"No Buy" March update

$35.00 coffee & breakfast
$17.00 diet Coke
$25.00 buying lunch at grocery store
$9.00 buying milk for coffee
$86.00 

That's my estimated list of extra purchases throughout a regular month. 

The first extra purchase was $2.67 well spent for a breakfast treat on the way to school one morning.  It had been a rough morning with lots of tears and whining.  We were crazy early to school so we stopped at the store, bought a muffin and some juice boxes and had a picnic breakfast outside school.  Our moods were immensely improved with the unexpected special treat.  Until Phee tripped and scraped her knees.

We sort of fell apart for a couple weeks while Phee has strep throat.  Which turned into 4 weeks of antibiotics as the first round didn't take care of it.  Poor baby.   Prior to this challenge, I knew that I wasted the most money when we had these difficult days and weeks.  I get tired and lazy and rushed and then I don't do any food prep and I'm much more prone to forgetting anything I have prepared when we run out the door in the morning.  These weeks of strep throat just reinforced that knowledge and I'm much more eager to put the effort in at home and get my prep done.  And, if I have to put a giant post-it on the door so I don't forget my lunch, so be it.

So, after all of that, I think I spent maybe $25.00 on extras.  A big improvement!

Some tips and tricks:

• Take milk to work for coffee.   I don't have to buy more for work and what I have at home doesn't go bad.  I grabbed a mason jar and that's what I've been using.  It's easy to see how much I have and when I'm going to need to refill.  Plus, who doesn't love a mason jar?
•  Make snacks from scratch.  I have a fantastic granola bar recipe.  I need to make it more often because it's a great breakfast and a great snack.
• Keep a bottle of your favorite dressing at work so you don't have to transport for lunches or veggie snacks.
• Keep a stash of canned soup at work so that you have lunch on days you're rushed or forget your lunch in the fridge at home.
• Spend the time prepping food on the weekend.  Cut up veggies, peel oranges or citrus, make a big container of salad.  You can quickly prepare your lunch when all the work has been done.
• Have leftovers?  When you put them in the fridge, put them in serving size containers so you just have to grab one and go for lunch.
• Use cash.  It's so much easier to see what you're spending and if you have it in your hand, you might be more inclined to hold onto it.
• Meal plan.  It helps with lots of things, especially saving money.  The leftovers from your dinners make great lunches.  And there are some great breakfast casserole or baked oatmeal recipes out there that help make sure you get a good breakfast.

Overall, the month wasn't as bad as it could have been if I wasn't being mindful of my purchases.  There were some unnecessary purchases and a couple lazy days.  But, it's nice to come out of the month knowing that I can, in fact, live without all that diet Coke that I think I need.  And, if I just spend a little bit of time planning every day, I can certainly remember to get my lunch, snacks and milk to work.

I'm going to try to keep this up.  Even if I do make the occasional extra purchase, cutting out $60 of unnecessary spending each month adds up to quite a bit over a year.  And that I can live with.


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For April, I'm going to try to put down the phone.  With the way March went, Phee has had lots of TV time, and, while I might snuggle with her on the couch, I usually am also messing around on my phone.  Because, really, how many times can you watch the same episode of Arthur?  But, it's a bad habit and I'd like to stop.  We have a nice chunk of time to play after dinner and we'll both have a lot more fun if I put the phone down.

No Buying!

This month, I'm attempting a buy-nothing challenge for myself.  It's taken a little bit of planning ahead already and it's only the fifth day of March.  So far, so good- for the most part.

Day one I bought a birthday present for a birthday I'd sort of forgotten about since I'd been out sick two days.  With being sick and home, while I might have had time time to make a fun present, it didn't cross my mind and I probably wouldn't have felt up to it anyway.  So, I bought a plant in a pretty planter (which I wanted myself!).

Since then, I haven't bought anything extra for myself.  We got breakfast tacos on Saturday, which we always do and Doug and I got lunch on Friday which we often do when he has Fridays off.  Is that cheating?  I'm undecided.  I guess it depends on your reasons and goals for a buy-nothing challenge.

For me, specifically, I'm trying to cut out some of the little extras.  I usually make coffee at work, except for Monday mornings when a specific group beats me to it and makes decaf.  So, Phee and I usually stop for coffee on Mondays.  And, if you're getting coffee, why not get a big muffin or a bagel, too, right?  Not something I need.  I can easily make breakfast at home or eat oatmeal at work.  I can also plan accordingly and bring coffee with me, too.  It's not difficult, I just need to get into the habit.

Another thing I do is buy myself a little treat just because I had to run errands or go grocery shopping.  Guess what?  I don't need that diet Coke either.  Sure, it doesn't cost much, but I don't need it for any number of reasons.  It's being cut out this month.

This weekend I realized that I'm going to run into another "want to buy" situation- St. Patrick's Day.  As you know, Phee and I like to make little decorations and fun things for holidays.  Normally, I'd find something fun to make and go buy whatever supplies we don't have on hand.  I've just cleaned out, organized and taken stock of what crafty supplies I have, though, so we will be getting creative with our stash instead of going to buy more things to add to that stash. 

And the big, ongoing project that has me wanting to buy stuff all the time- cleaning out and organizing the house.  I've already been working on that large project keeping in mind that I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it.  Especially since it's not a one time project.  I've been trying to work smart, take stock of what bins, baskets, extra disposable tupperware, etc we have on hand and then using what we have to organize and contain as I clean out different cupboards and closets.  So far, it's working well.  I cleaned out the pantry, a couple cupboards and a closet using things that we already had in the house.  I managed the same with my craft supplies.  I'm looking forward to tackling the rest of the house in the same creative manner.

So, for the first five days of the month, I'm going to say I'm doing well.  I will be checking in again at the end of the month to take stock of how my little personal challenge has gone.  Hopefully I will have found a couple tricks and shortcuts to share, too!