Tightening our Belts

Okay . . . this cash thing is hard. I keep telling myself that this month will be the hardest since we had to pay the credit card bill from last month's charges AND come up with enough funds to live on cash for our current expenses. It's almost like having double the expenses for household and food this month, just so we can finally live on cash. Next month has got to get easier!

Here are some things I have done so far that are different from our normal spending habits before cash:

1. I went to Walmart to get groceries, and I honestly didn't know if I would have enough cash in my wallet to pay the bill. I didn't want to bring a calculator and have to add up 182 items manually as I went up and down the aisles, since that seemed a bit too tedious and time consuming. I had estimated my cost via calculator with my list before arriving, and I knew it would be tight. So, I put all the non-essential items in the cart's basket to separate them from the "got to have" items like milk, meat, bread, recipe ingredients, etc. When I got to the checkout, I asked the cashier to give me a total after she rang up all the items on the conveyer belt, so I could see if I had enough money to put in the optional items at the end. I was fully prepared to have to put those items back and leave them at the store, if it came to that. It really wasn't too embarrassing. She didn't act like it was a big deal. I figured that they see people on food stamps every day who check out, so this can't be that strange. Luckily, I barely had enough for the "non-essential" items (like scrapbook adhesive, chocolate, facial toner, teething medicine, a few snack items etc).

2. Owen is now having to use his monthly allowence that he's been saving for some of his cub scout expenses and not just for toys. We previously would have absorbed all of those costs, but this month it just isn't possible. So, Owen chipped in and bought his own sleeping bag for his upcoming camping trip, and he also bought his own cub scout shirt, neck scarf, and tie for his uniform. He actually didn't complain at all about using his own money, and I was very proud of him!

3. Poor Stuart! He has been rolling all his change like crazy to come up with extra cash. He is going to Arizona for a week-long business trip and taking a couple of extra days to drive to the Grand Canyon to do some photography. He is rolling coins in order to come up with some extra spending money for the trip.

4. I needed a couple paperback novels for a professional development course that I am taking next week, so I went through my own books to see which ones I could part with. Then, I traded in several fiction books towards the cost of the new ones I needed. Plus, I did all this by going to a used bookstore instead of going through Barnes and Noble.

5. I have gone through all the cabinets and closets looking for items which we bought that were never taken out of the packaging or used. I found four such items (special art markers, media cord set, a metronome, and a flash drive). Then, I returned them to Walmart to use the money for food. I sold the metronome on Ebay for $30 since it was purchased at a music store, and we no longer had the receipt. It's taken some creative thinking to get extra cash!

6. I rescheduled my haircut appointment that was supposed to be next week because I won't have the cash to pay for it. I have even considered going to a really cheap salon instead of the $30 cut I usually get, but I'm not quite that desperate yet, and I don't want to spend three months growing out a really bad haircut. So, now I am waiting two more weeks to get my hair cut after Stuart gets paid again, and I can replenish my cash. I guess I'll just have about 7 days of "bad hair days" to live through!

It's been an eye-opening challenge, and I'm determined not to cheat on the "all cash" plan in the first month! Even though we have always had a budget, I am surprised about how much money we actually need for groceries and the bare essentials. I really underestimated some categories on paper.

I now have $48.37 to last for another ten days. It will be tough, but I'm sure I'll think of some other ways to make it stretch!