So far this month has been a busy one for us! I keep waiting for things to die down, but they’re not.

Paul and I have decided to do our own version of Owlhaven’s 30 Days of Nothing. For the month of September, we’re committed to only spending money on essentials. For us, it looks like:
* No eating out. Buying our food from the grocery store, and making meals at home. We’re not curbing our grocery budget at all, but that’s because we often end up not spending our grocery budget because we simply don’t go shopping. Instead we stop by Wendy’s on the way home, or run up to Subway.
* No impulse buys. I’m really bad about this. I go to the store and get WAAAY more than is on my list. I always use the excuse “But I’ve been wanting one of these!”
* Finding creative ways to make do or do without. I’ll expand on this below

Part of this also means we’re trying to creatively meet our needs without spending money (or as much money). For example, if something breaks, we ask ourselves: Do we need it? Can we make do with something else? Can we fix it so it still does what we need even if it’s not pretty? Can we simply go without it?

It’s been interesting. I’ve cooked every day this week. (Except yesterday. When we had animal crackers for dinner. Because we were both too tired and too hungry too cook. It was a long day.) Do you know where I’ve noticed the no-buying thing the most? In getting random Cokes or snacks during the day! I didn’t realize how much we do that. I miss it!

That’s the point of this exercise. It isn’t necessarily a way we always want to live, but we’re trying to make ourselves more aware of the frivolous things we spend money on, and how all the little things add up. It’s also trying to force ourselves to think creatively about meeting our needs – money isn’t the answer to all our problems! :-)

So, in order to start the month off right, on September 1st I lost my cell phone charger! I think we left it in Nashville, but the hotel hasn’t seen it so I don’t know where it is. Do we need it? Yes, it’s our only phone. We need to be able to make/receive calls. I can’t have a dead cell phone all the time. :-) Is there a way to fix it, or do without? Neither apply. Can we make do with something else? Well I found that I can charge my cell phone by plugging it into the USB port on my computer. So, that works! Not the most ideal solution – I’d rather have a wall charger, but it works. And until I come across another charger I’ll just use it. Also, I have a car charger and my boss has his Blackberry charger at work that I can use if it needs some juice during the day. It’s okay.

We probably won’t notice any difference at the end of the month because of having to move. We’re having to pay deposits for the apartment ($500 for cats! sheesh!), rental fees for a moving truck, and boarding costs for our cats for the weekend. Also, we’re probably going to plunk down a significant amount of money on airfare for a trip or two we’re taking. (And you thought we were done traveling!) We also have to get new tires for my car, and the cats need their annual vet visit and vaccinations (required for both boarding and new apartment).

Speaking of which, I need to get ready to take the cats to their vet appointment. Aren’t they lucky! :-) I had more to say in this post, but I’ll write later.