No Spend February - Lesson Learned

A lot of you have been very supportive and curious about our no spend February adventure and as much as I would like to be writing a post about how successful it was, I prefer to be honest. I didn't start writing this blog to tell you how awesome we are, but instead my intention is to be real. So, let me just say, "No Spend February" might be better phrased as a "Failure February". Here is my recap and lessons learned - hopefully they help you as you plan your adventure into not spending. I plan to take these lessons into our next attempt and hopefully do it better next time around.

Recap of the month...

Week One - WENT AWESOME! We stuck to the meal plan, we didn't spend an unplanned dime, we essentially rocked it. Week one gives me hope that it's actually possible to accomplish a no spend month.

Week Two - I ran out of lunch food and frozen homemade baby food (breastfeeding has given me the appetite of a teenage boy and the boys apparently hit a growth spurt) so we spent more than $20 on groceries... oops...

Week Three - The boys came down with RSV - we had to drop $200 on antibiotics and probiotics - and diapers because changing/washing 8 diarrhea cloth diapers a day is not something I wanted to do. Sick babies and very tired parents is not really an ideal environment for sticking to a plan, it did help having meals all ready to go but we strayed a bit from our no spend.

Week Four - four days in and the meal calendar on the fridge has not been updated - The boys and I spent a couple days in Austin for a change of scenery and we had an impromptu trip to Waco to visit and old friend. To say I gave up this week would be an understatement...

Lesson 1: Life with two infants is unpredictable

I sometimes think it is almost impossible to get anything done with 2 babies but then I step back and realize that somehow we do. We get stuff done, but it requires a lot of planning. We can't just drop everything and go anymore, we have to plan ahead. Don't get me wrong we still have spontaneity in our life but for example, today, one kid pooped and woke himself up, then spent and hour screaming at me and went back down just in time for his brother to wake up... then the brother who took a late nap wakes up just as it's time for other brother to go down... so the errands I had planned, the walk I had planned, they all wait, they wait until tomorrow because life with two infants is unpredictable. So while meal planning is wonderful and it does help us get things done and spend less money, some days I don't get to make myself lunch - some days I don't eat breakfast until morning nap starts, so some days driving through Starbucks is the only option because otherwise I won't eat.

Lesson 2: Be realistic about your needs

As mentioned above, I need to have flexible options. Meal planning is great but because of the unpredictability there needs to be at least a plan b & c, sometimes d. Also, making sure I account for the days where we just need to get out of the house because naps aren't happening. 

Lesson 3: Stock the pantry/fridge a little better before attempting "No Spend"

Next time we attempt this, I will make sure to stock up on lots of lunch and side dish options, or double the freezer recipes to make more left overs. I thought this was included in my original meal plan but somehow I miscalculated. So next time we try this - I will plan a little better. Instead of starting with an empty pantry I will do a stock up trip (more on that later) and then my meal plan trip. Hopefully this can help curb the days when I don't get dinner in the crock pot or forget to turn it on... or we run out of leftovers and there's nothing else to eat.

Lesson 4: If at first you don't succeed - try, try again!

SO try we will - probably in April - stay tuned for more... and on a positive note we still have a few freezer meals to start off March.