Week 7 Recap of our No-Spend Challenge

Well this was the first week that I heard serious complaining about the no spend challenge. 

Emma was hilarious when she said "we had a good two months of this no spend challenge.  Now I think it's time to be done.  Let's order Chinese food." 

And believe me I was feeling the same way!  I was ready for Chinese food and not cooking too, but we didn't cave and had frozen pizzas instead. 

Can you picture me with my head hung low and pouting?  Because that's what I was looking like. 

Thankfully I am realizing that when one of us is weak and ready to give up (usually me) then there is the other person to stay strong and diligent (usually Nick). 

Valentine's Day was a bit hard with the no spend challenge. 

We are not huge spenders for Valentine's Day.  I've never gotten Diamond anything.  I do usually get roses.  But this year I knew I wouldn't be getting anything.  Still there was this TINY part of my brain that was just wishing and hoping that he would come home with something that I would act upset he spent money for but secretly was delighted he brought home. 

You know what I am talking about! 

But he didn't buy anything.  Well I take that back he did go to the store and bought crab and oysters to go with our beef tenderloin stay-in date meal. 

However I had had the same thought of a little surf with our turf and bought lobster tails. 

So it was a huge seafood feast. 

Nick also came home with an old fashioned love letter. 

It was my first one ever and it made me sob.  Big, ugly tears, sob.

It was perfect.  It helped me to realize that some of the most beautiful things in this world are free.  They don't cost money, they aren't big and flashy, but instead are simple and true words that mean the most. 

The days before Valentine's Day I was prepared that we wouldn't be buying the kids a ton of fun Valentine's stuff like we normally do. 

I had purchased Emma's Valentine's Day gift last year before we started the no-spend challenge.  So I purchased a small lego set for Calvin so he would have something soon. 

To make their special day a bit more special we made some sweet treats with things that we already had at home so they didn't cost a lot of money. 

We made cookies which was lots of fun! The kids took a cookie decorating class last year so I whipped up a batch of royal icing and we had fun decorating cookies for our friends and family (and for us, of course!)

We had fun breakfasts!  For this I made toast and used a cookie cutter to carve out a heart from the center.  I then put Peanut butter on the heart and strawberry jam around the outskirt of the toast.  We had strawberry milk because strawberry milk makes everything better.  And I love these napkins that I bought last year from Marshalls. 

And of course we had fun lunches!  The kids' favorite lunch is a muffin tin lunch.  I bought these sweet 6 cup muffin tins from the Dollar Store, and then I put fun things in them!  For this lunch I gave them strawberry flavored string cheese, vanilla yogurt with sprinkles, strawberrys, grape tomatoes, more strawberry milk, and some heart shaped sweet tarts. 

I love giving them fun lunches, it really helps to break up the homeschool day and make things more exciting. 

A special part of Valentine's Day was someone sending me a gift!  I love colored pens and someone sent these to me with a sweet Homeschooling Momma card.  I have no idea who sent these to me but it was just the sweetest thing! So if you are reading this and it was you, thank you!

All in all it was a great Valentine's Day and week. 

It was really nice when it was all said and done to not have the guilt that I spent too much on the kids or spoiled them more than I should have.  It was a great day and we loved spending time with one another which is the best part of Valentine's Day! 

I hope you all had a great Valentine's week.  Please let me know how you are doing on your own no-spend challenges. 

Love to you all! 

Coffee Shop Hop and Week 4 Recap: No Spend Challenge

Week 4 has come and gone and I cannot believe that an entire month has gone by in our no-spend challenge!  11 more months to go, right?

I can't wait for this year to be over, not because I am writing down all of the things that I am going to run out and buy but because this takes some serious effort. Legit. This week I had some bad moments.  Let me tell you about them:

Monday I met a friend for coffee to work on a project together.  She was super sweet and had asked if she could come over to our house.  But for real our house looked like Stonehenge with Christmas bins stacked everywhere so I declined and we went to a coffee shop. 

It wasn't until I was driving to the coffee shop that I had one of those lightbulb moments, thinking "huh, I guess I'm going to have to actually purchase something."  You know how shop keepers frown upon you just sitting there and not actually getting something. 

I purchased my coffee and got a small one but I did get one of those frou-frou drinks and it all being said it was $5.  I kind of did a walk of shame to the table with my coffee and felt bad for spending so much. 

The next night, Emma had scouts which is in across the state line and takes me over a half an hour to get her to.  Driving home during scouts results in me constantly driving so I decided by golly, I was going to find somewhere and get some blogging done!  It would be great!  I found a cute, quirky coffee shop, and again, decided it would be best to buy something. 

This time I was prepared.  I ordered just a small cup of coffee.  That should be harmless enough, right?  Except the darn thing was $3.  Again I had to do the shame walk with my cup of coffee.

I've started feeling like an old man that complains constantly about the cost of a cup of coffee.  Martin. I've become Martin from Frasier. 

The rest of the week went fairly smoothly.  The only other thing we spent money on was dinner Friday night.  We were supposed to go out with our neighbors last year and we could never make it work.  Finally we were all available and we didn't want to let our no-spend challenge get in our way. 

So we all decided to go to a restaurant that was participating in "Restaurant Week"  an event near us where certain restaurants offer reduced pricing on their meals.  Nick and I were able to get appetizer, dessert, and entrees for the 2 of us for $33!  It was a really good meal!  We ate at the Lasalle Kitchen and Tavern.  If you are ever in South Bend you should drive over and check it out...really good food and a really fun atmosphere with live music at the bar. 

Saturday we had fun going to visit Nick's grandma and then we drove onto a chili-cookoff for Emma's scout troop.  We had a wonderful (and cheap!) day visiting with friends and family. 

All in all it was a great week although I totally messed up with the coffee shop purchases. 

However I have used those as some jumping off points to change my behavior. 

After all, if my house had been clean and tidy I would have had no problem having my friend over to talk and I wouldn't have spent anything at all. 

So as a result of that I moved some things around so we could skip school for this week and I am deep cleaning our house.  Together as a family we are purging so we have less stuff to put away and maintain.  By the end of the week I am hopeful we will have a place for everything and everything in its place. 

I've also learned that I need to have a go-to drink to order when I go to a coffee shop.  I would love your suggestions!!!  I love coffee, tea, anything.  It just needs to be inexpensive so I feel at least a little bit better about buying a want item.  I do have to visit coffee shops as I am on a lot of committee's and part of groups that meet at coffee shops. 

Please help me with what do order!  Comment with your suggestions!  I'd love for you to help me out!

Road Trip Foods with a Week 3 Recap Thrown in: No-Spend Challenge

Week 3 was a doozy, lemme tell you! 

Monday

We visited Indianapolis for our annual MLK Jr. Field Trip day!  I love doing this because each place has activities to talk about equality and black history...with things that would be really hard for me to show the kids at home like drum shows and Rosa Parks speeches. 

We packed our food for the day and vowed that we were not going to spend any money during the day. 

Okay, so actually I had to promise Nick that we wouldn't spend any money because that was the only way that he agreed we could go.  He had a good point because we always think it's going to be cheap because all of the museums are free but after you factored in the trips to the gift shops and teacher stores I had to go to because we don't have them at home...well all that shopping and then meals and we were out a couple hundred dollars each time we went.  Yikes. 

So this time we packed foods.  I know that for me when I am thirsty is when I start to feel whiney and justified in purchasing a drink.  So I made sure to pack tons of drinks for the grown ups and for the kids. 

I packed two larg-ish coolers of food: one for cold foods and one for anything else. 

So the first one I packed up the night before with all of the cold items.  For drinks I took Fruit Shoots, Chocolate Milks, Waters, and Perriers.  My current obsession has been green apple Perrier.  Yum! I also packed yogurt tubes and cheese sticks.  Snacks with some protein tend to fill the tummy for a longer period of time when you are on the road.  Instead of the kids constantly eating, they tend to not eat as much when it is a protein. 

In the other cooler I packed our breakfast, lunch, and other snacks.  So I was a terrible mother and purchased pop-tarts for breakfast.  They were on sale for $1.50 for a box, it fed all of us, and the kids were tickled because they hardly ever, or never, get pop-tarts. 

For lunch I packed us all pb&j.  I know that's kind of a lame sandwich but we all loved it and I used these amazing cherry preserves from Costco that has whole Michigan cherries in it.  So yummy!  I also packed some chips, fruits, granola bars, and some Nutella snack cups.  We ended up having more than enough snacks for the day and had a very full lunch. 

All in all it was a yummy day and we went through the day without feeling deprived.  As an added lesson I had the kids browse the prices of food when we went by a food-court kind of place in one of the museums and I felt like they got it!  They were commenting on how expensive the foods were and how unhealthy everything was.  It was what we could call a teachable moment. 

Tuesday & Wednesday

We were home and not spending any money.  Except for I contacted my best friend and we decided to meet Thursday for drinks and chips at our local Mexican restaurant. Nick and I also started a conversation on if running shoes are a need or a want.  (They are for me).  I said they are a want and I could probably wait it out...Nick looked at my shoes and warranted that clearly this is a need.  We'll probably come back to this but at least we got the convo started. 

Thursday

So we were supposed to meet for a drink and chips but when Nick and I were driving there we were starving.  I didn't want to just throw our no-spend project out completely, so we shared a meal.  We felt like we each had enough to eat but we saved money by splitting.  I was happy, he was happy, the whole world was happy.

Friday

We did nothing.  It was nice.  We had frozen pizzas, watched the original Parent Trap, and just hung out.  I love spending time with our family.  Nothing makes me feel richer than that.

Saturday

We had a birthday party for our nephew and so we didn't have to spend a thing!  Well we purchased his gift but other than that we were there for lunch and dinner.  It was so great to be with family and to watch all of the kids playing together.  I will also say that I was proud of myself because I just bought him one gift, a tricycle. I tend to go overboard and get a small gift to attach or I buy a few gifts but this time I just got one gift. 

Sunday

We had a new pastor come to our church to preach and after we had a carry in dinner to welcome him.  It was nice to not cook and all of the foods were super yummy!  We made cheesy potatoes for a dish to take and all of the ingredients we had so it was easy-peasy!  

So as you can see this week seemed to have a lot of eating with friends and we loved it!  It was nice.  Sometimes, even though it's not a true "need", I do feel it is needed to have that connection.  Especially being a housewife, sometimes it can be a lonely world.  Carry in meals or potlucks are great ways to get together with friends and they are super cheap!

So after this week I wanted to share a run down of tips to make taking food on a road trip super simple:

Pack the Protein

Protein fills us up.  Good sources of fiber fill us up.  Be sure to stock protein as that is what fuels our muscles and helps for proper brain function (ever heard of brain drain?)

Hard boiled eggs, apples with peanut butter, trail mix with nuts, string cheese, yogurts, all things that can help curb your appetite and help you feel fuller longer when on the go. 

Drinks are the Way

Dehydration is not fun.  In warm areas and when you are wearing a coat you get parched faster than you normally would.  Be sure to pack lots of drinks and store them in a cooler so when you crack one open you will feel quenched by an ice cold beverage and not something tepid. 

Be sure to pack lots of drinks for your kiddos as that helps them (and this goes for you too!) to not feel hungry all of the time and those kiddos need have lots of liquids. 

When in Doubt Pack it Out

Pack more than you think you need.  It stinks to be starving and thinking of buying food but not really wanting to buy food but at the same time starving.  Just pack oodles of snacks and if even if you don't eat them you will have offered yourself more variety and you will feel like you had choices.  When you get home you can put the extra snacks away on the shelf and there will be nothing lossed but everything gained because you didn't have to stop for something to eat.

Everybody have fun tonight

I'm just going to come out and say it...when I am sitting at the museum surrounded by everyone with their soft pretzels and nacho cheese, I feel pretty darn sorry for my PB&J self. 

So with that sob story of mine I say pack fun foods.  Pop tarts, chocolate milk, Nutella cups, whatever.  It is so fun to have foods you don't always get to eat and a little bit of junk food will be okay for you and your kids.  Promise!  I know my kids seriously geek out when they get to have junk food so then it lessens the blow a bit to have to eat nothing but things brought from home.