Yesterday, marked the last day of our “No Going Out, No Spending Month” that started on 8 August.  After 29 days (a total of 4 weeks), my Husband and I are so happy with how we managed this challenge.

For a recall on our No Going Out, No Spending Month Project, please read this first.


Results of Our Project

No Going Out : We didn’t attend parties.  We declined road trips.  We didn’t have dinner or coffee with friends.  No meet-ups with online friends. We didn’t watch any movies.  We only went to grocery stores to buy stuff based on a list (no more, no less).  We stayed home on weekends.  We didn’t hung out in malls.  I missed a couple of events in Sydney that could have been used for articles in my blog (I was kinda sad about this but I needed some rest from attending and covering events anyway).

During the four weeks, we made 1 exception to this rule and that was when we attended a Christening reception of my longtime friend’s daughter.  It was very fortunate that the reception took place at a restaurant two blocks away from our place.  We sneaked out of the house for only two hours.  What drove me to decide to attend even if we are going thru this project was that it is more important to be there for friends, even if only for a while. 

No Spending : We didn’t spend!!!!  I mean, we didn’t spend on things we didn’t need like clothes, shoes, bags, gadgets.  We didn’t even spent for car petrol.  We spent for the usual groceries and bills and didn’t go over our budget–it was actually the opposite, we were able to save a couple of dollars because we became conscious of sticking to our budget.

Rest : We were able to rest, as in really rest.  Our days spent at home were so relaxed.  We didn’t think much of time (or catching up with time).  We were able to catch up on much needed sleep. 

We Feel Healthier :  We’ve been cooking and eating at home more since there really is no reason to eat out.  We’re now back to our usual meals that consists of more veggies, fish & fruits.

Other Things: We were able to de-clutter our home and we were able to catch up on our photography projects.

Challenges, Strategies and Realizations
Our strategies and realizations are based on the challenges we’ve gone thru during this project. 
 
Challenge 1 :  Busy, hectic long days at work.  Incidentally, the Husband and I had the busiest four weeks at work that resulted to going home late.  The temptation to dine out after work is so huge.  Can you imagine being all tired and hungry and then going home and still prepare food? 

Our strategy:  We did batch cooking (cooking in bulk) every weekend so that when we arrive home during weekdays, we’d only heat up dinner.  I also try to go home early every chance I get so I can cook dinner at home.  Another thing we did was bring crackers to munch on while we’re inside the train going home.

Realization:  Batch cooking not only saves time and energy but it saves us money.  It doesn’t make us dependent on eating out knowing that there is food at home.

Challenge 2 :  Food cravings (with an “argh!”).  Whether it was because I’m hormonal or the Husband misses a certain food, this was one challenge for us. 

Our strategy:  We didn’t linger in places that offer our “cravings of the moment”.  My Husband and I talked sense to each other whenever we’d have cravings.  We gave each other support and pep talks in getting over one’s craving especially when what we’re craving for was something unhealthy. 

Realization:  The great thing we learned from overcoming this challenge: whatever big or small project my Husband and I get into it really helps when we work as a team—an optimistic and “sees-the-positive-effect-of-a-challenge” team.

Challenge 3 : Sales (both online and in malls).  There are sales everywhere, anytime of the year.  There are several good deals that come out every day.  My Husband and I are members of online websites that gives big (like 70% off the original price) discounts.  We receive emails of these online sales everyday.  This challenge isn’t as difficult but when one sees a good deal, we know that it can be very tempting.

Our strategy:  Simple…whatever email about sales we received, we deleted them right away.  We didn’t open it anymore. 

Realization: A few realizations, (1) We have no urgent need for any material thing, we have what we need inside our home and in our lives; (2)  When we are determined not to spend, we don’t get tempted; (3)  We shouldn’t spend on stuff just because it is on sale [believe me, if you missed it, it will go on sale again, probably on a much lower price].

Challenge 4 : Dinner date on a (AUS)$20.00 budget.  We underestimated this challenge.  We forgot to take into consideration that we don’t usually eat fast food, that we also need to order drinks and that we also deserve to have dessert!  Yes, we can find small restaurants or decent stalls in food courts that offer meals cheap but there are times when I would really like to be served a good meal.

Here’s a summary of our cheap $20-dates ($20 x 4 weeks = $80.00):

13 Aug (Fri) = $0.00
I invited the Husband to a coffee date so we used my coffee “me time” money of $10.00, hence, we decided to go home after coffee since we’re not hungry yet.  We had dinner at home instead.

20 Aug (Fri, our monthsary) = $26.40
Since it was our monthsary that day, we hung out at Chinatown and had streetfood dinner.

Then the Husband saw Japanese Cakes which said he misses already and we thought, we haven’t had dessert yet.  So we bought 3 pieces for $5.00