30 days of nothing
Since Mother Hen has already jumped in, I should mention that we’re taking the plunge too. Or more accurately, we took the plunge. Inspired by Owl Haven’s post about feeding her family of 12 for the whole month on $200, we have decided to do her 30 Days of Nothing experiment. For the month of September we plan to cut out all voluntary spending. ahem…except Internet…let’s not be ridiculous.
The idea is to take a close look at lifestyle and drastically cut back on spending. We’re re-evaluating that fuzzy line between wants and needs. We won’t even try to cut out all the wants because really, are electricity and running water necessary to survival?
We’re still talking over the specifics, but for our family, this will probably mean no eating out; no new (or thrift store) clothes; no books, except maybe the free ones from our PBS credits (would that cheapen the 30 Days experience?); no chips, soda, or prepackaged sweets; no frivolous gas usage. We don’t do a lot of these things anyway, but we certainly have areas in which we can tighten the belt.
This might mean that when we run out of sugar, we don’t eat any more sweets for the month, although I could very easily label sugar as a staple and therefore relatively necessary. It might mean that when the meat runs out, we get our protein from beans and rice - unless we find a spectacular sale and buy just enough to get us through the month.
Produce will come from the produce terminal downtown at rock-bottom prices since we don’t have a garden. Other groceries will be limited to staples like beans, rice, pasta, tortillas, flour, eggs, milk and salt. Trash bags are necessary. Ziplocs are not. Disposable diapers are a necessity. Just go with me on this.
Toilet paper? I don’t know if we’re that brave, but I remember my family using pages out of the phone book during the lean times when I was a kid. Lean times happened a lot. I wonder if that would be hard on a septic system? OK, now I’m kidding. Unless hubby thinks it’s a good idea, in which case I’m totally serious. But I’m pretty sure I’m kidding.
It definitely means that I will finish hemming my cloth napkins - the ones I’m making from scraps of old red checked gingham.
It also means organizing the pantry so that we can make use of interesting items that migrated to the back long ago. Done, as of this morning. Ditto for the freezer.
Will we turn off the a/c? Maybe. September is still very hot here, but a/c is hardly a life necessity and it’s certainly a significant expense. We’re already line-drying all of our clothes and the huge upright freezer (woefully in need of repair) is empty and unplugged. I am already breathing a sigh of relief over our next electric bill and I haven’t even seen it yet.
Have you ever tried this? Have you heard of it? Are you interested in trying? Do you think we’ve finally lost our marbles and gone off the deep end?
What sort of changes would happen in your house if you tried this?
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Filed under: frugal
We are doing this. I followed Mary’s experiment 2 years ago so when I read she was doing it again I was all on it. The biggest things we are doing is no shopping and no eating out. This is proving to be very hard since we normally ate out 3-4 times a week. The only shopping I have done has been groceries and things like tp.
I don’t know if we will make it the whole month but we are going to try. I enjoy reading up on how everyone else is doing this month.
I think I’d be willing to give this a shot sometime in the future. Not now, though.
I can’t guarantee that I won’t need new clothes by the end of the month, as my belly continues to expand.
My husband and I will probably eat out a few times this month to enjoy a peaceful meal as a couple. Won’t be able to have that time for awhile soon!
And, I’m continuing to pick up baby-related things, and I don’t want to miss out on a good deal, even though I don’t need them right now.
SURE…I am always looking to save money. We do have a garden and I have been canning a bunch lately. I do not know if you would be willing to try it but cloth diapers save lots of money and they are so easy to use. I have some a friend gave me that are in excellent condition that I would be willing to give you if your interested.
I NEVER heard of such a thing as using phone book paper as toilot paper. That made my chuckle. Just recently we switched to washable toilot paper. OK DON”T gag or think we have marbles as brains. I use the cloth diapers and wipes so when toilot paper prices kept going up I mentioned it to hubby. We have been doing it for 3 months and everyone likes it so much better. I wash them with the diapers 2X a week.
Anyway just a thought.
Let me know if your interested in the diapers.
Blessings
Amazing! Our family just came off a year on The Compact (where you buy no new material goods for a year, excepting food & necessary hygiene items) and it was very eye-opening. I had to get very creative when we moved, for example.
I’ve actually been thinking of doing something more thorough, like this, and a month seems like a good length of time- after all, the motivating factor for me doing The Compact was the lessons learned and insights gained by us during the process, rather than making a point to others, and committing to a long period would be very difficult. I look forward to reading more-
The TP issue is interesting- I’d use cloth TP (we use cloth dipes & wipes already) if my husband were into it (he’s not), but cloth plus a squirt of water is probably way cleaner than using paper TP. For example, if you just wiped your dirty hands with TP would you consider them clean? We’ve actually been thinking of getting a bidet attachment for the toilet for this reason; then no TP at all would be required. Just a thought!
And yeah, I’ve heard of using the phonebook pages. My grandparents & aunts/uncles on the farm in Arkansas used newspaper in their outhouse; I imagine it’s similar. Of course, they had no plumbing to reckon with…
Okay, the no-toilet-paper thing is a bit much for me, but everything else seems VERY timely. I am seriously considering jumping on board. It will be tough, with two birthdays this month! Any ideas, anyone???
(My conviction grew on this as I thought about it today…I spent $95.00 at Joann’s getting fabric for my daughter to make a dress…that, and all the accoutrements for it made for a very expensive dress, and the fabric itself was in the clearance section! Oy. Yes…I think it’s time for me to stop spending for a month!)
Glad you’re in on this– it will be fun to read how it goes for you!
Mary
Oh lawsy mercy, yes i think you have gone off the deep end….. oh I kid.
I have heard of it but the sources I have heard about did not succeed past 3 days. I personally think it can be done and do not have to go to the extreme.
For me since my husband walked out on us and the funds have been very limited I have done allot to really cut back such as, keep the thermostat in the 80’s and my electric bill all summer has been way low!!
Cut my food bill way down, eat out less, my kids LOVE to eat out, so I bought a table for my deck and we now eat OUT allot , outside on the deck, and they love it!! We grill out allot with charcoal not gas.
I have prided myself on having extra money at the end of the month being frugal, I just don’t want to go to the extreme, but every family is different and I respect your choices for your family.
okay Kim… we heard alot of stories about the “lean times” when you all were growing up but never heard about the telephone pages as toilet paper. Learn something new everyday.
VERY interesting…I need to show my hubby this. I think it’s a great idea, I’ll let you know if we take it up
I think this is such a cool idea!! I’m really curious to hear how it goes!!
We did a few months of the No Spending, too. We did it in the winter following Christmas. It works better for us because I don’t like to venture out in the cold much anyway. I think it was eye opening to our family as to what a want vs. a need is. We live about 10 miles from any town so we went once a week and did all our errands. Library, grocery (no extras) etc.
Several months worked for us. We were able to pay off our last consumer credit bill of $1600 (my appliance package), long before the 12 months same as cash deal ended! PTL!
Some other things we did: I line dry all our clothing. Outside when nice or inside. I became the electric nazi. Do you need a light on when your curtains are closed. We reevaluated what supplements and presciptions our family needed. I eliminated some and we actually feel better. We live in the country, so we eliminated our trash pickup service. Hubby drops paper, glass, and plastic on way to work at recycling center. Any other paper we burn. I went to an emergency pay as you go cell phone plan - savings around $15 per month. I started CVSing and getting hubby’s soda pop and toiletries for next to nothing. I make or print off the internet most everything for homeschooling. And we’ve been cooking mostly everything from scratch for years because of food allergies.
The toilet paper thing, my hubby would draw the line there. But who knows, there may come a time….?
Did you try homemade menstral pads? They were a $$ saver for us until CVSing. Now we have a huge stash of every size, shape and color. LOL!
We plan on trying this experiment again, probably in the winter again. Right now, I’m trying to get Christmas and birthday gifts bought (within our budget), save for oldest daughter’s wedding gift and clothes for us for the wedding, and car insurance.
Well I have a few questions about this…..
#1 Why are you doing this? Is it because you feel the stress of the economy and prices going up or just because you want to try it.
#2 Isn’t buying meat a necessity?
#3 You don’t have a garden?
Anyway I could never do this the month of Sept. there are far too many extra expenses this month with back to school, dance, work, scouts.
I have done this in the past. I had no idea it had a name, but we did it earlier this year for the month of March. It gave an enormous sense of satisfaction knowing we could “make do”. Sewing had more joy because I was sewing something we really *needed*. I think I’d like to try it again.
I went back to your old post with your master grocery list spreadsheet. It would be very interesting to see how the prices today compare with that.
Michelle,
Thank you but I’m just not ready to go to cloth diapers. I have bad memories of mom doing that with my sibs. The memories involve diaper pins and one baby sister with a very high tolerance for pain. Ugh. No diaper pins in this house, please.
And cloth toilet paper (do you call it that? Isn’t that an oxymoron?) - hubby would kill me. The kids would kill me. I don’t want to die. And anyway, I don’t want to wash everyone’s toilet cloths. I don’t even want to be that personally acquainted with the hygiene habits of my household unless they’re in diapers. Disposable diapers.
To each his own, and I’m glad it works for you - but not for me.
Karen,
$95??? I’m cringing with you, sister! I thought it was too much when Kait spent over $13 on fabric and notions to make a skirt! At least that was her own money, though we did agree to chip in the $3-4 that we would have spent to buy her a skirt at the thrift store.
maryjo,
We haven’t talked much about it yet (hubby’s working very long hours this week) but here’s my perspective. Hubby’s might be a little different:
1. We’re doing it for several reasons. The economy has hurt our budget, and we really need to tighten up a bit; we have become slack with our spending and want to become aware of areas in which we *can* tighten up significantly; and we want to remind ourselves to be grateful for all of the luxuries we enjoy, even at our relatively modest level of income.
2. I said we *might* not buy more meat; we’re still considering what our rules for the month will be. But we’re eating a lot of beans, cheese and eggs so we get plenty of protein w/o meat. We also have enough meat in the freezer for about 8-10 meals, so I could make it last if I wanted.
3. We don’t have a garden. That’s mainly because we don’t have dirt here. We live on a rocky hillside with a gorgeous view. We also have an abundance of deer, which have devastated my mom’s and sister’s attempts at gardening, so I’m not feeling too motivated to work on the no-soil issue.
Most who cloth diaper don’t use pins anymore.
Ok…I do realize what people think when they hear about using “cloth toilot paper”.
But let me explain. I have wipe rags from motherease and I put some in a wipe warmer with water and tea tree oil. I also have dry rags in a basket. Beside our toilet where the toilet paper would hang we have a hook that hands a wet bag. I purchased mine from Kellyscloset.com.
After a person uses the bathroom they place their “toilet paper” in that bag. On washing day I take the bag and dump it into the washer and I do not see or really touch anything.
AND it is not as bad as it seems. Without going into to much discussion, it is not near what you think it would be. My diaper changing rags are much worse.
Our kids were having fits about it at first but now they all like it better.
We did not switch totally because of cost. I like being self sufficient and it is one less thing I need to depend on an outside source other than myself to provide for my family. I also know the disposables are not good for the environment (NO we are not tree huggers)
As for the diapers, I do use pins but I am the diaper changer. I do not have my oldest (11 yrs) change diapers for the reason you stated. I do use fuzzi bunz at night and hubby uses them when he does change. There are other diapers other than pin ones.
If you ever change your mind please feel free to ask if I still have them.
Blessings to you and yours
Welcome aboard.
I did this 30 days of nothing several years ago when Tonia first initiated it. It was tought then.
It is tough now. I think if I truly captured the spirit, I’d eat better (because of no junk), sleep longer (because of not abusing the tv, internet or electricity use), and more simply. All good things. All require some sort of sacrifice on my part. I don’t do sacrifice easily.
Now is the month to try it again and win.
thanks for the reply I was very curious about the garden. We have deer here too and purchased a solar powered electric fence that works awesome. We got are money back the first year alone. I am sick however of canning and freezing right now but know I will be glad for it over winter.
Your lucky my hubby needs meat at every meal, we do however eat venecin but the freezer is very very low right now. This year my son can hunt so they can get like 8 deer which we will certainly eat every bit of.
I believe that ‘cloth toilette paper’ is refered to as ‘family cloth’, though I could be wrong.
If bad memory of pins is the reason to avoid cloth diapers, do a little research and you’ll be shocked at what all is available. Still may not be your choice, but pins won’t be the reason. BTW my five-yr-old can change velcro version wet cloth diapers with ease and no fear. I switched for cost (three in diapers at the time) but quickly came to prefer them! I could go on listing reasons, but your frugal side alone would probably win you over if you saw the options.
Check out this and her “Why Use Cloth Diapers?” link below just for a taste:
http://www.wildflowerdiapers.com/cloth-diaper-information.asp
And the bum genius pocket diaper even has a 14 day money-back satisfaction guarantee. (Site chosen for free shipping) http://nickisdiapers.com/catalog.php?category=91
It took me months of looking/thinking…to decide to try it and boy am I glad I did!
And for the mama who is interested in family cloth but dh not, my dh is perfectly fine with the kids and myself using it even though he isn’t interested. That cuts out by far most of our tp cost!
I think this is a great idea!!
We’ve essentially been headed this direction anyway….
I’ve already purchased my “moon cup” (google it :p), sewn my “mama cloth”, and are using “family cloth” (yes, its tp…) The family cloth is not bad at all. We use a peri bottle to rinse off with, so the cloth tp is basically for drying purposes. We are just finishing off our tp stash, but with using family cloth just part time, our tp consumption has already gone down tremendously. and no, I don’t have to touch anything… just dump the little bucket in the wash.
We also cloth diaper, and you don’t have to use pins these days. There’s a neat little thing out there called a “snappi”, or coth diapers with velcro or snap attachments. No pin nightmares necessary.
I kinda like saving a few thousand a year.
i am going to try this also. we eat cheap anyways between our garden (in full force right now) AND tons of venison we shoot (not I but hubby and kids) I will use that savings maybe to buy a pressure canner to can our meat
Oh yes, i will go with you on cloth diaps vs. paper. It is a cost to wash and dry them too, people do not remember that part of it. They are fairly cheap if you buy no name brands. i do not do huggies, etc.
Oh, and btw, I make my own laudry detergent now too. No longer a TIDE girl… I used to swear by it. If you private email me I will send you some
xoxoxo
Homemakerang
I am all for saving money but draw the line on the mama cloth and moon cup. YUCK
Our family is going to join in on this. I’ll have to talk to my husband about the details. I’m sure it will be something like no eating out, no using excess gas, no thrift stores/yard sales, and only the minimum groceries. The Compact, mentioned earlier, is something i’m going to discuss with my husband tonight. I would love a challenge like this to help myself and my family better appreciate all God has for us without having to spend money.