In this first update of my 2026 low-buy year, I’m walking you through what January actually looked like—new rules, the wins I’m proud of, and the spots where I definitely slipped. I’m sharing everything I spent (from my full-time job income) and giving you the honest, bookish-chaos breakdown of how I’m tracking my money without turning this into a shame spiral. The goal is progress, not perfection, and I’m trying to build systems that make my spending match my real priorities. A few important boundaries: I’m not counting mandatory “adulting” expenses like bills, gas, and necessities. I’m also not including anything bought with gifted money or money earned from reselling on PangoBooks or Mercari—because that’s not part of my normal income and it usually goes right back into those platforms. And I’m keeping BookTube/Patreon-related expenses separate for now (Canva Premium, Patreon memberships, Everand, etc.) since those come from my creator account. This update is basically my January financial check-in, plus the rule tweaks I needed to make this low-buy realistic and sustainable.