Week one 2016 Nothing New/Mindful Spending

[Ginevra]

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/unnecessary. 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!

Several of you have continued to update within the first thread, which is fine, but this is the official recap for the first full week. :)

 

This week, I returned a game I had bought for Christmas but changed my mind about (Fallout 4). So, I got money back for that, but I also ordered a different, older game pre-owned (Pikmin 1), so my total return is only $8 back. I also bought three books on Amazon (I swear, it's a disorder). I spent a few bucks on a coffee; I met up with a friend. Cool thing is, I brought my mug my DD gave me for Christmas, so zero trash. *thumbsup*

 

I don't think I bought anything else.

[Ethel Mertz]

Instead of buying a cookbook, I ordered it from inter-library loan.

 

I cut down our monthly subscribe & save order to the bare minimum we needed.

 

I was sick this week, but thanks to my spouse, we had simple meals at home instead of ordering take out.

[BarbecueMom]

Oh, I need to jump back in here. I fell off the wagon hard last year. And then it ran me over several times.

 

This week, other than food, gas, co-pays, and a Redbox movie, I placed an Amazon order - booster seat with straps for a flight-risk toddler at the table, charger cord for DH's phone case, rubber bands, and filters ($$!!!) for the humidifier.

 

I have a list on my phone called "Purgatory", where things I think we need go to be evaluated for a good long time before being deemed "true needs" rather than "yeah, that's actually a want not a need". The line in limbo is a little long (and apparently alliterative), but since only four things made it to Amazon, I think I know where I went wrong last year.

[Guest]

Oh, I need to jump back in here. I fell off the wagon hard last year. And then it ran me over several times.

 

This week, other than food, gas, co-pays, and a Redbox movie, I placed an Amazon order - booster seat with straps for a flight-risk toddler at the table, charger cord for DH's phone case, rubber bands, and filters ($$!!!) for the humidifier.

 

I have a list on my phone called "Purgatory", where things I think we need go to be evaluated for a good long time before being deemed "true needs" rather than "yeah, that's actually a want not a need". The line in limbo is a little long (and apparently alliterative), but since only four things made it to Amazon, I think I know where I went wrong last year.

You crack me up!!! :D

[BarbecueMom]

You crack me up!!! :D

Aw thanks! If only I could bottle up humor like an oil and make money off of it.

 

I did forget one thing. DS7 needed a new winter coat. Despite coats being 40-70% off everywhere, we went to five stores and looked at three places online before finding one that would work. It was a good deal, and he looked quite snazzy out in the snow today in his new coat and basketball shorts. :-/

[MomtoCandJ]

Let's see... Groceries, gas... Saved money out for TB tests and sitter for next week. Let the chaos begin!!!!

[Annie G]

BarbecueMom I need to adopt your idea for a purgatory list.  I also need to keep a list of things I buy that are unnecessary so I can see the cumulative list.

 

I bought necessary things this week- groceries, gas for dh's car because I used to to go shop in a town 45 minutes away, and shampoo. Ulta had a very good sale.  So I stocked both bathrooms and won't need to buy shampoo until early summer. 

 

Splurges or purchases not essential: $1.77 for a zipper to make a zippered bag for my niece's birthday later this month.    Also, I had lunch with our two youngest at Portillo's.  Also treated them to Starbucks this week, which is SO not like me. 

 

Wins for the week: Didn't buy the lovely 70% off coat that I tried on. My other coat is getting worn, but it's not worn out. Dh chastised me for not buying the coat but whatever. 

Best win: if you saw my homeowner's insurance rant earlier this week- we shopped around and are switching to a company a friend recommended.  Switching both car and house insurance. Savings of right at $1000 a year with the same coverage.  

 

Food: threw away half a piece of chicken breast that didn't get eaten, a half cup of rice, a lemon, and 1/3 of a 2 liter soda.  Week 1 of Eat All The Food went well. 

 

 

[AmandaVT]

I need to join you guys if that's ok! We are planning on building a new half bath in March and I need to save up the $$$ to do so, which means cutting down on unnecessary spending. 

 

This week:

 

bought a bluetooth keyboard for ds for his ipad so he doesn't have to use my laptop when working on his novel - $50

bought 2 lattes for me (different days), 1 chai for DH and 1 cookie for DS at a local coffee shop- $15

went out for ice cream with DH tonight - $10

 

went out to dinner with DH tonight - $50, but we had a gift card, so free!

 

$75 in excess spending. I have budgeted $20 for future weeks for any extras, so I'll be tightening the belt starting this week. 

 

Thanks for the thread!

[Prairie~Phlox]

I shouldn't have much to buy this week, have meals planned & pulled meat out of the freezer to thaw. Will take Christmas decor down Monday & I need to defrost our deep freezer at some point soon.

[prairiewindmomma]

I fell apart the last half of the week.

 

I bought a rice rinsing bowl. I'd try doing without it for six months, but now that ds is making the rice a lot and doesn't have a good rinsing technique, I spent $4 on a rinse bowl because arsenic is bad.

 

I bought birthday presents.  I could have made something, but I'm having a huge arthritis flare, and so I had to sort out my priorities. Buying the present wasn't bad, but I feel guilt over the $9 bling ring I bought for myself while I was at that store.

 

I bought some shirts. I thought they were what I needed (light long-sleeved linen), but when I tried them on at home, they were too tight in the chest.  They are going back.

 

We had dinner at Chipotle. $30.  I could've made dinner but the kids wanted to go out, so we did.

[Artichoke]

Week 1 spending went really well.  The only nonessential spending was for a 1/2 price Ergo at Target.   I was planning on buying an Ergo when our dgs got too big for my current sling but since the price was right, I bought it.   I've also pulled out my Menu Planning sheet from the Thrifty Couple website.  I save a lot of money when I use these since it focuses on using up what you have on hand.   

[Ravin]

Week 1, le'ts see...

 

Ate out unplanned for lunch on Friday, it was a meal sold as a fundraiser for a funeral.

 

Had to buy some things for the new place, including shelf liners and shower curtains, and splurged on a couple of $1 workbooks at Target for DS. Also spent $5 on the train at the mall for DS (we were there for DH to meet a guy about a car), and bought lunch at the mall for $9. I have to pick up a money order today for bar exam fees.

 

I looked at my bank account this morning. It's not a train wreck just yet, but may be by the end of the month. Sigh.

Edited January 10, 2016 by Ravin

[Joyofsixreboot]

Non-essential-we paid 8 yo spring ballet tuition. I always cringe at this. Do kids really need dance? Of course not but dh is on board with her so...

I did spend $11 on cloth baskets for my closet. I let ds buy a Gatorade from the machine at soccer for $1.50. He came right from a choir invitational thing. I usually point to the fountain but I caved this time.

[Jane in NC]

It was a good week.

I treated a friend to lunch on Wednesday. She attended graduate school later in life. While she is now working in her field, she still has student loan debt, so I always take her out.

Before meeting aforementioned friend, I made a fateful trip into JoAnns. Fabric and yarn are my weaknesses--what can I say? $30 later, I left JoAnns with a sack of fabric--all on sale or purchased with a coupon, mind you. But still... I know...

I started sewing a blouse from fabric in the stash. And I have started a knitting project also from stashed yarn. Redemption??

Also, I attended a screening of a documentary sponsored by a local non-profit. A friend offered to drive so I made the suggested donation ($5) for her. That seemed like a good trade off.

Oh this was interesting...I don't usually buy a lot of cold cuts but I picked up some turkey earlier in the week. The gal in the deli gave me the end of the breast for free after slicing my order. She said that instead of throwing away the end pieces, their policy is to give them away with a suggestion of slicing the meat for a salad.

[Luckymama]

Other than food and gas from last week:

 

--a few AP prep books and the massive SAT subject test prep book (dd doesn't write in these books so I can resell them at the May homeschooling group's book sale)

--converter and adapters, a theft-proof crossbody bag (the one I use as a carryon and daybag is too big for her purposes) and Lonely Planet Athens for dd20 (leaving for Greece today)

 

Today dh and I will be at the airport for several hours waiting for dd's plane to take off, so we'll have to pay for parking and coffee and probably dinner.

[Garga]

Something went wrong with one of the boys' watercolor paint tubes and the paint had semi-dried out inside. I was going to toss it and buy a new one, when I remembered that (duh) water color paint doesn't have to stay soft like it comes in the tube. It can dry out and all you have to do is add a bit of water from your brush to the paint and it still works fine.

 

So, I cut open the tube to get at the paint and everything is fine. I don't have to buy a new tube of paint. A small thing overall, but it was these threads that made me stop and really think, "Do I need to replace it? Is there a way to still use it/fix it/repurpose it?"

 

It was mentioned in the other thread about charts** that tell you how much money to sock away each week to have a set amount at the end of the year for Christmas (or whatever). They're just cutesy ways to keep a person on track with their saving throughout the year and much to my astonishment DH liked the idea. He usually hates cutesy ways to save, but he was on board with it, so I popped $27 in cash into our glass head*. We're going to save for 40 weeks (not all 52) and I'm looking forward to seeing the head stuffed with cash by October.

 

From Christmas 2015, we got a bit of money back on our cash back bonus on the credit card. It immediately went toward paying bills and such and did not become play money as we were tempted to do.

 

*Glass head: http://www.pier1.com/Recycled-Glass-Head/2188209,default,pd.html#internal-search-product&autocplt=glass%20heart

 

**Dollar a week chart, we choose to randomly pick a week to save. We saved money from week 27 this week. Maybe we'll do week 5 or week 40 next week--it depends on the cash flow available for that week: https://www.affinityplus.org/Portals/0/Documents/Blog/52Week.pdf

[Annie G]

 

Oh this was interesting...I don't usually buy a lot of cold cuts but I picked up some turkey earlier in the week. The gal in the deli gave me the end of the breast for free after slicing my order. She said that instead of throwing away the end pieces, their policy is to give them away with a suggestion of slicing the meat for a salad.

 

Kudos to the store for this! Throwing out perfectly good food annoys me. 

[Baseball mom]

Took ds to get boots.  Not counting this money spent since he was suppose to have gotten boots for Christmas.  Couldn't find them before so I gave him and IOU and put the boot money back.  Did luck out and found them on sale.  He got a more expensive pair of boots for what I had put back. :hurray:

 

Also went shopping.  I had a list and mostly stuck to it.  The only exception was when I found a few in store sales and thought about stuff I had at home that would go with it to make meals.

 

[SKL]

I'm sitting at Kalahari rounding out the end of our winter festivities.  Needless to say, I am not being frugal right now.  Well, I did save a little by taking advantages of some deals etc., but let's get real.  :P

 

This weekend, in addition to my kid's main birthday treat, was a get-together of a group of families with something special in common.  We got a "special group rate," and I signed up for a couple "deals."  The dumb thing was that I let the kids spend too much on the arcade.  Also, I booked two rooms, because I thought my sister's family was coming.  My sister canceled about a week ago.  I could have canceled her family's room, but it would have been charged to the organizer, so I just decided we would spread out between two rooms.  So yeah, we seem extravagant this weekend.  Oh well.

 

Looking forward to a nice boring routine from tomorrow until early June.

 

This week, I will be signing them up again for swim team and horse riding.  Their TKD, gymnastics, and soccer are already paid for.

[DawnM]

We are trying to clean out our pantry right now.  I still haven't had time to do inventory, but I am hoping to get through about 3 weeks with only minimal food purchasing.

 

I did buy a new purse.  But I had the budget for it and got it for 60% off.

 

We did end up with some debt, which I am not thrilled with, but it is for home repairs.  

[La Condessa]

I actually spent a lot for me this past week, but I would say it was all mindful spending. Last weekend we were visiting family in the "big city". I went to Cash & Carry while there, and was pleasantly surprised at the prices compared to what's normally available to us. For just over $200, I stocked up on 1 1/2 to 2 months worth of staples for our family of items that would store and travel well. So, no meat and no stocking up on fresh fruits and veggies, but my pantry is bursting with flours and grains, beans, yeast, honey, canned tomatoes and fruits, etc. plus cheese and eggs and lots of milk which I froze for later use. I also went to Walmart and stocked up on needed household goods. After we came home, I sat down and wrote out a menu plan for frugal healthy family dinners for the next six weeks, and did a pretty good job of sticking to it this past week.

 

Also for this year, I decided that I really need to give myself a larger education budget. I realized that as it has been getting harder to stay within the budget with adding more kids and advancing levels and I have been majorly stressing over homeschooling, this is one way I can help alleviate that. So I cut down on some other budget categories, particularly gas, and am so excited to be able to get some exciting new school things for my kids in the next few months. This week I purchased a used set of MCT island books. I am so excited for them to get here!

[Annie G]

Garga, I like that glass head- filling it with money says you're thinking about your spending..ha!   Does it have anything to close it at the bottom? 

[Guest]

Week 1 spending went really well. The only nonessential spending was for a 1/2 price Ergo at Target. I was planning on buying an Ergo when our dgs got too big for my current sling but since the price was right, I bought it. I've also pulled out my Menu Planning sheet from the Thrifty Couple website. I save a lot of money when I use these since it focuses on using up what you have on hand.

I really need to do this sort of thing on any kind of regular schedule. I am trying to eat what I have, but I know my freezer is a hot mess. I dread even digging around in there to try and discover what is in there.

[Baseball mom]

I too am trying to use more of what we have for meals.  We are blessed to have freezers full of food.  I get in a rut and cook the same old things.  Then have to go to the store for the items for those meals.  My goal is to find new recipes using stuff we have in new ways (and hopefully not go to the store much)

[Garga]

Garga, I like that glass head- filling it with money says you're thinking about your spending..ha!   Does it have anything to close it at the bottom? 

 

 

No.  Nothing to close it unless you're clever.  I got my mother one for Mother's Day one year (she loved it) and she and my dad turned it into a lamp.  They stuck a bulb in there and made a base for it. 

 

We used to put marbles in mine.  I turned the head upside down, put in all the marbles (I have a lot of marbles; long story), then put a thin book on the bottom, turned it over, put it on the self, and slid the book out.  I was always in dire dread that an unsuspecting guest would say, "Oh, cool head!" and pick it up and 500 marbles would crash onto the floor and roll away. 

[prairiewindmomma]

I'm making birthday presents tonight.  Although we budget for presents, we've had a horribly long string of unexpected bills this month so I'm trying to save where I can.

Do you feel that homemade gifts are "less than"? My family culture is that I am the only one to give homemade gifts--inevitably every else does gift cards or things from the store. I realize it is convenient and sometimes even budget conscious to get things at the store, but I always feel inadequate when I am giving something homemade.  The gifts will be nice---sea salt caramels and placemats---but they won't match in cost what they will be giving my child at this combined birthday party.  I have the desire to reciprocate even when I comfortably can't.

 

[Annie G]

I'm making birthday presents tonight.  Although we budget for presents, we've had a horribly long string of unexpected bills this month so I'm trying to save where I can.

Do you feel that homemade gifts are "less than"? My family culture is that I am the only one to give homemade gifts--inevitably every else does gift cards or things from the store. I realize it is convenient and sometimes even budget conscious to get things at the store, but I always feel inadequate when I am giving something homemade.  The gifts will be nice---sea salt caramels and placemats---but they won't match in cost what they will be giving my child at this combined birthday party.  I have the desire to reciprocate even when I comfortably can't.

 

I know how you feel- I make something for someone and then I worry they think I took that route because I'm cheap.   I've worked hard to stop letting myself feel this way. If I'm honest, I realize that nobody is actually saying or even looking like they care that I gave a homemade gift, so it's really my own insecurity over it.   

 

Caramels and placemats would be welcome gifts here! I was rooting through fabric today trying to pull some fabric to make placemats. And homemade caramels? Um....I would really love that!!

 

So yes, I also sometimes feel that my handmade gifts are 'less than' but I'm really working hard on that.  

[Ravin]

When it comes to homemade gifts, do not discount the value of the time you put into making it! It takes thirty seconds to pick up a gift card.

[Prairie~Phlox]

I'm making birthday presents tonight. Although we budget for presents, we've had a horribly long string of unexpected bills this month so I'm trying to save where I can.

Do you feel that homemade gifts are "less than"? My family culture is that I am the only one to give homemade gifts--inevitably every else does gift cards or things from the store. I realize it is convenient and sometimes even budget conscious to get things at the store, but I always feel inadequate when I am giving something homemade. The gifts will be nice---sea salt caramels and placemats---but they won't match in cost what they will be giving my child at this combined birthday party. I have the desire to reciprocate even when I comfortably can't.

As long as it's things people can use, I see nothing wrong with them. I don't use placemats & can't ear caramels because of the dairy, but am assuming the person you are giving both to will appreciate them. 😉

[DawnM]

I have been using food up, I sometimes let food go to waste and I hate that, but we have a fridge in the basement and I don't always know what is down there because I am too lazy to go down!   My goal is to start taking note.

 

I did buy DS1 a computer yesterday......$800.  But he started community college this week and is in the game design program and needs a good computer for school.  He is still dual enrollment, so I did save $720 on tuition......so......

 

Next year we will have to pay for tuition, $80 per credit hour.....

[Ravin]

Just two more days of keeping my fingers crossed that bar dues don't hit and overdraft my account (it would draw from my credit card with overdraft protection, but I'm trying to pay down that card!).

[Baseball mom]

Just two more days of keeping my fingers crossed that bar dues don't hit and overdraft my account (it would draw from my credit card with overdraft protection, but I'm trying to pay down that card!).

 

Fingers crossed for you

[Baseball mom]

When it comes to homemade gifts, do not discount the value of the time you put into making it! It takes thirty seconds to pick up a gift card.

 

This

 

Like you I do homemade gifts and feel sometimes like I am being cheap.  I too am working on that.  I spend time thinking about the person and give the things they can use (or eat).