Fiscal Responsibility: Finally, It's March!

As some of you may remember, Doug and I took on a project of a different sort in February: we decided not to spend money. Of course, groceries and gasoline for the car were excluded from this ban, since we do have to eat and go to work and normal boring things like that.

So how did it work out? Doug did fantastically, not spending anything for the month other than gasoline. I don't think he even set foot in a store. He might have gone out to eat once with his work buddies. Pretty impressive.

Me, not so much. I cheated once a week on the going-out-to-eat thing, with an extra slip-up last week when I was sick and not interested in making dinner (pizza, anyone?). Going out to eat is my treat - an opportunity for me to be served food instead of being chef, waitress, diner and cleanup crew all in one. Doug hates that I do this, though, since I typically do fast food. Much easier when there are little hands about to go through a drive-through than attempt a sit-down meal. But he hates that I'm teaching the kids how to love food that is not good for you or me.

A good point.

Anyway, back to fiscal responsibility. We decided that there were some definite pros to a month without spending:

• Projects got done. The hallway downstairs was painted and got a blackboard, the kitchen got crown molding, the reupholstered chairs were finished, and the curtains in the master bedroom now reach the floor. Probably these projects would still be undone if we hadn't decided not to spend money.
• We stopped buying just because we could. Conspicuous consumerism is addictive - we like to spend money just to spend it. If Jack asks for a toy, I usually get it for him. Not because he needs it, but because I can. Not a good reason in anyone's book. It's also easier to get stuff for a new project than to finish an older one that requires a little extra work. This is a major downfall in our house. Doug and I can both count many, many projects that we have all the stuff to do...but have lost the motivation to finish.
• The kids learned that we do not have to buy stuff all the time. They were pretty philosophical about it, mostly: "March will come some day." Although Jack did count down the days to March every single day of February.

Here were the cons:

• We decided on a lark to do this, meaning that on February 1st, I said: "Hey! Let's not spend any money this month!" Doug reluctantly agreed. However, a little planning would have gone a long way. Poor Malena didn't really have any good shoes, so she made do with mud boots and some of my shoes (yes, she and Bonnie both wear my same size of shoes).  We also needed to get Valentine's Day stuff, which I lumped in with groceries.
• It was hard not to go to the store when I wanted things. This was a good habit to break, of course - but I found myself wanting to go buy something at least once a day for at least the first three weeks. It didn't even matter what I was going to buy - it just had to be something.

So a good experiment, all in all. Doug agrees that he would do it again - with a little more planning. I'm not sure if I have the guts to do it again, since I had to cheat to even get through the month. I probably should do it again, though, if only for that reason.