I don't know if we'll make it under our goal of $200- this has been an expensive month! I'll be very glad when it's over, not only has it been expensive it's also been busy!
Another $55 was spent on gas and household needs-toilet paper and trash bags. We have cut back on our trash since we've started using our cloth diapers again- I would love to cut our trash bill out. I'm experimenting to see exactly how much trash we produce. I need to get better at using our compost bin. We do pretty well at recycling and there's a place here in town that is free to bring your recycles to.
Our chickens are adding an expense as well. We have to drive over every day to feed and water them. The chickens are going through food much quicker than I thought so I will need to buy one more bag which is $12. We'll also have to be at our county fair everyday for a week to care for them. Luckily the kids get in free but my ticket will be $5 a day! Plus we will need to pay to have six of our birds processed!
On the positive side I did work out a new bartering arrangement. I'll be making bread, pizza dough, tortillas, and some other baked goods in exchange for 100% grass fed beef.
How is your spending freeze going?
5 comments:
You can save a few dollars by getting a season pass for the fair. Just a thought :)
Wow. I can't believe you have to pay to get into a county fair!! None of the county's in our area charge an enterance fee.
You mentioned that you needed to use your compost pile more often AND your chickens were eating more food than you thought they would. Well, you could kill two birds with one stone(no pun intended!) and feed your food scraps to your chickens. My Grandma's always had a bucket sitting in the kitchen to toss in scraps that they would feed to the chickens.
Just a thought:)
We're raising broilers for my son's 4-H project so we're not feeding them scraps-we have to make sure that they make weight.
Feed them scraps and feed.
Love the idea of not spending cash on non necessities, but if you shop smart, budget your finances right and evaluate cost and worth for EVERYTHING you have or buy you won't need to do this. Our family of 5 does very well on $30K a year, yes that's thirty thousand. and that is without any type of assistance programs or income based subsidies. We lack nothing, don't stress over finances. We enjoy our lives, we go on dates, have savings accounts, take camping trips, frequently visit museums and the zoo. We have our non necessities we just WANT to have and can afford them. Even though we are considered below the poverty level, we have more financial security than my BIL & SIL who make over $100K and had to file for bankruptcy.
I wish everyone luck with this but let it do some good for you and make you realize all those convenience things are not necessary and are eating a hole in your wallet! If you made an effort to live more sensibly all year round you would be better off in the long run and have the money to do the special things you want to!
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