Ginevra Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 The "rules" of this challenge are self-defined. Anyone can join in at any time. The aim of the challenge (for me) is to combat consumerism, wastefulness, mindless buying, and overspending. It is meant to nurture creative problem solving, ecology, frugality, intentionalism, and resourcefulness. To support these goals, I seek to buy nothing new. I aim to use existing resources, borrow, hand-craft, and buy existing second-hand materials to the greatest extent possible. However, I recognize that life is unpredictable, and family life increases this factor exponentially, so I will buy new in the following cases, when a non-buying option does not present: Food, health, and necessary household goods excluded. Requirements for school, work, or health and well-being which cannot be obtained used. Gifts, when a creative non-commercial option will not suffice. Anything animal or gardening related that cannot be obtained used. Fuel/energy sources. Posts will appear each Saturday, referring to the week that is ending. Post your successes, creative solutions, relapses and weak moments. It doesn't matter if you have a weak moment! Just keep swimming! I still have a grad party in progress currently, but all the relatives have gone home and it is now just the 17/18/19 yo friends. They are having such a nice time. A storm came through here and poured rain on the fire pit, but the teens were in the basement, playing a card game at the time. Now the storm is distant and they are roasting marshmallows on the fire pit (which revived of it's own accord, to my great surprise). The no-waste (well, lowered waste) concept was a success. The regular trash can is not even half full! There was a fair amount of recyclables (bottles and cans mostly). I will talk about this more if anyone is interested, but since the no-waste party ideas were in another thread, I don't want to blab on for ages and bore you all! I can't think of much other spending I did this week. I bought a gift for Father's day for my dad, and new sunglasses for DH from the kids. Did take DD out to dinner yesterday when we were out buying the sunglasses. Not totally necessary, just one of those moments in which I am aware that there will be fewer of these days soon. No other spending except gas and groceries, although groceries were A LOT because of party food. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomtoCandJ Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Eh... Bought the girls a pool today, a 100 ft hose and sprayer, dh's Father's Day gifts, an owl kitchen set (oven mitt, hot pads, dish cloths and towels) and stuff to wash my car. Otherwise the normal. I've been wanting this kitchen set since April and my local Walmart finally had it in stock again so I got it. Anything to make dish washing less tedious (no dishwasher). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Seems I dropped some money on something this week. What was it? Happiness is ... not remembering the bad stuff .... Oh yeah, $50 for the kids' swim team swimsuits. But I knew about that before. (I hope they are the right size.) And I ordered a book for my dad (not expensive) for Father's Day. And some math practice workbooks that had been sitting in my cart waiting to build up to free shipping. We ate out more than usual this week, because the kids and I have been out at work / camps all day and every evening. The coming week will be similar. However, we did make use of the free Tuesday kids' meals at Bob Evans. And no ice creams this week. ;) Tomorrow I need to buy my dad a Lowes or Amazon gift card for Father's Day. We will have to scale back our expected travel trip again, due to a scheduling conflict. I'm not even sure what we're going to do at this point. Maybe just a "staycation" with a trip to Kalahari thrown in? I would like to come up with something more interesting than that. :/ If I don't get away, I'll just end up working the whole time. I need to buy a pair of blue jeans. I only have 2 pairs, and 1 of them is threadbare. Since I wear jeans every day, I can't put this off much longer. That's about it for now. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 We will have to scale back our expected travel trip again, due to a scheduling conflict. I'm not even sure what we're going to do at this point. Maybe just a "staycation" with a trip to Kalahari thrown in? I would like to come up with something more interesting than that. :/ If I don't get away, I'll just end up working the whole time. What is Kalahari? We haven't made plans for a summer trip, mostly because my dog has cancer and we have no idea when/how suddenly his problems will require immediate action (euthenasia). I can't have another person responsible for a dog who might die during his or her petsitting. Not to mention I don't especially want to be absent when the end arrives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunflowerlady Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Well this past week was really something. :huh: I got two new larger ticket items in one week. I got a new (refurbished) laptop that arrived from Amazon. My old one finally gave out for good. It had lasted for around five years, so I can't complain. My new one is a shiny red refurbished HP. I got thirty dollars off from opening an Amazon card, so it came to 249.00 with free shipping. So far it works fine and we are getting used to Windows 8.1. My washer died also.We ended up getting a new one. This one had some issues for a while. So, now I have a new washer also. In better news, I am about to pay my final car payment. :hurray: I am glad your dd's party went well, Quill. Good job, everyone. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 It is too darn hot to do much of anything, a fine excuse to stay in the air conditioning and read or sew. Maybe I'll even get caught up on various bits of paperwork. We went to a lovely classical guitar concert at a university this weekend. The event was subsidized by the school and sponsors so ticket prices were rock bottom. On the way out I commented to my husband that "This was cheaper than a movie"--but that was before adding in the cost of the two CDs he purchased. Still a lovely evening out and a good reminder that university events are usually open to the broader community. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Last week I took dd15 shopping for summer and camp items (Kohls, Target, DSW, undies) and purchased her new glasses with the help of insurance (purple this time--cute!) We booked our Seattle hotel, Amtrak to Vancouver, and our Denali campground :D I've been planning an Alaska trip for ten years. I'm going to pinch myself once we're actually there! This week's planned spending (other than food and gas): insect repellent for dd, new hiking boots/trail sneakers for dh (his are toast), and new hiking socks for both of us. I need to pay for a glacier hike (as in hiking to, on, and from a glacier! Serious bucket list item :)) and reserve our shuttle bus tickets for Denali. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 We booked our Seattle hotel, Amtrak to Vancouver, and our Denali campground :D I've been planning an Alaska trip for ten years. I'm going to pinch myself once we're actually there! So tell me about this Denali campground thing. Sleeping with the grizzlies? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 What is Kalahari? We haven't made plans for a summer trip, mostly because my dog has cancer and we have no idea when/how suddenly his problems will require immediate action (euthenasia). I can't have another person responsible for a dog who might die during his or her petsitting. Not to mention I don't especially want to be absent when the end arrives. Kalahari is an indoor waterpark with some outdoor non-water attractions in the summer time. I'm sorry about your dog. I couldn't travel for several years due to a different reason, so I know how that is. I am still catching up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SKL Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Alaska is a great vacation destination. We spent about 10 days there before kids. Denali was great. I think my favorite part of the trip was staying on an island close to the glaciers, including the boat trip under the glaciers. Also, the long drives between destinations (through the mountains) were absolutely beautiful. We did see lots of grizzly bears in Alaska, but didn't get dangerously close to any. :P 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Agreeing with Alaska as a lovely vacation, Lucky! (Although we did not go as far as Denali). Make sure you tell us all about it when you return! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 No splurges here, but had I planned better I could've been better prepared for Father's Day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 So tell me about this Denali campground thing. Sleeping with the grizzlies? We'll be staying at this campgound: http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/campground-savage.htm In an RV from this company (scroll down to the 28'): https://www.greatalaskanholidays.com/floorplans-photo-tours/ One day we will take a park shuttle bus all the way to Wonder Lake (the lake pictured in the foreground of all thise iconic photos of Denali): http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/visiting-denali.htm We will be doing some of these hikes: http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/dayhiking.htm And we hope to hike off-trail (tundra!) as well. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 DD wanted to try a sport (lacrosse). There is a summer long program on learning how to play. It is very cheap for the program and if she hates it and doesn't want to continue, no big loss. But I need to buy a stick and the other stuff to go with it. DS is talking me into letting him do a golf camp for a week. It is something he has always wanted to learn so I might let him. Other than that, I need to buy some new cleaning rags. We don't use paper towels unless we have to so these get used well. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 Other than that, I need to buy some new cleaning rags. We don't use paper towels unless we have to so these get used well. If you have a Costco or similar, I have bought cleaning cloths there. I like Terry cloth, so I have bought a heap of washcloths on occassion. They last for ages! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted June 22, 2015 Share Posted June 22, 2015 If you have a Costco or similar, I have bought cleaning cloths there. I like Terry cloth, so I have bought a heap of washcloths on occassion. They last for ages! I bought some from Sams and Costco late last year. The ones from Sams about 7 years ago are in better shape than both sets of the new ones. I am unimpressed with the quality of both. I am leaning towards trying the Amazon ones. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 New Rule- anytime a sport advertises a low cost learn to play clinic the equipment for the said sport will cost more than the clinic. I puffy heart Amazon. I was able to get DD's lacrosse gear cheaper than any sports store near me. It still cost a lot but cheaper than the local stores. DS and DD need new ice skates so that is a future upcoming expense. I sold some kids clothes so that will give me a little bit towards these expenses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luckymama Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Bought some textbooks on Amazon. Dh and I had an impromptu date night----we walked downtown (about 4 mi roundtrip) to a favorite restaurant and used a "mug club" reward for a good portion of our meal. (I love having teens/young adults at home!) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 New Rule- anytime a sport advertises a low cost learn to play clinic the equipment for the said sport will cost more than the clinic. I puffy heart Amazon. I was able to get DD's lacrosse gear cheaper than any sports store near me. It still cost a lot but cheaper than the local stores. DS and DD need new ice skates so that is a future upcoming expense. I sold some kids clothes so that will give me a little bit towards these expenses. Do you have a Play It Again Sports store near you? I am a very big fan of buying used sports equipment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Here's something I unexpectedly spent money on today: park entrance fee. (Do you see the steam coming out of my ears? Because there is some...) I took DS on a hike at a state park - wait, no it is a national park! It had that brown shield thing at the entrance. Anyway, I remember previous occassions in which I paid $3 per vehicle for certain parks. Now it is $3 per person. I'm not saying that's a ton of money, but aren't parks supposed to be free of charge? One of the largest reasons I am a believer in hiking or walking in parks is to try and keep things simple and not laden with financial obligation. It is why I have not had a paid gym membership in my life (so far). I think there is some sort of national park pass you can buy that gives you access to any of them covered in your membership. I might look into that. Meanwhile I feel that I will have to go further afield to less prominent parks in order to enjoy them for free. P.S. The water area was also way more crowded than I expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Do you have a Play It Again Sports store near you? I am a very big fan of buying used sports equipment. No play it again anywhere near me. I did save on the eye goggle thing using Amazon warehouse. The box had a side crushed but the item was fine. That saved about 7 dollars off a new pair. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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