Monday, October 15, 2012

N.S.O., Week 2

Well, the second week of No Spend October was a total bomb.

The wood splitter (the mechanical one, not Paul) threw a belt so that was twenty bucks.  And when Paul was fixing that he found a problem with the carburetor so that was another twenty.

Then when driving the truck, Paul noticed a plastic burning kind'a smell.  Some switch in the dashboard that controls the lights was melting. We knew exactly what it was because the same thing happened a few years ago........although I don't recall it costing close to a hundred bucks for the little piece of plastic.

As if a hundred dollar molded piece of plastic wasn't an expensive enough outlay for the truck, one of the inside back tires got a flat.  Normally Paul will patch a flat if it's a clean puncture, but unfortunately it was in the sidewall.  Meaning it's not fixable.  Off to the tire store for two new tires.  At a hundred and eighty bucks per tire!  And we didn't even get the really expensive ones.  Technically it would be best if we got all six tires (it's a dually), but the others still have a bit of life in them and I just couldn't cough up eleven hundred bucks right now.

After shelling out all this cash for stuff, I got a bit depressed.  So Paul took us out for Little Caesar's pizza.  Yes, I understand the irony of curing a money-spending depression with spending more money.  At five bucks a pizza it's not a bank buster, but I still felt like I cheated because it really wasn't necessary.  But I didn't feel as guilty once we were were all chowing down. :)

Oh, and I picked up a bunch of apples for Rhiannon.  We were out and I couldn't say "No".  Try explaining to your toddler that she can't have any apples, not because they are unavailable or unaffordable, but because Mommy is trying to stick to a self-imposed budget of almost nothing just so she can prove something to herself and post about it on her blog.

So yeah, I bough the apples.

And here is my horribly spendy No Spend tally for NOS Week 2:

Truck light switch thingy, $96.90
Two tires for the truck, $359.10
Wood splitter parts, $40-something*
Pizza out, $10.60
Apples, $8-something*

Total $514-something*

Oh well.  There's always next week, right?

*The "somethings" refer to the fact that I tossed the receipts in the trash before I wrote it down and didn't feel like digging through squirrel guts to get to them.  Explanation of the rodent innards to follow shortly.

8 comments:

  1. That's what happens to best laid plans. My year started out that way, Well issues, Truck issues, Broken sprinkler that could not be shut off, idiot losing trailer and wiping out my fence, septic tank problems, I did not think it would ever stop. Now with taxes and insurance both big payments for December I don't need anymore break downs.

    I don't think apples qualify in the no spend catatgory, LOL, at least she wanted a food that is good for her and not a toy or something that would be a no spend item.

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  2. I think I joined NSO but I am not doing well either! I haven't bought anything unneccesary but we are spending some dough on barn building!!! This week I also plan on going to Oktoberfest which is definetly not part of the program. I have used the excuse that I'm part of NSO to my little one a few times to get out of buying her something she wanted, but I think I may have to call it quits LOL!!

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  3. Oh well, it happens to the best of us. hehehehe

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  4. Aw, man... you too? I need a new front axle in the Subaru! Ugh.... try, try again :)

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  5. Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. You tried and things happen. After all, you need transportation and a working wood spliter to keep going. Then because you were out, the family needed to eat. There are things you just have no control of. I say you start again once your back up and running. We start this afternoon on the no spending money project. Keep your chin up!!!

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    1. CR,
      Okay, I've messed up the N.S.O. totally. I couldn't help myself. I was looking for dining room chairs at yard sales to go with out table. Ended up not finding the chairs but found other things. Some of the things we needed and others we didn't. I did however save money because I bought at yard sales and negotiated the price.
      I will have to start N.S.O., another time.

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  6. Sh*t happens! It seems every time we think we are going to have a little extra to stick in savings, something comes up. This month, a new roll-up door for the tack room that the horse tore up. (sigh)

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