Dianne and Vintage GS, those are great non-spending experiences!

This week i paid my water, internet, sewer and mortgage bills. my electric is covered right now from an assistance charity, so that is nice, and I am learning to decrease my electrical wattage each day so the assistance will stretch out for as long as possible.

I have not bought anything else lately. I do need to pick up cat food, but that is really it.

Yesterday I bought cat food (without even a coupon or sale, boo), some bachelor buttons seeds (edible flowers), a start of garlic chives (yum), a self reliance magazine, some hair color and coloring shampoo, some mexican beer (on sale) and five one dollar bottles of seltzer water (i have fresh lemons from the food pantry to flavor them with). I was able to use food stamps on the water.

Everything but the cat food and the chives was from CVS, where I had a 25% off coupon, plus ten dollars in Extra Care Bucks and from using the Green Bag Tag. So at CVS, i really just paid for the beer out of pocket, and everything else ended up free.

Today I will pick up my meds from CVS and will again use my Green Bag Tag. That gives me a free buck every four times I use it. What a nice system. And my meds are free for me through my health care program. It all works out nicely.

Yesterday I used up the remainder of this month's food stamps on some fresh food, and also picked up some bread and produce from the Cornville food pantry. So no expenses there.

I did spend six dollars on a crank battery charger for phones and other electronic devices. I am really into solar and crank electrical models, and thought six dollars was a great price for something like this. I do have a solar charger for my phone, but a crank unit will work even at night or on dark days. Plus i get to write about it from a frugal POV - it takes no electrical utilities to use.

I got the charger from a preparedness store. I love going into that shop.

So it was a six dollar day.

I am finding it very illuminating to see what exactly my expenses are!

Yesterday I went to Amazon and picked up another power switch - this one is the simple two prong kind - as the price had dropped on it and i needed one for my laptop.

I also picked up a set of sweat wrist bands to help me stay cool this summer. Sounds paradoxical, but i will be using them to wipe my brow when i go hiking. Those were also very cheap.

Lastly i also grabbed a set of USB heating fingerless gloves to use when I am on the computer in the winter. Normally I would have waited until winter to pick this up, but this was another sale price I did not want to miss. It might even come in handy for camping this summer, so I am not complaining. They even have little depictions of Pooh Bear on them. heh.

So i spent $13 for the three things. None of these were actual needs, but the first and last item were bought with the idea of saving watts in my house and lowering my electrical bills.

Today I spent...nothing! I got a free dinner at a free workshop about better living. I actually am getting paid $10 per class with this 12-class workshop (plus free dinners). YAY!

I did have to drive out there but hopefully will be able to find a free ride out through the guidance clinic going forward.

I also found a new used bookstore, and there are certainly books I want - but I am going to compile an assortment of my own books to trade in, too keep the price as low as possible.

Mainly just the bills.....yuck! LOL.....I did get some needed perishables as well....bread and milk.

Bills and food! The boring expenses. Good on you for not buying anything else, Debbie.

Mostly, people's biggest expenses are housing, utilities and food, in that order. All of those things can be adjusted and trimmed, unless you are locked into a mortgage or have to stay in a particular apartment, for whatever reason.

I have the lowest possible mortgage I was able to find and I both have food stamps and use food pantries for my food, as well as doing the super-coupon thing. So for me, food is a really minimal expense.

Utilities is the thing I have the most control over and is the most interesting thing to save for me right now.

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I should start to gather up books for trade, so I can spend less on the used bookstore on thursday.

I don't expect I will have other expenses this week, except maybe i will top off my gas tank before the prices rise again.

I was SOOOO good today! I bought nothing! Though I took my kids to buy gum and nail polish - they spent their own money

Ooops... I forgot - I bought decaf-coffee, but that was at 6:30am LOL. That feels like yesterday

Good for you, Deanna! that is a really small expense - the decaf - you did great!

And i like how the kids spent their own money on their treats. That's a perfect way to handle non-necessities and children, IMO.

It's so good to see you in the forums.