Hello, it's that time again for the spending report. Tracking all my expenses has made me see how much money I am really spending, and even though I am not buying anything new, I am thinking for the coming months each month I will target an area to reduce spending (such as groceries, gas, etc.)
Here is the breakdown:
2.99 - Kindle Book ( ah! I failed again)
10.00- Church
133.36- Groceries
13.00- Bottle of wine (Francis Ford Coppola Chardonnay, my favorite. we all have our vices)
9.15- ice cream playdate with kid 1
29.97- toilet paper. I find this funny that I spent 30 bucks on tp, and they deliver to my house in this huge box. I order it from amazon, it is plastic free and made from recycled paper. This will last us a couple months.
41.28- formula ordered from Amazon. I am breastfeeding, but I like to have formula on hand just in case.
35.28- gas for my husband's car
17.00- kid 1 haircut + tip
We all get our hair cut twice a year at Hair Cuttery. In between they are subjected to me and my scissors.
Total: 291.73
We have two cars. They are both paid for. Mike's is a '98 Camry that keeps on truckin', and I have a 2002 Passat which likes to give me problems because cars hate me. I would love to be a no car family. We live in the 'burbs, so public transit is not an option. I think we could probably become a one car family- with Mike being a traveling musician, he kind of needs a car. (Although I have had daydreams of him riding a bike with his drumset in a little cart behind him. I don't know how safe this would be on I95 ha ha.). The temperature around here has also been low, right now it is a balmy 10*F with a wind chill of -3*F. I suppose if I was super hardcore I could walk/ride a bike in this. But I've got a newborn. (He is my excuse for everything.) Are you a one car/no car family?
The other thing I want to touch on is stuff. I prefer a minimalist approach. If I lived alone my house would be quite Spartan. I like empty spaces. Clutter gives me anxiety.
My loving husband on the other hand, is a different story. He never gets rid of stuff. Now- he doesn't buy stuff much, (he has actually shown interest in the compact.), but he doesn't part with stuff. He is a "we might be able to use this" guy. And let me tell you, nothing makes him happier than to use something that I had previously tried to get rid of - "I told you honey!!" So, I state my case for minimalism, and he states his case for savealism (saving stuff?), and I actually have to admit some of his reasoning makes sense to me.
The biggest one was that we might as well keep it and try to use it, rather then sending it to a landfill and have to buy something else later. This makes sense, as I more and more think that donating stuff to thrift stores is just dumping your problem on someone else (not that I never think we shouldn't donate, otherwise, where would I buy my clothes?) but- thrift stores usually have an overabundance and have to throw things out. I love that he has the creative ingenuity to see the possibilities in things and what they can become - to make them into something new. ( I do not possess this.) I have mentioned before almost nothing in our house is new.
What do you think?
Have a great weekend!
Katie
Your Kindle purchase was quite small and we do need a treat once in a while. While I haven't fallen in love with reading on a device, I don't see buying a kindle book the same as buying a product that needs to be stored or displayed. Why is that, it's still spending money?
ReplyDeleteI never would have gone car free with a baby so your excuse works for me. I am car free now but it took a winding road to get here. I had to move into a small town instead of 15 miles away from anything matching civilization and then left my car sitting here, insured and all, while I "played" at being car free. Once I had everything figured out I was ready to give away the car.
Btw, I had the funniest picture of your husband biking with his drum set. Best laugh I had all day.
It is still spending money. But, I feel the same as you. A kindle book isn't something that has to be made with virgin materials the way a new book is. Just the device itself, which I already had before this challenge. I wasn't that into it until I had the baby ( I almost sold it, and now I am glad I did not.) I love the feel of a book in my hands.
DeleteThanks for re affirming the car thing. I live about a mile and a half from town, and when the weather gets nice I plan on utilizing the bike more- but with the snow and ice and baby, it just isn't happening.
I get the funniest picture too! And the thing about my husband is he rides his bike all kinds of crazy places! But with a little cart pulling drums on the highway, that visual just cracks me up.
Oh it's a tough one. We're a two car two person household, but in reality, mine is solely to and from work (the conditions of work giving it to me) and the other's is the BF's which I'll ask to get the groceries in, and never expect I have use of without asking, and even still try to plan to walk or pub trans - but we live in the inner city - I can walk (fast) and be in the centre of Sydney in 20 mins!!
ReplyDeleteRe: minimalism and hoarding/savealism. It's so tough - I'm so thankful my BF doesn't buy much and has little. He's less inclined to declutter, but not resistant. I think there's limits on scrap paper, or reusable things, so maybe you need to create space boundaries - a box, a shelf etc. I have a small bowl for rubber bands - I've never bought one, but if it gets insanely full, I'll ship some off somewhere else (which I did with all the pens I knew I always passed over for a more preferred pen!). It's great that almost nothing in your house is new, that's a really huge impact on resource usage!
That's great you can walk and take public transit. We have a town a mile and half away. It is a 30 minute walk. I have to set limits on scrap paper. I always feel guilty recycling it.
DeleteWe are a two car family, but we live in the middle of nowere, at least a mile and a half from our nearest bus stop so no car would be impossible! My husband is a medic at three hospitals so he has to have one for work. My eldest daughter and I share the other one, the deal is that she has to do some of the taxiing for her younger sisters in return for free use of the car.
ReplyDeleteWe have just gone through a 6 month declutter. It has been massive. Some was/will be sold. Some went to Freegle. Some frankly was thrown away or burned where . possible. But most did go to charity. The books went to a charity that is essentially a free bookshop and education centre. The linen and duvets, towels etc went to the local women's refuge, smart clothes went to a charity that helps homeless people back into work and is always looking for "interview clothes". That just left bric a brac and clothes for our local charity shop who were actively advertising for more donations.
I looked at your decluttering on your blog! Wow! That is so awesome.
DeleteThat is a good idea of having her taxiing the younger siblings. Someday when my boys are older I will have to implement that.
We live in a ritzy area and my son will probably be embarrassed by our old car. Oh well.
Thank you. It has been very cathartic and we still have a long way to go. As for cars. Our children have always been mortified by our cars.
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