Haven’t you always wanted to read someone’s diary?
Oh, wait…is that just me? In all seriousness, I’d love to share with you my weekly reflections from my month of intentions.
Since March was designated as my no-spend challenge month, I thought it would be a great one to share with you as I embrace this month of getting my spending habits back on track. Truth be told, the savings will be used for our Spring Break trip and I’m hoping that we won’t feel the pinch at all from taking a vacation.
The first week is no big deal because, honestly, how hard is it to do for one week?
Here is what I learned from week 1:
Week 1 of the No-Spend Challenge
Day 1- I’m going to be honest and tell you that I had expected the launch of this challenge to start with an expense. I had planned to take my neighbor out for her birthday dinner (after she had taken me for a fantastic birthday meal where I claimed I had coupons, but actually did not) and I was going to add this feast to my monthly expenses since it had been planned.
I received a text though that said she would prefer just meeting for a glass of wine and had been eating out a lot lately.
She suggested that it might be better to just hang out in my She Shed.
I offered to make her a birthday dinner though and discovered three sweet potatoes, a bag of Brussels Sprouts, a bag of spinach, and just enough arborio rice to make a risotto dish. Balsamic roasted veggies, risotto cooked in white wine and vegetable broth, and a cranberry & almond salad were all birthed from the pantry that had nothing.
It was delicious and, upon a generous amount of wine, she did confess that she saw I had planned this challenge and refused to sabotage my first day out of the gate.
What a great friend, right?
Surprise, surprise, I made it through day 1 without an expense after all.
Day 2- I am at the gym and get a peek at my girlfriend’s amazing boots she is wearing.
“Where did you get those?”
“TJ Maxx! Can you believe they are water resistant and everything?”
“Oh, I need those.”
I begin to contemplate how I can swing by TJ Maxx on the way home from the gym and then remember my no-spend commitment.
I arrive home and glance at the dusty basket filled with oodles of boots…
Three pairs, just for me, that are water resistant.
Day 4- I know a lot of people get buried in weekend spending, but my homebody nature really pulls through on the weekend. I have been discovering I had quite the stockpile in our freezer so a night of mussels was on our agenda for our usual pizza night.
It’s been ages since I made spaghetti sauce, relying upon the jar for convenience, and I was reminded the beauty in a homemade sauce for a spaghetti side.
It really is the little things.
A couple of months ago, I had splurged on this expandable coffee table and it is now our favorite weekend spot to have dinner and watch a show together.
Date nights were spent catching up on Netflix- yes, we are that fun!
The original programming from Netflix has really been delivering so it was easy to do a movie night at home together and this one was adorable. Many times I find myself running over to Redbox or the library for movies when we have PLENTY to watch already at home.
Seriously, you should see how long my list is.
Day 5- Since we were eating our way through our pantry, I thought I’d give gluten-free pizza dough a try to see if I can’t replace that take-out pizza moving forward. I wasn’t willing to chance it on two pizzas because gluten-free flour is expensive.
Surprise, surprise, I NAILED IT! I was so proud of myself that I made several more, just to make sure I could share a really good recipe with you.
It must be elastic pants weekend.
Day 6-7- It was really fortunate timing that I figured out a supplement that could help with my pain management just as this challenge was beginning. (P.S.- I promise to share more tomorrow!) so I was able to keep to a consistent gym routine which gave me the opportunity to socialize and to get in some good endorphins.
I dusted off my stationary bike and got back to using my CycleCast app so even in moments I was working out a lot, I still felt like I was a part of something.
Overall, week one was AWESOME and I can’t wait to what else I learn in the next three weeks!
Money Spent- $0
Memberships Used During Week 1-
Scribd- 1 audiobook
Gym- 3 classes
CycleCast- 1 session
MoviePass- 0 movies