Nothing New/Mindful Spending Week Nine

[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!

So how we doing, Frugalistas?

 

I downloaded a Kindle version of my book club book. I can't remember if I said that last week. But that was arounf $11. I don't think I spent another dime this week. The weather was so nice, we didn't even go to the trampoline park Wednesday; we went to a park.

 

DD got home yesterday for spring break. DH did buy crabcakes and steak to make at home last night. So - sort of a grocery item, but not something we typically buy. More expensive than a typical Friday night dinner at home, but not as much as dinner out would be. With her home this week, we will almost surely spend some fun money. I have wanted a sushi buddy to go with me to a nice place nearby. No one else in my family is into sushi. On the phone with me last week she asked if we could hang out when she gets home. I almost cried! She wants to hang out with me! :D

 

I finished the baby blanket I am loom knitting for my grand niece. It looks cute! It's a very soft yarn - Baby Bernet, if you are familiar with yarns. So sweet. Oh, and I did just remember I bought some fried chicken from Royal Farms on the way to my sister's last Sunday. All her grown kids were in town, which was really nice because that hasn't happened for several years. I also found out an order has been placed for a new grand niece or nephew, so that was exciting. I am getting lots of practice knitting little baby hats. :D

[SKL]

I paid for my kids' scout uniforms for the next level.  That's the only purchase I remember since last Sunday's post.

 

I keep thinking about buying more practice stuff for summer work for the girls.  But then I keep telling myself, I probably already have way too much!  It is just so fun to shop for that stuff.  You guys know what I mean.  :)  Of course, my kids are generally less enthusiastic about it than I am.  ...  I really think we are more than set for this summer, so now I just have to exercise self-control!

 

The spring soccer season starts next week.  I may need to buy new cleats for Miss Bigfoot.  :/  I think this will be the last time, until they go to high school.

[SKL]

I should add that we are starting to plan our summer overseas vacation.  We are planning to go to Ukraine and Russia.

[Jane in NC]

I should add that we are starting to plan our summer overseas vacation. We are planning to go to Ukraine and Russia.

Where in Ukraine?

[SKL]

Where in Ukraine?

 

My Ukrainian friend has 3 or 4 places she wants to visit.  One of them is some famous mountains.  Sorry, I do not remember most of the names.

 

[Annie G]

Bought St. Patrick's Day fabric to make little drawstring bags for the grandkids and filled them with some chocolate coins, discounted St. Pat's necklace or bracelet, and some snack foods their parents don't buy them. Also wrote each kid a letter- which is really a big deal to them.  And then postage to mail the stuff.   I'm a weirdo- living so far away from them I do oddball things to let them know I'm thinking of them. Plus their other grandma sent them a large box of Easter candy so I knew I didn't want to do Easter themed stuff. 

 

Dh and I went to a hockey game with some friends- we paid for parking ($5) and four sodas ($12).  Our friends work part time at the venue as security for hockey games or concerts so they get free tickets, and we had dinner at their house before the game- from our favorite pizza place.  $17 is super cheap for a date night!  

 

Last night we had a dinner date with another couple we hang with and went to a local fish fry. So about $25 there including tip. 

 

And I splurged and bought a book from Amazon. We're leaving Friday for ten days to visit dh's folks.  No internet there and I rarely can even use my data plan. I have pillowcases to embroider for the oldest two grandkids but wanted a book to read also. I have a couple of library books out, so this book was not necessary.  Not at all.  But it'll help me get through the visit. g

[knoxinsox]

Hey Y'all.  If we would have wanted to go anywhere, it would have been too wet  So we stayed in and the kids fought with each other incessantly.  Nice weather coming up this week I hope.  Please God?

 

Spending:

I ordered a new lawnmower from Amazon.  Used some Swagbuck $$ to pay for part of it--that felt like a win.  Also, our grass is growing and it will feel like a win to get it mowed.  I have a 10 year old, and a new mower he is just itching to try out. 

 

Went out this afternoon and spent $47 at Walmart buying milk, cheese, green juice, bananas, mandarins, and laundry supplies....just essentials.   

 

Found a new to me thrift store. Yay!!  Spent $5.41 on a new pair of Calvin Klein jeans for my son, a pair of Liz Claiborne pants and a floaty aqua and green hippy  skirt for me, and a pair of Children's Place capris for my daughter.  I will be shopping here again. And its less than a mile from the house.  

 

Frugalities:

The usual.  Bread baking, eating at home, drying laundry outside on a drying rack, and the heat only kicked on once during the last week. Electric bill is half of the last one.

 

The bad news:  We really do owe $$ to the IRS.   From 2013. Sigh.  I have no idea why SC Unemployment sent me a 1099 with the wrong info, but I should have caught it and I didn't.   

 

The good news:  Hubby has a business trip/training scheduled for next month. He was told he would have to expense everything, but the company is paying for airfare and hotel and supposedly feeding them as well.  We don't have credit cards so we would have had to take money out of savings.   

 

Also good news, but not spending related:  My kids got out their work books this morning and did their work on their own.  So strange.  If someone knows where my real kids are.....you know, the ones that fought all week....

 

 

[Annie G]

Knoxinsox, bummer about the taxes!  

 

It really annoys me to have to pay work travel expenses out of our own account and wait for reimbursement.  Dh's employer used to handle all of that, and the credit card bill went right to them for payment. Now they assign him a card and he has to submit an expense report and they take 60 days to pay him. That is super annoying, but he rarely has to travel these days, thankfully.  

 

Yay for the new mower. I wish someone here enjoyed mowing grass but we all hate it!  Let your ten year old name that new mower and have at that grass!!

 

 

[knoxinsox]

His company is really good about getting the money back---the last several things he expensed were only a week or so turnaround.  But still, just a ton of money to come up with.  

 

I hate mowing as well. But he's 10 and negotiating for us to pay him for mowing.  We'll see how that goes.  He has an expensive Lego set he's saving for.

[Raifta]

I've missed a few weeks but things have been going fairly well.  

 

Started working full time and between that and homeschooling I am so tired I don't have time to buy anything.  

 

Not quite true.  I did end up having to buy my book club book because I kept being unable to pick it up at the library and my hold expired and then I got charged for not picking up my hold.  Grr.

 

Aside from that, put gas in the car for the first time in over two weeks.  Bought some minor groceries, cat food, vitamin E cream for DH's eczema (does that work?  no idea - someone told him to try it so he wanted to get some) and finally broke down and bought SOTW 3 and 4 after fighting with the library over it for several months (library:  it's in mending, me:  I've put it on hold, could it be mended more quickly?,  library:  we'll see, 3 months later, me:  any update on the mending?, library:  let's check on that, several days later, library:  ummm, both copies that are in mending appear to actually be missing, me:  that's what I figured so can I order it from interlibrary loan?, library: well, no because technically it's in our system and you can only order ILL for books that we don't have, me:  but you don't have it!, several weeks later, me:  can I order it through ILL, library:  sure!,  ILL arrives but I can only have it for 2 weeks, me:  I give up!  I'll just buy it!)

 

Hmm, usually buying books instead quite so infuriating.  I also got a few more logic books for DS as he needs some independent work to do during the day when I'm at work and there is little I can assign to him unlike DD.

 

Oh, and I had to buy a parking pass for work.  That was $86 but I get $25 back when I hand the pass back in.

 

The good news is that I did our taxes just before I started work and we got our refund back already and that will cover our house taxes and house insurance (for both our houses).

 

The bad news is that the Oculus Rift starts shipping later this month and DH informs me he has preordered one.  And that what with the terrible Canadian dollar and the shipping/customs fees, the cost is likely to be in the zone of ridiculousness.  I hope he has been saving up for it with his allowance.

[Baseball mom]

Spent more this week. 

 

It was my stepdad's birthday.  I got him presents and ds built him something but needed some stuff for it.

 

Didn't need many groceries but we needed more in the health and beauty aid department (deodorant, monthly supplies, shampoo, meds) and that stuff adds up quick.

 

I am lucky, dss love to mow and do yard work.  No yard work going on right now.  Raining tons every day.

[Deee]

I've been rubbish!  Its soooo hot and humid here (we're breaking all historical records), something has eaten most of my veggie patch, the kitchen feels like a little piece of hell by 6pm, I'm not sleeping and I just want to live on iced water and take-away.  The good news is that its also too hot to drive to the shops, and the shock of exiting the shops' aircon is so dreadful that spending half an hour in the cool simply isn't worth it.  I'm not spending much, but I'm not doing much either beyond watering to keep the garden alive (our tanks are empty - I'm dreading the water bill).  Please make summer end!!!!

D

 

[Prairie~Phlox]

I'm trying to work on graduation stuff & finding ways to save there. Decided just st to order photo cards from Walmart.com $28.xx for 85 vs $90on mpix for 65. Most people will probably throw them away anyway.

[Baseball mom]

I'm trying to work on graduation stuff & finding ways to save there. Decided just st to order photo cards from Walmart.com $28.xx for 85 vs $90on mpix for 65. Most people will probably throw them away anyway.

 

Are you talking about graduation announcements?  I am thinking of doing this too. 

Stayed awake way to long last night worrying about how to come up with money for graduation stuff.  Ds wants no stuff.  Just hand him his diploma and be done  is what he said. 

Edited March 13, 2016 by Baseball mom

[Garga]

There's a birthday in the family this week, so we have spent money on presents/lunch out. Other than that, it's been a normal week. Groceries, gas. I bought some curriculum for school for next year.

 

I've spent, but it's all been on necessities or birthday stuff. And we didn't go overboard with birthday presents. Just the normal amount. DH has a tendency to want to skimp on presents, so I buy them so that it's not like Oliver Twist around here on a birthday. :).

[Prairie~Phlox]

Are you talking about graduation announcements? I am thinking of doing this too.

Stayed awake way to long last night worrying about how to come up with money for graduation stuff. Ds wants no stuff. Just hand him his diploma and be done is what he said.

Yes, we are having an open house, we have enough family out of town, that in order to be ae to enjoy things, we'll have one. We've got a space for free (our church) & only thing I'll have to buy is food.

[MomtoCandJ]

Let's see... Tires for my car (waiting for the authorization from Ford for the money back from a price match), started buying the girls thier summer clothes (mostly Carter's and had a 25% off coupon), bought 2 more shirt to wear under my scrubs on clearance at Old Navy (I shared with my mom the wonders of the Old Navy and Carter's clearance racks, she's now hooked), bought dd2 a coat for next year on clearance at Carter's (an $80 coat for less than $15 because it was an additional 20% off clearance sale). I think that's it as far as my spending, my mom spoiled my girls as usual when she comes down.

[Guest]

Are you talking about graduation announcements? I am thinking of doing this too.

Stayed awake way to long last night worrying about how to come up with money for graduation stuff. Ds wants no stuff. Just hand him his diploma and be done is what he said.

I did something similar. I did not order graduation announcements from Jostens or wherever the school promotes. I did my own photography and then made a photo announcement and invitation combo on Shutterfly. I never much liked the "real" announcements. All I really want is a photo.

[Jane in NC]

Not an inexpensive week on my end but money well spent, I think.

The contractor finally carved out time to install a new frame for my front door. We had a rot issue that included some water damage to the wood in the entranceway. My fear was damage to the subfloor--say hallelujah that this was not the case!

Things on the project moved along so that I could leave town on Wednesday. I drove to Saint Simons Island, where dear friends are renting a cottage. Over the course of my stay, I did lots of bike riding both around SSI and Jekyll Island. I also made a stop at the yarn store at Saint Simons. After last year's visit, I vowed to knit up yarns purchased at the store or yarns in my stash, a vow I broke only when I picked up a needed neutral sock yarn. So my bag of gorgeous yarns was a planned purchase.

I also bought some gift items for grand nephews at the locally owned bookshop here.

To show my appreciation for my friends' generosity, I bought dinner one night at Southern Soul. I also arrived with two bottles of wine and homemade cookies.

Admission to the sea turtle rehab facility on Jekyll was well worth it.

Fun visit and I already look forward to their return next year.

[TechWife]

Here are my coupon deals: 

 

Tide pods for 1/2 price: regularly $11.99 - $2 manufacturer coupon - $2 store coupon - $2 extra bucks = 5.99

Milano cookies: regularly 3.69 each, BOGO sale - $1 coupon (used 2 coupons) = $0.85 each 

Challenge butter, 8 oz package: regularly 2.99 each, BOGO sale - $.75 coupon that doubled (used 2 coupons) = FREE!! 

 

We didn't do a big shopping this week, just picked up a few things like milk, bread, etc.. 

 

We did have to spend an as yet to be determined amount on medical needs for our son. We have to wait until the insurance discounts are taken before we know how much we will need to pay.  Of course, this is the year that we picked the high deductible plan and because it's still early in the year and our HSA isn't built up yet. I don't know that we'll pick this plan again next year, but we'll see how it all works out by the end of the year. 

[itsheresomewhere]

New shoes and insoles for DS- 190 ( thank you coupons saved 45)

New shoes DD- 29 ( these have some marks on the soles and were discounted from 50)

Car Parts- DH fixed both cars.  

 

 

We need a few things this week and I need to check the kids clothing.  

 

[Annie G]

Not an inexpensive week on my end but money well spent, I think.

 

The contractor finally carved out time to install a new frame for my front door. We had a rot issue that included some water damage to the wood in the entranceway. My fear was damage to the subfloor--say hallelujah that this was not the case!

 

Things on the project moved along so that I could leave town on Wednesday. I drove to Saint Simons Island, where dear friends are renting a cottage. Over the course of my stay, I did lots of bike riding both around SSI and Jekyll Island. I also made a stop at the yarn store at Saint Simons. After last year's visit, I vowed to knit up yarns purchased at the store or yarns in my stash, a vow I broke only when I picked up a needed neutral sock yarn. So my bag of gorgeous yarns was a planned purchase.

 

I also bought some gift items for grand nephews at the locally owned bookshop here.

 

To show my appreciation for my friends' generosity, I bought dinner one night at Southern Soul. I also arrived with two bottles of wine and homemade cookies.

 

Admission to the sea turtle rehab facility on Jekyll was well worth it.

 

Fun visit and I already look forward to their return next year.

 

Did you do the regular ticket or the behind the scenes ticket for the turtle rehab place? I'm going to be visiting inlaws next week and I always escape for a day on either Jekyll or St. Simon's. I've never been to the turtle facility but I think I would enjoy it. 

[Jane in NC]

Did you do the regular ticket or the behind the scenes ticket for the turtle rehab place? I'm going to be visiting inlaws next week and I always escape for a day on either Jekyll or St. Simon's. I've never been to the turtle facility but I think I would enjoy it. 

 

We just did the regular. Be sure to mention that you are a retired teacher for a dollar discount.  To be honest, with our biking and the art show, the basic admission sufficed for us.  The time of our visit coincided with a Meet the Patients program.

 

There is a quilt store in Saint Simons but it is probably the saddest quilt store I have ever seen. But she does have some darling 1930 reproduction fabrics that i thought were cute.  So I did buy some fat quarters.  If you knit though, be sure to stroll through the yarn shop in SSI.  It is the most inviting yarn store I have ever been in!

[Annie G]

Thanks for the info. Honestly I just go to the beach to avoid saying something to either the inlaws or sis in law that I'll regret. It's always a stressful trip. So having a specific 'thing' to do on Jekyll makes it look less obvious that I'm just avoiding spending time with them. 

 

I can skip the quilt store- I have 2 quilt trips planned this year- one to Florida and the other to Houston. I wish I could knit- I am too high strung and my dishcloths are like little knotted scrubbies. 

 

Do they have bike rentals on Jekyll? omg....that would be heavenly. 

 

 

[Jane in NC]

Thanks for the info. Honestly I just go to the beach to avoid saying something to either the inlaws or sis in law that I'll regret. It's always a stressful trip. So having a specific 'thing' to do on Jekyll makes it look less obvious that I'm just avoiding spending time with them. 

 

I can skip the quilt store- I have 2 quilt trips planned this year- one to Florida and the other to Houston. I wish I could knit- I am too high strung and my dishcloths are like little knotted scrubbies. 

 

Do they have bike rentals on Jekyll? omg....that would be heavenly. 

 

I drove to SSI with my bike but yes there are rentals.  Check our Jekyll Island Bike Rentals.  I highly recommend you spend a day investigating the island, popping off the bike to wander at driftwood beach, visiting the turtle rehab hospital, having a picnic lunch. You'll be so relaxed!