More was spent than I would have liked. My daughter needed a swim suit, hat and a couple pair of capris for our trip. And sandals for graduation. I ended up buying an extra shirt for her and a shirt for me as well. Instead of talking myself out of those shirts, I talked myself into them. "They fit so well. Great color. And they are on clearance, so aren’t expensive at all."

I’m glad we don’t have to go clothes shopping for anything else before our trip.

At Walgreens, I only bought what was on my list – mainly medications.

So where are you struggling?

This weekend we were at the other side of the state visiting family. We were fed and housed by lovely family members, so the only thing we bought was gas. And I brought the mother’s day presents I had gotten in April.

Any tricky spots for you this weekend?

Yesterday I got gas before the price went up and used a coupon. It’s sad that I’m excited about gas for $2.57 a gallon.

And we bought some produce. I also froze some raspberries and pineapple that wouldn’t last another day for some smoothies.

Today I am feeling guilty because my husband and I went out for brunch because he got out of work early. I wasn’t even thinking when I said, "Sure!"

We save money by getting water instead of spending extra money on pop or another beverage. The mark up on those is astounding. They also let me get the senior portion since I don’t like big restaurant portions.

How has your week been?

It’s easy not to buy things when you don’t go anywhere but driving your daughter to and from school for two days

How did you do?

I stopped by the store to pick up bread today when I picked Brea up from school. And that was it.

It’s a good day to read an old post:

20 Ways to Keep from Spending Money

We went to the greenhouse to pick up plants this weekend. I always wrestle with this one because my spending fasts are always in May.

But, this is the time of year to get them if I want them growing.

Unfortunately since the greenhouse is a ways away we stopped by a restaurant to eat dinner.

We also stopped by Walgreens for paper products. And only got paper products. Big win for me

Sunday after my choir concert I did grocery shopping for the week.

And I deleted an email from Barnes and Noble. I will not buy books this month. I will not buy books this month.

I find weekends to be the trickiest. How did your weekend go?

And the ducklings have been born at the wetlands.

Pictures by Brea Dargis

1. Catch up on your voicemail messages. Do you need a new message?
2. Use a checklist when you get a new project – check in dates, whose on the team, deadlines, who do you report to, etc.
3. Look over a past project. What went well? What didn’t go well? What can you learn from this?
4. Do you know where you are financially? Do you need to download the lastest transactions? Or balance your checkbook?
5. Write a letter to a friend or family member.
6. Break down a current project. Need help? http://www.mysimplerlife.com/blog/project-breakdown
7. Find out what is blooming in your area.

Solutions 

Project Breakdown

So often I have clients who can’t start something because the whole project seems overwhelming – whether it’s decluttering, planning a party, losing weight, getting finances in order, creating a business plan or a work project.

As a client our first step is breaking that project down into small pieces. This is one of my skills, creating turtle steps that help you lose fear of the project and keep the momentum going. It’s fun to check off task after task.

And before you know it – the project is done!

So I decided to offer this service to anyone. Often it’s easier to see how to make things smaller when you aren’t involved in the project.

You can get a 15 min project breakdown session with me for $15.

If you are stuck, and need to find a place to start, sign up here:

Or you can go to the Project Breakdown page:

http://www.mysimplerlife.com/blog/project-breakdown

Then shoot me an email at beth @ mysimplerlife.com (without the spaces) to get scheduled. This session can be by phone or by chat.

***

How did you do today?

Brea and I got our haircuts which were on the list. She cut over two inches off my hair. I didn’t realize it had grown out that much!

This time, I made my next appointment right after this appointment. No more going months between haircuts.

I  am so happy I got gasoline the day before. Gas prices shot up 25 cents in one day.

It also reached 80 degrees all of the sudden here in Michigan and my husband reminded me that our air conditioning window unit was on the fritz. We were looking when it started petering out at the end of last summer, but we couldn’t find any.

Our 95 year old house has no central air. Jeff found a deal online and we went to pick a new unit up at Lowe’s on sale. A more energy efficient model and smaller to boot. Not an expense I wanted to have at the moment though.

Is air conditioning a necessity? For many people the answer would be no. I personally don’t have to have it. But, my hot blooded husband does.

On the way home he surprised me by stopping for ice cream at an ice cream stand. I ate an unnecessary, but very delicious cone.

As you go on a spending fast, you can tell your family about it. And they may want to join or they may not want to. Make sure to tell them the reason (so we can pay off a debt, go on vacation, have less clutter, etc.) for more motivation.

Watch where your spending fast negatively affects relationships. I could have gotten all annoying about a $1 ice cream cone. But, I didn’t think it was worth it. Concentrate more on your spending than what your family is spending.

And I bought produce for the next two days.

Onto Day 2. I awoke to a lovely email from Amazon giving me a list of Kindle titles for $3.99 or less. Oh, the temptation. I decided I had better delete the email without even reading it. Savings? Between $3.99 and $20 probably.

You may want to unsubscribe to all sales emails like these for the duration. You can always re-subscribe. Remember, most of the clutter you have you had bought at one time. Too often on a whim from a passing email.

Today I bought gas. My husband said that gas prices were on the rise, so I might want to get gas when I picked up my daughter from school. (The gas station and the grocery store are across from the school. Very convenient.) Thankfully is was still down and I had a 5 cent off coupon for the gas.

9 gallons for $34.52.

It was also bill paying day, so I thankfully paid my internet bill, utility and garbage.