Month One Reflections

Now that month one of curbing my spending is over, I still find myself not wanting to spend. Which was the point. One of the main contributing factors to not being too tempted is the fact that we are on a single income that just pays our bills. With our move to FL, we changed some things. One of those is that I am now the bread winner and Randy gets to take some time to figure out what he wants to be when he grows up. I think if I had tried this in VA, it would have been a lot harder. As I think back on the month, I know I would have done somethings differently but really the point was to stop buying just because I can. I have a $20 in my wallet, so I must need to spend it. Thankfully, after 4wks of having the $20 in the wallet and not "needing" to spend it my attitude toward spending has changed. Which, like I said, was the point. We as a society have become too accustomed to the buy now, buy anything, buy as much as you want mentalities. Kids are not generally taught about saving for what they want. Their parents buy it for them - in the middle of the week, for no special occasion. They have no concept of saving for a rainy day or giving to someone else that has less than they do. It is all about me and mine. Somewhere along the way, the giving nature of my generation and the generations before me, has gone to the wayside. Instead of the question being, "what about them?" it is now, "what about me?" Where is Mine? He has more than I do. That's mine. The concept of sharing or giving when you are done with it seems to have taken a detour and hit a dead end road. When are we going to - as a society - get back to helping out one another because we should, not just when it is convenient and costs us nothing? I have two more days to think on this. I'm sure I will have more to say on the matter before I switch gears to food. But, TTFN

Month One, Last Day

Last day for this month's fast and it is turning out to be the hardest....

Month One, Day 19-23

I have discovered in looking back at my original post about this month, that unbeknownst to me I am staying true to Part Two of this months mission. I've had small splurges this month that were calculated and necessary. I have not over purchased anything and given thought to use what I have had on hand. For the first part of this month's "fast", I think I have done very well in curbing my unnecessary spending. There have been multiple times where I thought of getting something and stopped myself because "I'm not allowed." There have been other times where I could have made a purchase but put it off for next month - mostly books and songs from iTunes (even though I have credit on iTunes, so I would not necessarily be spending "money") I think so far, this month has been good. Not just in my following of the rules, but for me in the realization of how much money I spend on things I can do without. My prayer is that when this is over, I stick to the curbing and not spend out because I "can." Only Five more days to go and then we move on to food...... TTFN

Month One, Day 16-18

I guess after Sunday being our day to spend, I was already back in the habit. I am super tired this week as I am helping my little sister with her kids while her Honey is out of time. I needed a sugar kick. I bought a Frap. I did not fall asleep driving. I think that is a pretty good trade off.

Month One, Day Fifteen

Yesterday was the day. I spent money. I went to work at 1pm, forgetting to eat lunch. By 4pm, I was shaking. I had to get something so I did. I felt slightly guilty but knew I had to do it or pass out......

Month One, Catch Up

God has been doing some amazing things with Randy and I and I just havent thought to post on here. I kinds get tired of saying, "well I didn't spend any money today." I will say that on Weds I felt like I needed to put money in my wallet. I didn't know why, but I did it anyway. Randy and I had a Connect Group at Church. Afterwards, we realized he had not eaten all day. So we went out. I paid. Glad I had the money on me. :0) TTFN

Month One, Day Eleven

Somehow my days got screwy. Dont know which one I am missing, so I will just continue. Yesterday I didn't really have time to even contemplate buying anything. The grandmother of the family I work for lives with them and last Friday she went into the hospital to have a tumor removed from her bladder. It was much bigger than they thought and invasive. Three surgeries later, they were done and she is still there. That has put a kink in the way the family normally does things so it is a little hectic at the house. But it's all good. She is suppose to come home today and she and I are going to get to spend a lot of time together as I will be providing her at home care and car service. :0) Today will be another doozy but bring it on. TTFN

Month One, Days Nine and Ten

So, I think I've decided catching up at night might not be the best idea. I never remember until it's too late. Poo! To catch up, nothing new to note. I will say that since today is our day together, Randy did "buy" me a drink at Teavana. I say "buy" because we totally forgot to pay. Seriously. Yes, we will go back and pay but we didn't remember until it was too late. I will say that God is moving in other ways in our lives and it is good. TTFN

Month One, Day Eight

Today I did not even have time to think about the possibility of buying anything. The family I work for was MIA - Dad is in LA and Mom was at the hospital with her Mom who was having surgery, which turned into three surgeries. All I thought about yesterday was what kid needed to be picked up at what time and take to where. Oh, and get dinner on the table - at two different times. So I guess yesterdays spending restrictions were left in tact by the end of the day.....actually, now that I say that. I knew Randy would not be home when I got in and I thought about getting a bite at the local pizza joint. What stopped me wasn't the fast but the lack of funds.....I would like to think that I would not have gotten the very yummy salad and equally yummy canoli had I had the money.

Month One, Day Seven

No. I did not forget. At least not to blog. I forgot my password and I could not get in....for two days! Password reset. Moving on. Today I realized I was making excuses for myself as to why it was okay to let others spend on me. The point of this month's fast is to not spend anything unnecessary. If I am really going to feel the "pain" of that, I need to not allow others to spend on me. The exception will be if Randy and I are out and it is meal time. I will let him buy me food.

Month One, Day Six

Today started with me spending money. On gas. I'm allowed. :0) The rest of the day flew by without one thought of money - spending or saving. I am sure tomorrow will be just as wonderful. I am not looking forward to the weekend. I did want to take a moment to talk about the order of my Monthly Fasts. I had thought about switching it up and doing Possessions - Clothes - Food, instead of Food next month. We have A LOT to get rid of and I don't know that we can wait until May. If I wait, I don't know that we will have anything left to make the exodus out of the house. However I decided to keep it as it is. Randy and I have been working out together in the mornings and we are making better food choices. I think having Food in April will help us continue along that route and having Possessions in May will help me get rid of the clothes I will no longer fit into. That being said, I am VERY thankful I was born on the 29th and not the 28th. It means I can have cake for my birthday next month. TTFN

Month One, Day Five

Yes, I know this was suppose to be yesterday's post but Randy and I stayed out later than usual. I wanted to get up and post but when he posed the question as to who the Blog is for and my only answer was myself, I stayed in bed. I do want to go back to Monday as I did not really say anything that day either. Monday was actually kinda rough. Not really in the sense that I had to refrain from convincing myself not to buy anything but from a migraine. We did not get a chance to hit WalMart on Saturday or Sunday and I ran out of my International Delights Lite Mocha. I usually drink it on my way to work. Not because I "need". It does absolutely nothing for my ability to stay awake or to wake up. I like the way it tastes and it makes for a good way to start my day. Well, it seems my body does not like that I went without for two days and rebelled. My only course of action would be to have a Sweet Tea - McD's. But since I am not making any unnecessary purchases, I passed them all day long. By the time I got home and ate, I couldn't keep my eyes open from the pain. Thankfully, Randy did make it to WalMart during the day and I had some yesterday on my way to work. (And, yes. WalMart. No one else carries the Lite version. At least no where we have looked and he looked.) Now for yesterday. Again, I myself spent no money. I was not really even tempted yesterday to do anything that would equate spending of the money. However, Randy is responsible for dinner and we went to a mid-week Church Service last night directly after I got off work. He bought dinner. It was yummy, even if we did eat it in the car. After the Service, he wanted to hang out at Barnes & Noble and offered to buy me a drink. I accepted. It too was yummy. I still have not bought the Chronological Bible I want, but I did find the Topical Bible on paperbackswap.com and it was shipped out to me today. For Free. That is all for yesterday - Day Five. See the next post for Day Six - which is actually today. TTFN

Month One, Day Four

Nothing happened today. Will post tomorrow some thoughts I have in general. Tonight my internet is wonky so I am not going to linger. TTFN

Month One, Day Three

Today was a good day. Besides the fact that we love the Church we have decided to become a part of, I got a new book I didn't have to buy (Randy bought it for me when I told him I would have to wait until next month to get it.) and dinner was free. We went to my sister's house to have dinner with her Honey and the kiddos. The only money that left my wallet today was my tithe and it felt good. TTFN

Month One, Day Two

So, yesterday I got a Silpada Catalog in the mail and I realized I really have changed. It held no allure. I looked at it and sure it was nice and there is a pair of earrings I wouldn't mind having, but really. Do I need them? Do I not have enough jewelry you could choke a cow? Now it is sitting on our "Dining Room Table" - really a card table right now as we are still unpacking - and there it will sit. Randy wanted to know if I had found anything I wanted and I could honestly tell him no. Now for today. I bought gas. That's it. We spent the day out but no money....oops. Yes, I did. I forgot until just now. We left early and I forgot to eat. Well, early for a Saturday. I was starting to get a headache and could feel the shakes coming on so we pulled into a Dunkin Donuts. No, I did not get a doughnut. I got a sandwich. It was necessary. Now back to the rest of the day. We did go to Outback but thanks to my Dad and Stepmom, it was a gift card and Randy paid the tip. (He is not participating with me this month.) We even went to a Consignment Store and I spent nothing. There was not anything that was the least bit tempting. It felt good to leave without any bags or packages. After lunch, we stopped at a BAM and sat in the cafe for about an hour. There was a Bible I would have liked to have gotten, actually two, but I left without them. (One was Nave's Topical Bible; the other a Chronological Bible.) When Randy got his coffee, he asked if I wanted anything. I told him no thank you as I had a water in the car. I would have loved a hot chocolate but isn't that the point of this. A Fast without anything that tempts you really isn't a Fast is it? There has to be something you make a conscience effort to deny yourself. For me today it was Hot Chocolate. Who knows what it will be tomorrow. TTFN

Month One, Day One

I almost blew it before it even started. Seriously. I realized I was ready for work about 15mins early and decided to use that time to drop off two large trash bags full of clothes. (I know. Why not what until the Possessions month and count it. Kinda cheating, so no. I dropped them off.) The Thrift Store was open so I decided to browse. I can THIS CLOSE to buying a set of Robot Popsicle makers - $2 - and a CakeSicle Maker - $3. I decided I didn't need them and got in the car. As I am driving away, it dawned on me that I am not suppose to be making any unnecessary purchases this month. Geez! Been looking forward to today for a month and I can't even go a day without trying to spend money. And if that wasn't bad enough, I just spent the last hour organizing a new playlist on iTunes. I decided to see what new Praise & Worship is out and again came THIS CLOSE to buying an album. As I was listening to all the previews, I thought, "You can't buy that now. Duh!" So, at the end of Day One the only money I have spent is my rent. It falls under "Bills" so I have not fallen off the wagon. Yet.