Strange satisfaction in not spending.

[Disneefun]

OK, DH thinks I'm nuts but I know someone else here will understand this. Now that I've joined the spending freeze and we're not eating out or buying stuff from the stores, I find myself taking sick satisfaction in the amount of garbage we're producing and the number of times I'm running the dishwasher. When I take out the trash (which is more often now), I know it's because we ate at home or used stuff that was already in the house that I didn't go out and buy. Same with the dishwasher. I'm running it more now b/c we're eating at home so much more but I don't mind. I kind of like it. Am I sick? Who knew trash and chores could be so satisfying?

 

[planning06]

I'm not in the accountability group, but for the past few months I've been trying to make sure we eat most/all of our leftovers instead of letting the majority of them go to waste. I am not cooking as much, but we are eating at home more. I also get satisfaction of running my dishwasher more and cleaning tupperware bowls during the week when we finished off something versus on the weekend when I'm ditching old leftovers.

 

[MKCP5]

I get it. I have been trying to stick to our food budget and only shop 2x a month. I get a little kick out of the end of the 2nd week when I am forced to get creative and use up the stuff that is roaming around in my cabinets! Sounds silly I know. But I am psyched to see it empty and know that I am saving $$

 

[Ardenne]

I get it, too, and my DH also thinks I'm nuts! I'm only buying milk, fresh produce, and his Raisin Bran these days, and otherwise eating out of the freezer and pantry, which would probably feed us for 2-3 months. It's nice to free up the space, and it sure does save a lot in groceries!

He comes from a family with the philosophy of 'don't spend more than you earn.' That's all very well and good, except that they basically *do* spend nearly all that they earn.... eating out all of the time, movies, etc. I, on the other hand, come from a family with the philosophy of 'spend what's absolutely necessary and squirrel the rest away and see how much you'll save. You never know what you might need it for later!'

We're a good balance for each other, really. I've taught him to save, and as a result we've successfully built up a reasonable amount in emergency and retirement savings. And he's mellowed me out enough that I don't mind going out to eat once in a while, as long as it's no more than once every month or two, and preferably with a coupon

Disney is a first-rate compromise for us -- expensive, but I think it's a good deal for what we're getting, and the kids will love it. And he's thrilled to pieces about the prospect of eating out more in a week than we usually do in a year

 

[ericamanda01]

Although I am not in the spending freeze I fully understand where you are coming from. Each time we go out to dinner I think about how many groceries I could have bought instead. I also do the comparison when I am shopping. It makes us go out less and less.

 

[mrsmagic]

I had to laugh about your dishwasher comment because I have thought that same thing; lots of eating at home!

I think that I enjoy saving money because I have control over it. So many things in the world feel so out of control to me; I'm not trying to compare grocery shopping to world events and social issues, but it feels really good to have one small area that is mine!

 

[gr8ful4Him]

oh...if we only had a dishwasher, I'd be ecstatic at all the dishes we have!
But seriously, I do understand how having to do the dishes is a blessing...it means that I saved money with eating at home, and also that I am blessed to have food to eat to begin with

 

[branv]

I'm not in the accountability group, but I have been limiting our eating out. We try to stick to eating out only 2 nights a week, DH eats lunch out one day a week with his coworkers, and we only go someplace relatively inexpensive. This may sound like alot, but considering we used to sometimes eat out dinner 4 times a week, AND go to lunch during the week, this is a huge change for us. I used to think it was actually harder for 2 people to eat on a budget b/c "So much food went to waste"...drrrr...leftovers Einstein! We had to change that little voice in our head that said leftovers were evil.

Today DH walked in the door with an armful of tupperware. It actually made me smile.

I had the extreme satisfaction that, today, we absolutely ran out of meat. Previously I would go to Costco, buy up meat in bulk, and then cook so seldom that I would have that meat for months. I would tell myself there was nothing good to eat and we'd go out. Today, it's gone gone gone. Yesterday I was thrilled b/c I had some leftover alfredo sauce, and some leftover tomato sauce, and I used them to make chicken alfredo tomato pasta Now seriously...if I used half of something before, I always put it up and tossed it after it turned green in the fridge. When I make a meal, do the math and realize that the meal just cost me $6 to make...and when I realize DH will also eat it for lunch tomorrow..which means we just spent $2 a serving! You really start to "get it".

It's a struggle every day, I won't lie I have to do alot of pep talk about cooking.