Nothing New/Mindful Spending Week 18

[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!

I bought two pairs of wool, made-in-the-USA socks this week. They were not cheap, but they are seriously nice socks and I really want to get to longer-lasting, fairly made socks, at least for myself. I don't think I can do that dor my boys and DH; they are very hard on their socks.

 

This was entirely frivolous, but I have wanted this for years - I bought a "So Truly Real" doll. Yesterday would have been the 13th birthday of my daughter who died at birth. The doll shipment arrived on her birthday. :) The doll is very sweet and has an adorable face. The only part I don't like much is the hair, but I put one of my tiny baby hats I knit on the doll. :) I am not a collector of things for the most part, but I have often thought it would be nice to hold a doll like that once in a while when I'm thinking about my Lydia.

 

I also bought two manikin baby models to size-guage and display the knit hats I make. I ordered them from Amazon and they are so freakin ugly! :D I would rather they looked cute, but it appears that accurately-sized child/baby manikin heads are hard to come by. It's kind of a joke now around our household, because it took forever for them to arrive and I kept saying, "Did my baby heads come in the mail today?" My son thought that was hilarious.

 

Ordered an Edible Arrangement for my mom for Mother's Day.

 

So how is everyone else doing?

[JustEm]

Let's see. We are still on a basically no spend month because of all the events that require gifts that we have in May. But I did need to buy a flower girl dress for DD since she's in my brother's wedding. Luckily it is low key and it just had to be an ivory dress and not a specific one. Thanks to eBay I found a beautiful dress for $7 shipped. Now I'm hoping to find shoes at the thrift store or consignment shops. Oh and we gave my nephew cash for his First Communion. That's it for us.

[JustEm]

Quill, the doll sounds like a lovely thing to have for when you need it.

[BarbecueMom]

Oh where do I start.

 

Satellite dish was struck by lightning last week, which meant a new receiver/DVR and the PS4 shipped off for repair. $150. The TV service is awful and not worth the money, and don't get me started on the PlayStation.

 

Way too much junk food and fast food this week. DS had baseball practice and two games, and I bought donuts this morning as an incentive to work harder on getting the house cleaned up today. It worked, but ugggggh I hate spending money on wads of sugar.

 

Then I broke the dishwasher when I was cleaning it. Somehow. The thing is a worthless piece of garbage, and hand washing is actually easier. I'm going to hold off on replacing it. I just bought dishwasher soap at Costco though. Argh. And half of my sink is leaking (after the garbage disposal nearly caught on fire) and practically unusable. Double argh.

 

I ordered curriculum. Realized I didn't read the reviews for one thing close enough, had to return it. Out the return shipping cost.

 

Taking the kids (minus the toddler) to see Captain America tomorrow... more money.

 

All I want for Mother's Day and my birthday is for stuff to quit breaking and money to stop evaporating.

[knoxinsox]

Did I check in last week?  I can't remember...however, all I bought was a science book for my son for next year--half the price of Rainbow Resource.  $9.

 

Hubby picked up a few groceries--milk, coffee creamer, bananas, lunch meat, cheese) on Monday morning on the way back from a job interview for a different position at work. We're eating out of the pantry and freezer for everything else and heading up to a massive, painful grocery shop after the next paycheck.  I plan to check out a scratch and dent store, Winco for bulk items, and of course, Aldi for the rest.  

 

Fugalities:

The neighbor lady gave me most of a flat of impatiens when she heard I was going to be getting some hanging baskets.  

 

Baked bread, made homemade pizza, granola bars, molasses cookies...I have used over 50 lbs of flour since March.  I always wonder if I am saving money, so the breakdown is $16 for flour for 2 months, plus some yeast.  5 loaves of bread a week bought from Walmart would be approx. $15/week since no one will eat "Wonder Bread."  

 

Left the windows open as its been really nice weather and dried all my laundry outside.  The electric bill was $65, even with all that bread baking and cooking.  

 

Misc:

 

My son's $10 thrift store bike was stolen off our front porch last week...very frustrating as he needs to ride off his aggression.  Police came out and took his report, and the next morning a brand-new bike appeared on our front porch courtesy of the kind policeman.   We really could not afford a new one right now, and I looked for a couple months till I found the last bike.   So very thankful, and hopefully we can pass on a kindness to someone else at some point.   

 

I was supposed to have gotten my car inspected and paid the taxes, but since I spent $700 on a new catalytic converter and an O2 sensor, we had no money left to do the inspection/taxes, so I have the car parked until I can get it done--its been over a month and I really haven't missed it.  We are walking distance to everything so its really not a big deal....hoping to get that back on the road soon.  Used hubby's truck when I needed to go further than downtown. 

 

My birthday and Mother's Day wish is also for money to stop evaporating...;-) 

 

[Annie G]

Quill,  :grouphug: . The doll sounds lovely. The baby heads, not so much. g

 

Knoxinsox, so sorry to hear about ds's bike, but cool that he got a new one! 

 

 

We had a pricey week, though it was all expected. I bought dirt to fill areas that used to have concrete or rock beds and now will have grass. Guys, I spent more money on dirt than food this week. That was tough for me. And I need more...I ordered about half what I needed. 

 

Ds worked with dh's best friend doing electrical work in our house but the cost was minimal- maybe $15 for materials. 

 

We bought hardwood flooring for two rooms we're doing, a replacement window air conditioner (oh, the joys of living in a 135 year old house!), grass seed, fertilizer, a half barrel planter,  and a cold Pepsi to share while we were out doing all the shopping.  Oh, and I splurged and spent $13 on a small fan to blow on me while I sleep...why I am having hot flashes now is beyond me. Guess I'll have that checked out. 

 

 I paid to have stuff hauled off- we cleaned out the basement and got rid of things that we no longer need.  Where we live we can't just put it at the curb or take it to a landfill...we have to pay a hauler.  Technically I haven't paid for that yet but the bill is coming. 

 

I mailed a box to dd and the grands and paid postage...it was smaller than a shoebox and weighed just a couple pounds but it was $12. Ouch. 

 

Tomorrow we're going to see the the new Captain America movie. Moms get in free so that's a plus. 

 

All I can say is that I hope this week is less costly!!!!

 

 

 

[Baseball mom]

Quill -- the doll sounds like a good money spend for the heart

 

Knox -- Glad your ds got a new bike. Stealing a kids bike is just :cursing:  :cursing:

 

Barbeque Mom -- know what you mean about wanting money drain to stop

 

hjffkj -- good deal on the dress

 

Annie -- wow I guess I don't think about things like not being able to put stuff out by the road.  We put stuff out and generally a couple hours later the stuff is gone.  Good sleep I well worth $13

 

Spend-y week here. 

Other ds - presents, cake, ice cream and pizza -- really not to bad and made him super happy

Out to eat with friends

Bought a bunch of stamps -- to send out graduation announcements and mothers day cards (I send them to aunts, cousins, friends)

Mothers day gifts -- my mom and MIL

Few groceries

A kindle book -- mind candy for me

 

This morning I had shown dh what "we" got his mom and handed dh her card to sign. The card I picked up for him to give to his mom.  He asked me "did you get a card for yourself? So I can get the boys to sign it for you.". :glare:  Uh no I was kinda busy picking out your mom and my mom a gift and card.  Was feeling kinda guilty for buying the kindle book. Not anymore. :blush:

 

 

[Guest]

This morning I had shown dh what "we" got his mom and handed dh her card to sign. The card I picked up for him to give to his mom. He asked me "did you get a card for yourself? So I can get the boys to sign it for you.". :glare: Uh no I was kinda busy picking out your mom and my mom a gift and card. Was feeling kinda guilty for buying the kindle book. Not anymore. :blush:

 

Well now, that sure would be convenient if you picked up your own card! ;) As it is, I feel like it's weird when I pay DH's credit card bill and there is a charge on there that was a gift for me.

 

ETA: fix my tags

Edited May 8, 2016 by Quill

[Annie G]

 

 

Annie -- wow I guess I don't think about things like not being able to put stuff out by the road.  We put stuff out and generally a couple hours later the stuff is gone.  Good sleep I well worth $13

 

 

 

Well, to be fair, we can put things out like an old bike or something that we hope someone will take for free. What we can't do is set out stuff for the trash guys to pick up. They will pick up one trash can/bag per week and any extra trash bags require a sticker that we have to buy. My basement pile wasn't really stuff I could put in a bag...an old broken Little Tykes truck, some leftover building materials from a project we did a decade ago, old ductwork we replaced with new, an air conditioner that no longer worked....that kind of thing. 

[Jane in NC]

Happy Mother's Day all!  And a big hug to Quill, our fearless frugalista.

 

Lots of leaky wallets!

 

I learned a couple of lessons this week.  My husband's employer has a deal with Big Box Drug Store that gives us a twenty percent discount on any store band stuff provided that store brand is not on sale.  I needed some antihistamine eye drops.  Store brand works just fine.  For ease, let's say the drops sell for $10.  With the discount I should get the drops for $8.  But drops were on sale:  buy one get one at 50% off.  This means two bottles of drops for $15 or $7.50 each.  The sale wasn't great and I really did not need a second bottle so I just grabbed one thinking that I would be paying $8.  Nope $10 since the drops were on sale even if I did not take advantage of the sale.  Lesson learned.

 

Next lesson:  buying lots of fiddly bits at JoAnns. I am teaching a "scrap buster" sewing project using scraps from my stash to make braided bracelets. I needed some jewelry fittings--clasps, etc.  I was driving back from somewhere else and stopped at the JoAnns along the way only to discover that the store did not have the fittings I wanted.  Although all or many of the beads were on sale, jewelry fittings were not.  And my 40% off coupon applied to one package, not all of the packages of fiddly bits.  Had I been more organized (or had more time), I would have checked Michael's etc.  Or used a coupon at each of the craft shops to acquire the needed pieces at a discount over two weeks.  But to be honest all of this would have required more time than I wanted to give it.  So I overspent on bunches of packages considering improvisational possibilities.  (And I think this is a problem with lots of "use 'er up" ideas--it is not unusual to have to buy something else to use up the on hand stuff.)

 

I paid for next season's symphony tickets, planned dates for the fall/winter/spring ahead. I also registered for an indigo dying workshop.  This is something that I have wanted to do for a while now.  I have some fabric to bring in for dying but will order some yarn in the week ahead.

 

We had brunch out yesterday, a lovely treat. 

 

And I just did a tally:  three iced coffees this week while driving hither and yon!

Edited May 8, 2016 by Jane in NC

[MomtoCandJ]

Hmmm not much here just gas and groceries... Next few weeks we won't be so lucky, we have dd1's green and gold banquet for GS next Saturday (making pasta salad and already bought all the ingredients), dd1 had her flower sale for school a couple weeks ago so I will need to go get those flowers and deliver a bunch to my Aunt who lives a couple hours away, and we are going to Georgia for a few days for nephew's graduation. In June we have another graduation and a few weddings.

[Annie G]

Jane, iced coffee is my downfall so I totally sympathize. I started making my own and I do like it better than Starbucks, but it was kind of difficult to give up the Starbucks experience.  We felt the same when we gave up fast food- we knew what we made ourselves tasted much better but giving up the convenience was hard at first.    

 

Do you have a smart phone? Joann's always has a coupon online they you can access by phone and they'll scan. They also have a text club which will text you coupons. I often wonder if they have it set to send when I am in or near our Joann's because it's kind of scary how many times I walk in the store and five minutes later I get a coupon by text. Our store lets us use multiple coupons but I hear other stores won't. I, not above making them ring each thing up separately in order to use a coupon on each!

 

The indigo dying workshop sounds cool!

[Jane in NC]

Jane, iced coffee is my downfall so I totally sympathize. I started making my own and I do like it better than Starbucks, but it was kind of difficult to give up the Starbucks experience.  We felt the same when we gave up fast food- we knew what we made ourselves tasted much better but giving up the convenience was hard at first.    

 

Do you have a smart phone? Joann's always has a coupon online they you can access by phone and they'll scan. They also have a text club which will text you coupons. I often wonder if they have it set to send when I am in or near our Joann's because it's kind of scary how many times I walk in the store and five minutes later I get a coupon by text. Our store lets us use multiple coupons but I hear other stores won't. I, not above making them ring each thing up separately in order to use a coupon on each!

 

The indigo dying workshop sounds cool!

 

I was on the road when I bought two of those iced coffees.  While I usually don't eat fast food, I will stop for cafe au lait or iced coffee (with milk) when I am driving a distance on the Interstate. Stopping along the Interstate at McDonald's for a coffee also allows me to read my emails when I am driving by myself.

I haven't tried multiple coupons at JoAnns. Last week I used one from the mailed flyer.  If I forget the flyer, I'll load the one from the Internet on my phone.  These are the usual 40% off one regularly priced items. I didn't realize you could use more than one.  I try to buy thread when they have a 50% off sale.  Zippers are hard to buy in quantity at a discount unless one uses the rare 20% off everything coupon.

[JustEm]

So, today is Mother's Day which means if I wanted I could go out and buy myself just about anything and dh would be absolutely fine with it. So I'm having a hard time not buying the fitbit charge hr I have on my Amazon wish list and going out to buy myself new sneakers! The sneakers I actually need so maybe I'll get them but I did tell myself we were no spend until after all our May gift obligations were done. Still have a baby shower, wedding, and a birthday to go!

[Baseball mom]

Well, to be fair, we can put things out like an old bike or something that we hope someone will take for free. What we can't do is set out stuff for the trash guys to pick up. They will pick up one trash can/bag per week and any extra trash bags require a sticker that we have to buy. My basement pile wasn't really stuff I could put in a bag...an old broken Little Tykes truck, some leftover building materials from a project we did a decade ago, old ductwork we replaced with new, an air conditioner that no longer worked....that kind of thing. 

 

Oh ok.   We can put anything out.  What isn't picked up by someone else will be picked up by the city truck not the same as the garbage truck.  Garbage truck will only pick up what is in the cans.  But to be honest most of what you listed would have been picked up by "Junkers"  There are people that make their living around here by picking up junk, mostly metal stuff, and sell it to the scrap yard. 

Edited May 8, 2016 by Baseball mom

[knoxinsox]

We're able to put out up to 4 bins per house, but we have to carry any recycling down to the recycling center. Crazy!!  I have one bin and usually have about 4 Walmart bags in it and any sticks or branches that have fallen down.  I fill it with leaves in the fall as well.  But, if we want furniture picked up, they charge your account or you can take it out to the dump--there are 2 free days per month but you have to show your water bill. So people do go out and "dumpster dive".  I always keep an eye out for good stuff.  I've gotten lamps, organizers, etc.

[Jane in NC]

I will join y'all in talkin' trash...

 

My community has weekly garbage pickup, bi-weekly recyclable pickup, and monthly pickup for yard debris. We separate grass trimmings/leaves from limbs/branches. The former are picked up by a vacuum truck, the latter by a claw truck.

 

We formerly had "brown good" and "white good" pick ups from the front of our houses but no more. People took advantage. Now we have to bring items to a site that the town operates a few days a month.  There is no charge but there is a problem for those of us who might not own a truck.  My new couch is being delivered this week.  Yippee!  I am paying a man to haul the old one away. Habit from Humanity will take furniture or appliances--depending.  As one who gets More than Her Money's Worth from things, my couch is not in the best of shape.  It sounds like the guy who is carting my couch away either has a business or ministry going on the side.  For a small fee, he removes things.  I am happy. 

 

This is a good opportunity to remind folks not to dispose of electronics in your regular trash.  There might be toxic elements--or parts that can be recycled.  I hope that most communities offer free disposal for hazardous waste including electronics.

[Prairie~Phlox]

I have been extremely blessed lately, I won a free pizza from a local pizza place on FB, I won a $50 GC to Disneystore.com from a FB page, didn't even know they were having a contest, I ordered 3 shirts for my kids and a large bag and it was $1.36 oop. 

Yesterday I went to Goodwill 50% off day and found 5 shirts and 2 pairs of capris and then today went back for the .99 Sunday color of the week sale and found a pair of jeans and 6 more items so 7.xx today and yesterday I spent $17.22, total of 24.64 on 14 items of clothing or $1.76 each.  Am pretty stoked about the finds.

 

This week will be a little more spendy, I need to finish getting items for our graduation open house for dd.  However, my children, who all work at a local greenhouse, spoiled me for Mother'S day.  Dd got me a rose bush and two types of Hens & Chicks.  Ds got me a tray of annuals and then made up containers for me and a columbine.  other Ds got me a hosta and rosemary. 

 

 

[Annie G]

We're able to put out up to 4 bins per house, but we have to carry any recycling down to the recycling center. Crazy!!  I have one bin and usually have about 4 Walmart bags in it and any sticks or branches that have fallen down.  I fill it with leaves in the fall as well.  But, if we want furniture picked up, they charge your account or you can take it out to the dump--there are 2 free days per month but you have to show your water bill. So people do go out and "dumpster dive".  I always keep an eye out for good stuff.  I've gotten lamps, organizers, etc.

 

They pick our recyclables up so that's good. But we can't put ANY sticks or leaves or grass clippings or anything in ours. We have to pay $88 a season for a special bin for that.  And we live in town so burning is prohibited...meaning we pretty much have to pay the $88 a season. 

 

We have to pay extra fees to dispose of electronics so most people take them to Best Buy where we pay $10 per item but they give us a $10 gift card.  That would be ok but we live 45 minutes from Best Buy.   My air conditioner this week cost me a $30 disposal fee. 

Edited May 8, 2016 by Annie G

[Guest]

I will join y'all in talkin' trash...

 

My community has weekly garbage pickup, bi-weekly recyclable pickup, and monthly pickup for yard debris. We separate grass trimmings/leaves from limbs/branches. The former are picked up by a vacuum truck, the latter by a claw truck.

 

We formerly had "brown good" and "white good" pick ups from the front of our houses but no more. People took advantage. Now we have to bring items to a site that the town operates a few days a month. There is no charge but there is a problem for those of us who might not own a truck. My new couch is being delivered this week. Yippee! I am paying a man to haul the old one away. Habit from Humanity will take furniture or appliances--depending. As one who gets More than Her Money's Worth from things, my couch is not in the best of shape. It sounds like the guy who is carting my couch away either has a business or ministry going on the side. For a small fee, he removes things. I am happy.

 

This is a good opportunity to remind folks not to dispose of electronics in your regular trash. There might be toxic elements--or parts that can be recycled. I hope that most communities offer free disposal for hazardous waste including electronics.

Yes, around here, I most often take electronics to the Staples, which e-cycles many goods. Best Buy also does this, and I know some other chains do as well. The UPS store may also.

 

We pay for our trash and recycling pick up in this country, but I love the recycling program. We get a very large wheeled container and most "numbers" of plastic are accepted through the bins. It is also convenient that all types of recycling can be co-mingled. It usually takes a few weeks before the recycling bin is full. Most weeks, we have a few bags of trash/one can. I keep a compost for all compostable itwms and my chickens eat most food scrap trash.

 

We get coupons for the landfill, but we hardly ever take anything there. Most of our large things have been freecycled or otherwise donated. Or we just keep them way past serviceability, as in our living room furniture...:/

[SKL]

I'm excited about a couple things I finally did last week. 

 

1.  I signed up to sponsor 2 students in my kids' birth country.  I also made other targeted donations to / through the organization, which is a charity I have been supporting for years.

 

2. I officially engaged a person to perform birth mom searches in my kids' birth country.  My kids want to know if their birth moms and siblings are doing OK.  This has been on my to-do list for a couple of years, but for some reason I kept procrastinating.

 

We also went to the chiropractor one more time.

 

We decided to opt out of swim team this summer.  This will save some money, but more importantly, a fair amount of stress.  When we have time M/W/Th, we'll do TKD followed by free swim.  These have no additional cost (other than the belt tests in June & August).

 

Paid $10 for my kids' upcoming scout weekend camp.  (I had a credit for the one they canceled last year, plus my kids can't do the horse riding because they aren't 10yo).  I myself am not going on the campout, because I have to work.  My friend has offered to drive my kids down with hers - how nice of her.  Now I'd better not forget to send anything!

 

I bought 2 cards, 2 small plants, and a pie for Mother's Day.  Now I need to figure out what to buy for my mom's birthday in a little more than a week.  I was thinking I could go visit again for the birthday, but now I am wondering why I thought that.  :p

 

My kid was invited to join the performance team at her gymnastics place.  This of course will require my paying for an additional class, but I'm not going to say no.  She is very excited.  I need to find something else for my other kid to do at that time.

Edited May 9, 2016 by SKL