I don’t know about you all, but for us, the beginning of the school year is SO EXPENSIVE. Every time I turn around, someone needs clothes or shoes or shoes for a specific activity or that one more supply on the list, etc etc etc. SO. This week! We are not buying ANYTHING. Well, erm, anything EXCEPT:
- Gas
- Dinner out for Ben on Tuesday
- Dinner out for me and the girls on Tuesday
- Pizza of some kind for pizza Friday
- Grocery needs that might arise (this one is a slippery slope, though, because I can spend A TON on specialty groceries and “need” is subjective)
CAN WE DO IT? Yes, I am sure we can. Will we like it? Probably not.
And you might be thinking DINNER OUT, is that not totally counter to the idea of a no spend week? I mean, yes. And I guess I could pack us a picnic to eat between dive drop off and Dorothy's one and only 45 minute dance team class of the night, but I think not dealing with all of that is money well spent. Last week, even though dance hadn’t started yet, she had a photo session in that same window of time and we ate Mod Pizza at the dance studio, and it was so easy and low stress. And I need more easy, low stress things in my life.
Good luck! I'm all for making your life easier - you're so busy!
ReplyDeleteYou can do it! (And yes to making life easier!)
ReplyDeleteShortcuts are the way (especially with Ben away)!
ReplyDeleteAnd Good Luck :)!
DeleteGood luck with your no spend week! We have been getting off easy on expenses because we have so many bins of hand me down clothes so I just shop those bins when the boys grow out of something. We will need to buy a winter coat for Paul, though, because he somehow lost his coat last year?? I don't understand how but I can't judge too much as I am prone to losing things, too. But I more so lost mittens and hats... not a nice OskKosh brand jacket that would have fit for another year...
ReplyDeleteI feel like every week is a no spend week for me, but I spent $5 on a pint of cherry tomatoes at the Farmers Market on Saturday and I have NO REGRETS.
ReplyDeleteI saw the title of this post yesterday and before I was able to read it, I thought Wait, Can I Do That? It would be so hard. We don't eat out often, but there are always other things. We're seeing our college kids almost every weekend in September and that means making tailgate/party food, which isn't the worst thing to spend money on. Good luck! And, I'm all for simplifying life. I wish I'd done that more back in the day when we had busy nights full of activities. I wasn't working though, so it would've been tough to justify.
ReplyDeleteYES! The start of school is expensive, and you've got four younger kids and a kid who just started college. Those costs are huge.
ReplyDeleteYou can do it! I agree though- those dinners out are a "need" in your situation.