Wow, I did it!

My first goal of my minimalism experiment was going one full week without spending money on anything but essentials--- gas for the car, milk, butter, bread, veggies, & eggs. And I did it! I even allowed myself to make an exception for school materials, but found someone that can loan one of my textbooks--so that was $70 not put on the credit card!

So yesterday being the "goal" date-- I decided to go get a few more groceries so Tanner could actually open the fridge & see more than just open shelf space. ;) Now we have some chicken breasts, homemade pizza goodies, and fajita fixins to get us through the next week. Ya know, for eating with what we already had this past week, I'd say we ate well. Lots of Mac-N-Cheese, nuggets, pastas, canned veggies, frozen veggies (that were just waiting to be consumed), rolls, soups. It was all stuff that truly needed to be used; without this experiment a lot would've gone unnoticed in the cupboard for another 6 months, and by then it would be expired.

I even baked homemade chocolate chip cookies one night when a sweets craving hit (in which I normally run to our corner CVS & get a Hershey's bar or something) because I had all the ingredients at home. Well----except baking powder. And though they tasted ok to get me through my milk/chocolate emergency that I seem to have nightly now, let's just say 1 teaspoon of baking powder makes all the difference in the world when it comes to the look & texture of your cookie! Funny thing is, a few nights later I decided to whip up some more dough....because more of my Nancy Drew cupboard sleuthing turned up an unopened box of baking powder--not even expired til April 2012!

I am no baker or Suzy Homemaker, so why I bought that baking powder in the first place is beyond me. Although, wish I'd read about it's multitude of uses prior to my first trimester--an opened box in the fridge supposedly significantly reduces food odors. And, boy, I could barely open our ice box the entire months of September & October without wanting to hurl. (and, again, that is with NO old food...just my olfactory overdrive).

So today after church, Tan & I ate out. Doggone it, we just got burgers to go from Carl's Jr, but that was a treat. (Teriyaki burger there is divine). We still had drinks & sides from home, but actually spending any money on the fast food industry of America to indulge in some rich, processed burgers was our little treat. Not a drop of guilt here, considering before this week, I was running by a drive-thru, deli, cafe, or coffee shop about 6 times a week (in my guesstimate). I kept chalking it up to school schedule, being in Edmond & too far from home to cook, getting hungry while mid-errands & "baby needs a snack." Yea, all lame excuses. So...in February...I'm writing it here as I just think about it "out loud"....I'm considering a "spending fast" that lasts two weeks. Just thinking...