I Bought Something New

So, I bought something new even though I said I wasn't going to buy anything new.

But, hear me out.

I weighed back and forth on what to do, but I think buying this thing new in the long run makes more sense then going without, or trying to make something myself.

Why? What did I buy?

I bought a composter!

I have had this on my Amazon Wish List for at least a year. I have waited in vain for my husband to build one out of a trash can, but living next to a state park we have a high potential of wildlife getting into it. This one is self contained and comes with a wildlife- free guarantee.

(If you would like to know what kind of flora and fauna are near me, I highly encourage you to check out Joy's blog, Joyfully Green. She lives about 45 minutes from me, and her pictures are beautiful!)

I know I pledged to not buy anything new for a year, but I felt that the benefits outweighed the cons to investing in this. I am excited to further reduce my waste.

What do you think? Was the composter a good investment? Or am I just making excuses for breaching the compact?

Things I have bought new so far:
1.) an umbrella (poor planning)
2.) Sneakers for kid
3.) Bathing suit
4.) Composter

Weekly Spending Report 3.24.14-3.31.14 and Spending Temptations

Usually I do a week of spending, but I decided to just wait until the end of the month to wrap it up, then I can be done with March.

March is a long cold month here in these parts (Southeastern Pennsylvania, United States, North America, Earth).  I am glad to be looking forward to Spring. April is a big month, I have Mike's (32) birthday (he's older than me :) and our 8th wedding anniversary. We got married on Earth Day. Not on purpose. It just so happened to be that way. Oh, and our wedding cost $500.00 and was awesome.

Aw, we love each other. I realize we have almost no photos of just the 2 of us together. Oh well.

Have I mentioned my husband is a jazz musician?  If you are so inclined, check out his first album. :) :)

Anyway, back to the spending report. To recap, I am in the compact, buying nothing new, family of 4, Southeastern crappy expensive PA, etc. etc.

Shoes for Kid 1 : 46.35
Shoes are one thing I spend money on. Good shoes are important for your back and stuff.
Date with Kid 1: 7.95
Gift For Kid 1 Birthday Party: 16.05
I don't know why I made him go to the party. He does not like large groups of people. Neither do I.
Groceries: 145.78 (Time to go back to Costco me thinks.)
Take out: 14.92 ( I was so tired. Baby does not sleep through the night yet! )
Gas for Both Cars: 83.23 (I am getting my bike soon equipped with baby seat. I can't wait! I am hoping to have a basket and/or cart fixed so I can go to the food store!!)
Church: 70.00
Kindle Books: 11.00

Total: 395.28

Total for Month of March: 1991.97 WOW! New Low!! Woohoo!

I love not spending money.

That is not to say I do not have temptations, although I do not think my spending temptations fall in with what normal ladies spend money on. Books are my biggest temptation. Follow that with cleaning supplies.

Yes, cleaning supplies.
I am a sucker for anything that promises my house to be cleaner in an easier, less work, less time fashion. I am sorta lazy but I like to have a clean house. In the end, I have found the simpler products are usually the best. I have all hardwood floors, so I find a dust mop works the best, and I have a steam mop that I use around 4 times a year to clean and sanitize. (This may change once baby is crawling around, but in my opinion kids can use to eat a little dirt. Kid 1 tried to eat a cigarette butt once at the playground and lived to tell the tale. That was super disgusting. And don't get me started on our poison control call history.)

As for clothing temptations, I am tempted by things that promise me comfort. Like pajama jeans. Don't be fooled. They do not feel like pajamas! I love pajamas. And skirts. I love skirts.

What are your spending temptations?

Katie

Weekly Spending Report 3.15.14-3.21.14 and The Most Financially Freeing Thing You Can Do That's Free

I will share with you my weekly spending, which honestly you probably stopped caring about a while ago since is nothing earth shattering- at this point I am doing it for me to keep myself accountable for a budget and The compact. Seriously this blog has kept me from making impulse purchases that I would later regret.
And then, after that, I will share with you the most earth shattering thing you can do for your finances! I can feel your excitement now...

Weekly Spending Report:

Bills: 168.59
This includes electric and Internet.
Groceries: 63.81
Family Lunch Out: 18.74
This 4 of us went out for a lunch and library outing after church on Sunday.
Gas for Me: 49.62
Gas for Him: 31.65
Church: 3.00

Total: 335.41

And now the moment you have been waiting for, where I share with you my financial wisdom. What is the most financially freeing thing you can do that's free?

Stop caring what other people think.

Seriously.

Katie

Compact Monthly Spending Wrap Up

 So, it is the second month of my "compact", or "buy nothing new." I had one breech in which I bought a "character badges" behavior program for my son.

I spent more in February than January, although part of that was because I had to order heating oil.

The total spending for February was $3028.30.

I had a goal of spending $25.00 on take out, which I did not meet. I spent $68.77 on take out this month.

 I realized in doing this that I was approaching it the wrong way. In order to reduce take out costs, I need to be better organized about my grocery store/meal planning. So this month (March) I am going to focus my efforts on low cost meal planning.

My grocery expenditure for February was $501.42. I ultimately would like to get this closer to $400.00, but this month I am going to aim for $475.00. (A little at a time, slow and steady I say..)

I have lowered the thermostat down another degree to help with heating costs. We have had an unusually cold winter with lots of snow, so it cannot be altogether avoided.

The other big expense I am looking at is car gas. Between the two of us we spend $192.45 on car gas. Since I am currently not working, I think I can lower this by driving less. Most of my driving is done to spend time with extended family. I am shooting for $150.00 this month.

I look forward to Spring (hopefully) coming in March with some more mild weather. I actually do not mind the snow, I would be outside a lot more if the baby was not too little. But, I really enjoy having 4 seasons, and I am ready for winter to move on and welcome Spring.

Well, that's all for today. Talk to you soon!

Katie

Weekly Spending Report 2.28.14 and Blog Absence

The last week of February, it sure went by fast.

Spending:

$248.49- Costco

We got a Costco membership before Obamacare to get a discount on our health insurance, hut now we have a cheaper plan through the Healthcare Exchange. I decided to grocery shop there this week because I hear good things about it. I have mixed feelings. The prices are pretty good but there a lot of things I really do not need in bulk, and I loathe going to more than one store in a week. It is also a half an hour away, and i do not like driving. Combine that with no self checkout and its not my favorite thing. I prefer a small store in bike distance where I can do self checkout and have no social interaction, because I am friendly like that. Don't think I will be going back anytime soon.

$182.50- Cabin Rental
This is for our family vacation in May.

$20.00-Church

$6.50- library fines place snack at the library.
The library is evil and tempts my kid with tasty snacks. Or I could just say no. But why do I always have to be the bad guy?

$15.20- Regular grocery store

$30.23- Husband Gas

Total for Week : $502.92

You may (or may not) have noticed I am not around much on the blog. It is because I spend my free time with this guy:

Weekly Spending Report 2.14.14, First Breech of The Compact, Botched Take out Goal

I didn't have the chance to get this up yesterday. I had my first breech of the compact this week- i purchased a "Character Badges" behavior chart kit for my older son (we have been having some issues with behavior, and have yet to find a discipline system that works. I do not believe in any type of corporal punishment.)

Here is the breakdown for the week:

10.00 Character Badges Program
53.60 Groceries
20.00 Church
30.15 Husband Gasoline
45.00 Sushi- my husband got a sushi dinner for us for Valentine's day. I guess I didn't tell him my goal was $25 on take out this month.  Oops.

Total: 158.75

We live in the area of the US that is getting slammed by ice and snow. Fortunately we did not lose power for very long!

Have a great weekend!

Katie

Compact Weekly Spending Report, Birthdays, Gifts 1.11. 14 - 1.17.14

Hello! Is it Friday already? (As said by someone who is not out working 9-5 M-F Right? although I could argue a mom's work is never done..)


So here are my numbers. I have to say reporting my spending has made me really stop and think about what I buy. I like having the accountability.


52.02- Gasoline
My car only takes premium gas. Yeah, I know. But the car was given to me, and you don't argue with free. At least I don't.
5.00 - church stuff
7.00 - Thrift shop - 2 skirts for $3.50 each which I will be posting photos of maybe in the future- "thrift shop wardrobe" maybe?
27.00 - okay this was a dinner date for my Birthday last Friday. My husband and I had a gift card and that paid for the rest. This included alcohol at said dinner as well.
8.00- Mother/son date at chick fil a
I took my older son out on a special "mother/son" date. They had buy and adult meal get a free kid's meal special.
7.50- smoothie at gym.
Yes, this was ridiculous. And we belong to a gym?! But wait- before you start wagging your fingers, I actually won the gym membership at a fundraiser. It's a fancy pants gym, and I don't really belong there. (Can you tell I am not very fancy?) I was so hungry I was mad at myself for letting myself get to the point that I needed to buy a smoothie for 7.50, but between that and keeling over ( I have a tendency to pass out when my blood sugar gets low) I chose the "green machine" smoothie.
47.37- Internet Bill
12.00 - Prescription Drug (maybe someday you'll hear about my health issues:)
148.00 - Yearly home insurance Bill
11.41 - Groceries
Yup, that's right. 11.41 on groceries this week. We ate a lot of beans. Plus, I spent so much money last week I had food leftover. I guess that can negate the expensive smoothie?
3.99 - kindle book.
I failed on the free front kindle, but it was my birthday...


Total for week:


$325.30


So in other news my birthday recently passed (all I will say is I am somewhere between 25 and 35) and I had to think about gifts. My awesome husband made a card for me with my son, and gave me some special dark chocolate that I like. He knows me really well and I really appreciated the simple gift.


Now, I wasn't sure if I should tell my family "hey, I am in the compact, no gifts" or whatever, but in the end I didn't say too much. For some people gift giving makes them happy and it is how they express their love (what's your love language?)


 I do have a conundrum- My parents are buying me a bicycle for my birthday, and my sister gave me a baby bike seat she does not need anymore.  I am really excited about this, because I can ride to the state park and to town when its not 14 degrees out, and I am totally psyched about driving less (I would love to be a 1 car family - Mike travels for work and needs a car.) Should I look for a second hand bike in the spirit of the compact? Or is it acceptable to buy new because of the amount of gas I will be saving? Hm, it is a thought. I am so excited about getting a bike- my old one is from when I was young and too small for me now.


And what about gift cards? I did receive gift cards. My thoughts were I could buy underwear and stuff like that, or use them to buy gifts for other people, or give them to other people.


And that leads me to gift giving to other people while doing the compact. I no problem giving/receiving second hand gifts, but I know some people are offended by this. I try to stick to consumables then- coffee, wine, chocolate- something that person likes. Food is my favorite after  books - (reading and eating, with sleep as a close third.) Who doesn't like to get food?


Anyway, that's all for today. Have a great weekend!


Katie

Compact, What will I buy new, Spending Log 1. 9.14

Hello All! I guess it was a lofty goal thinking I could get 3 blog posts up this week with the babe. I write on paper first, because that's just me. Also, sitting down to type requires me to have both hands, and writing on paper does not. (Nor does the kindle). And I quite frequently have one arm occupied with my bundle of joy.

 "But sometimes she sticks me in here. Oh the indignity!" (said in haughty British voice)


So, here is the official website for the Compact:

The Compact

I was trying also to decide what to buy new, Katy@TheNonConsumerAdvocate has a list. Here is mine (so far)

1.) Food/Toiletries (obviously. although I suppose you could forage/dumpster dive...)
2.) Undies/Socks/Bras
3.) Bathing Suit- I spend a lot of time at the pool and I am thinking I don't want to buy anything used that touches the privates..
4.) Kindle Books- at this point I am unaware of the ability to purchase used kindle books, although I might challenge myself to only download free books or check stuff out of the library.

I can't think of anything else. At first I was skeeved out about used sheets, but then I thought about hotels and how many people sleep on those sheets and then it didn't seem that bad. (Reminder to bring pillow with me to hotel. Not that I stay in a hotel often.)

And now to this week's spending report for Jan 1 - Jan 9

Every Friday I will be updating my spending. How low can we go? A little background information:

4 people in family-
2 adults
2 kids (age 7 and 6 weeks)
We live in Pennsylvania in a suburb of Philadelphia.

Anything else you want to know? Ask in the comment section!

The Numbers:
.
Groceries: $55.66
Groceries: $62.64
Groceries: $18.02
Honest Company Cleaning Bundle: $53.09
Norton Internet Security Automatic renewal- $74.19
BILLS: $974.00
 Church Offering: $20.00
Kindle Book: $5.99

Total: $1263.59

Wow that's a doozy. I spent $136.32 on groceries. Guess I need to work on that. And totally didn't remember the Norton Security Auto Renewal. 

Well, this is going to be interesting.


Katie