 4/11

2020 7/12

2021 6/12

2022 3/12

Totally Ky

New Year's Resolutions 2022

Happy Tuesday Everyone, 

See also: New Year's Resolutions 2016,  2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021

2021 Resolutions

1. Turn 24 - Sucess. Covid birthdays are more low key but I hear that happens as you get older anyway. All I really want is yummy food, people I like, and presents (just being honest). Based on those standards I had a pretty good birthday.

2. Drink more water - There's always room for improvement but I'm gonna call this one a success. 

3. Keep up with my meds (10) - Fail. I've decided 10 is not a reasonable number so I'll be changing it for the upcoming year. It will still be a challenge as that's kind of the point but 10 is way too unobtainable.

4. Blog? - As you can see this post is a tad late so even though this resolution is a bit ambiguous due to the question mark I am going to call it a fail.

5. Book Reviews - Post and notebook. Looking back at the notebook I kept to keep track of books I've read, I realized I missed at least one book. There's room for improvement there but as it's the first time in many years I've tied to keep track of my reading I'm gonna round up and call it a success. The book Review post is moving slowly because I started making it late and it's not as fun to make so I lack some motivation. But again I'm rounding up and calling this resolution a success.

6. Read more (at least 50)

2017 - 41

2018 - 69
2019 - 19

2020 - 52

2021 - 51 Success.

7. Finish the Sherlock Series!!!! - 2022 will be the year I finish this series! (There is now an exclamation for every year this has been a resolution). This will have to carry over at least another year. Fail.

8. Write more - I didn't write in my creative journal a whole lot but I think I made some good progress on the book I'm working on. Success.

9. Journal more - or rather keep up the good work. Success

10. Do not buy any notebooks - I'm changing this resolution a bit as well for the upcoming year because I didn't buy that many but it counts as a fail because I wasn't allowed to buy any.

1 Jellyfish journal

1 mini cloud keychain

1 next years journal

11. Create more art - Big fail. I wanna do better next year.

12. Achieve more resolutions

2016 4/12

2017 5/8

2018 7/13

2019 4/11

2020 7/12

2021 6/12 fail

2022 Resolutions

1. Turn 25

2. Drink more water

3. Keep up with my meds - For the upcoming year, I've decided to keep this resolution simple and just try to do better than in previous years. Hopefully, in the future, I'll be able to keep a more strict count on missed pills.

2020 - 20

2021 - 

4. Blog (2) - For this resolution, I am changing it to add a deadline to the two posts I want to continue doing no matter what. I want to post my book review and new years resolutions in the future in either December of that year or January of the following year.

5. Book Reviews - Post and notebook

6. Read more (at least 53) I want to try to hit between my 2020 and 2018 count.

2017 - 41

2018 - 69
2019 - 19

2020 - 53

2021 - 51

7. Finish the Sherlock Series!!!!

8. Write more

9. Journal more - or rather keep up the good work.

10. Buy less notebooks

11. Create more art

12. Achieve more resolutions

2016 4/12

2017 5/8

2018 7/13

2019 4/11

2020 7/12

2021 6/12

Totally Ky 

New Year's Resolutions 2021

Happy Tuesday Everyone, 

See also: New Year's Resolutions 2016,  2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020

2020 Resolutions

1. Turn 23 - I always looked forward to being 22 so 23 feels kind of weird. But I did it. I'm here.Success.

2. Drink more water - I did a pretty good job this year. Especially when I was quarantined at home because I used a giant jug for my water. Success.

3. Keep up with my meds (10) - I missed 20 pills. So... Room for improvement. Fail.

4. Blog? - Other than this post and my book review post of all the books I read this year I didn't post anything else so I'm calling this one a fail but I'm not mad about it.

5. Book Reviews - It looks like it's going to be once a year now but I'm going to try using a reading journal in 2021 to keep track of what I read and review it before I forget. So I'm going to expand this resolution to mean make and post my now yearly book review as well as keep up with my reading journal. Success.

6. Read more - Success.

2017 - 41

2018 - 69
2019 - 19

2020 - 52

7. Finish the Sherlock Series!!! - Fail.

8. Write more (100 Pages) - I really let my writing fall through the cracks this year. Fail.

9. Journal more/keep up the good work - Yes! I started journaling almost every day and really kicking up my design effort.Success.

10. Do not buy any notebooks - I did pretty good until the end of the year I gave up a little. I'm calling this one a fail.

11. Create more art - With quarantine keeping me home a lot of them it would have been difficult if I hadn't had  a lot of art to create. Success.. 

12. Achieve more resolutions - Last year I achieved 4/11 resolutions and this year I want to do more. 6/12 means this resolution was a success so it's really 7/12. Success.

2021 Resolutions

1. Turn 24

2. Drink more water

3. Keep up with my meds (10) - Miss no more than ten pills for the whole year!

4. Blog? - 

5. Book Reviews - Post and notebook

6. Read more (at least 50)

2017 - 41

2018 - 69
2019 - 19

2020 - 53

7. Finish the Sherlock Series!!!

8. Write more

9. Journal more - or rather keep up the good work.

10. Do not buy any notebooks

11. Create more art

12. Achieve more resolutions

Totally Ky

New Year's Resolutions 2020

Happy Tuesday everyone, (I thought I posted this already!)
See also: New Year's Resolutions 2016,  2017, 2018 and 2019

2019 Resolutions

1. Turn 22!

2. Drink more water. I think I did just a little bit better this year.

3. Keep up with my meds - I calculated 60 days that I missed my pills this year! FAIL!

4. Blog 24 times including the book reviews. FAIL!

Hardcovers, Paperbacks and eBooks (Oh My) 1/8
Kindness Matters 1/15
What I Want to Teach My Children 3/6
Journal Entry No.1 3/11/19 3/12
I Wanted an Excuse to Eat a Lot of Hashbrowns 7/19
Pride (San Diego 2019) 8/20
Pringles Taste Test 9/3

New Year's Resolutions 2020 2/9/2020 (oops)

5. Book Review - Post each month's book review on time. FAIL!

January Book Review (6) 1/31

February Book Review (1) 2/28

March Book Review (2) 4/12

April Book Review (1) 4/30

May Book Review (2) 5/31

June Book Review (1) 6/30

July Book Review (1) 8/7      

August - December (5) Book Review

6. Read more? FAIL!

2017 - 41

2018 - 69
2019 - 19

7. Finish the Sherlock Series. FAIL! I did read a lot more but I didn't finish it.

8. Write more (100 pages) - I wrote 95 pages but that includes my fanfiction so there's still room to improve.

9. Journal more (50 journal entries). I did it!

10. Do not buy any notebooks - I bought very few.

11. Create more art - I created so much art this year that I went over my '17 things I made' post so it's just a post of all of my paintings now that I have yet to post.

2020 Resolutions

1. Turn 23

2. Drink more water

3. Keep up with my meds - Miss no more than ten pills for the whole year!

4. Blog? I got a job in October so I don't have the time or energy to blog as much as I used to so I'm not sure what I'll be able to do this year or what I should try to do.

5. Book Reviews are gonna be changed to either once or twice a year.

6. Read more! I got stuck in a reading lull in 2019 so I'm hoping to get back into it this year.

7. Finish the Sherlock Series!!!

8. Write more - I'm gonna shoot for 100 pages again.

9. Journal more - or rather keep up the good work.

10. Do not buy any notebooks

11. Create more art

12. Achieve more resolutions. Last year I achieved 4/11 resolutions and this year I want to do more.

Totally Ky

Pride (San Diego 2019)

Happy Tuesday everyone,

Pride 2016 (red) 

Pride 2017 (yellow) 

Pride 2018 (pink)

Pride 2019 (pink agaaaiiin)

Day 1

My morning started off by getting on the wrong shuttle! Pride uses the parking lot at the Old Naval Hospital and has shuttles that can take you to either the parade or the festival. And on Day 1 I got on the shuttle that went to the parade so I had to take it back to the parking lot and get on the correct shuttle so I was a couple minutes late for my shift. After that little bump in the road, my day went pretty well.

I volunteered with Water and Ice Sales again and this year I got to drive a golf cart and take deliveries to different booths. Everything went smoothly until I went to take a break for lunch and get food and was told I needed a meal ticket. Fine. I go ask for my meal ticket and am informed that I can't get my meal ticket until I check out after my shift which is from 8am to 1pm. I understand needing a meal ticket so that people don't take more food than they need but I should be able to get my meal ticket when I want it. They started serving lunch at noon I should be able to get my lunch at noon. I'm a fatty you can't mess with my food. There were of course snacks but this bitch was hungry. So after I check out from my shift and get my meal ticket I go get my lunch and when I go to put the ticket into the cup I palm it instead. Take that. I didn't end up using my meal ticket again but I could have! And that's enough for me.

I sat down for lunch at an empty table and some guys came over to sit with me while they ate their lunch and we got to chatting and they told me they worked for REI Co-op and one of them gave me an REI Co-op pin with a rainbow on it when I told them how much I loved all of the pins at Pride. Their other coworkers all came to sit with us and I kind of became part of their little group while I waited for my friend to come and my uncle to finish his shift. They were all really nice and I still have the pin they gave me on my backpack because I thought the gesture was really nice and it made me really happy.

After a while, my friend came and we did a little walking around before my uncle got off his shift and we decided we were too tired to walk the full loop so we would put it off to the next day. I drove my uncle home before going home myself and showering the sunscreen and sweat off my body before eating some food and passing out at 8PM.

< I bought this Totes Pan bag (that's a post I'm going to need to make very soon) and these pins >

I also picked up a couple free things including 3 cards, 3stickers, 2 bracelets, 1 pen, 1 tattoo, 1 scar treatment sample and 1 bottle of bubbles.

Day 2

The shuttles weren't running when I got to the parking lot so me and two others that were working with me at the Water and Ice Sales were personally taken to the festival in a van driven by one of the shuttle drivers. It felt very VIP. When I got to my booth I started making deliveries with a new very nice volunteer who bought me a horchata.

After my shift ended I walked the loop of booths when my uncle until our free tote bags were full of goodies before heading home. I was also HIV tested (the guy who did it called me a bleeder???) and I'm clean.

I bought 9 stickers, 8 pins, 2 flags and 1 book about David Bowie!

As for free stuff, I picked up anything and everything that wasn't condoms or lube because I'm very single.
19 stickers
17 cards
13 pins
11 bracelets
10 pens
9 lip balms
6 drawstring backpacks
6 tattoos
6 sunglasses
5 keychains
5 beaded necklaces
4 fans
4 stress balls (1 shaped like an actual ball, 1 shaped like a star, 1 shaped like a bunch of grapes and 1 shaped like sperm)
4 cardholders
3 tote bags
3 whistles
2 cookies
2 flags
2 cups
2 clips
1 notepad
1 water bottle
1 water pouch
1 hand sanitizer
1 sunscreen
1 mirror
1 (they said it was a fan but I think it's a frisbee?)
1 frisbee (a definite frisbee)
1 light-up ring
1 fanny pack
1 cowbell
1 dog water bottle
1 doggy bag dispenser

Totally Ky