Frugal Friday: No Spend Month Confessions and Wrap-Up

We're coming to the end of our No-Spend Month, our family's challenge to live off of $350 for the month. Our hope for the month was to become more mindful about our spending habits, not to live in a drastic or ascetic way-- we have two little kiddos in the house, so we wanted to keep things healthy and normal.

We bought in bulk at the beginning of the month, meaning our first week was a bit heavy, coming in at $222.93

Our second week we reigned in the spending, coming in at $64.43

And this week we continued our trend of tight spending with..... (drum roll, please!)..... $64.69

Bringing our grand total to: $352.05, just a few bucks over our goal. If I were a perfectionist, I would probably be upset, but I'm quite happy with the whole thing. It was a great month of examining our spending habits, making do without, and living intentionally. I really feel it has impacted our lifestyle for the better, and I feel that we'll continue to live in a much more intentional way. One lesson I learned was that even if I really wanted something in the moment, I rarely regretted not buying it in retrospect. And, for our family, a great way of sticking to a meal budget is finding simple meals that everyone likes (burritos, pizza, stir-fry, roasted chicken) and making them regularly.

But, I do have a slight confession, and I just wouldn't feel right keeping this from you. One impact of No-Spend Month has been that we have become much more industrious-- imagining ways to make do, thinking of ways to bring in more income. And, along those lines, we started cleaning out some of the junk in our basement through selling it on craigslist. We started posting things we never used (Ben's old speakers), and things we never imagined anyone would actually pay for (an old backpack), and surprisingly started selling them, which created a little "slush fund" of extra money. We started setting the money aside for little projects around the house that remain unfinished-- specifically, an unfinished built-in bookcase that I hope to be blogging about (in its completion) on Monday.

Well, we dipped into the money a little early. I wish I could say that we spent it in something amazingly sexy and extravagant, but here's where it went: A box of Ben and jerry's ice cream, and some mouse traps. And some frozen custard on our way to our Mini-Vacation. Apparently our (ahem... my) weakness lies in the ice cream.

It just wouldn't be a good month without a little drama, don't you think?

And, I'm happy to report, that all our savings allowed us to pay down $500 of credit card debt we're still carrying around from finishing our basement this winter. Not bad.


To all the no-spenders out there: how has your month ended up?

Frugal Friday: Our No Spend Month Week One Roundup

We are eleven days into No Spend Month, our attempt at living off of $350 bucks for the whole month. You can read about some of the things that we've been trying to cut down on costs here, as well as our rational behind embarking on this endeavor. And, I'm quite happy to report, so far so good-- although we definitely have our work cut out for us these next couple of weeks.

Here's what our tally is looking like so far:

Costco run for the whole month: $127.85
Gas: $20.00 (I am learning that Ben is one of those people who fills to the dollar, not the tank. How cute!)
Groceries for week one: $53.10
Paper Goods: $21.98

That brings our running total to..... (drum roll, please).....$222.93

Which means that for the next three weeks we have $127.07.

This is going to be close, guys! But I think we can do it... especially if, as I'm hoping, all we have to buy is groceries for those three weeks. Can it be done? Are we stubborn enough to make it happen? I think so, but only time will tell.

Getting Started

We've been experimenting with using a sourdough starter for our bread (because there are sourdough lovers among us, and also because it would cut the cost of yeast out of our no spend month). It's actually surprisingly straightforward. My favorite part of these instructions is, "If this sounds brain-dead simple, that's because it is. People who didn't believe the Earth was round did this for millenia." Essentially, you mix flour with water and allow it to sit, "feeding" it with a bit of fresh flour and water each day. That's it!

I'm a little curious to see what types of baked goods can be made out of said starter. Can we make a milder, sweeter, whole wheat bread? Or will all of our bread have a strong sourdough taste-- loved by some, but not by others (ahem... me).

On the second day we "fed" the starter, and it looked nice and bubbly. This morning, after having fed it again, the bubbles are gone. We may be back to the drawing board, but I'm remaining optimistic. The nice thing about this is that there's essentially no startup cost, so if it takes a couple of tries, that's okay.

And with any luck, we'll have our own Virginia sourdough baking in our oven in no time! Yum.

Frugal Friday: Tips From A Cheapskate

I'm always on the hunt for finding ways to live more cheaply. It has come in handy-- especially as a one-income family living in several expensive cities over the years. I have previously posted my top ten ways to live cheaply, but I'm always living and learning, so here are a few of the newest tricks we've found-- tricks that I hope will help make our No Spend Month successful.

* Make stuff at home. I have made bread and granola at home for a while, but have recently expanded to some items that I never dreamed I would be making at home. We have started making tortillas at home-- which are pricey at the store, but super easy to make and gratifying at home. We have also started making our own popcorn (I never even KNEW you could just pop it in a pot with a lid! Just as easy as the microwave, but over half as cheap). And then there's our recent experiment of making our own bread starter (more on this soon), which will hopefully eliminate the cost of yeast from our budget.

* Find ways to have a treat on a budget. Sometimes it's nice to spice things up on the weekend and do something different or special. We often will have picnics in the yard or on a nearby field with a simple homemade dish. Or, another special treat is taking some fast food-style burgers (cheap as possible!) and doctoring them up at home. If you take a plain burger and add arugula, your favorite cheese, and red onion, it transforms the burger experience. And with this tip our whole family can eat dinner for under 5 bucks.

* Troll websites for items that you are going to have to buy anyway. I bought this adorable wooden toy (along with a set of dozens of wooden zoo animals, cars, and 'people' off of craigslist for a few bucks). But, as with all things, do this in moderation. For this month, I am disallowed from looking for stuff on craigslist because sometimes it just feels like a deal is too good to pass up... which is dangerous.

* Eat vegetarian several times a week. I was a vegetarian for years, which comes in handy, because we're used to cooking/eating without meat. This makes a huge impact on the cost of week's groceries. And when we do eat meat, we choose economic options.

* Don't use recipes, or use recipes that are flexible. I love Cook's Illustrated, but I only cook from one of their recipes once in a blue moon because they require some little ingredient I am missing, which they guilt me into buying (like arrowroot? Who's heard of arrowroot?). Instead, I do simple meals that only use a few ingredients from my head, or recipes that have lots of flex room (which is why I live by More With Less and Simply in Season, both of which use simple recipes that can be switched up in dozens of ways).


Those are our most recent "tips" for cheap living. What are your tricks? How do you live on the cheap? Please do tell!

No, We Won't Eat Rocks and Sticks

Part of the reason I loved Small Notebook's No Spend Month was that it wasn't totally crazy and out there. I liked that Annie suggested that the amount be expanded to $350 from $250. First, we live in one of the most expensive areas of the country. But that aside, for me, this month is not about asceticism or extremity. I have done the whole "living off of the extreme minimum" thing. I have lived off of Ramen (my low came when I stopped even caring if I cooked it, and would just eat it raw... ah, college). I know people who live off of canned soup and bagels, or obtain all of their food from dumpster diving. Both very cost efficient, but just not where I'm at right now. I'm not foraging for food this month: I just want to become more mindful of the ways that I spend money. And I still want my family to live comfortably, with occasional treats.

As Ben and I sat down to think about the ways that we spend money, one of the big realizations was that we pour money into our house. There are *lots* of unfinished little projects that seem like they will be fairly inexpensive, but then once you rip the sink out of the wall, or whatever it is, end up costing an arm and a leg. Part of this month will mean just waiting on all of that stuff. I do plan on mulching my garden. And possibly planting a few bulbs for spring. But all of that will have to fit into our $350.

Here's what our pantry looks like right now. It's fairly well stocked after my mom's run to Costco: we have a 25 lb bag of flour, oats for bread and granola, raisins (one of our special treats), honey, and other things we have found are worth it to buy in bulk. We have diapers for the month (no, we're not currently using cloth diapers, here's one reason why, paired with the fact that our laundry machine is on its last legs... for more on cloth diapers see everything I have to say about cloth diapers). Our whole Costco run came in at $127.85. I'm feeling good about the month! Join me tomorrow for crafty ways we have found (or learned) to save money around here.

No Spend Month

We're introducing our own no spend month-- an idea that I got from Small Notebook that is absolutely wonderful! Which is exciting, because it has been a long time since I have really cracked down on our spending habits. And, Ben and I are truly trying to live off of the bare minimum these days.

Here's the plan. All month, we are only going to spend $350.

Here's what's included in that budget (borrowed from Small Notebook)

* Groceries & eating out
* Gas
* Clothing
* Household items
* Entertainment

Not included:

* Rent, insurance, and bills
* Gifts

I'm excited to get started. My mom just did a Costco run for us (one of the many ways she regularly helps our family out), and so I'm curious to know what that totaled. And, there are many family get-togethers and celebrations in the works, so I'm going to have to do some creative entertaining. I'll get back to you tomorrow to let you know what we're starting the month with, why we're doing this, and some cost cutting ideas that are in the works. Ready, set, go!