Could you go 14 days without spending any money except for fuel? I do have a couple of social things I have allowed for, but other then that I am challenging myself to spend no money for 14 days for a spending goal. I know I have plenty of food at home (just need to get creative).

Could you do this? Do you do it reguarly? My biggest spend would be buying food at work. Any tips when you are tempted?

I have been having a no spend year, apart from fuel, food and animal needs and finding it no problem at all except for buying 1 book and an iphone app way back a few months ago about March (it was for my birthday).

I don't run a refrigerator, so make small frequent trips for fresh local produce, but apart from that I can meet no-spend goals fairly easily. Packing food before leaving the house is a big one for me, water too. I invested in stainless steel thermos and water bottle recently, to make this easier for me, and more appealing also.

I also do a fair bit of barter/trading with friends, family, neighbours. I don't have a problem with mindful consumption, and I think trading and stimulation of an economy is generally good for everyone invested in that system - more opportunities for earning, greater variety of products and services, etc. It's the economy that we contribute to which matters most. I am a huge fan of LETS and the Community Exchange System as a means of giving power back to the people, and away from the banks.

Perhaps you'd like to look into a local trading system, as a more sustainable alternative to our national economy. Rather than just not spending money for a period, it may be worth thinking about what you'll be spending when you resume trading.

I do that normally, I put $20 in the car each fortnight
buy what I need in food each fortnight
buy milk and freeze it if we run out its powdered milk.
I make a fortnights worth of sandwiches and freeze them for lunches.

Son picks up the chickens that the shop mark down and we share them. They are great frozen. He also buys pizzas when he goes down to the city and freezes them. There are $6 down there her they are over $25 for the same size.

Last Friday night/ Saturday morning some thief stole half a tank of fuel they came in between the lights and cameras. I filled the tank up while hubby was in hospital as it was a 48 ks round trip to see him. I hope their car doesn't run well. I can't afford to loose the fuel. The thing with my car, is the fuel tank shows how much fuel is in it all the time so all they need is a torch and they know. I thought it was safe has you have to open it from the inside but he police said all you need is a screw driver and then they close the door closed and you don't know until you drive the car.

No, I have 4 children and animals that get fresh food. We don't eat (or
with some of these, eat limited amounts) a lot of things others
consider healthy (sugar, wheat and grains, legumes) so our food intake
is mostly fresh stuff. I cannot store that much in our fridge and
freezer and it would hardly be fresh by the end if I could

bluezbandit wrote:
That's so great that you are finding it no problem and doing this, great way to save a huge amount of money. I had a look at your blog and love the photos

Roo I think packing food is a big one for me, both for work and on weekends. I can easily spend $15-20 on lunch out on a weekend and often not much tastier then what I can make at home.

I have had a look into the local LETS system in the past, but no further, I will have another look. I am just shy with those systems. I work in IT, so perhaps could barter those skills.

You are definitely onto something about me thinking about what I spend my money on. Amazing how quickly it disappears, especially when it sits in the wallet.

(Oops meant to quote you Roo)

Robyne wrote:
Robyne I think buying food fortnightly and then not going back to the supermarket would save me a lot of money! The number of times I go in for one thing and end up buying a whole heap! Does milk freeze ok? Because of where I live I can't always pop down to get milk so that would be handy. Do you just put in fridge to defrost?

I hadn't thought of freezing bought pizza's, good idea!

Sorry to hear Robyne, that is upsetting to hear people stealing fuel I never realised why some cars the fuel gauge goes to empty when off and others don't, but now you mention it, it makes sense that it is empty when it is off so people don't know. Hadn't thought about that.

*Bron* wrote:
I definitely understand that it is healthier to eat a lot of fresh products, but I am not there yet... Working towards it!

I do a supermarket run for fresh food every few days, and I spend a bit of money every week on plants, seeds and herbs. 50% of our income goes towards bills. I'm not sure that I could go two weeks without spending

We are terrible with our spending. Having said that, it's normally spending on stuff for around the house/garden, which is our main hobby. I do a lot of baking on the weekends, then I freeze all our bread/fruit loaf, and either make muffins which I freeze or whole cakes which I slice and gladwrap in individual portions and freeze. A friend at work takes containers of sliced veggies to work (radishes, celery, carrots, cucumber) with a small container of dip which she snacks on throughout the day to avoid spending on other food. It's definitely worth buying in bulk and avoiding the temptations of the supermarket, as I always end up buying more than I intend to when I walk into the shops.

Thanks Kristy, I take that was my photography blog not my frugalista blog. That one is www.tryhardfrugalista.com

Loved your web site and will have a go at making the onion relish. Hubby brought home another 10 likos of onions yesterday while they are cheap we have been drying them.

Woolies has Italian Olive Oil in 4 litre tins for 2 tins for $30 and Devondale UHT milk for $1 for 1 litre will go down and get some. Shopping is next week but have some left over from last week

It's great to hear everyone's feedback on this topic. My spending has reduced heaps this fortnight, any spending I am doing tends to be getting a few bits and pieces so that I can make lunches for work (instead of buying at work) and for baking bread and other goodies! If I keep doing this I will find I have more money to spend in the garden, where I would prefer to spend money