Last week I proposed a no-spend February. The idea appealed to some readers, for very different reasons
First – and worst! – was Yvonne Wilder’s situation. “We just went through a no-spend month in January, with the government shutdown,” she says.
All discretionary spending was cut, to the dismay of the three children in the household. (Not that what it was much fun for the adults, either.)
However, the stressful situation wound up becoming a teachable moment: “We talked quite a lot about the shutdown and budgets and they were definitely on board.”
Although the family is generally thrifty, Yvonne thinks they could stand to step up their game. January’s crash course “made us all aware of spending on wants instead of needs.”
Which of course is the point of the no-spend February: not that you can’t spend money, but rather that you become super-mindful about how and why you spend.
Diane, a solo-living senior, admits to spending at least $600 a month at the supermarket. She’s hoping to learn “to spend more consciously,” and looks forward to encouragement from fellow non-spenders.
She’s not the only one who has trouble reining in the purchases. A reader named Marie likes to buy decorative items at the dollar store. “I spent over a hundred dollars there last month! For stuff!”
She’s joining the no-spend February with friends – and with a great twist. Not only are they challenging supporting one another, they’ve each tossed $5 into a kitty. The champion non-spender gets to choose the charity that will get the cash.
I love that.
The no-spend life: Different for everyone
Kate lives this way pretty much all the time, because it helps her get the things she wants. Right now she’s “saving everywhere I can” to stash some cash for a trip to Ireland.
(Me, too, also. Not the going-to-Ireland part, but the part about saving where I can so I can spend where I want.)
Janey, on the other hand, walks the frugal talk because she must. She lives on a fixed income that’s “way below” the federal poverty line. Although she’s probably got mad frugal skillz already, Janey looks forward to hearing from others: “Tips and encouragement are always appreciated!”
So how about it, readers: Care to share how your first week went? I’ll start:
My friend Linda B. and I are ladies who lunch just about every week, taking turns buying. She had read my original post and offered to pay for all February meals, bless her heart. I’ll pay for next month’s.
However, I did opt to head to her house afterward for some recorded television rather than go to a movie even though it was pay-one-price Tuesday. That would have cost me $5.75 vs. the usual $7.25. But watching stuff like “The Good Place” cost us nothing.
(I wasn’t crying at the mid-season finale. There was something in my eye. Both eyes.)
On the way to Linda’s house I stopped at Walgreens to take advantage of a coupon special for her favorite pretzel M&Ms. Some would say chocolate could be considered essential, and I would not disagree. But since I used some of my Walgreens Balance Rewards, the M&Ms didn’t cost me anything – which makes it a no-spend day, right?
On Sunday I’d planned to hit the library to do some work. But I was feeling cranky, and when I’m a little out of sorts I want to drown my sorrows in McDonald’s fries. Did I mention there’s a McDonald’s right down the street from the city’s main library?
Yes, I should be able to control my behavior. But did I also mention I was feeling a bit fragile, and that it was snowing, and that I didn’t even want to be working on a Sunday but had to because I’d sloughed off on Friday and Saturday? Thus I was fairly certain that I would succumb to the blandishments of those salty little spud strips.
Know yourself. I stayed home.
Tomorrow I have a previously scheduled hair appointment. That, to me, is essential: When my hair is freshly cut (and, yeah, when it’s freshly dyed) I feel better about myself. On the bright side, I have a coupon for $20 off the cut and color. It’s also an early-afternoon appointment so I will have just had lunch. This is important because there’s a McDonald’s not far away from the beauty salon, too.
Okay, everybody: How has your week gone?
I’ve challenged myself to only spend what I ‘make’ through selling stuff. So far I’m $15 ahead. 🙂 I honestly have not felt like spending anything, although this morning I’m heading out the door to the bookstore. I will browse and see all the new fangled books, but most assuredly I will walk out with nothing. But…you never know….
Well, I think I get a bye this week – my husband had a heart attack on Sunday and I spent the better part of three days at the hospital. So I spent money on food tand (of all things) a pair of readers, because I forgot mine at home. He’s had a stent put in, is home and is doing well. But when we went to pick up his new prescriptions there was no co-pay – good news, as no out of pocket. Bad news, because it must mean he’s met the deductible already. (I did tease hubby and told him I don’t need to get him a Valentine’s day present since we fixed his heart early.) Next week I’m home on a planned staycation, I have a little bit of money budgeted for a couple of fun things, but mostly I plan to take care of things around here and indulge in hobbies for long stretches. Check with me again next Friday!
Best wishes to your husband for a successful recovery — and to you too, Linda, for the support and stamina you’ll need for caretaking!
Oh good heavens! I’m so glad he’s home and as comfortable as he could be, given that he’s just had a heart attack and a stent.
Hobbies are good. They’re very soothing and, unlike crossword puzzles or other soothing pastimes, you actually get a finished product you can wear, display or give as a gift.
Best wishes for your husband’s recovery. Eek.
No candy bars, chips, or bottles of pop (as we call it here in the Midwest) came home with me this week. Those tend to be indulgences I tack on to weekday trips to the post office and bank, especially if I’ve had a mentally draining day at the office. Instead I fixed my sweet tooth with Nutella on graham crackers, and my salty tooth with homemade popcorn, all of which I had on hand at home. My carbonation tooth got homemade seltzer water.
I tossed incoming catalogs into the recycling bin immediately. For the one catalog I kept, I put a note about an appealing item onto my “wish and wait list.” We’ll see if I still want it in a month or two.
We tried a new chicken recipe this week, which used up the broken bits and pieces from the bottoms of several tortilla chip bags. Read the recipe here if you’re interested: http://www.midwestliving.com/recipe/chip-crusted-chicken-tenders. Consensus: good enough to eat once, not good enough to make again. One bag I used up contained Halloween-themed natural-blue-corn and dyed-orange chips, so what the dish lacked in texture it made up for in a pretty, confetti-like appearance.
The kids and I talked about ideas for our upcoming staycation next weekend. I’m glad I asked for feedback — several free events I’d found got a “meh” response when I proposed them as options. We’ve come up with a theme of “books and food.” Some spending will be involved, but I’m scouting out coupons and discounts.
We have plenty of flour, yeast, rolled oats, and flaxseed meal at home, and plenty of winter wind outside. I shall don my Frugal Sybarite hat and bake bread this weekend.
Mmmmm….homemade bread….
And “books and food” is a theme that resonates here, too.
I participated in NO-SPENDUARY in Jan, and am happy to play along again as I love this game! I’m the sort of nerd that loves to see how they can cut corners and save another dollar, and read everyone else’s ideas regarding same! 🙂
This week, I played the “eat out of the pantry + freezer” game! It worked out well for me as a friend treated me to lunch, and my leftovers, along with hers (she didn’t want the salad she ordered), were cobbled into lunches for the entire week! 🙂
Bonus: When you eat from the freezer and pantry, no food gets wasted (freezer-burned, super-expired).
When I worked at the newspaper I used to amuse myself in the lunchroom by looking at other people’s takeout and wondering how much they spent — and I saved — in a typical year.
OMG! I do the same thing!! LOL!
Two successes this week! We did our monthly Costco trip and I stuck firmly to my list of necessities plus Just One treat item for each of us. (Bonus points: My treat was a big ol’ bag of cocoa powder for months of homemade hot chocolate for the kids – cheaper AND way less garbage than the little packets we had before! But my husband wanted to stock up on those dinky bags of chips instead of spending $$$ on the office vending machine so, uh, it’s kinda just a trash trade-off.) Second good decision was finally baking extra bread. I’ve intended to do it since we moved in 2.5 months ago; this challenge gave me the final push! So now we have 2 loaves of GF bread and a dozen GF muffins in the chest freeze. And tonight or tomorrow I’m going to get a double batch of pancakes added too.
Did you buy the yeast at Costco? I can’t believe how cheap it is there.
Frozen stuff = fast-food avoidance. Grab a muffin and fill the coffee mug and go.
Last time I needed my biannual yeast stock-up Costco betrayed me and didn’t have it. ☹️ I had to buy a dinky little jar at the regular store, grumbling all the way. But then I found a big bag at our local restaurant supply store for close to the Costco price!
The weather has been horrible again this week…easy to just go to work and then go home! Made my grocery trip at the end of last week with enough staples to go for a couple of weeks. Keeps me out of the store for dumb purchases. Two items from Amazon….a gift which was much, much less than I would normally spend and is a needed item. Also a cookbook for cheap cooking at $5 shipped for a very good condition copy. It had been on the list for months and this was the price point I was waiting for. No luck watching good will.
The priceless moment? I got to work and whipped out my soda bottle. My co-worker who is on a low carb diet gave me that “look”. I said, “Don’t judge! Its not Coca-Cola….its diet Sam’s brand refilled in the bottle.” The look on her face!!! lol
The roads are still bad here and I’m probably only going to the local town for gas and!!! to renew my library card. Apparently they now have a good digital collection. I rarely use the library as its a 15 mile round trip to check out items and then I have to return them…and it often means a special trip in that direction. It never seemed to pan out for me. I’m a huge magazine junky and they do have a couple online that are of interest.
One thing I’ve noticed this week is that I’ll get a notion in my head and it won’t let up. When money was thick a few years ago….I could just buy. I always shopped the best deal, but still went ahead with the purchase. The latest thing is a panini maker…and I have no idea why except that my DF loves sandwiches and I do not. Grilled might be the meeting point. Watching Goodwill…..stopped myself from pulling the trigger online….Amazon Prime has seriously pitfalls!
It certainly does — especially since those Amazon ads follow you everywhere online. (“I see you are interested in panini makers…Now you will never escape them.”)
You might very well find one at Goodwill. Until then, here’s a tip from Tamar Adler: Cook the sandwich in a frying pan and when you flip it over, put a cast-iron skillet on top of the cooked side and smush it down a bit. You get a nicely browned and flattened sandwich that way.
Oh, and food scholar Leanne Brown has made a PDF version of her “Good and Cheap” book available at her website. She created inexpensive, delicious and healthy recipes based on the SNAP $4-a-day allowance. Lots of new recipes on her site, too:
https://books.leannebrown.com/good-and-cheap.pdf
Well…if i use my cast iron grill pan for the bottom and squish with another cast iron pan on top…..
Huh.
I share the cost of the Prime. I get the benefit of prime video and the points on my card.
For great, inexpensive recipes, try http://www.budgetbytes.com! I’m a big fan of that site.
So am I! I will never buy enchilada sauce again since finding the bonehead-simple recipe on Budget Bytes.
Her enchilada sauce is the best! Better than store bought and soooo cheap. 🤗
Did pretty good… Did not take our usual after church trip to Dunkin or Panera for coffee and a treat
But also I did something I usually don’t do anymore. My vacuum cleaner stopped working and we were just getting ready to head to Target for a new one since it was old anyway. Then I thought…hmm can I wait a month to vacuum? So then I decided to check You Tube for repair ideas. I found a great video and took apart the vacuum cleaner and did what it said and cleaned it good. Put it back together and it works like new! So I figure that saved a chunk and it was actually fulfilling fix it! best wishes to all!
Outstanding! It’s amazing what we can find on YouTube.
Way back in the 1980s our videocassette recorder quit working. Coincidentally, a few DIY repair books had just crossed my desk at the newspaper. One of them was for VCRs. I figured, well, I can’t break it more, and did a few things to the machine — and it worked again.
Kept that sucker running until the late 1990s.
Think how good that Panera/Dunkin run will be once you reinstitute those after-church trips. Pro tip: If you make it a once- or twice-a-month treat, you will save money and enhance the frisson.
I spent some money this week but I saved more. I went to an Amish scratch and cent store and stocked up on Starbucks coffee for $2.99 a bag. Otherwise it was definitely an ear from the stockpile week.
I wish there were Amish salvage grocers — or any salvage grocers — up here. I would have packed the freezer because while I don’t drink coffee, DF does. Hence my excitement over that 84-cent java:
http://donnafreedman.com/adventures-clearance-section/
I’m not doing so well as much as I wanted to participate. I was mindful about my spending. A strategy that helps me is ordering my groceries online and picking them up (Walmart offers this service in North Alabama). That keeps me out of the stores, shopping for essentials only, and sticking to my list. I had my hair done (it was time for the grey to go!), and had 1 lunch out this week. Today, I’m shopping, but it’s a secret shop so it’s paid for out of my earnings from the company. Today’s no cost entertainment is a cheese making class at my neighbors which will last most of the day and into dinner time. My cost for the event is a home baked cake the hostess asked me to bring. I will try to do better next week, but fear I won’t do so well since this is my anniversary month and my big date of the year is coming up next week. I love hearing of everyone’s successes, and it helps me gear up for my upcoming semi- or full-retirement date which is fast approaching in September 2019!
It seems to me you did pretty well. A hair appointment seems fairly essential to me, and you budgeted for it.
Retirement (or semi-retirement) is that close? Congratulations, and I hope you’ll keep us updated.
Hi. Solo Senior Citizen here who spends about $600 monthly on groceries. I was excited to take the 30 day no spend challenge but so far I’ve failed miserably. As of February 6, I’ve already spent $206! Mind you, that’s for one smallish person. A food hoarder? A compulsive (food) shopper? I think I may need therapy. At least it would be less expensive!!
Ha! But remember, old habits die hard. I agree that $206 for one person in one week is excessive, though.
Do you have enough stashed to try a “pantry challenge” for the coming week? As in, eating only what you have on hand. If there’s a recipe you’d like to make but you need something you don’t have (a lemon, some fresh herbs) then you either get creative and adapt the recipe, or decide not to make that particular recipe this week.
I have enough food stashed for a month and I know that part of my problem is my parents/grandparents who survived the depression and various other hard times. They always had stockpiles of food and were very generous in sharing their spoils with family, friends and neighbors. I too donate but it’s the spending of so much of my income at the grocery store that I mind. My immediate goal is to eat from the pantry until AT LEAST February 20th. May the force be with us all in our individual struggles. ❤️😄💵🌻🌺
You can do it!
Donna, you really seem to care about your people. Thank you for your years of good ideas and encouragement. Earlier today I was starting to stress because I was out of raisins for my oatmeal but now I’m chopping apples as a substitute. Thank you for that and for so much else! Have a good rest of your weekend.
Good idea — and maybe a little cinnamon and brown sugar?
And speaking of raisins: I stopped at Walgreens for some distilled water (for a medical issue) and found it was two gallons for $2 (more if you bought just a single gallon or a non-multiple of two). Nearby I saw six-packs of boxed raisins being remaindered for $1.19 (six ounces total). That’s a pretty darned good price for up here, or maybe for anywhere, so I bought one. Once again, used some Balance Rewards so that four gallons of water and six ounces of raisins cost me…19 cents.
A coupon printed out with the order: Save 20 percent off your next order of $10 or more. Pretty sure I’m going back tomorrow and buy $10 worth of water, minus 20 percent off, minus another $5 in Balance Rewards to make the cost 30 cents per gallon. Since I’m not using cash and since the water is a necessity, I think I’m still in the game. After all, not getting it would mean paying a lot more later on.
My workplace had their monthly birthday celebratory treats this past Friday (celebrate all given birthdays for the month on a designated Friday with treats for all, purchased by the company) This months was breakfast treats —bagels, donuts, muffins, pastries —as I don’t normally eat, or purchase, such things, I take mine home and save in freezer for a “treat” at a later date. (Usually after a long run on weekend, currently enjoying my “free” muffin with my coffee 🙂 ) Bonus is end of day when there are leftovers—as they normally want to just toss them into trash barrel, as I loathe food waste, I swoop in and save them! 🙂 I freeze a few, and share others with my neighbors! WIN.WIN.
I used to do this:
http://donnafreedman.com/shopping-office-potluck-plus-book-discounts/
I once worked for a rather large organization that served a bagel/muffin/fresh fruit breakfast once a month. People would leave the place in a mess…I offered to clean off the tables and take out the garbage if I got to take the leftovers home. People jumped on the idea (and I think they cleaned up after themselves a little more because it was someone they knew doing the clean up, rather than anonymous night cleaning crew). I used to take home, on a regular basis, four or five DOZEN bagels, a few donuts (always went faster than bagels with this group), at least one tub of cream cheese, and bags of apples and oranges. Some months they also had cheese plates and I’d bring home literally at least a pound of sliced cheese. For about two years we never bought bagels, cream cheese, apples, oranges or donuts because I carted them home from work. That stuff used to end up in the garbage before that because people thought it was too much trouble to take home or “I never eat leftovers. Yuck.” I was tempted to stay at the job just for this perk! Most of all, I miss free cheese!
I’m also trying to be very careful and minimize spending this month. I can relate to Diane, as grocery shopping is my biggest weekly expense. I usually spend about $100 a week, but I’ve kept these last two trips (I do groceries on Saturday) around $70. I make my list, and then cross off items. It’s just me at home, so cutting back is doable with thought and some meal planning. Next week I’ll try to cut to $60. I hope to keep this up beyond this month. I’ve also not been to the bookstore, another big expense. I’m using the library more. I can always find something good to read there. I look forward to reading how others are doing thru the month. Thanks for the weekly check in.
Excellent idea about shopping online and picking up at Walmart. I’m going to try it! As soon as I enter a grocery store I lose all control! Thank you!! Good luck in your retirement – it takes a while to adjust but you sound like someone who won’t be bored!!
Good luck. We’re all rooting for each other!! PS: Books are also one of my weaknesses but so far I’m doing pretty well in that regard, using my lovely local library as well. Yay Everybody!!
Welllll…. in my ladies’ group I “sinned” first. Without even thinking,I stopped at my fast food place and ordered a diet coke. Uh,oh.
On the bright side, I have not spent unnecessary money other than that. Honest. Of the five of us, three are still going strong. My other sister bought mascara when she already had three at home.
Old habits die very slowly.
Circumstances in the past taught me to become very frugal. A couple of years ago my boss died. I worked in NYC in a major hospital for the same person for nearly 35 years. It was a shock in more ways than one. I had a very healthy habit “reading”, I love books. Have loved books and reading them since I was a kid. I could well afford to buy the ones I wanted. I also borrowed from the library. Well, when I lost my job, I immediately started figuring out how to cut back. I love the idea about a frugal month, but I am frugal every month. I borrow everything I want to read from the library or have them search for it and get for me. I don’t have cable TV, so I borrow dvds from the library also, old movies, new movies, foreign movies, series, just about anything. My husband and I are never bored when it comes to watching something. This may be right for everyone, but I hope it is helpful to someone. I don’t feel deprived, nor do I feel I am missing out. I feel empowered by these small things I do, it reminds me I am resourceful and creative. Frugal rocks, well for me anyway.
I agree! People should do what works for them, but a no-spend month may show them that there’s more than one way that works for them.
I’m frugal all the time, too, and we are quite happy.
A small win for me today, but still a win … had to take the hubby for a day/outpatient procedure, and the facility has a Starbucks by the lobby waiting area. So I sat down in the lobby and pulled out my book and my thermos of coffee from home 🙂
Go you! You get bonus frugal points for sticking to your plan even though taking a loved one in for any kind of medical procedure is enough to make you want to eat all the cookies.