No Spend Months: Week 6 Review & we quit
Yep, we’re throwing in the towel on the no spend months, for several reasons.
- While my husband is home we would like to attempt to heal a few symptoms in all of us. We are attempting to do this by cutting out all sugars, starches, legumes, grains and dairy. We both ate the SAD diet up until a couple of years ago. While our health has vastly improved since then, we still have many years to heal from. Our toddler also needs to heal his gut due to a round of antibiotics I had right after his birth. He and I have both had symptoms of an unhealthy gut since those antibiotics (he got them through my breast milk) and we are seizing this opportunity to heal up.
- There are a few things we would like to do and purchase while my husband is home. Namely a date for my husband & I while we have a babysitter & winter clothes for all of us. Our no spend challenge has opened my eyes to a concept I call mindful purchasing and so we will be purchasing clothes with that in mind. This will help us avoid the disgusting consumerism that goes on this time of year, while buying high quality & hopefully handmade clothing.
- We have both saved money and learned so much from this experience already. I will do a write up of all that I have learned later, but for now let me say that I am very thankful to simply have had this experience.
Food
Spent: ~$28.00.
This was our milk & egg order for the week.
Car Mileage
Spent: $11.00
Other Expenses
Spent: $0
Wrapping it up
Total spent: $39.00.
Our last week ended well and while I had hoped to see this to the end of the two months, I know that we have gotten everything out of the experience that we could.
Thank you for joining me for another no-spend week.
mindful purchasing – we’ve practiced that for a couple years and although we spend money regularly on clothing, groceries and household items we are very thoughtful about what we purchase. OUr next step is to move away from purchasing plastics which will cost us more money initially but will be better in the long term for everyone, the earth included. Frugal does not mean cheap. Mindful does not mean never spending money. It means spending your dollars in line with your values.
Renee – You’re so right that frugal does not mean cheap. To me frugal means doing what you can with what you have, and doing it ethically. We, too, are working on moving out the plastics and buying glass and stainless steel. You are also right about mindful spending.
this is going to be a goal of mine for 2009 – replacing plastic slowly. I can’t do a big overhaul budget wise but maybe by the end of the year.
I was wondering where you are looking for homemade clothing? I too am trying to be more mindful of what we purchase in all areas. We are working out of our plastics. Thrift stores are great for glass purchases, pyrex, etc. I am hoping to replace our clothing and linens with more natural, longer lasting, sustainably produced products. It sounds expensive, but I need to at least start researching those items to be able to purchase in the future. Even if only one piece at a time.
I’ve enjoyed reading your blog and learn a lot from it. Thanks for your time.
Sarah