March 1st found us in Raleigh, NC. When I woke up in the hotel Sunday morning I did not grab my purse and rush out the store to buy plastic objects. Instead I made a list of reflections to remind myself what I learned during the month.
Overview: I elected to not spend any extraneous money during the month of February. We did allow for grocery expenditures, gas, medical, and the usual monthly bills. I spent about $170 on groceries for the month in one large grocery shopping trip ($108), one medium trip ($50) and the rest for milk/bread/egg runs.
1. We did not eat out for lunch and dinner as a family aside from one necessary fast food experience due to an emergency.
2. Half of my monthly spending is not on big things but many small shopping trips I take for entertainment value. Killing time at Target before
pre-school pick up, buying time at a coffee shop, and clearance crap add up. I struggled to find free hangouts and time nuggets during the month but finally ended up with the usual library venues, going for walks in neighborhoods and occasionally using a gift card to buy a small cup of coffee.
3. The value of spending time with adult friends is difficult to plan without spending money. I did enjoy a make your own pizza night with friends that cost pennies compared to going out to the Mellow Mushroom. Overall I spent money on book club, a dinner out with a friend, and a movie ticket. I'd like to find more evening pot luck/stay at home entertainment options and encourage my friends to join me.
4. Free play dates = easy. We used our memberships, local parks, the library, and home to visit with all of our friends. I planned ahead and packed lots of snacks and drinks to avoid vending machines and the drive
thru for the kids.
5. The other half of my spending is because I fail to plan. In January we spent a lot going through the drive
thru for chicken nuggets, apple dippers, and chocolate milk. We bought snacks at stores because I forgot to pack them. This month I deliberately purchased healthy snacks at the store, bagged them up individually and created a large snack bag to keep in the car. I kept up with
sippy cups and my water bottle to ensure we all had beverages. We enjoyed a few picnics at parks and a few at indoor food courts to get out of the house to eat. Planning and packing took time but was well worth the result.
6. We ate what we had on hand to avoid additional trips to the grocery store. My pantry did not explode each time I opened the doors. We used a menu planning system for our meals and had all of the ingredients on hand to make all of the meals. I started prepping meals during rest time to ensure that we would not go out to eat and so that preparation of the actual meal would be much easier. Things we ate: beef stew, turkey burgers, pasta, pancakes, steak, curried chicken soup, lentil soup, chili, baked
tilapia, fajitas, tacos, enchiladas, grilled sausages, ham and scalloped potatoes, and more. Oh, I also stopped drinking Diet Coke.
7. We lost weight. I think it was a combination of being out and about more (what I'd like to believe) and eating smaller portions and healthier foods at home (probably closer to the truth).
8. Overall we did not save any extra money. With the illnesses and emergencies that hit our family I am sure that we spent next to all or more than we actually saved. How? Three urgent care visits (Clare's foot, my eyes, and Wesley's after hours care), prescriptions, and regular co-pays for physician visits. We usually spend a very small amount of our monthly budget on this line item and we blew it out of the water this month.
9. I want experiences more than things.
10. While I can now spend freely to purchase things I still prefer to buy used. I also know I can spend too much buying things at thrift stores. This month I did really well asking myself the questions: Do I love this? Do we need this? Is this thing worth the space it will take up in my home?
11. I learned I can be really creative with meals and entertainment for the kids. This exercise forced me to stretch a bit. While we didn't love everything we did or every meal we ate, we did realize that it was just time together or food we consumed. We lived through the boring parts.
12. We spent a lot more quality time together because we weren't out and about spending or consuming. We visited museums, went to the park, took pictures, played in our back yard, baked sweets, and read a lot of books. All together as a real family.
13. Would I do another No Spend Month?
Absolutely. The exercise in and of itself challenged me. It forced me to things I knew I should be doing (like menu planning and packing snacks) already. It also centered me to see what really matters everyday in my world.
Awhile back I felt undecided about going on vacation with Mario because I didn't want to terminate my nursing relationship with Wesley. Up until the day we left he continued to nurse 4-5 times per day (a couple of those at night on occasion) and more if he felt lousy. I packed my Medela breast pump and took to Jamaica. While there, I pumped 3x a day for 5 days. 
Lucky for him this mama is skilled in tape repair. Hopefully the rest of his visit will be a little less traumatic than the first 20 minutes.
I used the First Art Play Clay recipe which you can find 
We ended up with a ton of pink 
After I pick up more salt we may entertain a certain request to make a batch of purple play clay.
