Starting today, I am going to see how long I can go without buying (ie, consuming) anything. There are natural exceptions:
1. gas (because I must go to school & can not bike that....umm, I can't bike at all right now for that matter, ha!)
2. milk, eggs, butter, bread, fresh veggies (these staples will be my only grocery trip purpose)
3. any school-related expense that I MUST put on the CC in order to successfully do my job
(let me know if you can think of something else that I must add to this list...)
Now, I am not going to dream too big at first. I am thinking getting through one week will be my small, realistic goal. I would add more to the list of exceptions (toilet paper, trash bags, etc) but as I rack my brain for any unavoidable...I think I am stocked in all of those departments thanks to taking advantage of coupons/sales at one point. I've never done this (at least this hardcore) so we'll see if anything I didn't plan for arises.
I have to think of this as a game in order to do it. The truth is that numbers don't lie---we've had a series of crappy events (I'll only skim the surface by mentioning 2 necessary appliances replaced)-- and we've found our financial situation in crisis mode. Making it a "game" or "challenge" to see if one can bypass the American way of "charge it now, pay it later" seems to motivate me to want to do this instead of just saying, "Crap, we are flat broke all of the sudden!"
I'd like to be smug and pretend that I already live "within my means." I think minimalism is truly awesome. But I only talk about it, I don't do it. There is so much JUNK I possess. I mean, I don't need to call Hoarders or anything, but I have way more "stuff" than I could ever use/need. Don't we all?
There's also the little things that ya forget about 2 hours later: A Sonic Happy Hour craving hits, a pedicure with a buddy becomes needed (because they're having a $15 special!), a Dollar Store spree, a don't-get-me-near-the-Target-dollar-bin moment.
Now, I am not gonna force the hubs to do this with me. I haven't even told him I'm doing it yet. It's freewill & if even just one of us is not slapping down the plastic card this week, we will be making a noticeable change. I'm also not trying to suck every ounce of joy in life out; this is truly a temporary experiment. Sometimes ya need to go to the matinee movie & just escape, ya know? Sometimes grabbing coffee with a friend is not about the coffee at all. If we have income & live in the Western world, those things are just a part of daily life. Just not this week! Or maybe the next, we'll see.
It's just that this seems like the most logical time in the world for me to do it--there are many things I can't or don't want to go out and do right now anyway being third trimester preggers, I love being home, it's winter, I have PLENTY of projects I could be starting, I'd like to be healthier (thus sticking to the fresh/perishable items). So why not try to cut out the extras?
So, yeah, about that lunch date we always casually drop and say we'll schedule. Be patient & wait a bit for me. Perhaps come February I will be ready to go back to those things...but I wanna see if I can DO this, by golly. It's kinda fun. I think.
Check back here on Day #3. I am blogging this in hopes of the accountability factor, so we'll see what song I'm singing then... :)
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