31 Days of Living Well Spending Zero – Day 11

 
Well… I feel a bit discouraged. I wasn’t able to get a jump on the cleaning challenges since I was away this weekend and today has been full too.

But I’m going to try to play a little catch up. Since we are living in a temporary spot even the cleaning/organizing looks a bit different.

Today when I was headed to church my “check engine” light came on and boy was I miffed. I was hopeful it was an electrical issue that has surfaced before but after driving it a mile or so to church and back I’m fairly certain it’s more. That will be a bit of a set back in “spending zero” for sure but it may help on the cleaning front. I’ll have to not drive until it can get in to the shop and addressed so … less gas and more cleaning? 🙂

I’m also starting to notice a dwindling supply of produce and milk. Some of which are on my “absolutely necessary” list. I will pick up bananas/apples/milk early this week. I am impressed however that we have made it almost to the half way mark with no stops at the grocery story on my husband’s way home from work. I often have him stop for a missing ingredient but this month with the meal planning and commitment to spend zero I just find an alternative, change the plan, or leave out the ingredient.

I am already sensing a few new habits forming. That being said my husband, Benjamin, and I are such foodies that there are plenty of things that we will go back to purchasing or feel is “necessary” during a normal month in a fave recipe that we would typically pick up or get. BUT I also see me using alternatives more and using the planning to try to make sure ingredients don’t go bad (planning multiple things in a week using ingredients we have to use), eating leftovers, cooking with what we have, and using what we have to plan from the beginning. Not just what we want to eat/cook.

I also think we will try do this annually, or even again later this year. I think it really has drawn my attention to priorities, it slows me down, and we are saving money.

All that being said it’s not easy and today showed that.

Things I spent on…

1. gas

2. I’ll need to take my van in. BOO!

3. I’ve had some bills to pay that really feel a lot more MAJOR when you are trying not to spend.

Things we didn’t spend on….

1. Eating out (we like to do this with friends on Sundays)

2. When my hubby used a meal I had planned for later in the month I just made some adjustments in the plan. Glad I wrote it in pencil.

3. We decided to cancel our tv service with Comcast a month earlier then we originally planned. It’s been totally shotty service, freezing and not working most of the time and my hubby decided it would be good to save the money. I’m proud of him as we are mid football season and love having folks over to watch the game. That’s a big sacrifice! We had planned to not have it in our new home anyway but a month in the middle of football season is big.

Tips…

1. I think doing this annually could really help us re-prioritize.

2. I need to not be discouraged since I wasn’t able to fully tackle the challenges this weekend. Pick up where I am. Do what I can and feel good about what I’m doing. We couldn’t have even done this much if we hadn’t been determined.

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2 Comments

  1. You are awesome for doing this. One note on the tv side, we have an antenna that was given to us from my in-laws and has worked great. I think you can get them at a number of stores for pretty cheap $10-$20. I was able to watch the Seahawks game today and you get a few other local channels. Something to consider in the new house. We only pay for cell phone and internet. I have not had cable in over 6 years maybe longer.

  2. You are awesome for doing this. One note on the tv side, we have an antenna that was given to us from my in-laws and has worked great. I think you can get them at a number of stores for pretty cheap $10-$20. I was able to watch the Seahawks game today and you get a few other local channels. Something to consider in the new house. We only pay for cell phone and internet. I have not had cable in over 6 years maybe longer.

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