Tag: Gardening

Hobbies Need Some Love Too!

If you’ve been around for any length of time, you’ll know that I’m a huge fan of sinking funds. I’ve repeated many, many, many times that money needs to be set aside for the un-glamorous expenses of life, i.e. property taxes and insurance premiums.

Today, I want to remind you that sinking funds should also be used to fund your hobbies. After all, your hobbies are those activities that bring you joy. When you’re doing them, you’re happy. There’s a certain contentment that comes with these activities. And that’s great.

However, hobbies generally cost a little bit of money. So you should have a sinking fund for them. If you haven’t already done so, open an account that’s just for your hobby-money and set up an automatic transfer to contribute money every time you’re paid.

I’ve been an amateur gardener extraordinaire for the past few years. I have a few simple rules. If it’s going in the ground, then it has to be a perennial. Getting down on my knees isn’t as easy as it used to be so I use waist-high planters and various containers for my annuals. Every year, I buy another couple of containers to add to my growing collection. And I like to try different annuals each year too. They’re not cheap. (And I’ve not yet started any seedling projects but I think I will have to put that on my to-do list at some point.)

Annuals are not inexpensive where I live! I routinely spend several hundred dollars every year, but I don’t mind. Those littel flowers bring me joy for several months! I love seeing which ones are more vigorous, which ones have the biggest blooms, which new colour combinations are most pleasing! Then I can spend the long winter months planning the following year’s floral arrangements.

I digress….

Again, buying annuals every year isn’t easy on my wallet. So I have a sinking fund for my flower gardens. Even when I get free plants from family members, I rely on the money in my sinking fund. This year, my cousin gave me many little iris plants. In turn, I bought her a bag of worm castings. Most people might not be thrilled to get a bag of worm poop but gardeners understand just how wonderful a treasure such a bag can be for the garden!

And I don’t buy every single annual from the fancy greenhouses either. Most of my stalwart plants are from the grocery store or the hardware store, where they simply section of part of their parking lots and sell plants. I do buy some stuff at the greenhouse, but only the more tender stuff or the fancier versions of what I can get in the aforementioned parking lots. Even when each plant is only $3.99, that adds up quickly. ‘

On top of the plants, I need the worm castings, the fertilizer, the root booster, and generally some compost. Every few years, I replace my gardener gloves or buy another trowel. Hoses don’t last forever either! And since I prefer container gardening, I treat myself to a couple of new containers each spring… which allows me to buy even more annuals!

Gardening isn’t inexpensive. Yet, flowers make me happy so I use a sinking fund to pay for the expenses that come with my hobby. I shop then I buy, then I withdraw money from my sinking fund to pay my credit card bill.

Whatever your hobby is, you should be doing the same.

After all, once your necessities have been paid, the next best use of your money is spending it on your hobbies. You work too hard for your paycheque to waste it on the things that don’t bring more joy into your life.

Money well-spent is never wasted!

I am an amateur gardener. Essentially, this means that I don’t know what I’m doing but I do it with enthusiasm. Each year, I pick my tried and true favourite annual – petunias – and then I buy new plants that I want to try. My winters are spent watching various gardening channels on YouTube and making lists of what I think will grow well for me.

Last year, I tried coleus for the first time… and I completely fell in love with this gorgeous, vigorous plant. It’s the only thing I’ve ever paired with petunias that could match the petunias’ growth habit. Take a look at this container. There are only 3 coleus plants, and three petunia plants. Those little splotches of pink and orange near the edges are flower from two of the four begonias that I planted with the coleus and the petunias. A little tip from me to you – begonias cannot keep up with petunias and coleus.

Coleus side vs. Petunia side of same planter!

This year, the “new” annual is verbena. So far, I’m very happy with my 2 verbena plants. If they can handle the hot, hot summer sun that’s due to arrive in July and August, then I will be adding verbena to my yearly list of favorites. Take a peek at these little beauties.

In addition to coleus, petunias, and verbena, I also selected geraniums, marigolds, sweet potato vine and begonias to fill up my planters. It’s been a week and, so far, everything is still a live. My goal is to keep it that way!

And while I’m not an expert, I’ve learned a few things over the years. Firstly, it’s much cheaper to plant perennials in the ground and save the annuals for my containers. While they might cost more at the front end, a healthy perennial will come back year after year. They’ll flower beautifully, though for a shorter period of time. I enjoy feeling accomplished when they come back each year. It means that I managed to properly care for them – not too much fertilizer the year before, the right amount of water, a perfectly selected spot with light they found most pleasing.

Perennials make for good investments. I’ve learned this with my hostas. I transplanted three last year, but only two came back. I’m not sure what I did wrong with third one but something clearly went awry. No matter – I’ve already replaced the dead one. Next year, I expect all three of them to come back and fill in a very awkward little spot I have near my garage door.

This year, my shed came down. There’s now a 6′ x 6′ patch of dirt in my yard that’s in desperate need of something green. As I already have a very large yard, I refuse to plant anymore grass. I have too much as it is. Again, this nearly cleared patch of land is in a strange spot. The shed was nestled under two healthy, large lilac trees. As a result, this spot sits in shade except for roughly 3-4 hours in the afternoon. So I think it will be a shade garden… once I figure out what can live in the shade and survive the hottest sun of the day.

Ahem… Blue Lobster, this isn’t a gardening blog. Yes, Gentle Reader, you’re right – it’s not. This is a place where I share my thoughts about money and encourage you to spend yours in a way that will make your dreams come true.

I’m talking about plants today because they take my mind off of my money. Yes – I said it. Sometimes, it’s good to not think about money. Obviously, I need money to buy my plants. I needed money to buy the worm castings and potting soil. Money definitely facilitated the purchase of my new containers this spring. There’s a good chance I’ll need money to pay for the water that’s used between rainfalls to keep my plants alive and happy.

Coleus, sweet potato vine, begonias, geraniums… love them all!

Yet, when I look at my wee little plants, I don’t see money. Instead, I see pretty flowers. One of my annuals was planted as a Hail Mary. I don’t know what happened but this little petunia was lying on its side, unlike the other plants in the six-pack, and refused to remain upright. It wasn’t dead though, and the roots were still attached to the crown. I had a small spot in my self-watering container so I dug a hole, carefully inserted Little Floppy, and watered gently. That was a week ago. Today, I discovered that Little Floppy has doubled in size and is already pushing buds. I expect to see a flower by this time next week.

My plants calm me. There’s nothing I can do about inflation. Volatility in the stock market will rock the value of my portfolio. More often than not, world events make me sad. So I turn to my plants. They offer me respite from an irrational amount of worry about things that are out of my control. Every day, I can step outside for some fresh air and watch the magic of nature up close.

And since this is a blog about money, here are some numbers. So far, I’ve spent about $250 on my plants this year. Most of it went to annuals, but some of it went to perennials too. Specifically, this year I’ve purchased a new hydrangea bush, my replacement hosta, and a second hosta for a different location. The shed-spot needs more plants, so I expect to be spending another $100-$200 to get sufficient plants to create the shade garden I want.

The few hundred dollars that I’ve spent, and will spend shortly, on my plants will make me happy for a very long time. All things considered, I view it as money well-spent.

Like I’ve said before, not every expenditure is going to put a smile on your face. I don’t know anyone who’s excited to pay for parking tickets or property taxes. Nonetheless, you should be spending atleast some of your money in ways that make your heart sing. For me, it’s plants. What is it for you?