Winter Gratification with Honey

This blog post is sponsored by Honey, but all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

For very good reason, this winter has felt like a lifetime. There doesn’t seem to be a middle ground between days that feel like forever and weeks that fly by - I have no concept of time and it is my understanding that I am not alone in this. Since the pandemic started nearly a year ago, my perspective has changed in multiple areas of my life, and on my more optimistic days, I realize that it is for the better even if it feels like a temporary burden -- like the lack of gatherings forcing me to spend time with myself and dig deep; the lack of travel making me grateful and fully present with my whereabouts here in this apartment that I’ve made home; and the majority of my spending being dedicated to groceries making me realize how saving for bigger events in the future gives me hope. I realize how important it is to be fully here right now to be able to appreciate those little luxuries we had, and to have moments like those to look forward to.

At the end of last year, I began talking about finances more than I ever had before -- what does it take to save up to buy a house? What are the big life events that I want to be comfortable spending on in the next few years? Where can I save more now so that I can put that money towards something much more meaningful in the future? But I also looked at it with a realistic lens -- that sometimes buying the summer dress I’ve coveted gives me hope for brighter days and warmer moments. And that I don’t have to spend myself into guilt to have my cake and eat it too. 

“Creating a life that inspires us everyday starts with prioritizing what’s most important to us.” / Photo by Gaby Scheer

At the beginning of lockdown, my mind naturally gravitated towards updating corners in my home understanding that it would become my home office, my workout studio, and everything else that an apartment is meant to be. I had my eye on pieces that I wanted, but hesitated to splurge in such times, especially after I had lost my job and I was having to recalibrate myself. I spent a lot of time online and re-downloaded the Honey plugin for my browser and began adding things to my Watch Lists, which notifies me whenever something drops in price or a promo code comes up that I can apply to that retailer or that item. It is life changing to say the least!

Staying at home made me think that I could do and build anything (or maybe that was just spending too much time on Tik Tok and Pinterest, but I digress). My online retail therapy became a routine of feeling inspired and adding to my cart materials from Home Depot (yes you can shop Home Depot online!), to telling Christian about my ideas for what we were going to build, to realizing that we didn’t have the skills and then ending up on All Modern to satisfy that decor itch that needed to be scratched...sans the building part. The idea was to save money and get creative by crafting our own pieces, but with the discounts that Honey generated from all over the internet, I never felt guilty splurging on the pieces that required little to no building, like new planters for our plant babies, a fire pit for our terrace, and our favorite outdoor furniture for the days that turned into nights sipping Sancerre and making s’mores. Things that I hadn’t previously thought twice about buying at full price now I couldn’t imagine buying at full price. After all, I didn’t want to compromise quality to save money, but I also didn’t want to spend money to have the things that I want, and thanks to Honey, I never had to settle when filling these voids in my home, closet, and on new at-home fitness equipment.

Outdoor sofa bought on AllModern with Honey promo code

Creating a life that inspires us everyday starts with prioritizing what’s most important to us; and it’s  the smallest things that ladder up to our bigger-ticket dreams -- a house, a family, and traveling more. Saving is always hard living in New York and as someone who’s eager to live in the moment, but little changes like opting for public transportation instead of Ubering (when safe and available), to being smarter about my splurges by using Honey, has made a huge difference for me. From ordering takeout from my favorite food delivery sites, to restocking on my favorite beauty products, to updating corners of my home, Honey has been there for me a lot this year to help me be more financially responsible.
Download Honey on your web browser to start saving on all the places you’re already shopping at. Honey applies the best price in your online carts by searching through hundreds of promo codes online and automatically applying the best one. A few of my favorite sites that I’ve used it on are AllModern, Ruggable, Sephora, Grubhub, and Nordstrom. The best part is that even if Honey can’t find you a promo code, you still receive Honey Gold, which acts as cash back and can be used on sites like Amazon, Nike, and Lululemon. No joke, just from having Honey on my browser, I have gotten almost $100 in gift cards from Honey Gold. Needless to say, if you’re shopping online for anything and everything, Honey is your new best friend.