June Challenge Update
In June I challenged myself to spend money only on food and entertaining. I learned a lot from the challenge and am excited to share it was a success in that I learned a lot about my buying habits.
Here are my thoughts:
1. I buy a LOT almost mindlessly on Amazon.
At least 4 or 5 times I thought about something I “needed” and almost went on Amazon to buy it right then and there. I’m going to continue to challenge myself in the future by allowing myself to add items to my Amazon cart but making myself wait before buying. My standard wait time is a day but I’m pushing myself to wait a week. If I still want to buy the item the next week and it’s in our budget I will.
2. I didn’t stick to the challenge completely.
I bought Raffi, Alessandra and some friends FIFA World Cup player stickers. I bought a boy and girl Surfer Dude (affiliate link) for my kids to enjoy at the beach. I bought a few gifts. I also bought my kids each a book from our favorite local bookstore in Rhode Island, and I have no regrets about any of those purchases.
The World Cup happens only every four years. The Surfer Dude toys are something we will use for years, and it’s a really cool toy. And the gifts were for cousins we see rarely. I also bought 11 spray bottles from the dollar store in July for all the kids to play with on July 4th!
3. Our food costs a LOT.
It was eye-opening to check my Amex statement and find charge after charge for food. We shop mostly at Whole Foods because I like the quality, the experience, and convenience as it’s only a mile away. And I buy a lot of organic food and expensive meats. It’s super expensive! In the fall I’m going to challenge myself to lower our grocery and food bill by a lot, but I can only handle one challenge at a time. For now I will focus on making sure we use up every single food we buy. I’ve gotten a little lazy about making sure the kids don’t over serve themselves and it’s frustrating to throw away uneaten food.
4. Kids are expensive.
For several years I didn’t think they were, but now that we have two school-aged kids I understand why people say they are expensive. Babies are cheap in my opinion because they only need diapers and wipes, possibly formula depending on the situation. School-age kids need so much more though, especially if they are privileged enough to play sports. And they keep outgrowing their shoes and clothing. Shoes are so expensive, and when you are buying sneakers, sandals, and boots for a million kids it definitely adds up.
A lot of our friends have their kids in camps over the summer. While I would love to send our kids to some day camps and my husband would be supportive of it, it just seems like a waste of money. Camp for 3 is $$$. Instead they are in mommy camp. We pick one different place to visit each week and check off another item off our list each week. Every morning each child gets 15 minutes with me doing different sorts of personal development activities, from learning to tie shoes to learning to write a full name to practicing self soothing without thumb sucking. Then they make a mess while I get my housework done before we head out on our adventure for the day. It’s been lovely actually, although overwhelming at times. I am trying to really soak up this last summer before I have two children in all day school.
In short, the challenge was a success and I learned a lot about myself and my buying activities from it. I’m going to continue to delay my Amazon purchases and continue to go through each child’s things with them to pare down their room stuff to a manageable, maintainable level for each of them. And I will continue to focus on buying less, consuming less, spending less, using less.
What a lovely surprise to see you pop in my feed. I have to admit I hardly open feedly these days. I think reducing your grocery budget in the fall would be a great challenge. Do you guys have an extra freezer? I try to stock up in our favorites when they are on sale and having a second frezer has helped with that. Especially with items you know you always eat.
Thanks! I’m gearing up to reduce my grocery budget… any tips? I always fail to meet my food budget.
I love doing these too. I made a challenge to not buy myself ANY clothing for the month of July and I did it! It was hard especially since we went on vacation but it really made me think about what I actually needed and what I actually had to wear at home already.
1. I buy a LOT almost mindlessly on Amazon – I have started to only allow myself to buy gifts on Amazon as well as my husband’s beef jerky as he loves it and it’s cheaper there. It helps to have to go to a physical store because most of the time I think to myself it’s not worth driving to the store for so maybe it’s not worth it!
2. Our food costs a lot! – I have started going to the Winn Dixie closer to my house which tends to cost more as well. I have found it has helped to not be brand loyal to the things I don’t care about. They had B1G1 olive oils so I saved $10 by getting one for free but it was a different brand than I normally get. Our main thing is eating out – it kills us every month.
4. Kids are expensive – YES!! I work full time so I do pay for camps/babysitting and it can add up. Add to that the more food I have to buy since they are home all day and the costs definitely add up. I always wonder why people say it’s too hard to bring kids out so they just stay home. I find my kids are way better when we get out of the house during the day!
So glad you are back blogging again! I do follow your Instagram and get good ideas for my kids!
How did your challenge go??
Totally agree on camp!! My boys are three and four. I’m lucky enough to work full time but have summers completely off. I planned to send them to their school (camp) every Friday morning this summer. However for $83 a day, I decided not to do it and instead we go on an adventure once a week to a pricier place in the Philly area. It’s been mostly great!