Week one of No Spend February is done!
It was tough as we had a Superbowl party on Sunday that we needed to provide food for and a dog that had to go to the vet for a tumor removal which was unexpected. The Superbowl party we had already budgeted for so that wasn’t too bad and the vet put off surgery until Valentine’s Day because her paw was so swollen he didn’t want to operate. We went home with the doggy version of advil and some antibiotics, total vet bill was $47. I would like to add that our vet we were seeing in town wanted to charge us $1200 for Heidi Schnauzer to get her teeth cleaned and tumor removed. The country vet we are now seeing charges $70 for teeth cleaning. I also loved that the country vet put her on meds because the size of her tumor is shrinking and I am hoping we won’t have to do surgery after all and maybe it’s not even a tumor. How could you say no you can’t have surgery to a face like this?
I’ve decided it would be really fun to keep track of all the ways God is providing for us, even in the little things. Here is my week 1 list:
Primer – The day before No Spend February started I went to buy some primer as I am all out and the project list is extensive around here, most of it requiring primer. I had about $8 left on a Lowes gift card from Christmas so I headed there for my primer. It was $19.48 or something close to that for the primer which I usually pay $15 at Menards for it so I was a bit shocked at the price. I decided to check Amazon’s price for the same primer because Lowes has price matched Amazon for me before so thought I’d jsut see what Amazon had it for. So glad I checked, it came up at a shocking $8.48 on Amazon for the same exact gallon of primer! I ran to the checkout and the front end manager was not quite as excited as I was about my primer purchase which I paid just $1.90 out of pocket for, what a way to kick start No Spend February!
Blueberries for my oatmeal – I was planning to buy a $10 bag of frozen organic blueberries from Costco tomorrow but my mom brought me not 1 but 2 gallon size bags of frozen wild blueberries handpicked with love from Michigan.
Milk- my mom brought a quart of skim milk that they weren’t going to use on their way to Arizona. Thanks to that quart of milk we have just enough milk until I grocery shop tomorrow. My kids thought this mini gallon of milk was so cute, they asked if they could have it for their American Girls when we are done with it.
Extra Money – We received a rebate check for $40 from our thermostat that we purchased in December with a gift card from my parents for Christmas. The rebate was supposed to be applied to our heating bill but came as a check in the mail instead. Not only did we not have to pay for the thermostat but we also got a $40 rebate on it!
Haircut – My little guy got a free haircut yesterday from our friend’s nanny who also cuts hair on the side. Total blessing!
Gas Savings – Our kids ride the bus to and from school everyday but now that one is in a play and two are on yearbook, I have to pick them up twice a week after school. Not a big deal but it’s gas that I don’t want to use right now. On Tuesday I didn’t have to pick kids up from school because another mom picked up my kids and dropped them off at home for me. A small thing but still a blessing.
Free Furniture – Last night I was out with some girl friends and on the way home I saw a headboard and footboard on the curb. I asked my friend Renae to turn around so we could load it up and bring it to my house. Such a good friend, she even helped me load and unload the beast. It’s a queen size and will work perfectly for one of the three queen beds we currently have that needs a headboard. With a little wood glue, primer and paint, it will be looking beautiful soon! I never find roadside treasures so this was very exciting!
Blogging – I am in the process of changing the blog name, changing hosting companies (thank you RFE) and working on the new blog to have better function. A wonderful friend is helping me with all of this and is not charging me anything. I only hope I can pay her back in other ways.
Client Referral – I was recently contacted by a lady who wanted some help with her living room. She was referred to me by a friend and I’m thankful for the work anytime but especially right now. I am able to pick out paint, shop online for pillows, curtains, etc. and it’s all on someone else’s dime, not mine! I get to do what makes me happy and do it for someone else. I love my job!
Trying to trim the fat – Today I called and cancelled our newspaper and cable to save an extra $50-$55 a month and our minds as there was nothing but junk on for the most part anyways. The newspaper was good but the tv, not so much. Don’t even get me started on the Disney channel with all their tween and teen shows. You would think I would be an hgtv junkie but I’m not, too many House Hunters and Property Brothers for me. I was watching Downton Abbey & Impractical Jokers as my two shows. Downton is on PBS so no big loss there as we have an antenna and I’m pretty sure I can watch Impractical Jokers online. We’ll probably bring Netflix back at some point as well but I’d much rather my kids read or do almost anything else than watch tv.
So that’s a great list for one week into this month. It’s really been fun and challenging, the kids are not fans already as I won’t buy them anymore cereal for the month. We are not doing like our friends and forcing 2 minute showers, I think we would all die right now. The temperatures have been more negative than positive here lately so when it’s -5 outside, you bet I’m taking a hot shower! Anyone else joining me in No Spend February?
I think it’s pretty amazing how what you are doing (trying not to spend $ for a period of time) is already resulting in blessings you wouldn’t have ordinarily noticed. It’s like a fast, I suppose – how we so easily overlook and are blind to the blessings until we restrain and discipline ourselves in some way to where we really begin to notice all that God provides for us. Thank you for sharing this challenge with your readers – and letting us see the results in your life 🙂
I am so impressed. Thank you for sharing this. I would love to try something like this. I doubt I would be anywhere near as successful as you. Keep up the good work.