We have successfully completed Month 1 of our Compact! This month was pretty easy -- no birthdays or holidays to buy for -- and I guess anyone can go one month without buying anything. Our two purchases included:CFL bulbs: We had a few burnt out bulbs and CFLs aren't exactly something you can buy second-hand.
Underwear: For the 2 year old. We decided to potty train him because we thought he was ready. It didn't work out. Let's not talk about it.
I did do some thrift store shopping where I bought winter gloves and scarves for Macy, some cloth napkins for the kids' lunch boxes, and a grip of books. If I had to cut out thrift store shopping, I might have some serious withdrawal!
The things I'm struggling with right now are some winter items that I need (want?) for Macy: tights, snow boots, winter shoes, and socks.
*Edited because I forgot to add the most important part:
Compared to our average credit card bill from the past 5 months, we saved about $1000 this month.
Holy cow! I can't even imagine what we've been spending an extra $1000 on. I'm truly shocked by this. We don't do shopping sprees. We don't really even shop. We do eat out, but not anywhere expensive. I guess it really does add up! It will be interesting to see what our CC bill is like for the next three months in comparison.
5 comments:
We cut out all discretionary purchases and eating out and made everything from scratch (food-wise) and only purchased food that we would eat (instead of going crazy at the farmers market), and I've very embarrassed to say that we saved double what you guys saved. Made me scratch my head at how much money we waste every month!
I don't know if this would fit in your plan, but I have gotten great used items off ebay. Also, I haven't ever bought a new pair of winter boots (we need them here too!), but instead have found them all in consignment stores. What size boot are you looking for?
What I meant by used items was shoes in great condition. I got a pair of See Kai Runs and a pair of Robeez Tredz for less than the price of a new pair (combined with shipping).
$1000 is incredible, and Green Bean, you saved twice as much?! Amazing, simply amazing.
We took the "used only challenge" a few years ago and made it for just over 5 months before I broke Ken's TV and we bought a new one. I wish we would have kept track of our savings as that may have justified the purchase! It was also a really nice way to drastically change our spending habits. Funny how spending can be fueled more by habit than need.
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