Early Retirement Extreme Forums

$9 ice cream

Dang it! I didn’t even think about no-spend August until I was signing the receipt. Yesterday I bought ice cream for my partner and me during our walk along the river on our twice-a-month trip into town to shop for the community. Whoops!

I am somewhat comforted by the fact that my last purchase was on the 26th of July, so I did go more than a month without spending anything—it just wasn’t the calendar month of August. Still, I am a little annoyed with myself for my absentmindedness.

If you could have waited until today for ice cream...

Still a good effort, congrats!

Ice cream, totally worth it

I know, so silly!

I am thinking about trying again in September. We might have to put gas in the truck this month, though. Plus I am dying for an ebook. But I hate to reward myself for not following through (well, except with ice cream)—no-spend September it is! I will figure out the truck issue.

No-spend September is a go so far.

Canned fifty quarts of jam today, tired. Need to plant saffron this weekend and put our house back together now that the earthen floors are sealed and dry.

What fun you have!

My life is pretty great!

I want to buy an ebook so badly. Halfway through no-spend September and holding out so far, but I keep torturing myself with Kindle samples.

If you have a local library card you should be able to check out ebooks for free from the county/city library. I use something called the libby app. You have to wait for certain books, and they don't have everything, but the price is right. Good work on the no-spend September!

https://www.netgalley.com/ here you can read books for free before they are published in exchange for a review.

JenAR wrote: ↑

Tue Sep 15, 2020 9:00 pm

I want to buy an ebook so badly. Halfway through no-spend September and holding out so far, but I keep torturing myself with Kindle samples.

Jesus JenAR! You spent $10 on icecream less than three weeks ago! Get it together and make it happen!

For reference, I've probably spent about $600 on rent, food, a new (to me) bike and entertainment since then.

But this is about you and setting some frigg'en no spend records! Come on, you got this... right?

Ha! “In nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in.”

I taught myself to use a sewing machine yesterday, and today knocked out half of my mending, which has been accumulating for over a year. Exciting! I do not find it as pleasant as hand sewing, and don’t have good control over it yet, but it’s so FAST.

No-spend September still on track.

Keep going on the no-spend! Hopefully you can stave off the ice cream + books craving just a bit longer. Good luck!

The craving has abated! No-spend is a go.

I just got accepted to a 10-day Vipassana meditation course in November. It will be my second such course. The courses (including food and accommodation) are free, and donations are accepted only from students who have completed a course and benefited from the practice. I found my first course so valuable that I donated $500 afterward, several months’ expenses for me. Meditation helps me eschew instant gratification, which is very helpful for ERE. I am currently making my partner a meditation cushion with my new sewing machine skills and some scraps of fabric from the community “free shelf,” so he doesn’t have to use a wadded up throw pillow anymore. I have also started cutting pieces for a quilt from free shelf fabric—I am going to attempt making the quilt without spending any money whatsoever. The templates I am using were purchased for me by my mom, the cutting mat borrowed from a friend, and the rotary cutter acquired with Amazon points. I am only using natural fabrics and threads, which will make it more challenging, but not impossible.

AAAAHHHHHHH I took a Vipassana course in that same tradition two years ago and it changed my life. I love to geek out about it literally whenever I can!!! Good luck on your course, wishing you the best!

...

No-spend September was a success!

Spending since I’ve started tracking it:

July: $322.32+ (I started tracking mid-month, so only have a partial accounting; this was the month of the big meet the parents wedding road trip, very spendy)
August: $9
September $0

Congrats on meeting your goal! I hope you take a few minutes to bask in the glory!