No Spend Challenge Journal: Week 2

This is Week 2 of our No Spend February Journey. Click here for a link to Week 1, Week 3 or the final Week 4.

Weekly Recap
This week felt like a lifestyle shift. We definitely started experiencing the benefits of a life not driven by dropping into the store which turns out is a life driven by non-consumer moments. Instead of feeling accomplished by buying things, we did things. Turns out, lots of skills and lots of good memories can be made without spending a dime!

 Day 8: ‪#‎nospendfebruary‬ is making me a better baker! Because we are running low on bread, I decided to make good use of all the flour in our house. Today I made biscuits and french baguettes from scratch! I also ran out of baking powder and learned that baking powder is only baking soda and cream of tartar so I made my own. I am never buying baking powder again. There are so many things in my pantry that can be decluttered if I stopped buying things that are just combinations of other things I already have. Got through a ton of laundry too. Staying home and baking on the weekend really makes the weekends seem much longer!

Day 9: This morning my mom asked me to find out about dental coverage on their insurance plan for my sister and make her an appointment because she needed a re-root canal done and the out of pocket cost without insurance was close to $1k. Just as I was in the process and found out the co-pay was $350, I asked my sister why she needed it done again. Turns out she had it done a year and a half ago and it's hurting her again. I called the original dentist who did the work a year and a half ago, told them it was bothering her again and they said to have her come in and they would treat it for free. Obviously, because they must have done something incorrectly but still, saving money for my parents!

Today is also the first day I felt stifled or deprived. I was driving by Costa Mesa for work, where many of my favorite stores are, and realized that I couldn't just pop in and buy something. Anything. Just because. The moment was fleeting but it made me feel like this challenge will be tougher as the month goes on. I get freebies from vendors and today I got brownie brittle and bacon jerky, which I snacked on, total junk I wouldn't have eaten if I weren't on the ‪#‎nospendfebruary‬ challenge but I ate it because I can't buy snacks. I'm having a dinner party for my SIL's birthday on Thursday and realized that I have a $25 gift certificate to Target, which I think I might use as the dinner party budget along with a few staples I already have at home. Butternut squash soup (have all ingredients), mixed green salad (have), Chicken Parmesan ($6 chicken, $10 cheese, have everything else) with spaghetti (have) and garlic bread. I was worried that I would have to spend money this week for groceries outside of our CSA delivery but I might actually get to the middle of the month without touching our cash!

Day 10: I did not make it to the middle of the month without spending cash. I spent $78 on food today, a small amount for the dinner party on Thursday, most for 2 weeks worth of food to supplement the pantry. I struggled with the idea of not buying food. Does anyone else do this? I suppose we could have continued to live off the pantry but we had actually run out of meat and whole grain bread, which are two healthy staples in our house that in my effort to not spend money, I ended up using white carb/highly processed substitutes which undermines our health goals. I don't know if I'm justified or just coming up with convincing excuses for spending. We did budget $200 for the month for food, knowing we would likely have to supplement, but I was hoping not to have to touch it.

Since we're a third of the way through, I checked in with my husband about how he felt about the challenge. He said that he didn't feel like he was sacrificing or missing out on anything. If anything, it feels like we have more time. I agree because it feels like we have a better quality of life now. More at peace, in control and the house is definitely cleaner. We briefly discussed doing this again, maybe once every few months, which was not the original plan for ‪#‎nospendfebruary‬. My husband is a prepper and from this challenge so far, I've learned that prepping for an effective no spend month is not that different from preparing for a catastrophic emergency. I'm making a list of everything I had to buy this month and figuring out a way to make/grow it myself for the next time we do a no spend month. 
 

Day 11:  I opened an Amazon seller's account so that I could list all the books I've been hoarding for sale. The app is so easy to use, all you do is scan the barcode, set the price, choose shipping options and list! I am looking forward to purging a lot of these books I have been allowing to collect dust. I'm only keeping books I love, books for my baby, and reference books that I know we'll use. How do you choose what books you purge? Our CSA delivery came yesterday so we're deep in fresh fruits and vegetables! I'm also working on my garden plan trying to figure out how to make my garden as perennial as possible. I found this great site (http://www.smartgardener.com) that does free comprehensive garden planning!

Day 12: I threw that dinner party for my sister's birthday yesterday. It took some pre-planning (making bread in advance, prepping vegetables instead of buying them pre-prepped), but I served Boursin toast points ($5), beet and blue cheese salad ($5), and chicken parmesan ($22), fresh baguettes with an olive oil balsamic garlic dipping sauce, and craft beer ($12), supplemented with things I already had at home, for 5 people plus one child (basically $7.33/pp). I used to spend $100 on average for a dinner party of this size. Or we would go out to eat and spend $150-$200.  It was $19 over my budget of $25 but I do have lot of food leftover. Like enough pasta for another meal, enough chicken for another dinner, enough cheese and sauce for a pizza, enough lettuce for a week's worth of salad, etc. And we had a lovely family meal. Honestly, I was worried that ‪#‎nospendfebruary‬ would really hurt our lifestyle but after a wonderful time last night, I genuinely feel the only things we've lost are the things that weren't important to begin with.
 
 Day 13: Ended up working late and then rushing around to get dinner on the table and get my walk in. We ended up taking a family walk, something my husband is not fond of but in the spirit of Valentine's day, he happily obliged. After all, it's not like we could have gone out and spent money like we normally would. The walk was more energizing and enjoyable anyway. We listened to the Dave Ramsey podcast, talked about our financial goals and future business plans. It was productive. When we got home, he gave me my Valentine's day presents, which he surprisingly prepurchased in January so it didn't violate ‪#‎nospendfebruary‬. It was two gifts; something I needed and then something frivolous. I might have previously just been thrilled that he got me frivolous jewelry, even if I didn't like it because of the sentiment. Now I just wished I had communicated better that I would be happier without the jewelry and the money still in the bank. Also, have you noticed the busier you are, working or being productive, the less time you have to think about spending money? Idle hands and all that.

 

Day 14: We're half way through the month! I'm beginning to see how much advertising really drives the "need" to spend. After watching a few episodes of different food based shows, I wanted to go out to eat. Just have a meal made of food I didn't already have in my house, like a Masala Dosa or Mediterranean Lamb. I was also getting a bit stir crazy being cooped up in the house! We didn't go anywhere but I did bake jalapeno bacon cheese corn muffins. One of the biggest challenges for me so far is falling into a routine. I'm not someone who enjoys routine because the moment it feels like a rut, I want to rebel and do something new and different. I realize that this is part of the reason my husband and I spend so much. In that sense, becoming parents have significantly helped us in the ‪#‎nospendfebruary‬ challenge because routine is GREAT for kids. Since starting the challenge, and really eating every meal at home instead of at a restaurant, taking daily walks to the park with my 17 month old son instead of taking him shopping, and spending more time at home instead of constantly out, he's really showing his understanding of the world. He'll walk over to the stroller and say "Walk," or when it's meal time or he's hungry, he'll climb into his highchair (which he hated previously) and he's happier about his bedtime routine. That is really motivating for me to keep with the routine that we've built to be successful at this challenge.