Sunday, January 3, 2016

Prepping for My No Spend Month

I'm overwhelmed by the amount of folks who popped in to read my post on my very first "no-spend month" ever - thanks to all of you who came by! And a special thank you to each of you who left me a comment - I really do cherish all your sweet comments and I look so forward to reading them every day!

Today I spent part of the day prepping for my no-spend month. I would have done this prior to January 1st if I didn't come down with that nasty bug. So my month will begin tomorrow morning and go until the morning of February 4th, to make it a full month. 

It is what it is. 

In order to get ready to lock up my wallet for the next month I took stock of what I needed from the grocery store and made a trip to stock up. 

My veggie tower is full of fruits and veggies that will hopefully get me through a good part of the month. 

The Veggie Tower in August
I didn't get a pic of the veggie tower today as it's so dark and cloudy here and it's been flurrying on and off all day. 

The veggie tower is stocked with potatoes, yams, onions, pears, a pineapple, 2 cantaloupes, and bananas. 

The crisper drawer is also full with baby carrots, green beans, red cabbage, endive, radicchio, baby spinach, scallions, lemons, limes, and peppers. 

I have lots of garlic in the pantry from both my garden and the last farmer's market. 


I stocked up on dairy - we're all set for organic milk, cream, sour cream, cheese, butter, and yogurt. 

Our eggs come from a neighbor and I always have plenty. 

The freezers and pantry are full. 

The bar is well stocked. 


I ordered more food and treats for the pups as well as their flea and worm medicines. 

I made sure I am all set with contact lenses and solution. 

My back up supply of vitamins are on their way. 

I even made a special trip to our local Ace to make sure I had enough black oil sunflower seed, safflower seed, and suet for my little critters. 


I even bought a few extra light bulbs. Just in case. 

Last stop was to the gas station where I topped off the tank. 

I am going to try not to have to go to the market at all for the next 30 days if at all possible. If I do need to go it should only be for a few fresh fruits. 

I'm ready - bring it on!!








23 comments:

  1. Okay - so I backtracked and found your post on infused alcohol because the picture of your well stocked bar is so beautiful - and intriguing! My oh my - You are a woman to my heart! I added your blog on my favorites page, but would love to have your button for my sidebar also. Do you have a button? Good luck with your frugal no-spend January!

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    1. I have a few batches 'cooking' in the fridge right now - some Bachelors Jam, which is amazing when you put a little slurp into a glass of prosecco - yummmm!! And I am experimenting with some clementine gin. I had clementines that were not very nice but rather than waste them.....gin!!

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  2. What a wonderful idea! We are about to "tighten" up the old belt to start paying down some bills from moving and the holidays! I like being free and clear and do not like things hanging over my head! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year celebration...it is difficult for me to get back in the blogging groove! Hugs to you!!

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    1. It's tough with the holidays for sure, Benita, but now we are in a whole new year and it brings many opportunities for new challenges!! Welcome back, sweet friend! xo

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  3. Your blog always encourages me to keep trying to be frugal. But I must ask you: how do you keep your fruit and veg for such a long time? My fruit would all have to be eaten within the first week or it would spoil. And I can't see veg keeping in the crisper (other than root veg) for longer than a week. Any advice?

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    1. Sandy, that is an incredibly sweet thing to say and I am so very flattered!! My plan when shopping was to eat the soft fruits and vegs first, and obviously plan my meals around what needs to be used up first. Berries go bad so quickly that when I buy them they have to be eaten within a week for sure....if they start getting soft and no longer the best for fresh eating I'll pop them in a mason jar and start a batch of infused booze of some sort. They work fine for that! I plan to use the fresh produce first in this no spend month and when it's gone I do have some garden produce I had frozen at the end of the season. Wish me luck!

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  4. Well, you've certainly encouraged me to get to work on stocking my pantry again! I've sadly let it dwindle to barely anything. Actually my plan for this week is to get in there and reorganize the whole darn mess. I have a lot more in there than just food. Like boxes of pictures .... It's an UGLY situation LOL

    Anyway, Happy New Year to you my sweet friend. I hope you're over that nasty cold you had. Don't work too hard and stay off the ladder ;)

    xoxo,
    rue

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    1. Pantries are tough, aren't they? They seem to 'collect' miscellaneous items from other areas of the house! Happy New Year to you also, sweet Rue - hope all is well in your world!xoxo

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  5. You are off to a good start on your no spend month! Hubs believes on being prepared so we have enough food and supplies for quite a while.

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    1. Always a good plan, Donna - you never know when you may need to rely on that stash!

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  6. I think my favorite part of your post is that you "adjusted" instead of quit. So instead of saying you were sick the first few days of the month, so you will wait til next month, you simply said Jan. 4 thru Feb. 4 will be your month. That is what happens w/ me. I (likely) would have said I would start next month, or in a few months, and it never would have happened. I would have used the first few days of the month being sick as my excuse not to do it.
    It will be fun to follow you through this journey. I think all of us truly NEED to do with less. My goodness, I have started simply staying HOME as a way to curb spending. We are retired, and we don't need a thing, but inevitably with every trip to Target, Kohl's, Walgreens, (and esp at HomeGoods) I end up with stuff in my cart. Aargh! It really is quite crazy! Good luck!!!!

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    1. Oh, Chris, don't get me wrong - there is no way I could walk into Home Goods and not fill up my cart!! So, yes, I will just stay away from those stores. Which is not as tough as you may think for me since the nearest Home Goods is about 30 minutes away. My problem is internet shopping - all these great sales, especially after Christmas, are super tempting! I will just hit 'Delete, Delete, Delete' right down the line!

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    2. Sometimes it is fun to just fill up that virtual cart and then a few hours later look at it and realize you don't NEED anything you put in!! That is when I tally the $$'s I "saved"...... lol. When I was at Kohl's last time and they told me how much I "saved".... in my mind I thought I would have saved even more if I had just not come in!! I LOVE to shop, and finding bargains is so much fun, but at some point we have to realize we have enough and it isn't a contest. And THAT is why purging isn't a one-time job. It is a year round/ every year job. Especially as you get older and look around and realize your kids will have to deal with all your "stuff" at some point. That thought does help kick me into action!!

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  7. You are super prepared. I can lay off at all the stores, except grocery. My kids and their friends eat, eat, eat!! :)

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    1. I'm wondering how that will work in my house also, Kim. I thought I was prepared for the month but I was thinking of the amount of food I cook....not what my daughters cook when I'm not around. Time will tell!

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  8. Can't wait to hear how you do. I made a commitment to eat up what I have this month, but I will still go to the grocery for fresh fruit, veggies and dairy. I would love to make it on one tank of gas, but my antique business keeps me on the go. I am in the middle of a cleaning frenzy today. I feel like my house is contaminated for some reason. Maybe it is the fact I have been sick for several weeks. I am determined to rid every surface of lingering germs. :) xo Laura

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    1. I'm not sure I'm going to make it on one tank of gas, either, Laura....but it is a test to see how long I can go if I am conscious of every little trip!

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  9. You go girl! You thought of everything and I admire that completely. We are eating at home instead of going out. Even though groceries are so expensive these days, eating at home costs so much less than going out. Seems like every time we go out it's $50 or $60 and is usually not that great anyway. So today is day 2 of cooking at home. We are just now having our pork and black eyed peas because we were out of town on the 1st. There will be lots of good left overs too.

    Happy New Year and thanks for the inspiration! It feels so good to start the new year with renewed purpose. :)

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    1. Black Eyed Peas, huh? I love Fergie, she's so cool!! :)

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  10. Such a sweet kitchen. Love those splashes of red!

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    1. Thank you, Joanne!! The red just makes me happy when I see it! I am most definitely a color person! Welcome and thank you for taking the time to leave a comment!

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  11. Such a sweet kitchen. Love those splashes of red!

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I thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking time out of your busy day to leave a comment...I truly love reading your comments and I try to respond to each and every one of your sweet comments right here on my blog page!

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