Sunday Confessional - Week 5

Forgive me, people, for I have spent. Again, this week it was mostly eating out. We have more family in town so there was a day of eating dinner out. Plus a brunch.

And, then our visitors babysat for an evening while my husband and I went out to eat and to a movie. Other than that, no other spending occurred.

What about you guys? How's the Buy Nothing Challenge wrapping up for you this month? Are you interested in continuing it into September?

Sunday Confessional - Week 4

This last week's shopping sins have mostly consisted of eating out.

We ordered pizza last Wednesday because my hubs was craving it and, well, I sure wasn't going to complain. We ended up getting a free pizza because they delivered the order wrong, so does that count? Uh, I guess so.

There have been a few coffee outings as well: Top Pot last Sunday and on Friday. Cupcake Royale on Monday.

Friday night we went out for a quick dinner after a trip to the clinic as a very belated anniversary dinner (8/8). Saturday night we went out to dinner with my brother, his wife and her sister at Union, one of our favorite Seattle restaurants.

Why so much crazy eating out? Well, it looks like they are gearing up for my hubs' second transplant in a few weeks. We're just waiting on some final donor scheduling info (they found a full match!). This next transplant will be much more involved than the last one and we won't be eating out again for a real loooooong time.

Oh, yeah. And I also may have bought some new mumble, mmmmrf, mumble, clothes. At least some of it was from a secondhand store. And I looked damn good, if I do say so myself.

So, while I was ensconcing myself in shopping therapy, how did your week go?

Sunday Confessional - Week 3

Oooh boy, I've been a bad, bad girl. It has been one week since my last spending confessional.

Let's see, where do I start with the shopping debauchery?

Eating out - Well, I didn't go out to coffee at all with the hubby this week since I was back at work, but we did go out to dinner Friday evening. That was totally my fault. He was content to eat at home, but after 6 weeks of cooking dinner I couldn't take it anymore.

Buying clothes - What can I say? There were several online sales at two places that sell clothes for tall women. Since the stuff I bought was waaaay over 50% off and it's so hard for me to find quality clothes that fit my six-foot frame I spent. But, hell, I got pants for $9.99 that actually have a 36 inch inseam. For that I are excited!

That's it! How did you do last week with the Buy Nothing Challenge?

Sunday Confessional - Week 2

Forgive me people, for I have spent. It has been one week since my last confessional.

This month is just not going as well as April. At least it seems that way. Anyway, I have broken several commandments:

1. No new clothes - I bought new shoes for both kids, plus Emma got some new underwear and they each got a pair of new pajamas. I could have purchased the latter second-hand, but I didn't have time to go to multiple stores and both of them have been growing like weeds lately. I don't do used shoes or undies.

2. No eating out - We went out for coffee four times this week post-clinic visits. I can at least say that no disposables were used and we supported local coffee houses that do food composting so I don't feel too bad about it.

3. Other sundries - I bought some ibuprofen and some red vines for the kids.

How did last week fare for your pocketbooks?

Sunday Confessional - Week 1

Forgive me people, for I have spent. It has been three months since my last confessional.

Well, here it is three days into the challenge and I already have a confession. I guess this first sin isn't too bad since it was something I was supposed to have purchased by the end of July and it's something I promised my kids way back at the beginning of June. Anyway, I got each of my children two very small Lego sets as promised.

Next up, I broke the new commandment: I ordered pizza last night for my belated birthday party. I was just too tired to cook for everyone. My husband also ordered a cake instead of making it himself, but he's still recovering from his stem cell transplant. But no one, and I mean no one can make cakes like Morfey's Cake Shoppe. Mmmmm. Champagne cake.

Minor transgressions, but I will do better!

How was Week 1 for you in the Buy Nothing Challenge - August Edition?

By the way, it's not too late to sign up!

Buy Nothing Challenge - August Edition

Batten down your wallets, it's that time again!

Y'all have had three whole months to wallow in your decadent, consumeristic lives and now it's time for a kick in the pants. Yes, folks, it's another edition of the Buy Nothing Challenge. If you missed out on it last time you can check out all the previous posts on how much fun (or withdrawals) everyone had.

We had over 225 people participating in April, so let's see how many we can get to sign up for the August edition. I'll be hosting the weekly Sunday Confessional again where you can attempt to justify your wanton purchases. So, just think about having to confess to the world why you couldn't contain your credit card.

Here are the rules (plus a new one), in case you forgot 'em...

• No new clothes
  
• No new gadgets
  
• No new furniture or housewares
  
• No salon services (except haircuts)
  
• No new makeup
  
• No new tools
  
• No whatever the hell else people buy
  
• No eating out (yes, this one is new!)

Once more, I'm only giving you one day to prepare so you don't run off and stockpile like crazy. You should be focusing on whether or not what you are buying is a necessity or something frivolous. Food, medications and other essentials are okay.

If you must absolutely acquire something non-edible or not essential to growing your own food, preserving or storing food for the off-season or for your survival, then you must borrow, barter, or buy it used (please note: canning equipment and supplies like sugar, pectin and jars are okay). If you end up buying something new, then spill your sins at the Sunday Confessional.

Since a lot of you are probably in buying back-to-school supplies mode, try to stick to what's on your supply list. If you have young kids who don't know any better, buy their back to school clothes at a thrift or consignment store. Feel free to torture older kids with it, too. No, really, it will be fun!

Those who participated last time took about a week to get into no-spending mode, but then were amazed out how much they saved. They were also amazed at how much they buy stuff they don't need.

If you want to sign up for the challenge, leave a comment on this post and I'll add you to the sidebar under the list of participants. For those of you who stumble upon this later, you can still join. If you want to put the graphic up on your blog, just paste the following code:

<a href="http://crunchychicken.blogspot.com/2008/07/buy-nothing-challenge-august-edition.html"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6rwHG_JqKj0SmCdZEDm1rxbmfFPBClVLcE0E9HucWMLzsK62fKpN2uprk_ijti0gZpU6elx7m4jgbiABgbbrJnuGrDbnFuwi60DZsU5ROfQNxaS6i9bxo0MiNIj-hRhk9nbAbi2IDvFU/s320/banner.jpg" border="0" alt="Buy Nothing Challenge - August 2008" /></a>

Remember folks, there's safety in numbers.