Monday, August 1, 2011

The August of Austerity

There have been a few fellow bloggers who have done No-Spend months and reading about their adventures and successes have given me a big enough nudge to do one myself.
I think it’s a good idea to take a break from spending in order for one to realize how much they really ARE spending…..and I’m sure a lot of it is pretty much unnecessary.  Not only that, but that spending can become a fix. Nick the homebrew husband over at Northwest Edible Life wrote a nice post several days ago about the The Treat Spiral and the end of their No-Spend month.  Go check it out.
So beginning today, we’re not going to spend money on anything other than on a few pre-determined, pre-ordered or emergency items (being out of chocolate constitutes an emergency, right??).  Those items being the hay we are having delivered this month, the baby Cornish Cross chicks that I ordered (but won’t be paid for / delivered until the middle of August) and goat feed.  In cooler weather I could go a month without buying goat food, but the grain gets moldy in the muggy summer months and we can really only buy three bags at a time or risk it going bad. 
Other exemptions are any vital recurring household bills (basically just internet and electric) and fuel for the car & motorcycle.  Paul has been taking the motorcycle to work almost every day in order to save on fuel.  As logically-sounding as it seemed, there was a slight flaw; it left me with the car at home and I was starting to drive everywhere for any ol’ reason.  So I will definitely be driving less.
I did The Great Pantry Challenge back in January of this year and was able to “survive” then, so I’m just going to take it one step further and include all forms of shopping, not just grocery shopping.
It will give us the opportunity to pare down the items in the deep freezers.  This package says "Deer Steaks"...we haven’t shot a deer in three years.  I don’t remember buying any Lean Cuisine meals, how did it get in here?  What in gods name is that thing?  Is it meat or vegetable?   You get the idea.
It will also require me to do some sorting and rotating of stock in the pantry.  When the month is over, we’ll take inventory again and schedule a run to Aldi and Sam’s Club to restock.

And I won't be making any, "Oh since we're in town, lets just stop in the store for a yadda-yadda-whats-it."
So be forewarned fellow bloggers, the complaining will begin soon enough.

Paul's Take
She was complaining about it before it even started.

10 comments:

  1. I love reading Paul's Takes!!

    Good luck on the spending break. Sometimes not easy, but probably something everyone needs to do. And it can be scary once you get down to the bottom of the freezer...maybe you can do a blog post on "What the criminey is this package of frozen...." :)

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  2. The freezer is an endless PIT! Good luck with your challenge! Paul must have a great sense of humor too!

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  3. Good for you. I made a vow to stay out of Walmart for a month. We made it successfully last month.

    Your freezer sounds like my freezer. My "Paul" (really a Max), just said not to plant a garden next year; we have three freezers full and one I never use out of. It's insane.

    You have inspired me.

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  4. Oh, my! I can't wait to see how this goes. It sounds so neat!

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  5. Good luck!! I don't think I could do a whole month yet....maybe I will try it for a couple of weeks...someday...call me chicken....

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  6. I love the title! A little austerity does us all good. Waiting with bated breath to hear how it goes - both takes!

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  7. I think I'm with you on this one. I've already put some thought into not spending this month. Notice I said "some" thought and not a lot? Any way, Today I bought mouse traps for $3.24 because we have a creature living in our garage and that is not a good thing. I decided I would write everything down that I buy and see how I do. I will also keep track of what needs to be restocked. I will see how I do. One of my mail goals is to be able to pay our property tax and irrigation bill, both due in November, by the end of September. I want to do this because I am out of work and it is really hard to save the money when you don't have an income. That's one of my goals.

    http://simpleeverydayliving.blogspot.com/

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  8. Hey!!! Those were MY Lean Cuisine dinners from a previous visit to Krazo! I know how you try to sway me away from eating that pre-packaged stuff but it's just soooo easy (as you may all remember, I HATE to cook). Even though we are sisters...I'm still the complete opposite as you. But I LOVE you anyways :->

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  9. MamaTea: I think I will do a "guess what this is" post when I get to the bottom of the freezer, thanks for the idea.

    APG: Paul is laughing inside. At least I think he is. Well, maybe not.

    gld: just staying out of Walmart will save me tons of $$, good job on a WM-less month!

    HoosierGirl, BRF & Susan: You know I'll keep you all posted, like it or not! :)

    Rose: I'm sure there will be things that are "necessary" during the month, but just knowing that you'll be keeping track of things make you really think about purchases.

    Christine: Oh, I'm sorry, we ate your Lean Cuisine tonight. NOT!

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  10. The first time's the hardest. :) I wish I had pre-exempted my years supply of strawberries - thats a good call with the chicks etc. Good luck, you can do it! :)

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