31 Days of Living Well Spending Zero – Day 18

Today was kind of a lay low sort of day. My husband spent the morning fixing our van! Yahoo. And saved us more than $350. So grateful to our cousin who is a handy guy and helped Ben know what to do. To put it mildly-I’m impressed.

The boys and I headed to church where I taught fifth and sixth grade Sunday school and I’m always amazed at what I learn from teaching them.

Then home for lunch and naps and again I’m so proud of us for doing a good job of eating at home. We definitely like to eat out, and this month has really drawn attention to how quickly those dollars add up. I would say we can easily paid for our car issue just by having our meals at home.

And the kids are adjusting to. They are eating new foods, asking for new and healthier options, and overall just making an adjustment in their habits too. It’s amazing that at age 3 Cashel had already started to build some of those bad habits or mindsets.

I was able to get the boys down for a nap and even get a wee one in myself while Ben watched the Seahawks game at a friends house. We gave up cable midmonth, and because the service had been so shotty in our new location Ben even got the company to give us a refund for the cable portion of our plan. Another way we ended up being credited money this month.

We have decided to only utilize Internet and Netflix moving forward. 

The rest of the evening we spent taking a walk and heading up to our neighborhood park. I’ve said this many times this month, but limiting how we spend money has made us more creative with family activities as well.  We are trying to keep driving down to a minimum and in doing things close to home that are within walking distance we have really discovered fun options. It has helped us enjoy each other, our home, and our community that much more. Overall it’s just a simpler, more contented way to live.

This weekend I also was able to tackle a couple of challenges from last week I had missed. I went through the kids closet and dressers and put away any clothes that are too small and reorganized the drawers.

We have our 2 boys and another on the way so we reuse all our clothes and shoes as hand me downs. I cannot even imagine what we have saved by only filling in for seasonal differences. It’s amazing what a difference that makes. You actually know what you have and use it.

With having moved several times this summer and another move coming up we are committing to keeping these things in mind as we unpack. I want to get rid of unnecessary things, keep what we use, and appreciate what we have.

What we spent on….

1. Be rounded out the car expenses by buying 2 bulbs that needed replacing and done coolant since I was almost completely out.

What we did not spend on….

1. We did very little driving.

2. Stayed in for meals.

3. Chose a free afternoon family activity within walking distance.

4. And I even got a much desired new shirt through a friend in our local Buy Nothing Community. A trendy but comfy plaid flannel. I have SO been wanting one and it was GIFTED to me. Amazing. Fun to feel cute and comfy at this point in pregnancy. (Plus a couple of people have given us some new light fixtures to try in our new home since so many are old and dated. I get to pick those up this week. So blessed.

Tips…

1. Cleaning, organizing, and examine what you own with a critical eye can make your quality of life go up. It helps you realize your priorities and reevaluate if they are where you want them to be.

2. Family activities that are free and close to home can really satisfy. They can help make you appreciate each other and the community you live in.

3. Asking for help and being willing to give it can make a huge difference in your life. Ben is a generous man – with his time, energy, and resources and that causes others to like him and want to help him. Asking our cousin for help, in fact he really just offered it up himself, and we were humbled by the offer and accepted – really made a difference in an otherwise LARGE expense we would have incurred this month.