blue artichoke

My first month of Not Buying It has come to an end, and I must say that it was rather enlightening. It had a rocky start as I worked out the kinks in the plan, but was really very easy. What I bought:

2 plastic under-the-bed rolling storage bins to replace the ripped and crittered cloth storage bags = $32.35
1 pair of white sandals to replace uncomfortable rarely worn old sandals = $33.47
1 oven mitt to replace stained and burned cloth oven mitt = $5.25
1 plastic 2-cup liquid measuring cup to replace one that cracked in the microwave = $1.96
1 pair of black sandals to replace 1 pair of broken flip-flops, 1 pair of worn-out clunky sandals and 1 pair of black slides that I never wear = Free (I used a gift certificate)

That actually seems like a lot to me when I write it in a list, but when I think about the cat toys, summer clothes, slip n' slides, serving dishes, cooling racks, potted plants, Trapper Keepers, shoe racks, etc. that tempted me this month, it's not much at all. I might add that I did not buy a new hairbrush to replace the one I left in Mexico in March. What girl has two thumbs and can live without a hairbrush for a month? This one. I had the perfect hairbrush and it broke. I got another one that betrayed me, so I abandoned it in Mexico, and haven't found a suitable replacement. Instead of buying and hating multiple brushes, I've been using a comb. Maybe I'll never use a brush again!

Final tally: I spent almost $200 less last month than I did in April 2006, $150 less than I did in April 2005 (when I lived alone and spent 10 days in Poland and Germany) and $80 less than I did in April 2004 (when I lived alone). Pretty good start!

I want to kick things up a bit for May. April was actually really easy once I had the guidelines set, so I want to add a challenge for this month: $50/week for groceries. It isn't quite as extreme as living on food stamps, but it is less than the national average food budget of $82/week. When I created my budget last year, I allocated $100/week for food. I had no idea what my grocery expenditures were, so picked that number as a starting point. The first month was difficult, but after that I routinely came in under budget at between $70-$80/week. That still seems rather high to me - we're just two people and we don't eat extravagantly. I think we can cut it down more, so starting yesterday, which wasn't officially May, but was my grocery shopping day of the week, I set out with a list and $50 in my pocket. I still have $7 left.

Getting to Know All About You: Do you have a food budget? What is it?