I knew the lessons of this year’s No Spend February lessons were sinking in when I finally figured out what to add to a perpetually empty and dusty but very usable shelf and more importantly when our family conversations about want and need changed to what we are individually and together saving to buy later.
Only adding one item to the wish list was another indication we were starting to change our focus and reevaluate instant gratification.
Though we mostly avoided adding extra things to the grocery cart and maintained a decreased grocery budget for the last 20 days, we weren’t perfect.
I had a work trip and used a birthday gift certificate to a day spa while I was there but forgot to pack a bathing suit and had to purchase one from Target for $38. Though I could have not purchased the bathing suit, I would not have been able to enjoy all the wonderful amenities that went along with my gift.
While I was out of town, my family went out for an unplanned dinner and after a particularly hard day, we went out to dinner, but the total of both meals was less than another birthday gift, so this came out nearly even.
We needed to replace one of our humidifiers, which absolutely fell under the need category, but we also didn’t price compare and just picked one we knew would be in stock. We probably spent a bit more than we otherwise would have.
There were a few other unplanned purchases in the last 20 days:
- Trail Race fee $35 (I’d forgotten to register in January as initially planned.)
- Visit to a local indoor pool $10
- A coffee meeting $8
Added up our unplanned expenses came out to about $212, which is less than we would have typically spent at this point in the month.