Jung MIn Park

Even before taking this class, I have been tracking my spending habit through an app on my smartphone. One big reason I prefer using cards instead of cash is that it is so much easier to track how I spent my money monthly. So far my July spending breaks down into $175 services (Portland Art Tax for all of my family) because I used to live in City of Portland that is 30.77% of my total spending for July, $126.65 restaurants and groceries which is 22.27% of total, and $124.94 vehicle services such as gas, insurance and car wash which is 21.97% of total, and $113.95 personal use like doctors visit and merchandise which makes up the rest 20 % of my spending. This is for both my sister and I, we share responsibility on the things we share together.  

This way, I can review it at the end of every month and check to see if any improvement can be made for the next month. I think I am doing okay so far this month. 

My sister and I have been sharing a car to commute. I will drop my sister off at work in the morning. While she is at work, I can use the car to get groceries, go to doctor's visit ect., and I pick her up later in the day from her work. Due to COVID-19, we do not travel as much so it allowed us to save gas too. I have a bike I can ride on so I will try to bike once I get familiar with the road around my new neighborhood. 

One thing I need to make my neighborhood cleaner was to pick up other dogs' litter. We have lots of dogs around my neighborhood and I sometime notice litters unpicked on the street. I have a leash that is attached with a roller litter bags which helps me not to forget bringing bags to pick up my dogs' litter. I also use decomposable litter bags to avoid using plastic bags which will only be used once to pick up the litter. 

Taking this class made me feel guilty about how much trash I collect weekly. One challenge I did was to limit myself with one bag of trash bag for the entire week including recyclable things. I take out my trash every Thursday and I still have lots of room for this week which I am proud of. One thing I tried was buying less grocery for the week. If I buy less, I produce less. I also reused the bottles and containers to store the left overs in order to reduce waste. One hardship I faced was the boxes. I had some packages from the stuff I ordered online and I just couldn't come up with one idea to reuse those.  

Today morning before class, I took a short walk with my dog in Rock Creek trails which is a 5 minute drive from my home and 20 minutes by walking. It was emotionally therapeutic since it is difficult to get out and get fresh air due to COVID-19. The weather was perfect for a walk, not too cold and not too hot. Having a time off from my phone and being surrounded by trees and grass gave me a chance to appreciate what nature has to offer. I loved it! 

This weekend, I visited a community garden near my home. I noticed a parking lot in the middle of nowhere in recent moved residence and I was so curious to find out what the place was. I found out that it was actually a community garden where people in the community gather to grow a variety of fresh vegetable to donate to neighbors in need. I hope to participate once I get settled to my new home. 

I used stainless steal cups and silicon straws at home to reduce plastic bottle and straw usage. I carried a tumbler around whenever I have to go outside, avoiding any drinks in plastic bottle. By not purchasing sugary drinks, I was able to save the plastic bottle used for the drink, save money, and also prevent negative impact on my health from consuming lots of sugar.