Let the good times roll

We finished the month of no spending last week. I'm so glad we did it! We saved around $2000 and by the end of the month our refrigerator, pantry and freezer were bare. As a bonus, we both lost a couple of pounds by not eating out all month!

We probably saved most of the money on food. I cooked every night and since we were using whatever we already had at the house, I didn't buy fancy ingredients or pressure myself to come up with gourmet meals. Most of our meals were simple but still good, but I do have to admit that a couple of meals during the last week were pretty unappetizing. The last meal I made was ground turkey mixed with black beans, fiesta corn and cornbread stuffing. It was as bad as it sounds! Right after we finished dinner each night, we packed the leftovers into a lunch for Bryan to take to work the next day. We are planning to continue that habit because it worked so well for us.

The interesting thing is that I really don't feel like we missed out on anything last month. We just had to find new ways to socialize and entertain ourselves. I relate food and money so much to entertaining and socializing, but I realized that it doesn't always have to be that way. I still went out with friends several times without spending and we had people over. We watched the game with friends and the only food I had to offer was chips and salsa, but no one cared. When I had play dates we met at the lake or went walking and when they came to my house I just offered iced tea or coffee. No one seemed to mind at all! I am not saying that in the future I plan to never eat out or never provide food when people come over, but it was freeing to be reminded that all of that is not a necessity. The relationships are more important than the money spent on food or entertainment.

Last month was an interesting way for me to look at my personal spending habits. I really am not much of a shopper and my image of myself is that I buy things out of necessity rather than impulsiveness or for entertainment. I don't even read fashion magazines because I don't want to be pressured to buy clothes or makeup just because I read that mine aren't stylish enough. This month made me see that my image of myself wasn't entirely true! I apparently am impulsive at times and I buy things that aren't necessary. Several times at the beginning of the month I found myself wanting very badly to buy something and being frustrated that I couldn't spend, but it is interesting that now I can't even remember what most of those things were. We somehow survived without them. Hmmm, I guess they weren't very necessary or important items to buy. It was a good lesson to learn about myself.

I don't want to come across as saying that I think spending money is bad or wasteful. I believe that as long as we work hard and are good stewards of what God entrusts us with by meeting our tithe obligations and giving to those less fortunate, we are supposed to enjoy what we have left. I think dinner with friends, vacations, gifts, movies, etc. are all wonderful things that add joy to our lives! I just feel more centered and appreciative after taking a break from all those great things for a month. I think we may try to do a month of no spending once each year to take time to reassess our spending habits and to clean out our freezer and pantry. It also is nice to be entering the holiday season with a little extra cash!