November Budget Report Card: Taming the Green Splurger
Here’s a little update on how we are doing with our November Budget Challenge.
*Well…we have so far managed to not buy any new junk. Getting easier as the month goes on but December lurks.
*My husband has taken a lunch everyday. He even packed his own one day. (It was a proud moment for the whole family.)
*And…. we completely blew our wine budget by the end of week two. I guess we are just not capable of buying wine in bulk and having any sort of adult willpower. Lesson learned. We will be trying a new approach next month for that one…as well as cutting back for the rest of this month.
The No Buy has caused some interesting self-discoveries. I’ve had to scrounge a bit for things I need and you know what I discovered? I am a complete green impulse shopper!!! I hear about something greener on the market I might like more…and I run out and buy it….needed or not. Then I shelve it at the first sign of shortcomings….like every 7th generation cleaning product ever made. Well…in the long run I think it might be a tad greener, not to mention cheaper, to use up what I have and THEN make a greener purchase.
This is what I have discovered in my green coffers:
4 types of TP
3 types of garbage bags
3 types of auto dishwasher detergent
4 brands of laundry detergent
11 bottles of sunscreen (I am a serious whitey…I wear it everyday.)
37 bottles of lotion…Yep 37. I have the supplies to make the cast of Golden Girls look supple!
This is at least two years worth of stuff. Would it be cheating to add the extra money not spent on cleaning supplies and toiletries to pad my wine budget? Gal’s gotta have priorities.
hahaha….and you tease me for having a cleaning product addiction. Janos just called me on that problem the other day when I had something new in my hand. He said “Don’t you have a pantry full of green cleaning products”? I’m wondering if there’s a support group for this kind of problem?