Photo by Alan Jakub
We did it!
And yes, that 25 cents represents what we have left. BUT, in all honesty, we did have a little extra float our way in the month that enabled us to get through--one time I found $5 (Yep, I was pretty excited!) and later in the month someone gave us $5.
So our grand total for the month spent (in discretionary spending) was $359.75.
The first thing we did on Sunday morning was begin spending again--not out of compulsiveness but out of necessity. We pretty much diminished our supply of almost everything and needed a big restock to set us up for the new month.
In reflecting on our no spend month, here are some of the lessons I'm taking away:
1. I learned just how little we can get by on when we need to do so. We are amazingly blessed with shelter, food, and clothing and that really is all we must have.
2. I learned how creative I can be in a pinch. One case in point from late last week is this chocolate brownie pie I made! Basically we had a frozen pie shell and craving a bit of a treat, but with short supply on the pantry stores, I whipped this bad boy together.
It was awesome!
3. On the food front, I feel this month has made me fall in love with vegetables even more than I was before. We've never eaten tons of meat, but making a point to use up each and every item from our CSA share (and thanks to all of your helpful cooking advice!) helped me discover many new favorites.
4. I wasn't expecting this or trying for it, but I lost one and a half pounds over the course of the month! Think it was less cheese...=) But oh how I love cheese!
5. In an effort to save gas, I rediscovered the wonders of sticking close to home. Our family is very blessed to live in an amazing neighborhood with so much to offer, and we really explored it more this month, especially last week when gas supplies were dwindling.
6. I am aware now and shocked by the realization of just how much unconscious spending I was doing previously. My eyes are open to that now and I intend for them to stay that way.
7. This experience has really helped us rethinking some of our future goals, especially purchases we had discussed. At one point we talked about really wanting to own a log cabin one day, but now we feel renting when we need it would be better.
We don't have to own everything to be able to enjoy it!
8. I expected the financial results that would come from no spend month, but what I didn't expect were the spiritual results. It felt very much like a time of fasting--giving up something temporarily to focus and keep priorities in line.
And it has led to many benefits, including some new projects that are in the works for later in the year!
I'll end this series the same way it started--with me affirming that I live a radically blessed life. I knew that at the beginning of July, but I am even more mindful of it now.
That was the goal, and I'm amazingly grateful that through choosing to give this a try we have made our lives more intentional in this one area.
Thanks so much for following along and encouraging me along the way!
If you enjoyed
this post, I hope you'll subscribe
to Steady Mom--it's free!
Jamie is
founder of this spot called Steady Mom, editor of the blog Simple
Homeschool, mama to three cute kids born on three different
continents, and author of Steady
Days: A Journey Toward Intentional,
Professional Motherhood.
Thanks for participating in the Moms' 30-Minute Blog Challenge, held here each Tuesday. Please link up below with the permalink to your 30 minute post, not your blog's home page.
I would also ask, as a courtesy, that you would please link back here to Steady Mom by including a text link somewhere in your post. Thank you.
Please note that the links will close at 11pm EST on Thursday.