Project: Spend No Money This Week

A success. A failure. And everything in between.

It all started with a higher-than-normal credit card bill, a lower-than-normal bank account and a few more days until payday.

"Let's not try spend any money this week," Kyle said to me.

I took it as a challenge. Your on, I thought.

We've taken on Let's-See-How-Little-Money-We-Can-Spend challenges before. It's been fun, rewarding, and a good story to tell afterward:

*Like the time we didn't turn the air on all summer...

...or the time we didn't turn the heat on all winter. (Ah, the things you can get away with without kids.)

*There's also the time we gave up our big garage and needed to downsize our storage and integrate it elsewhere.

*And when we challenged ourselves to go from a 2 car family to a 1 car family.

We do lots of crazy things to save a buck here and there. It's a bit embarrassing sometimes. A proud moment others.

So, all that is to say--we had a no spending money this week. That didn't include rent, insurance, gas, electric, or anything else that would 1) be stupid not to pay or 2) be an item of need.

Here are some of my challenges.

1. CHALLENGE: No Sour Cream

Monday: I had everything in the fridge for burritos except for sour cream. And for us, sour cream is a must for burritos. Ahhhhhh! This week is going to be CRAZY, I thought. I should have done some shopping to prepare me for the week! Finally I took out some cottage cheese and the Magic Bullet. I whirred the cottage cheese to oblivion and it worked really well for a sour cream substitute. Nice job me!

Money saved: $1.30

2. CHALLENGE: Parking

Tuesday: It was Caleb's first day of preschool and I promised to take him to either the Children's Zoo or the Children's Museum for a treat for getting through his first day. I thought it was pure genius of me since we have season passes, which equals no spending. Unfortunately, I hadn't thought it through all that well and when Caleb picked the Children's Museum I grimaced when I realized how far I would have to walk to not pay for parking. But wait!! Our town recently changed the parking garages so that the first hour is free. I'll park, go to the museum for an hour, go back to the car, take a ride around the block and park for another hour and so on!

By the time we got back to the car after the first hour--we were spent. Naps were in order and I was in no mood to do the whole thing again.

I felt it was a slight failure since I felt bad for making it a super short trip because I was too tight fisted with my money. Not sure spending nothing was worth it here.

Money Saved: $2.00

3. CHALLENGE: Kyle's Birthday

How did I seriously agree to this challenge before remembering his birthday??!!

"We can't do the no-spending this week!" I told Kyle. "It's your birthday!"

"That's okay." He said. "I don't need anything." What a sweetheart. But still, he needs a birthday present!

I felt torn. I wanted to make him proud for taking on this no-spending thing but I really wanted to spend money to make him know how much I thought of him.

Thankfully, I had boughten him a Husker's shirt and some shorts the week before so I had a physical item to give him.

But I wanted to give him more!

The boys and I went to town over making streamers and posters screaming, "Happy Birthday Dad!" Both Isaiah and Caleb made Kyle a card and I drew some coupons for him for things I thought he'd enjoy.

Instead of going out to eat I made him french toast, a dish of mine that he loves. And I added freshly whipped cream and strawberries that I had on hand. It was more work than going out to eat, but I'm hoping if felt a little more personal.

Kyle once told me he feels more loved by way of time more than by way of gifts.

Money saved: $35

THE RESULT:

I did spend some money this week, but not much. I needed diapers, gas, and I bought some marinara sauce and strawberries on a super crabby day.

But I'm really thankful for the challenge. The hardest thing I experienced was cooking. I hadn't gone grocery shopping since the Tuesday before, 5 days before the challenge started, so I was basically out of everything.

I had some food checks for the basics, like milk, bread, eggs, and fruit--but everything else I pulled out of the freezer and the cupboards. As a result, my cupboards and freezer space is a little more abundant.

It's not to say the meals were really good, but it was fun to be creative with what I had.

I've never been a Shop-Once-A-Week type gal. I go at least twice a week, sometimes more to get a quick thing or two. This was good for me. I like to buy things that aren't on my grocery list and things that look good to me at the time. I waste food this way because we can't eat 2 heads of lettuce in a week. Who cares if it's only $1.25? It's not worth it, but I forget when I see how good of a deal it is.

You can bet I have money burning a whole in my pocket right now, but I really want to be conservative when I make that trip to Target for my list items and make this week worth it. Not only that, but I really want to be a good steward for the money that God has given me and not be crazy with it. This was good practice.