I woke up this morning to this lovely message from my husband:
"I was sad to discover we have no deodorant. Perhaps that means we will all smell for the next month."
Nice.
Normally I would have run right out to replenish our supply. Today, however, I tried making my own using this recipe. Jury's still out on whether it will work. I apologize in advance if it doesn't. (On a related note, does anyone have experience with those crystal deodorant stones? Do they work?)
Today I planned to go grocery shopping. Over the weekend, I created a menu plan for the entire month of January. Using that menu plan, I made a list of all the groceries we would need. Then, last night, I went through our pantry to determine what we actually needed to make complete meals for the first week. It wasn't much.
Today, after dropping the twins off at school (yay!) I went shopping, armed with my meager list and a budget of $25. I made it through Target spending only $7.50 for 11 items (thanks to a $15 gift card I had tucked away).
At the other grocery store, I fared a bit worse: $15 for 9 items. I sort of already broke one of my rules by buying something that was on sale to "stock up". But at half off of a product we eat almost daily, I couldn't pass that deal up.
All told, I spent $22.50 and have everything I need for a week's worth of tasty homemade meals. My two biggest temptations were a $1.29 dustpan (our current one is miniature and cracked down the middle) and a $3 kitchen timer, which I can think of about a million uses for. Onto the wish list those things go.
So far, so good.
13 comments:
Happy first trip to ya. Very impressed with your weekly grocery bill. Very.
I feel safe typing this here, since you are private. So I absolutely was planning on participating in the 30 days of nothing and then Christmas day I took the plunge and cut off all of my hair to donate to Locks of Love. My sister did the cutting. My sister who has given me many a brilliant hair cut. I have a mullet. It must be dealt with.
I have been using the Crystal deodorant for many years. It is the only natural deodorant I have found that really works for me. If you switch, it will take your body some time to adjust, especially if you have been using antiperspirant. I recommend a winter switch to allow for a smoother transition. Specifics available upon request.
Does it work all of the time? Just about. There is the occasional sweltering day where it will fail by mid afternoon and outdoor activities in the summer months require reapplying, but really, it does a darn good job. Another bonus is how long it lasts. I had a recent blog post about reluctantly retiring mine because it had been dropped one too many times, which is normally how mine go down. Even with my klutziness, they’ll go about a year.
In all fairness, my grocery bill this week was *only* able to be so low because I'm tearing through the massive backstock we've got going on.
I've also realized, thanks in no small part to you and your whole foods commitment, that we have a long way to go in breaking our dependence upon convenience foods. I'm actually playing around with the idea of doing an entire year of month-long challenges, but haven't quite figured out how that will work yet. One of the months will definitely be avoiding anything with ingredients I can't pronounce. Baby steps, eh?
I have always wanted to donate my hair to locks of love, but I highly doubt they'd take it. My hair is so pathetically thin I think I might actually qualify to be a recipient of the program. Nonetheless, this is yet another way that you quietly demonstrate your awesomeness (mullet and all).
You know, maybe it's time for a vacation. I hear Mullets are all the rage in Spain!
I'm laughing so hard that you tried to make your own deodarant. Feel free to buy some!!!! I had to buy heartburn medication, so I think deodarant is on the up and up. Way to go sticking to your plans!!!! So proud of you.
I, too, am looking at lots of month long challenges for this entire year. Let's brainstorm and do it together!!!!!
Are you kidding me? 22.50? How the heck did you do that? Oh man, I'm ashamed - so ashamed. We spend hundreds of dollars each week. And I did go out and buy cat litter today because...well...who wants a cat pooping in their sink or shower? And, my son just called and blew out a tire on "his car" which is an ancient Isuzu which was my mom's - we'll have to buy a tire for him. Hmmmmmmmmm. Oh, I just saw that Carrie is writing comfortably private - must go and read!
on the topic of months of challenges - please do the immersion with me! And, we are going to try a whole foods month this year - so I'm in for a year of challenges. Oh, and there is the LOSE IT thing I'm trying too - I'm under 100 calories today and I even had a glass of wine. I hope this is momentum, because when I go to work tomorrow it could and might all fall apart. But, I won't be sporting a mullet....even if i fall apart :-)
Meghan,
I've never spent that little money on a week's groceries in my life. Not even when we were both broke grad students surviving on $25,000 a year. Our typical bill is much, much, much higher. Honestly, just the mere act of walking into Target typically costs me at least $50. This was a *huge* achievement for me.
I'm definitely in for the immersion experience, but I need some more details on how that will actually work (I'm most stuck on how we'd buy groceries...)
As for other months, I'm totally open to ideas.
I also just want to thank each of you for the inspiration and support you all provide. What an incredible "community" we've built!
why the he** can't i spell deodorant correctly?
here are some ideas: reading a certain number of new authors or books, dietary challenges (no sugar, gluten, or only whole foods), trying to recycle everything and limit your garbage (have you read how others have done this? fascinating!), exercising every single day, performing some act of service every single day, volunteering at least once a week, and my best idea yet--sleeping in until 9 every day. okay, maybe not that last one... but my brain is hopped up on ideas. my friend melodie has just declared she's not buying ANY article of clothing for herself until May. there's are so many options and so many ways to go about this, it's crazy fun!
Cathy, I love all of your ideas! This is going to be fun! I propose an entire month where we consider our needs and wants before everyone else's. Now there's a revolutionary concept!
One other challenge I'd like to propose: One month without screen time (aside from what's required for work).
No television, no internet. I think that would be even more difficult for me than 30 days of nothing.
Used to use the crystal deod when I lived in North Calif (heck I didn't shave my legs either, ate no meat, no car, and lived on a few hundred dollars a month). Then I went to Africa for a year (hot!) and cursed the useless stick and my putrid body odor. I'm off it now. :)
I think my main goal is to try and me nice, sweet, loving, empathetic, and patient like all the time to everyone in my family. The bitch has got to go!
I'm still in denial about my spending and clothes obsession. I need help! :)
Oh, BTW, what online meal planner do you use?
Oh, and since we're private and speaking of deod and body odor . . . my husband never uses a drop of anything on his pits. And not once have I ever smelled anything foul from them. No sweat either. And darn if he only showers a handful of times a month and he never ever stinks and his hair just gets drier with no washing. Wacko! I love him, uncleanliness and not smelly and all. :)
Cindy, you crack me up. I'm totally with you on trying to be nicer. Maybe I should attempt a month of no yelling. That would be a real challenge.
Also, I gave up shaving about 15 years ago. I figure hair grows, and trying to stop it is a losing battle that I just don't have the energy or desire to fight. I might feel differently about it if I had a lot of hair in the first place, but this is one area where having super thin naturally light hair is actually a benefit. (I love what everyone's willing to divulge in a private space!)
As for the meal planner, I've just been using this:
http://www.theprojectgirl.com/2009/01/19/menu-planning-form-free-download/
Ooooh. I wanna be in on the secrets too.
Theoretically, I'm with you.
Actually, I just don't have it in me.
Lazily, I'm still justifying in my head that I still have Peace Corps credits to my name (no water, no electricity, no car, no Kraft Macaroni and Cheese). Pay no attention to the fact that I stopped earning those credits 13 years ago.
Perhaps if I can do something that doesn't involve any sort of planning. ;)
Post a Comment