Roundup #51 š„±š
Dealing with anxiety, career growth in a recession, fixing your budget mistakes, 2023 BMW X1, and a comment on attacks against our community.
Welcome to The Boring Gay Roundup! The gay experience, career, money, and cars from a boring gay in <5 minutes.
Lexicon
Anxiety has been kicking my ass lately. Iāve dealt with it for years and it comes and goes in waves. After at least a year or so with it under control, itās come back pretty strong and has made it difficult for me to do some of the most basic tasks. I know itās back, in part, because Iāve had an extremely stressful year. And as part of that stressful year, I dropped some habits that help me cope with my anxiety. Things like working out, meditating, and being social. Iāve ramped those up significantly in the last couple of weeks but of course, progress doesnāt happen overnight. When my anxiety takes over I feel disappointed in myself. I get upset when I see myself avoiding certain tasks or places so I donāt trigger a panic attack. But this week Iāve been making it a point to celebrate the bits of progress Iāve seen. Iām trying to remember that itās ok if I need help, medication, or to avoid certain things for a while. And I guess Iām sharing this to say that no matter what youāre pushing through right now, acknowledge the little bits of progress youāre making. Life can be so freaking hard, and we should all give ourselves the time and space to recover.
Career
With a recession kind-of sort-of looming, many of us who are blessed to have jobs might feel a little trapped in them. When folks worry about the economy, they tend to stay put even if that might not be the best decision for their personal growth. But Iām here to remind you that you can keep a job while also not letting the economy pause your career growth. Many overlook the fact that you can grow your career outside of your actual job. For some, that might mean seeking a professional certification to boost their job opportunities. That might mean taking a few classes online to learn a certain software or skill thatās beneficial in your field. They donāt even have to be āofficialā classes, you can literally watch YouTube videos and teach yourself skills (or at least be semi-proficient in them) and add those to your resume. Anything from graphic design to data analytics to public speaking is just a video away. If you want to be more official about it, you can also use things like LinkedInās learning videos or sign up for a paid course. If youāre not sure what skill to pursue, just browse job postings for your dream job and look at the types of skills and proficiencies they require. Beyond certifications and classes, you can also look into opportunities outside of your job, like side hustles, internships, or remote jobs that can get you to your destination faster than just your day job. Itās more possible than ever to find a side hustle with skills that will benefit you on flexible schedules. Heck, if you canāt find an official side hustle, you can always reach out to small businesses and pitch them your services. Be creative - donāt be stagnant.
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Money
With the New Year coming up, itās a good time to start wrapping your head around the ways that your 2022 budget might not have worked for you. For the few of you who it worked out for perfectly, feel free to skip. For the rest of us, our budgets might have had minor issues, might have overlooked a life change we didnāt see coming, or perhaps your budget was just a colossal failure that didnāt work at all. Whatever the reason, you want to identify what went wrong and build that into a better-for-you budget in 2023. I think one of the biggest budget failures is being unrealistic. Thinking youāre going to save an exorbitant amount of money, making your life miserable trying to save it, then giving up on the budget entirely. Thatās not productive. What is productive is taking this month to look at your spending through 2022. Go month by month and average what you spend by category (many banks and card websites do this for you). From there, look at your total earnings and start deciding on a budget that reduces what you spent in 2022, but in a realistic proportion. Imagine a weekly spending budget you might be able to hit if you spent one less night out per week, unsubscribed from a couple of subscription services, or made your own lunch 3 out of 5 work days. These are small, digestible ways to make your budget more achievable. You also want to know what youāre saving for. A budget is much more effective when itās attached to a long-term goal. At the same time, donāt make the goal too far out or else it seems unattainable. For instance, if you want to save money for a house, donāt say āIām on a budget in 2023 to buy a house in 2028.ā Say, my 2023 budget will allow me to put aside $5,000 towards a down payment on a house. Then maybe the next year you push that number to $6,000, then $7,000. Create concrete, realistic goals and hold yourself accountable. You got this.
With markets down you might be wondering if anything is going up? For me, itās my money in the Fundrise real estate app. Fundrise automatically invests your money into residential and commercial real estate. My year-to-date growth on Fundrise through Q3 2022 is +4.7%. I have referral codes that will reward you $50 just for creating an account. Email me for the referral link, where you can learn all about Fundrise.
Cars
I am so pleased with the redesigned 2023 BMW X1. Now in its third generation, this baby SUV has gone from an awkward wagon (1st gen), to a less awkward SUV-ish wagon (2nd gen), to an actually handsome SUV with nice proportions.
The new tech setup on the inside is similarly impressive and a nice step up from the prior generation. The new X1 ditches the iDrive control knob for infotainment so everything is touch screen (pro or con depending on who you are). It also comes standard with wireless CarPlay and Android Auto, LED adaptive headlights, parking sensors, blind spot monitor, forward collision warning, and lane departure warning (but not adaptive cruise control).
Starting at $39K, itās not exactly a value buy, especially considering that you might want to upgrade some packages to get all of the features you need. That said, youāre paying for the badge, and they have finally slapped it on an X1 that looks really good.
Check out my recent reviews of the Mazda CX-9 Carbon Edition, Volvo XC40 Recharge, Ford Mustang Mach-E GT,Ā Polestar 2, Mazda3 Hatchback,Ā Honda Civic Hatchback,Ā Mercedes GLA 35 AMG,Ā Hyundai Sonata,Ā andĀ Mazda CX-30.
Comment of the Week
In response to an IG post about our community being under attack:
Liked something I said this week? Send me a heart or commentā¦I see them all!