Day Twelve

When we began this project, our plan was to cut back on our food intake which, of course, has cut into the amount of money we have spent "out". We aren't eating at restaurants, we aren't hanging at coffee shops, we aren't buying drinks at the bar. Needless to say, there has been a huge savings in the eating out/entertainment section of our monthly budget. One thing we didn't expect, though, are the changes that are taking place in other sections of our budget. The financial focus of this project was not in any way to save money, but rather to become aware of the money we do spend and where we spend it.

Once we began the dollar a day diet we started noticing a reticence to spend money at all! Naturally, I am paying our bills, but for the last twelve days I think Ryan and I have spent a total of $5.20 outside of our bills and our food. We find ourselves in stores planning to buy something and then we just put it back on the shelf. There's something about spending so little in one area of life that transposes to the other areas. It seems outrageous to think of spending $25 on an item in the store when we realize that we could eat for almost a month on that amount of money! For this, I am thankful because it is yet another reminder of the money we spend mindlessly on things that perhaps we don't really need. It is encouraging me to be more conscious in other areas and reuse, remake, and reprocess things rather then casting them off and buying new. My mama always quoted, "I'm trying to make a dollar out of 57 cents!" This has been running around in my head especially the last few days. In so many instances, you can make a dollar out of 57 cents. I'm encouraged to continue this austere lifestyle and looking forward to each new revelation.

Today's diet includes:

Breakfast ~ steel cut oats with a few raisins and green tea

Lunch ~ sweet potato and bean soup with a sprout salad

Snack ~ Apple Cider Vinegar "cocktail"

Dinner ~ Brown Rice with Tamari

Totals ~ $1.93

Peace,

Kelly