Stacy Goes Storeless – A Summary

We did go through quite a bit of our freezer stash…..but we’re far from empty. That’s very pleasing, since the purpose of a deep freeze is to store extra food for upcoming months. It served its purpose. What did we miss? I can honestly say I did not miss shopping at the store. I thought I would, but I didn’t. I did however, miss shopping at Goodwill. Since I ripped my denim skirt, exposing all my front parts to Barry and Annie right before a coupon workshop, I realized that I like having Goodwill around for those times when I need a new denim skirt. We really liked having the time at home together and I got soooooo much organizing done around here. I threw away tons of crap. Crap. Let me tell ya, a girl can accumulate tons of crap without knowing it. But now it’s gone and I feel a deep sense of satisfaction. Rest assured, I’ll probably need that crap tomorrow.

After a month of no shopping, I went to the store to get our necessities for the week. This is what I picked up: milk, bananas, and reduced tomatoes. That’s it. I spent less than $10 and I giggled all the way to the car. And yes, I did run into one of you at the store. I knew I would when I went into the parking lot. “I hope no one sees me here….” But you did. Hi Shaye! Barry and I realized that we’re buying entirely too much stuff. We survived without it, and we didn’t miss it at all. Bye-bye, stuff! I feel like I’ve been delivered!

Barry and I both had lists. Here is what was on mine….I didn’t run out of salt, but I needed extra for a project. All of Barry’s list is stuff for a couple  home projects that I dreamed up while I was busy not shopping. I had a lot of time to read and think – and that usually equals stuff for Barry to do. “Honey, I’ve been thinking….” He always then says “How much is it gonna cost me?” I did have another list which consisted of a few books and some things for the house. But guess what? After both of us get the things on our list, we’re tightening the budget belt around here. “Stacy Goes Storeless” is going to become “Stacy Gets Stingy”. “Are you sure you really need that Kleenex? Just use your shirt sleeve.” One morning this month I woke up, looked at Barry and said “Ya know, I’m tired of this stupid house payment.” He said, “Me too.” I said “Let’s get rid of it.” He said “Okay.” And that’s what we’re going to do. That’s our goal now. We’re going to put every extra dime and nickel into this house and get it GONE. We had set a goal of two years, but now that’s too long. It’s going to be gone as soon as possible. And then you’ll be hearing a tape of me screaming in Nashville, “WE’RE DEBT FREE!!!!!”

Are you ready for this? Sit down. Looking at our income vs. what necessities we HAD to pay for this month (electricity, water, our minimum mortgage payment, phone, internet, etc.) we saved $1,325.87 of the money we brought in! I’m totally amazed. I had no idea we could do that well! J We put most of that extra toward the house payment. As I said, we’re really kicking tail. I know we can’t do that much every month because we are going shopping again, but this month has really spurred us on to get rid of the last of the debt we have – our house. I realize most people think living with a house payment is just normal – it’s not normal for us. It’s a chain around our neck. And we’re kicking that chain to the curb. See ya, bye.

I told you there were going to be big changes around here. Our house debt it going bye-bye and…….so is most of our convenience food. Seriously. I had NO idea we were eating so much of it! Sometimes three times a day! That’s just crazy. When I started paying attention, I was shocked – and sick to my stomach. What on earth have I been feeding Annie? Yes, I cook a lot and make a lot of our bread – but I was still plugging us full of Toaster Strudels and Pop Tarts just because I could get them cheap. I became VERY convicted. Children make you stop and think about things. Barry is in total agreement with me. Things are changing in the Myers house. Instead of making most of our bread, I’ve decided I’m going to make all of our bread. All of it. Loaves, rolls, buns, biscuits, cinnamon rolls, etc. I will be cooking more from scratch and taking you all on that trip with me. More whole grains, fresh foods. I’ll become a regular at the Farmer’s Market. Less white sugar, more brown sugar and honey.  I’ve been throwing around the idea of posting our weekly meal plan on here – is that something you guys would be interested in? I would also provide recipe links when available. I’m excited about this change in our eating habits….but I still have a good stash of stuff to get rid of here. I <3 butter.

We are going to begin to focus less on coupons and more on frugal living in general. Stores keep changing their policies and there is really nothing you can count on. We’re embracing a frugal lifestyle. We’re “living like no one else, so later we can live like no one else.”

We enjoyed this so much that we’ve challenged ourselves to do it again this year – probably in September. I will have to put a different spin on it to keep you guys interested. Maybe a different project each day? Hmmmm. I’ll do some thinking. Any suggestions?

I challenge you all to try this (or something similar) too! Think about how much money you could save! I’ve heard from a few of you already who are going to try it and I’m so excited! Let’s start a revolution and kick debt to the curb! DEBT IS NORMAL, BE WEIRD!!!!!!!!!!!!