My "Home on a Budget: A Real Life Experiment" is on its last day. We have $1.77 left until payday tomorrow. My family has survived. The good news is we won't have to eat ketchup soup, although I have heard from a reliable source that it is better than "tuna casserole" that is made with, I hesistate to write it because I know what happens when I mention the word (more advertisments), but I will in Spanish, comida de gato. And for those of you who do not know Spanish, look it up!
My family started the experiment with $257.11 and because of some net gains ($1 in laundry, $40 gift from friend, $30 perfume sale, $20 Bunko, $25 Safeway gift card, $12.35 recyclables) that figure ended up being $385.36. My family spent $383.59 over the ten days. I guess the real question is: Would we have survived on the initial $257.11? Probably, but there would have been more sacrifices. There would have been no fresh fruits and vegetables and no school picture for my five year old. We probably would have had to eat more pasta, rice, beans and peanut butter and jelly.
Over the ten days, I have learned there are sacrifices on a limited budget. The key is figuring out where to make those sacrifices. I like fresh fruits and vegetables, but they are more expensive. On the limited budget, they were the first to go. I looked for sales, but most of the deals were on what I consider "junk food" or "high sugar items." I will not mention any brands or products for fear of unwanted advertising on my blog. As I cut out my normal at least "five-a-day" fruits and vegetables, my body started to feel more lethargic from eating more breads and pastas. This became what I consider an "unhealthy sacrifice." Any "extra money" was used to buy fresh fruits and vegetables in order to maintain some standard of nutrition.
On the other hand, I also learned where I could make "healthy sacrifices." In the past, I have bought mid-priced hair products and named brand household items. When we ran out of shampoo, I found a sale on VO5 products. Their shampoos were a $1 a bottle. I bought two bottles for our home. I found the shampoo to be great. I am picky about fragrances, but there were at least ten available, so I found one that I liked (green tea.) I also purchased bargain brand sandwich baggies, aluminum foil, trash bags and paper products. Making sacrifices on non-food items was definitely a great way to make our dollars go farther.
When our paycheck comes tomorrow, we have many financial obligations. While our budget won't be as tight as the first half of October, we will still have a limited amount of money for groceries and household expenses. We are rebuilding after what I have called our family's financial "Katrina."
The greatest lesson I have learned is "Waste Not, Want Not." Four small words, but very meaningful. As a child, I heard that phrase many times from my "depression era" grandmother. I had no idea what those words truly meant until now. The truth is: before my family was on a forced budget, we wasted so much food. Leftovers were most always tossed and food spoiled because we ended up eating out when we got "too busy" to cook. Our trash was always spilling over. We definitely did not live by the theory "if we do not waste what we have today, we will still have it in the future." If we had, who knows where would be? But I can not rewrite history. I am not going to look at this as failure in my life, but a great lesson. A mere stepping stone to better a life. A life in which I "Waste Not, Want Not."
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