This is the seventh day of our 31 Days of Living Well & Spending Zero challenge. Start with Day One here.
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You’ve already made it an entire week! Can you believe it? What was the biggest challenge for you? What was the biggest lesson you learned?
The first week was actually pretty good. I am so impressed with how much my hubby is on board! We’ve not eaten out at all, which is the biggest adjustment, but I’m excited because it’s so much healthier for us too. It’s amazing how much you really don’t need to buy things! —Leslie
The very first time my own family took on a spending freeze challenge, I have to admit that I questioned my sanity a little bit. I wondered if I was depriving my children, and I couldn’t help but question whether I would actually be able to make it an entire month. I may have even had a mini-crisis of sorts.
Being on a spending freeze is hard. Sometimes you feel like it’s too restrictive—or just plain nutty, especially when your friends or family members question it, laugh at you, or try to break your resolve with temptations. After all, while many of us need to scale back our mindless spending a little, most of us don’t need a complete moratorium.
Wow, what a week! Instead of organizing the pantry, I decided to paint it and cover the shelves too. After a lot of frustration, anger, and tears came a complete meltdown. However, after a good night’s sleep and a new perspective, I now have a beautiful, organized pantry and freezer that makes me happy and calmer. I am already feeling more in control and less anxious! —Sue
The fact is, this challenge is a little extreme, and that’s okay. Sometimes we need a little extreme in our lives to gain a deeper appreciation for what we do have, while enjoying the little blessings and small moments in life. Going a month without spending is definitely a growth experience.
This has been a crazy week! On the flip side, I am realizing how blessed we are. We spent the whole day with family and brought dinner for everyone from our stockpile; it was one of the most beautiful, relaxing days we’ve all had in a while. It truly is causing me to focus more on my blessings and my family. —Sam
When we did our first challenge, we suffered through a pretty “empty” pantry—one that seemed to be full of condiments and really, not much else. A few days in, I overheard my oldest explain to her sister how we couldn’t purchase candy, because candy was “a want, not a need.”
A day or two later, I picked them up from a playdate, during which they’d been treated to McDonald’s. The mom of their friend observed that she had never before seen two kids so excited about a Happy Meal.
For a moment, under the scrutiny of another mom questioning my judgment, I starting feeling guilty, like the “weirdo” mom that was forcing them into this spending freeze.
But suddenly it clicked and I had my aha moment for the week: my girls were learning the exact lessons I was hoping they would! They’d gained an understanding of the difference between a want and a need. They’d gained a deeper appreciation for little treats like McDonald’s Happy Meals, and they were grateful rather than just blowing things off as the norm.
As uncomfortable as it may have been, I realized that Week 1—with all of its bumps and snags and strange pasta dishes—was a success! We were pulling together as a family while learning to appreciate what we already had.
Today I completely broke down trying to make my careful “essentials only” grocery list. After being interrupted by my little angels for the 100th time in a twenty-minute period, I looked right at my husband and told him to take the children to McDonald’s. So yes, I caved. Now I am back on track. I loved that your girls caught on to this. I need to involve my children more, and it’s a good reminder! —Claire
And now’s the time for your reflections on the week. Take a few moments today and write down your observations. What’s been the biggest challenge in spending nothing? What surprised you? What would you do differently next time or in the future?
You may also want to ponder for a minute on the state of your finances. How much have you saved this week, compared to similar weeks in the past? Give yourself kudos if you managed to refrain from that fancy coffee drink or pass up a trip to the store.
Did you find new modes of entertainment for your family? Were there any epiphanies? Any funny moments?
If I feel the “want” to shop, I always feel good that I get a lot for a little by shopping at the Dollar Tree. Well, I literally had a mini panic attack as I drove by the Dollar Tree on my way home from work today … I could justify “needing” something in there. Well, I didn’t stop! I didn’t shop! I made it home, and I finally relaxed. All is well in the world and I didn’t spend a dollar today at Dollar Tree.
P.S. My largest one-time purchase at Dollar Tree? Sit down … $405.00! —Jacqueline
Whatever lessons you take away from this week, now’s the time to write them down and keep track. Be honest with yourself about your successes and struggles.
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Our daughter is 5. She asked if we could just go to the grocery store and "just look at their stuff". I asked her why she would want to do this. She told me that we could look at it to know what we want to buy when we spend money again. This has been a great experience for us. She often gets treated to McDonalds sundaes after Kindergarten. I have been giving her a quarter for her chores and told her she can save them to buy a sundae. She has not chosen to get one in these first 7 days. Thanks for this challenge. I know you put a lot of time and effort into this.
Just wrote a blog post about this...http://lifelovegod.blogspot.com/2015/10/i-know-crazy-right.html
I'm loving this challenge! Learning how to reign it in. I've been following your "scopes" too. I am exactly like you used to be! i.e. shopping instead of cleaning!! lol. Thanks for the inspiration and support Ruth!!
I see some common themes here! Congrats to everyone for finding a way to be successful this last week! I've been almost disappointed because I wanted this to be a really hard challenge. Today I changed my tune. I'm not struggling to make interesting meals or tempted by eating out or impulse buys, but I am learning so much about my spending patterns! This is great! I'm keeping a list of all the little things that I think of that I'd like to have and do not need. Christmas is coming and people will be asking for lists! I'm actually drinking less coffee to see if I can stretch what coffee I have through the month. How awesome would it be to drink 1 cup a day instead of 4? The cleaning week will be a bigger challenge. Cleaning is not my favorite. Sigh. Good luck on the rest of the challenge!
We're quite accustomed to eating at home (4 boys aged 9 to 2), but I do usually spend a lot on groceries. Since making the inventory, I really realized how much we had at home, all we needed was to "gather the fragments" into a meal plan for the month.
We have had an air of extravagance around here. We're eating stuff up - even if it's the jello or open bags of marshmallows or having an indoor picnic with MREs from my husband's former military days!
I am also viewing otherwise fairly ordinary events like the monthly church potluck that I forgot about, but our family was able to join in, and a friend offering us some leftover potatoes from a field as direct evidence of God's provision. Pretty awesome stuff right there!
My biggest concern going forward is what happens when the month is over? Do we resume stocking up, or decide we prefer an emptier pantry?
This has been fun, but challenging. Last weekend we had a previously planned day trip to Ashland. I didn't feel right in canceling it because the kids were looking forward to hanging out and playing in the park and my husband had a class he was committed to taking. But, I took out a certain amount of money and we limited ourselves to that. In addition, we packed our lunches from home instead of eating out. We window shopped in toystores, a speciality store, and a candy store (Ok, I did buy them each a pretzel there) and then hit the farmer's market. We only bought a few locally grown fruit and veggies, and a honey stick. I did slip up and buy us a few books at the bookstore, but managed to get out of the toystores without spending a dime. The hardest thing this week has been trying to make this work while getting our house ready for a huge repair that is necessary. Our living space is almost cut exactly in half to prepare and our floors are removed. That makes cabin fever at an all time high. But we've been good. On Sunday, when normally we would have grabbed a pizza or some deli chicken to "make us feel better" we took hotdogs and pita bread out of the freezer, our daughter found leftover marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate, we took it all outside, made a fire in our firepit, and had a cookout outside, complete with S'mores. This week so far we have only bought milk and paid for some previously ordered homemade tamales. I seriously think we can do this. :)
Last month, we started giving my 4 1/2 year old daughter a quarter for completing her daily "checklists"- a morning one and an afternoon one. These have been GREAT for keeping her on track with her tasks and responsibilities, and she liked using her quarters for when we went camping (which is done now) and for those silly gumball type machines at the grocery stores (with the horrible gum and candy and piece of junk toys- but it is her money). This Tuesday when we were at a store she asked if she could get something and I said, "Remember, we're not spending our money on things we don't need this month." To my surprise, there was NO ARGUMENT from her. It was like some sort of Frugal Fairy magic! I'm excited to see what she'll think of all of the quarters she'll have saved this month, but as I really like this idea of less stuff, my problem is how to let her, or encourage her, to spend it. Is it even possible to have a meaningful monetary incentive for kids (which I do think helps them to learn about money) without the goal being saving for "stuff" she wants? I am torn between helping her learn the value of earning her own money and of saving it for what she wants, but also the value of appreciating what we have and not accumulating stuff.
This morning, my 16yo daughter did a huge favor for me, and I told her I'd treat her to Sugar Shack donuts afterwards. Then I thought in mind, "How stupid! You're not supposed to be doing that. You're on a spending freeze." But I had already promised her, and she was excited. On the way to Sugar Shack, she said, "Mom, can I pay for these?" I said, "You don't have to." She said, "But I want to because I know you're on this no-spending plan and I don't want you to mess up." Wow!!! Love that girl!
The scariest part of this challenge for me is committing to do it knowing that I would need to make a few adjustments based upon events to which we had already committed. Several events are not absolute needs, but needs in the sense of honoring commitments or participating in our school community. This week was not a 100% spending freeze since we are hosting about 40 of my husband's colleagues for "journal club" and dinner at our home this Thursday. In the spirit of this challenge, I am making pulled pork sandwiches for dinner instead of catering it and making all the desserts from items in my pantry. We had also already planned a rare date night for our anniversary last Friday. We didn't cancel our sitter, but we did choose to use gift cards we already had for our dinner instead of going to a fancier restaurant. I kept to the basics for our family groceries this week and stuck to my list for the first time in a long time (dairy, basic salad ingredients, some fresh fruit & a bag of sugar since I didn't have enough left to make desserts for Thursday). I am noticing how often I am tempted to spend small amounts with my children and have been successful avoiding that, encouraging my children to decide if they want a given treat enough to spend or earn their own money to pay for it. I am looking forward to reviewing our budget at the end of the month and seeing how much we have saved by putting more effort into being intentional about using all the resources we have. Thank you for the daily emails - I look forward to them as an opportunity to renew my commitment to avoid unnecessary purchases for the month.
how do I get all the e-mail updates? I rec'd day 3 and today's only so far. they are also not in my junk folder
I just sent you an email.:)
thanks! is there any reason, I don't get them? Is it something on my end I need to do?