We did it!

This morning I just realized that tomorrow is the last day of the month and that we actually did our "no spending". Yippee! The kids and I did a little dance this morning to celebrate while Haley sang, " We did it! We did it!" a la Dora.

It seriously has gotten so much easier as the month progressed. I really do think that at least I have changed how often I think about spending money. Here are some more of the observations I have had over the last month.

*I have a lot more time when I'm not running errands several times a week.

*We still have had so much fun as a family. I think I was worried that I would get bored this month or not have anything to do. But, we have done so many things and almost all of our usual things. We've been swimming at the rec center about 4 times and we'll probably go tonight. We've been to 2 BYU basketball games and there's another one tomorrow. I still take Haley to story time at the library and to dance class. It's just that we don't follow that up with shopping or eating out which is really good. I didn't realize how often we go out to eat or grab a treat or whatever after some sort of activity. That's a really bad habit to have and hopefully this month will help me break it. We went to the Bean Museum and then had a picnic one day. I workout with friends almost daily and play basketball every week. Anyway, it was just good for me to see that most of the things I really enjoy doing are free (or already paid for by passes/season tickets) so I really don't have to spend money to enjoy myself.

*It is so liberating to walk into a store and not be tempted AT ALL by all the good deals and good food. I had to go to Macey's to get some rolls for a funeral luncheon (before we started this we made the exclusion for church things (tithing, fast offerings, activities, dinners etc.) because those are things that are important to us) and I loved being able to walk in, go straight to the bakery, pick up the one thing I needed and walk out without even looking at all the other things that I don't need but end up buying anyway. It was such a great feeling.

*Confessions: I did end up buying gas last week. There were a few trips to Salt Lake that I hadn't anticipated and I got low quicker than I thought I would. That would have been fine, we could have walked to and from school and church for a week, but I had to take Haley to a hearing test with the district audiologist in Lindon. When we left, the light for the gas was already on, so I knew I would have to get gas. But, I purposely just got a little bit so that I wouldn't just drive all over the place for the rest of the month. The purpose of this challenge was to help us cut out the unnecessary spending, not really to save on gas anyway. But, maybe I'm just making excuses.

*Another confession: I bought some tights yesterday for Haley's dance class. Her other pairs all had runs or holes all of a sudden. Maybe because she insists on wearing dance clothes pretty much 24/7. Anyway, I probably should've just made her go tightless even though they really aren't supposed to, but I guess I was just not in the mood to be that cheap. Somehow I justified it because it was only a couple days before the end of the month and we had done so well all month. Oh well, I guess I can't be perfect. :)

*I meant to write about this earlier, but I never got a chance. Right after I wrote my last update post I had mentioned that we would have to go buy milk for the second half of the month. We were totally okay with that and had planned on it all along. Well, that night, my nephew Hyrum slept over at our house. When his dad came the next day to pick him up, he said, "I have some things for you." Then he pulled out some grocery bags filled with snacks and a gallon of milk and a dozen eggs. It was the nicest thing! In fact, I got a little teary-eyed later telling Jason about it. Then, the next Saturday, my two brothers showed up on their way home from grocery shopping with another gallon of milk for us. It was so thoughtful. So, we have a day left and still plenty of milk. I have such a wonderful family. It was so great to see that other people cared about our silly little challenge. I have had so many other people ask us about it and how it's going and take interest in what we are doing.

*I am so surprised that we still have food in our cupboards, freezer, and fridge. I really thought that by the end of this month we would have to get really "creative" with the things we were eating. But, we have been able to eat meals that are pretty much our regular meals. In fact, I think our kitchen is more stocked today than it is normally--weird. I way over bought on a lot of things so we will have plenty for the next few months. We even spaced the treat type of foods out better than I thought. This has been very good for me to know better how much we need to spend on groceries and the kinds of things that we go through quickly, etc. Surprisingly, I think we can spend a lot less on groceries each month than I anticipated. I will definitely be a smarter shopper now after doing this experiment.

I have learned so much in this past month, but this post has taken me longer than I thought to write. I want to make this a regular thing that we do because I know that I always have to "relearn" things. We may do it once a year or a couple times a year, who knows. But, hopefully, we'll just be able to remember what we've learned and not be so wasteful and spendy. I think everyone should try it for a month just to discover your own spending habits and thought processes--it's very enlightening.