This time last year, my mom was sick. Real sick. Like, multiple doctor appointments weekly sick. Which meant that I spent much of my time on the road between my house and hers and then to doctor's visits with her and back to her house to translate it all out for her. I cherish that time I got to spend with her, because she passed away after a very short battle with cancer.
During that time, my family at home began to rely on quick meals. Maybe Taco Bell here or there, or a $5 pizza from Little Caesars, or deli sandwiches from Publix.
You know what adds up?
Well, the obvious answer is calories - as evidenced by the weight I have to lose, piled on to more weight I had to lose before this happened.
But really, what adds up, is the cost of our food budget. Ouch!
Now that we have slowed-down and spend more time at home, we were still spoiled by the bevy of hot/fresh/now deliciousness just a few streets away. This week, I put my foot down dramatically. I emptied our main checking account (the one we keep the debit cards to for every day spending) leaving a nominal amount of money in there for anything seriously urgent. Flipped money over into savings and dropped the bomb on the family. From last Friday to this Friday - I declared a no-spend week. Sure, Sunday through Saturday would have been fine, too, but I knew I would be getting paid this Friday and thus doing things like grocery shopping, putting gas in the minivan, and other pay-day chores.
The result:
Well, some tough conversations with the hubby about needs vs wants. Really, I know those shorts I picked up for him at Costco are nice and comfy but really, is it necessary for me to go back and pick up 2 more pairs? Really? Because you have a huge drawer full of shorts. The compromise is that he'll go through and donate all the shorts that don't actually fit, but are taking up space in his drawer indicating that he has way too many clothes.
Food choices for dinner meant we were eating at home all week, which ashamed as I am to admit it, we don't do nearly as often as we should. Of course, if I had actually menu-planned, our meals would have been a little better, but for the most part it wasn't too bad. I've menu planned for this coming week already and while it won't be a technically "no spend" week, I'm aiming for a mostly-at-home-meal week.
I almost broke the rule myself! I was put "on call" Wednesday night from work. So instead of going in from 7pm-7am, I was to hang out at home and they would call if I was needed. Sure enough, my phone rang at 10:45pm and I was told to be come in and be ready, since I may be heading with a patient into surgery. As crazy as it sounds, that's actually one of my favorite parts, because I think I'm pretty good at it. After all, I had 3 c-sections myself and understand some of the disappointment that comes along with it, so I try to make it as much of a mother/baby led process as possible. So I whipped my scrubs on and grabbed my car keys, and then paused at the door. I turned right around and made a PB&J to eat in the minivan on the way there since I obviously wasn't going to ruin my no-spend streak by running through a drive-thru for a coffee. I find I get the same "lift" by eating a high-protein snack, so instead of a sugary coffee (yes, I'm aware that non-sugary coffee exists, but it's gross), I'd rather some healthy fuel.
We survived and will do it again next month!!
The result:
Well, some tough conversations with the hubby about needs vs wants. Really, I know those shorts I picked up for him at Costco are nice and comfy but really, is it necessary for me to go back and pick up 2 more pairs? Really? Because you have a huge drawer full of shorts. The compromise is that he'll go through and donate all the shorts that don't actually fit, but are taking up space in his drawer indicating that he has way too many clothes.
Food choices for dinner meant we were eating at home all week, which ashamed as I am to admit it, we don't do nearly as often as we should. Of course, if I had actually menu-planned, our meals would have been a little better, but for the most part it wasn't too bad. I've menu planned for this coming week already and while it won't be a technically "no spend" week, I'm aiming for a mostly-at-home-meal week.
I almost broke the rule myself! I was put "on call" Wednesday night from work. So instead of going in from 7pm-7am, I was to hang out at home and they would call if I was needed. Sure enough, my phone rang at 10:45pm and I was told to be come in and be ready, since I may be heading with a patient into surgery. As crazy as it sounds, that's actually one of my favorite parts, because I think I'm pretty good at it. After all, I had 3 c-sections myself and understand some of the disappointment that comes along with it, so I try to make it as much of a mother/baby led process as possible. So I whipped my scrubs on and grabbed my car keys, and then paused at the door. I turned right around and made a PB&J to eat in the minivan on the way there since I obviously wasn't going to ruin my no-spend streak by running through a drive-thru for a coffee. I find I get the same "lift" by eating a high-protein snack, so instead of a sugary coffee (yes, I'm aware that non-sugary coffee exists, but it's gross), I'd rather some healthy fuel.
We survived and will do it again next month!!
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