Nothing New/Mindful Spending Week 19

[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, last Sunday, Mother's Day, I went to the Sheep and Wool Festival in my state. O.M.G.! I showed great restraint, let me tell you! I have not felt so amongst my people in a long, long time! Hand-crafted goods, true artisans, arts rarely witnessed, like the guy making corn brooms by hand. And Yarn, Yarn, Yarn! Thousands of skeins and hanks of the most gorgeous, sumptuous yarns! There was an angora vendor with an adult-sized dress fully made of rabbit angora. Oh, It was so beautiful and soft, soft, soft as a cloud. I bought two items - a tiny hand-woven basket with a salt-and-pepper shaker set in it ($12), and a Celtic Knot broach ($46) for holding shawls closed or pinning on a scarf. I have not knitted a shawl yet, but, having seen so many of them at the festival, now I want to make one. I also spent $6 for a funnel cake and a $5 donation for entry.

 

I think I already reported this last week, but I got an Edible Arrangement bouquet for my mom, and a card.

 

Tuesday, I retrieved DD from college; we ate out for lunch.

 

Wednesday, I took my cat to the vet for vaccine update because she (very desperately) needed grooming/shaving and they won't take her at the groomer without the updated shots. Well, the vet was concerned that the mats were too severe for them to manage without sedation (I agreed), so fortunately, they were able to do the grooming there as well. This was expensive, though. Basically, I paid dearly for not having maintained her coat through the winter. Also, I know there are quick clinics where you can get pet vaccines updated dirt cheap, so with better planning, I could have had this done much less expensively. I really need to work on a strategy for keeping her coat in good shape through the winter. I am not opposed to having her shaved for the summer, but I would rather it wasn't because it has felted into a giant and no doubt painful mass of mats.

 

While I was at the vet, I found that we still had a balance on the account from euthanizing the dog last month. :/ So, unfortunately, that was a lot of money spent on animal health care this week.

 

My sister just had her second baby, so there will be some expense for a gift for my new nephew. I might knit something, but my sister crochets, so...I never know if people want to receive a crafted item they could have bloody well made themselves. I'm not sure about this and welcome insight.

 

P.S. i haven't seen Desert Strawberry in a while, I don't think. DS, if you're lurking, I hope you are doing well and that Luna is doing well. :)

[Jane in NC]

Quill, the Sheep and Wool Fest sounds great!  And you exercised restraint. Brava!

 

My husband was out of town on business this week, a good excuse to use up the bits and pieces in the freezer and pantry although it seems that bits and pieces grow exponentially nonetheless.  I was doing fairly well until Friday when I decided that as much as I like my shrimp fried rice with local snow peas, I was not in the mood to eat it for dinner a third night in a row.  So I indulged in an eggplant parmesan sandwich from the local pizzeria. My husband managed to get standby seats on earlier flights so I heated the remaining shrimp fried rice for him to enjoy when he walked in the door.  :D

 

I bought a ticket to a garden party event as a thank you for my neighbor who picks up our mail when we travel. We'll give her a lift too so she can have a glass or two of wine and not worry about getting behind the wheel.

 

The couch and chair that I ordered in March were delivered this week!  Our old couch was showing its wear--we get our money's worth out of stuff.  But the local Habitat store did not want a couch with a rip in the upholstery.  They gave me the name of a guy who for a small fee removes furniture and either finds a home for it or brings it to the dump.  He and his assistant picked up the couch the night before the other arrived.  Smooth transition, no marks on walls or anything from the furniture going in and out.  And the new couch and chair look great!  I knew I was going to be happy with the chair but I was second guessing the upholstery selection for the couch. You just never know from a swatch but all is well.

 

Hotel life must have gotten to my husband after a week.  His priority for today was going to the herb farm to buy plants to the tune of $58.  He wants to garden tomorrow.  Sounds good to me!

[SKL]

The only thing I can remember this past week was the birth mom search - final payment (I think).  It's a one-time thing and for a good reason.

 

I ordered a birthday gift for one of our sponsored students.

 

It's May 15th, so I have some applications (summer camp / charity scholarship) and tax filings due today.  Some of them will require a payment.  Nothing significant that I haven't mentioned here before.

 

My kid will need to go to the dentist for a chipped tooth on Monday.  Unfortunately I am unable to purchase the kids' dental insurance until fall, so this will be out of pocket.  I am not sure but I think someone might have dropped the ball on signing me up last fall.  Anyhoo, no point complaining about it now.  ... I also need to make an appointment for me to fix a broken filling.  And for a cleaning.  :/

 

Also Monday is the day to sign up for gymnastics classes for next school year.  Miss E needs to decide if she wants to do it or not.  I hope she does; otherwise I have to figure out how to keep her occupied 2-3 evenings per week.  :/  The cost for a 2nd kid is pretty cheap, plus she has a bunch of make-ups that will be wasted if she doesn't re-enroll.

 

Miss E needs a haircut this week.  I should probably get one too.  Miss E is also complaining about the tooth fairy being a slacker.  I think I will just give both kids some money for their remaining teeth and be done with it.  I think that would be $12 per kid.

 

The soccer photo shoot is Tuesday.  Half of me wants to decline to order the over-priced photos, but I will probably go ahead and do it.  I think it was $10 per kid last year.

 

Thursday is scouts - I think I will owe a check for camping, but I haven't heard officially yet.  Weird, it was supposed to be collected by now.

 

My kids have their music / talent show this coming Friday.  Miss E wants me to buy her flowers.  :)  I am not really a flowers person, but she saw some other girls getting flowers last time and thought she ought to get some.  Hmm.  I guess I could do that.  I would do it for both girls, since they are both in the band/choir, but Miss E is also playing the piano for the talent show, so maybe she should get more ....

 

So a bunch of relatively small things and a couple big ones coming up this week.

Edited May 15, 2016 by SKL

[eternalsummer]

I love getting handcrafted presents I could have made myself.  imo, knowing how to sew or knit or whatever just makes you value the gift more, because you really know how much work went into it (unlike with a craft you're not as familiar with, when you might not value it appropriately because you're unaware of the time and materials and etc.).

 

 

[Baseball mom]

Was going to say I had a relatively cheap week but then I thought about it.

 

Bought a big sub sandwich -- twice -- for field trips.  I could have bought bread and lunch meat but this was simple and something different. 

 

Regular groceries were normal but I found a good deal on meat and stocked up.  So even though it was quiet a bit of money this week it will be better in the long run.

 

 

 

[Annie G]

Spent money on yard stuff- 2 more yards of dirt, two bags of weed and feed,  7 bags of mulch, and some landscape pavers.  I hate yard work so this was not fun spending. 

 

Dh and I spent the day with friends yesterday at a huge antique show. I bought nothing, but dh spent $15.  

 

We had lunch out at a place our friends suggested.  Dh and I thought the food was crummy but we smiled anyway. Ugh...it's always weird when we don't want to insult someone for choosing a bad place to eat but we don't want to encourage them too much and have them think we want to go again!

 

Dh has an awful spring cold so I bought cold meds and cough drops.  Hope he feels better soon. 

 

 

[Prairie~Phlox]

Bought food for dd's graduation party. Need to buy a few more things, ready for it to be over, It's Saturday. So really a lot more spending than normal.

[knoxinsox]

Bought:  Tuesday: groceries at Aldi--$99.  Stayed under budget--except for milk and bananas, this should last for 2 weeks.  Shopped for new shoes, but didn't buy any--I have birthday money that is allocated for new shoes.

 

Yesterday DH took my little girlie to Walmart--got her hair cut and he got drinks.  Beer, Gatorade, pop, green tea...whatever happened to drinking water????  He also brought home fast food.    He spent enough that I could have bought almost a weeks worth of groceries at Aldi.   Its interesting where you find the leaks in the budget.  LOL  Its the little things that really add up.  

 

Frugalities:

Planted my free flowers from the neighbor.  Love how nice they look.

 

Walked to the library, and walked to several yard sales...tickled to find another glass fridge pitcher for 50 cents and an expensive wool shirt for 1.00.  Spent a grand total of 5.50 for everything.  The shirt will eventually be for my son, but it fits me perfectly, so I told him that I would wear it next winter so I could keep the heat down. :-) 

 

We turned on the AC for a couple hours one day when it got really humid, but its been off since then and we've kept the windows open.  

 

Today, I am hanging out the laundry and making 5 loaves of bread and some cookies for lunches.  

 

And my sister purchased that bundle of ebooks that comes with all the freebies and sent us the craft/science project box.  Kids are thrilled.

 

We sprayed for bugs ourselves instead of getting an exterminator. 

 

No Lear jets were purchased.  :-) 

[Jane in NC]

No Lear jets were purchased.  :-) 

 

But what about that offer you made on a Tesla? ;)

 

There use to be a "Meatless Monday" movement--maybe there still is.  I don't need Mondays for meatless meals since I happen to like a lot of vegetarian food. But I thought I'd mention that for dinner I made Chana Aloo (curried chickpeas with potatoes) and homemade naan.  Lovely meal--and convenient.  I had a meeting from 5:30 to 6:30.  My husband came home around 6 and heated the curry that I prepared earlier in the day.

 

Bonus points for me since I rode my bike as opposed to driving to the advisory committee meeting.

 

You can see that I am feeling a little self righteous at the moment. :cool:

[SKL]

Well, the dentist was $139 - could have been worse.

 

Got the kids haircuts $28 with tips.  (No, it is not worth me trying to do it myself.)

 

Paid for next year's Little Gym classes - $17XX with discounts.

 

Need to send a check for the Latin American summer camp - $200 per kid plus $400 donation for scholarships.

[Annie G]

SKL, I have to say, now that my kids are all adults I feel like I'm saving a ton of money...and when I read your posts, I realize why. Kids are expensive!

[Baseball mom]

I just remembered another big spend we had about 2 weeks ago.  Dh had to have some dental work done.  WOWZA $$$ we don't have dental insurance. 

 

I was sitting here doing some thinking on bills/money.  I started counting on the money we spent for dental then remembered :glare:  He has to have more done in a couple weeks  :crying:

[Jane in NC]

I just remembered another big spend we had about 2 weeks ago.  Dh had to have some dental work done.  WOWZA $$$ we don't have dental insurance. 

 

I was sitting here doing some thinking on bills/money.  I started counting on the money we spent for dental then remembered :glare:  He has to have more done in a couple weeks  :crying:

 

We have dental insurance and, quite frankly, it really is not "insurance" as in medical plans.  Most dental plans cover twice annual cleanings but require a deductible before contributing 80% or whatever for services that are capped at a fairly low level.  My husband needed a crown earlier in the year. Even with insurance we paid $850.  Considering the cost of insurance premiums, I am not sure that there is much of a savings.

 

I feel similarly about vision "insurance".  It covers our annual screening (we pay $15 as a copay) but there is a procedure that is part of the screening that is not covered.  Our discounted cost for the latter is $35 (discounted because of our insurer--the amount is applied to our high deductible).  If we buy eyeglasses from the sales office associated with our eye doctor, we get a discount but the glasses/lens are absurdly over priced.  It is all wacky.

 

But I do feel for you. We now have a healthy balance in our health savings account so I can shrug when the bills come in. That was not always the case so I feel your pain.

 

I'm off to the dermatologist for my annual skin check tomorrow.  Wish me luck!  (I have a condition that requires annual monitoring for a prescription, but living in the sun and outdoors as I do it is not rare to have a nevus removed.  I'd rather pay a pittance now than the literal pound of flesh later.)