Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.

I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Sunday confessional - Week 4

Sunday confessionalHoly moley, I can't believe there's only a few days left of the Buy Nothing Challenge. For me, the first week was kinda tough, the second one a little easier and the last two have been no brainers. Our credit card bill is vastly smaller than usual.

Of course, I've spent a lot of the last two weeks at the "cancer spa" where shopping opportunities are rather minimal, but still. I can honestly say that I haven't purchased anything besides food, necessary sundries and an occasional coffee. We didn't even eat out this week!

I suspect the next week will go by without a hitch. I am concerned a little about some of you who are "saving" your purchases until May. I hope you don't blow a hole in your credit cards making up for holding off on purchasing things for a month.

The idea was to have you focus on things you didn't really need, not in the hopes of staving off the desire for a few weeks, but in convincing you that you didn't actually need that item. Hopefully, for some of you, having to wait a few weeks has lessened the desire.

But, enough about me, how are you doing with the challenge?

62 comments:

Melissa said...

I did exchange a dress that I found, tags on, in the closet, for a glass storage jar for bulk foods, and a coffee press...I think this is allowed under my rules (I didn't spend any money, and these things will actually be helpful in overall reduction). I also bought canning supplies. We've got so much asparagus from our CSA box, it was either don't buy the supplies or throw the food away...and I couldn't stomach doing that. Other than that, just gardening supplies and food!

Anonymous said...

Wow, it's week 4 and it's the first week I've followed the rules! I only bought groceries. Well, and a latte from Starbucks, but I used a travel mug!

Also helps that this week I've been sick and miserable. Stuck at home and husband working super-long hours.

Oh, and the husband bought a Wii. But he didn't sign up, and it won't be charged or delivered until the middle of May.

Anonymous said...

It has not been a good week here. Our hotwater system died so that has been a huge dent. I have lived without hot water for a week to save $400. I am looking forward to having hotwater on Monday. On the plus side the children have learned about making do and what people used to do. My husband and I had a rare meal alone together but it totalled $10 so wasn't overboard. I bought my dd two pairs of shoes reduced to $2 a pair, some sock wool which was unnecessary and then because I forgot I bought my treat which is a scrapbooking magazine.

Jen said...

I bought a mess of cloth diapering supplies. I was going to try to wait until May but we lost our spare diaper fastener and I didn't want to chance losing the only one as well.

camp mom said...

Okay I did buy this week. I bought a 3 qt. cooking pot. The old one got dropped and the handle cracked right off. But I don't feel bad about it since it's for cooking. And since I really don't like cooking its not something I bought for "fun" I almost bought a used movie but thhought I really don't have much time these days to be watching a movie and passed on it. Instead I figured I would ask around when things settle down and see if I can borrow it from someone. So yeah pretty good no buy week....

Unknown said...

I bought a plastic sandbox (used) off Craigslist - it seemed the right thing to do at the time, but of course was really unessential. AND I bought a bungee cord to strap it to the top of my car to drive it home. hmmmm. I wouldn't have thought twice about those purchases if it hadn't been buy-nothing month - I am a frugal person, but this has been a real awareness booster of some of my impulsive habits.

Sherrie said...

One in advance birthday gift which was on sale. $15, not a major thing. I did buy a few clothes for the growing babe at a thrift store - I don't think those count. The seeds that I bought at the beginning of April have sprouted and are looking great! :)

Anonymous said...

My dad died very suddenly on 10th April and so for a fortnight my buying opportunities were limited. But then I wanted some non-crime books (can't deal with reading about dead bodies right now) so I bought four for £22, and then I bought 4 DVDs on Friday for £15. Still not bad, I don't think.

CatMominPhilly said...

"Progress, not perfection."
I've been thinking about my 'confession' for the last two days, and I wanted to focus on the positive things I've learned. ..i.e. Just how often I'm falling into the 'post-grad school, now I have money' buying trap. And, how it's easy to use 'buying things' to make myself feel a lil quick buzz of happy. EWW.

Successes:
- not buying unnecessary beauty products
- not buying unnecessary magazines
- waiting to see if I really want something
- thinking about 'needs' vs. 'wants' in an even more thoughtful way!

I did buy a few shirts/pair of pants this week. Looked at a thrift store too, but my actual purchases were new retail. I also bought a book I looked at last week and didn't buy and a 'becoming vegetarian' sourcebook. Library would be better, I know!!!

Overall, this week was better than last but still a few simple purchases. I'm thinking though Crunchy, and I HOPE that's what counts.

Kerry said...

I bought 20 heirloom tomato seeds at an annual seed exchange/sale at our local botanical garden and attended a workshop on seed saving. Thats it!

Ashley // Our Little Apartment said...

All I'm gonna buy is a mouth guard for my teeth grinding in May.

(Oh, and hair products. It's either those or hair styling tools. I have difficult hair. Don't be mad!)

Lisa Zahn said...

Only thing I have to confess is that I bought the latest issue of Backwoods Home magazine this week. It had so much great gardening info. and other stuff in it that I felt I needed it!

Other than that, I have been using this month of buy nothing to prioritize what to buy later. I don't plan a big "spend session" once May hits, but I do have a few things we'll need to buy for the coming economic squeeze (grain mill, pressure canner) and with the tax rebate, I'm ready for what I need. Thankfully I haven't put any of this on a credit card and certainly won't do so!

Chile said...

This has been a good month for me. While we didn't eliminate purchases, we carefully examined needs versus wants and tracked down used goods where possible. I must admit to a new purchase this week. A cut-resistant glove for use in the kitchen will help avoid painful accidents and costly medical bills. My sweetie can sew a good stitch, but I think he'd rather not have to practice on me!

Lynnet said...

Things have been going pretty well, but this week I did buy a few things for the first distribution day of our bulk buying cooperative: a scale, two scoops, and a box of 1/2 gallon jars. I asked people to bring their own jars and bags, but thought I'd better be prepared!

They were all great, and DID bring their own bags and jars, so I could fill up these jars with the millet (yum) that I bought.

My DH and I have had discussions about buying--like it doesn't make much sense just to hold off for three more days on something essential that you will DEFINITELY buy next month. So he made a couple of small essential purchases during the month. I said the whole point was to THINK about what you were buying--did you really need it? Was there another solution? Can you get it used? Can you make do?

So it's been a very good experience. Thanks Crunchy

Anonymous said...

I spent quite a lot this week, but that was anticipated. I bought 10oz of beautiful mohair roving and some goat's milk soap from a local farmer at the sheep-shearing festival here.

I'm planning to spend quite a bit in May, but it's things that I do actually need, like shoes. The ones I have have holes in them. And it would be nice to have a pair of sandals for the summer so that my feet don't roast.

Ellen said...

I did well! A new 'natural' food store opened in our area. I grabbed my cloth bags and a list (2 things on the list- bar shampoo and gum for my son (a sensory thing-he needs it). Off I went. I could have gone CRAZY but I didn't! I did buy some bulk cereal (luckily I had brought my cotton nut sack....bwa ha ha) and a bar of Dr Bronners soap, but our soaps and shampoos have about 2 days left in them, so I'm ok with that. Oh the stuff I COULD have bought! As usual, thank you a zillion. You have truly changed my life!!

Laura Kaeding said...

Nothing bought here, save for some fast food and takeout. Glad to hear so many people did so well! Hopefully it'll open everyone's mind to how much mindless spending that we all do. Much love <3

JR said...

I bought some red wiggler worms and a storage bin for their new home.

Anonymous said...

I did well this week....
Only bought essential groceries on a trip to BJs. I also had to buy a new tube for my bike. Since it was TV turnoff week I had promised the kids we would take more bike rides afterschool and I had a patched flat from last fall just didn't hold air anymore....so I call that essential.

My mom gave me some flower seeds so I started those and have high hopes that those freebies will sprout and add some color to the house soon!

Anonymous said...

This week wasn't bad! I was almost tempted by the Borghese shiller at Costco yesterday ("only 15 bucks" for these wonderful products) but the challenge gave me willpower ...

And I helped my kid hold off on a Polly Pockets water fountain thing ... she decided the plastic bowl I gave her for a swimming pool was just fine, so her hoard of allowance is safe (and we have one less plastic item at home).

Anna Banana said...

I went to a Low Carbon Diet workshop yesterday. There were 18 women and 2 men. There was some discussion of whether women are more ready than men to reduce their carbon footprint. On the minus side, will women take on the extra work involved and will men be off the hook? I bought some plants and a grow-your-own mushroom kit to benefit the local Food Not Lawns group.

Melissa Anderson said...

This week was good for me. I could make a really long list of all the items I passed up because of the challenge, but I'm sure you get the point. My only non-essential purchase was a pair of underwear for my son to wear while running. The hardest part is trying to explain to my 5 & 6 year old girls the difference between a want and a need! :)
Melissa

Anonymous said...

I bought the paint I mentioned when I signed up. I also bought a part to repair my mixer, which I use multiple times a day - so I guess that is a need. And, I bought plants for the gardens (half were edible, the others just beautiful. But, beauty is a need too - right?) Overall, though I guess I never buy that much because this whole challenge has felt rather normal!

Theresa said...

Not a bad week here. I bought lunch once when I was to lazy to make it again. And we bought a water collection barrel that was on sale, but that's to collect water for the vegetable garden, so I think that might not count?

And, I've almost completely stopped pondering about that TV!

There is definietly more money left in the bank account this month, which will go to pay down our line of credit, which is happily almost gone. Our grocery bill has gone down by about 20% as well, becasue we're buying hardly any processed or packaged foods. It's been great!

Anonymous said...

i'm doing pretty well. i think my biggest problem with spending though is on food. i just buy a lot of organic food, which i can't afford. and i like to eat out with friends. but for this month i've cut down on that a lot... it's hard to buy conventional when i really believe in organic, but it's necessary for now. when meeting friend i try and eat at home first so i'm less tempted to order food while we're out.
i've spent money this week on gas/transit tokens, groceries, pet food, 2 small $2.95 bags of soil and a $25 used rug i got off craigslist to cover my wood floor. it was a good purchase though, 'cause it's good as new and it's HUGE, so it covers almost half of my bachelor apartment...
i'm buying my bike this week, and with it will come a whole bunch of accessories as well (helmet, locks, bell, reflectors, light, etc...) i'm planning to buy used wherever possible.

Anonymous said...

We took our assistant out to lunch for AAday and bought pizza one night when we didn't get home from work until after 8 p.m; made two garden center/hardware store trips (6 days apart) for mostly vegetable garden related supplies; and the next town over had a townwide yardsale yesterday where we bought useful used and preowned items for our foodstorage project. Next month I'll probably buy a couple of garden books that I have been thinking about for a while, that my library doesn't have, and that I have been accessing through Amazon search features on and off all month. I think I'll keep a weekly confessional, enforcing thoughtfulness.

lauren said...

I'm still buying nothing for myself. However, today I will be stopping by Half-Price Books to refresh my classroom library. At this point in the year my classes have read the best stuff in my library. But I will only buy used and they are a necessity for my job.

As for "saving" for May, I am going to switch to bulk loose tea, so I will need an airtight container and an infuser. This is a daily, "food" need for me.
Also, a pen exploded on my favorite, and only, brown slacks for work and I will need a replacement. I will look at Crossroads, first, though.

In the past I would have used my tax refund to buy clothes, or new toys, but I used it this year to pay off debt. In large part, I made that choice due to this challenge, which has been the greatest benefit.

Robj98168 said...

OK OK I will admit it- I bought a bar of shaving soap. I wanted to keep my purtiness intact. Other than that Alls good! Went out for a bite to eat for the first time this month on Friday!

JessTrev said...

Well, I knew it going in that this would be a tough time of year to do this challenge -- we had 2 birthdays in our house the past week. Still! We did do pretty well. I am going to blog about it too but suffice it to say, we didn't buy anything for my 5 yo's birthday party except some bubble liquid (the glycerine-liq detergent mixture failed in a fun and frothy way), an ice cream cake, and pizza. Also, although I made her gift (a nature art bag) I did buy some pencils, 2 sketch pads and an eraser to put inside of it. I made all the party favors and games/activities from stuff we had around the house, and we used up random party supplies (think winnie the pooh meets rainbows!). Wahoo! It was great crafty fun. Also, I bought some stuff for eco-baskets I am giving to my kid's school auction (reusable bags, cloth produce bags, spray bottles to mix up homemade cleaners for the baskets, stainless steel bottles, sandwich wrap-mats). I love that you have provided a forum for this challenge, I agree with so many other posters that this exercise has made me think so much more about my consumption. I keep joking to my friends that I am such a pack rat that I need to do the challenge for about 8 months so that I am on a level playing field. I am *really* enjoying using up what we have and using stuff wisely. Thanks Crunch!

Amy Paden said...

Bad week... we bought a new camera/sd card for about $100- retail prices would have been around $250 though. I also bought sock yarn.

The Simpleton said...

First, my sympathies, rebecca. Second, rock on, everybody. Before the start of the challenge I thought I was pretty good at resisting consumerism, but this has helped me do better. We get more books at the library (even if I have to wait in line for them, which used to be an excuse to buy). I'm more ingenious in the kitchen ("Corn syrup? What if I used a little turbinado and a splash of water instead?") and better at planning ("No, we're not going to use the money you just earned picking up pine cones [in advance of the reel mower] to buy Pokemon cards today. Would you like to open a savings account with it to save up for something you'd really like?"). Kudos overall for giving us a forum to talk, kvetch, and canoodle about these things.

Dawn said...

I have been rather well behaved I think. No money spent that was not on food or on train tickets (much cheaper than driving to work) I am not sure if it is the challenge, my distinct lack of money, or that I work and commute so much all I want on my off time is to veg. A little pre confession, next week we are all taking our office assistants out for lunch, I will be contributing to the pool, and buying my own lunch in the process.

Anonymous said...

Bought a cookie and a sweet roll. No non-food purchases for my husband or me.

It's been a good month. We don't spend too much in general, but there were at least a couple things that I passed up because of the challenge. I've mostly spent my time cleaning out my closets and drawers and doing a "what do I need and what do I have" inventory. It turns out that I don't need any more clothes, and I got rid of a few bags of them. I ran out of my lotion at the beginning of the month, and I've been living off of hotel lotions and something my sister passed down/regifted to me. My husband has postponed purchasing a game.

We are doing our no plastic challenge starting on the 2nd so I can buy my lotion and my husband can buy his game.

Anonymous said...

I've done pretty well overall, although my daughter came home from college and needed a few warm weather items and she wasn't willing to shop at Goodwill. Oh well, I tried.
Debbie C

Going Crunchy said...

Forgive me Crunchy, but I have mildly sinned. Maybe it's one of the lesser offenses.

I bought one pair of sandals for my little one as we didn't have any decent ones to "grow" into. My older got an awesome "new" pair of sneakers from our next door neighbor so they were "used."

My neighbor buys like 10 pairs of shoes for her kid at each size change out- - and gave me a whole bag to grow into. Being that she has so many, it is really like they aren't worn at all.........

At the shoe store for Luke, Mama did try one two pairs of shoes that I loooovvveeddd. I put them back because I may "want" the two pairs of lovely sandals that are buy one get one half off, but I don't "need" the two pairs of sandals as I'm already well shod.

It was a vicarious shopping high for me. Shannon

Crunchy Domestic Goddess said...

i did great all week until last night when i ordered sushi takeout for dinner. /gulp/ it sure was tasty though.

i have to say that the thing i'm most excited about purchasing once this is over is a haircut for me. i'm seriously in need and think i will treat myself to one for my upcoming birthday. :)

Joyce said...

I bought a book and went out to lunch with my daughter. Other than that, it was fine.

Jennifer said...

Well, I bought two new bread pans, after searching for the large sized pans used everywhere. Of course, it will save on plastic and gasoline and such now that I'm baking my own bread... but I suppose it's sort of frivolous that I wanted EXACTLY that size (sandwich size) of bread. I could have done them in free form loaves instead...

Also, I bought a muddler (for summer icy limey drinks) at the local kitchen store when they didn't have what I needed because I felt guilty that I was going to buy what I needed at a big box store instead. Bad guilt complex... the back end of the wooden spoon was doing just fine!

Other than that, we are still doing great. I haven't put off anything... I've just decided not to buy it... the three things I have bought so far this month have (with the exception of the muddler) been things I either needed to have right away (like grass seed), or things that will help save the environment (like the bread pans).

I've found this to be very easy... I think I will keep it up indefinitely as a guideline for living my life. Not as an absolute... but I'll use it like I did this month, where there are exceptions for things like plants/seeds, long term investments for home food making, etc. Oh, and socks and underwear. Still want those new. :)

Kim said...

I didn't even set foot in a grocery store this week!

Except for the CSA delivery, I've purchased absolutely nothing in at least a week and a half.

I confess, I am saving up until May for two things 1. A new sleeping bag 2. A yogurt maker.

But, those are the kind of things I feel good about buying. I may not NEED them, but I need them. AND, I might get them for more birthday, which also happens to be in May...

Unknown said...

Nothing besides food this week...and we didn't eat out once this week! Saved a lot of money there :)

Anonymous said...

ooooooh. I was bad this week. I'd been waiting for a certain refurbished electronic gadget to make an appearance on a resale site and it did. And I bought it. Bad me.

Does it help that it's refurbished and not new?

lae21 said...

This week was much better than last week. All I bought was some Throat Coat since I came down with a cold, but lots of miso soup and tea seem to have taken care of it already. I don't think I confessed about it last week, but I bought a textbook for next semester online. I could have rented it through chegg.com, but it's for my major and I figured it would be better to buy a cheap used book and feel free to write and highlight all I want and then keep it for grad school. The rest of my textbooks I'll be renting though.

ANewDay said...

We did only middling this weekend. I finally ran out of soap and had to buy some more soap/shampoo for the bathroom or...well..smell funny. I was actually bummed that I had to buy non-food stuff in April.

We also ate takeout on Friday.

I have thought about the "putting things off until May" aspect. So we've been making a list of things that we said we needed this month but were not going to get until May.

We went through that list Friday night and pretty much struck everything off the list except blue jeans for my husband and a stockpot for the kitchen. He's looking a bit ragged when heading off to work in the morning.

The only other things that we "need" we either figured a way around them or made a list of where we think we can find them used.

We've decided to keep going on the "buy nothing new" plan into May coupled with the eco challenge. I think those two challenges fit together nicely.

We've talked about doing a year buy nothing new challenge for 2009 after seeing how well we were able to do for April. We are going to see how much we can restrict things beyond what is really necessary stuff to see how we could map out a full year of being a bit more draconian.

Green Bean said...

Forgive me, Crunchy, for I have sinned. It has been two weeks since my last confession. I purchased a brand new (couldn't find any used) copy of Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet. I read the book and enjoyed it so much that I decided that I had to own it. In a fit of book buying frenzy, I forgot all about the challenge. Oh well. It's a good book! Well worth it.

Wendy said...

I bought some fabric and a pattern so that I could make a stole from my MIL, who is graduating as an Interfaith Minister at the end of May. I thought about making it from repurposed clothing, but I really wanted something she wouldn't be embarrassed to wear :).

I also bought some stage make-up for my daugther's dance competitions. It was that, or allow her to use her classmates' make-up, and that's just not a good idea.

Other than that, I haven't bought anything other than food - unfortunately, much of it was take-out.

I've had a wonderful time during this challenge. Like the eat local challenges, it has forced me to really evaluate my habits, and not allow myself to just make excuses. I don't imagine that I'll be rushing out to the stores next weekend to go on a shopping spree. In fact, I can't really think of anything I need to buy. I think, again, like the eat local challenges, the things I've learned during this challenge will stick.

Thanks for the inspiration and the opportunity to be part of a group. You know, misery loves company ... as it were ;).

Jenette said...

oh this week was not good. Monday my husband came home with a NEW pair of garden shoes for me. I went to the eye doctor 2 weeks ago and ordered eye glasses (I for got about it till they came in) :(. I did buy a baby shower gift from a thrift store :)

Anonymous said...

This week was pretty good. I did buy a bunch of necessities - clothes for the girls (both 2nd hand and, unfortunately, first hand), canning supplies and gardening supplies. I bought a pile of 2nd hand books for homeschooling at our library booksale yesterday and today I went back for the gleaning and walked away with an even bigger pile at no cost (hooray!). Today I also picked up some embroidery floss for mending my girls' pants. Sure, I could just use regular thread - but pretty pink and purple hearts on the patches are so much more fun. Before the book gleaning I did manage to have an impulse buy - jumpropes for the girls.

Expect I'll do even better this coming week - we'll be at archaeology camp digging up renaissance treasures (sure to put our modern cheap ticky tacky trinkets in perspective).

rosiegirl said...

This week was not so good. I bought some gingerale (childhood comfort kinda thing), after I got a cold/flu. Also I bought a baby shower gift. I am planning on buying a yogurt maker and will likely wait until next month, but this challenge has dramatically lessened my spending and every time I have spent money even for things such as food, I've really thought about whether I need it or not and if I already have something that could the job just as well. Great challenge.

maryann said...

Does a new well pump count? Looks like I'll being buying nothing new again next month.

Frisky said...

i was good this week. too sick to shop!

scifichick said...

I was on vacation this week and bought a couple of souveniers for me and my son. And then we went to a local fair and bought few things there, though mostly gifts for Mother's Day. I should be fine with not buying stuff this week.

Anonymous said...

I don't think we bought anything new other than essentials like food, shampoo, soap and such like.

Believe it or not we blew 20$ photocopying documents for Homeland Security. I am sorry for the tree but if my husband wanted to become a permanent resident we needed to submit copies of all supporting documentation to prove we were married. The tree had to be sacrificed. They liked the proof and he is now allowed to stay in the country!!! we usually eat out once a month so this month we celebrated his new status by going to Five Guys and having burgers.

I was also tempted to buy a polo shirt and I fell to temptation. Luckily it didn't fit so I returned it and went to our local thrift shop to buy 3 used shirts to wear to work instead. We also bought a puzzled and a knapsack at the thrift store for the kids and a jacket for my step-son. They are thrilled they received gifts and I don't think they even noticed they were used.

In general, this was a pretty normal month. We don't have a lot of money so we don't buy a lot of stuff - new or used. We do make considerable use of hand-me downs already so even that wasn't much of a change.

Maeve said...

I didn't sign up for the challenge, but have been trying to keep up with the spirit of it. Most of my purchases this month have been food (less extra "look what jumped in the cart" items) or household supplies that I know we'll use and that keep going up in price at the store (soap, toothpaste, etc). I did get a few non-essentials for myself as I had a birthday; and I picked up a few items for the kids that cost me less than $5 (I try to buy ahead for the fall birthdays/winter holidays).

I'll be purchasing a few gardening items that I didn't have and didn't find at yard sales.

It would be harder to buy only essentials if I had more discretionary money, heh.

Anonymous said...

I've made a couple of confessions on my blog over the weekend.....I'm so ashamed LOL!

Anonymous said...

Didn't do tooo badly!

Boyfriend's purchases come out to a poster board for a project and one cup of coffee.

I bought a $20 ticket to an event (this was planned well in advance), but at the event I only spent money on food ($7) and tips for performers ($6).

Yesterday I got caught in the middle of some family drama, and wound up going on an emotional shopping spree (bad for the challenge, better than emotional eating). In the end, I bought three $7 paperbacks and a movie ticket.

Anonymous said...

It's week 4, and the first week I've broken the pledge and bought something (except eating out, which I'm also trying to watch). I bought some clothes at the thrift store and a (new) e-bike! I could have waited until Thursday I suppose, but it's only getting warmer here in St. Lou, and I'd like a chance to get used to my new bike commute before we start having 90+ days.

kai said...

well, I Didn't sign up, thinking there was basically no chance I would make it, but it turns out that I've actually more or less stopped buying stuff anyway, and I really stop and think before I purchase. In the past week, I purchased: 1) gas 2) food (but no goodies- just staples) 3) one ticket to the Museum of Fine Arts (so I could take my niece) 4) lunch (after the museum, again with the niece who I see a few times a year if I am lucky) and 5) a few gardening supplies (to grow food).

My soft spot has always been coffee, and a pastry with the coffee, and there have been none of those all month. No books or other entertainment, either. No clothes, no shoes, no toys. In fact, I've considered canceling subscription services like the newspaper, netflix, and our home phone service.

I did, however, donate to the walk for hunger (a boston thing), which totalled more than the museum ticket & lunch (so I'm not going to mentally count those 2 things). You didn't say anything about GIVING money away :-)

EcoBurban said...

I did pretty well throughout the month. I skipped the hair salon for both hair cuts and eyebrow fixes. The eyebrows I did myself and really, they don't look half bad. My big splurge right in the last week of the challenge?? Six, yes count them, SIX Sigg bottles. Why? Because it's baseball season and all 4 of my boys play and 2 parents watch and our old reusable polycarbonate water bottles have the dreaded #7 on the bottom meaning, yes those little buggers are leaching. In a moment of weakness (and a 30% coupon code!) I replaced our plastic ones. Now what do I do with the plastic ones? I guess I should have donated them with the bags of clothes I donated in burbanmom's giver challenge! Good challenge overall, my pocketbook feels heavier and the credit card bills lighter!

Anonymous said...

I did wicked awesome last week!
I packed my lunch every day, and only made one purchase other than groceries - biodegradable garbage bags!

The only other thing I spent money on was bus fare.

Yesterday (Monday, so technically this week, but we are almost out of April,) I had to buy a new tube for my bike, but I count that as a necessary purchase. As of today, I'm back to commuting on my bike for the summer. I think I'll keep going through May, although I'm going to give myself a free pass for garden goods and a couple other May purchases I'm already committed too (bridesmaid dress and shoes for my sister's wedding.)

Miss Kris said...

I'm a couple days late again...

Unnecessary purchases: a latte while at the airport because I was desperately sleep-deprived and a scone from Honey Bear Bakery to eat while at my book club meeting. I just can't resist the tasty treats from HB!

The one thing I've been holding off from buying is a booster seat for our little guy. We have a high chair for him, but I used a booster seat with him while we were visiting my sister and it was so much more manageable. I'm going to see if anyone has one on Freecycle first before checking out Craigslist/consignment shops.

kymmy said...

I didn't do as well as I wanted but not too bad. I bought a few things for baby.
Sadly I am holding off til May to spend up! But it has made me think seriously about what we do need and just what I want.

AP said...

I didn't get a chance to post for the other confessionals, but I did ok for the month.

Successes
-Did not eat lunch out at work AT ALL in April (it had been once or twice a week in previous months)

-2 of the birthday presents I purchased were used/made from recycled products

-Really made me think about what I buy, what I really need, and where it comes from

Failures
-Seemed to eat out a bit more than usual, but I guess we were traveling most weekends (still, no excuse). I had one "fast food" failure---a Carvel ice cream shake blizzard thing. Hey, I was having a crappy week, and ice cream ALWAYS makes me feel better.

-Gasoline.

-Attempted to prettify myself for a wedding next month with an expensive new facewash, and I ended up not being able to use it because it completely dried out my face

I have a few "must" purchases in store for May, but I'm going to be much smarter about them. Goodwill, and local (or at least Made in USA). This was a great opportunity to step away from 'I want it, I need it, wait, what do I do with it now that I have it?'