The no spend conclusion

Whatever happened to the no-spend year challenge we planned for 2010? Were you wondering if I was ever going to return to it? Like much of our life since moving here, everything takes it's good sweet time. Things need time - plants, seasons and grey matter for that matter, to filter all the nutrients of life into something useful.

My last entry on this subject, was back in November 2010 but in all honesty, the no spend year probably ended 3 months into the challenge.

I wouldn't consider the challenge a failure, simply because we didn't meet the allotted time or the agreed limitations we placed upon ourselves however. Because over the 12 month period we DID avoid spending on things we would otherwise take for granted. No more automatic trips for pizza when we didn't feel like cooking. No more weekly DVD rentals on cheap Tuesdays. It didn't happen straight away, but we ever so gradually became accustomed to making ourselves cook when we didn't feel like it. After a few costly late fees too, we decided to borrow DVDs from the library instead.

We got the end result we desired, which was to comprehend our spending habits, but more importantly, the behaviours we were thrusting upon our budget to meet. Which brings me to the really juicy bit of the challenge that's worth sharing too. Dave and I were quite naive at the beginning - as you would be with something new - but by conclusions end, we wised up to a very important fact...

If you're talking about financial issues, you're really talking about marital issues.

Chris & Dave, plus a bun in the oven!

If it wasn't for this challenge, Dave and I, may never have faced our individual relationship to money. Dave grew up middle-class suburban with a nuclear family. I grew up borderline poverty with a single parent. Therefore we had totally different ideas of what constituted financial security.

When life changed our circumstances (with or without a no-spend year challenge) we both wanted to alter the rules in favour of our individual vision of security. For example; when money slowly leaked from the bank account I wanted to cut spending more, to make it back up again. Dentist appointments are a pretty big leak, amongst other things. On the other hand, Dave wanted to keep spending on the things that made him feel like a successful working husband and father. He wanted to enjoy the fruits of his labour.

Our kitchen, where many a discussion has taken place

Both of our approaches, weren't necessarily wrong, but we both couldn't appreciate each other's individual relationship to financial security. He was trying to say, let the family enjoy itself and I was trying to say, we will when we get out of debt. The stubborn force meets the immovable object, LOL.

What did we learn from all of this? Money has a way of dictating how people relate to each other. It also has a way of dictating how we relate to personal ability. Dave and I could have been ATM machines, the way we seemed to constantly engage via financial transactions: insert logic, expel cash. We didn't just do it to each other though, we did it within ourselves. How could we truly relate to our logic when it's all based around financial transactions?

The no spend year that was, then wasn't, then was again (only in a different format) has been a very enlightening one for this family at Gully Grove. It delves beyond mere financial considerations, and brings it back to the very basics of human nature - relationships. We are always free to have those, but how many of us choose to invest as eagerly as we do our weekly shopping sprees?

You can never have too many baskets though!

An interesting development which has tested this new found understanding, came through the Queensland floods earlier this year. There's a myriad of experiences I could describe during that time, but I'll single it down to the pure financial aspect. We lost a lot of our savings, recuperating from that experience. About $4,000 worth. A pittance compared to some people's losses, but for us it meant we couldn't get the wood heater this winter. Which means we're going to pay for another large electricity bill, now that electricity suppliers are increasing costs for power, yet again.

It also meant we didn't have the money to fix my car when it broke down (still waiting for the shop) and we now have our fingers-crossed, Dave's car doesn't succumb to the lovely new sounds it's developing. This isn't a big pity party for us though. We figured this is just another set of life circumstances which asks, what are you made of guys?

Obviously it's not money, LOL, but we didn't lose ourselves along with the savings account either. And that's really the trick question. How much ability do you have, when you take the emphasis off financial security? Because that seems to be the trend in our current economy. Money is leaking everywhere and people are finding themselves more vulnerable to the economy of transactions. When the ATM doesn't appease you with the cash carrot any more, where do you go from there?

The answer is back to ourselves, back to the things which make us human and unique amongst all other animals. We crave relationships to the things (and people) which are important to us. We have all appeared to have forgotten that along the way to pursuing financial security.

Bringing this back to our no-spend year however, what did Dave and I ultimately change in our behaviours towards spending? Well, Dave had to understand what happens to the money he earns. I actually took responsibility for managing our finances, because hey, I'm borderline poverty chick and can pay bills out of an old shoe, leftover roast and a one-cent coin that cannot be traded any more. This wonderful ability of mine appeases our debtors, but wasn't helping Dave register what all his hard efforts at work, actually achieves. There were limitations I lived with every week balancing the books, but he never understood it existed as a threat to our financial security.

Dave has since gotten in touch with his personal ability to understand money on a whole new level. It's not just something which represents personal freedom, it's also a responsibility that must be understood, to know what you can do with it. He's making real efforts to engage in that process first, before the enjoyment of money comes into it.

What did I have to understand more of, considering I'm probably one of the most responsible people with money I know - apart from my mother, LOL? Well, this is what I love about relationships. This is why I'm glad I married an immovable object, which refused to move out of the way of my stubborn force. He actually had a point and he stuck to his guns. My issue was with enjoying money and he showed me that.

You see, borderline poverty chick knew what it was like to go without shoes, food and merchandised toys growing up. I had lived something I wouldn't want my own daughter to experience (except for the merchandised toys part) and that has consequently made me super vigilant to every cent which crosses my palm. To the point, in fact, that I don't enjoy money.

I've since gotten in touch with my personal ability to let money go, without it being a heinous crime to my personal values. I really needed this step to understand my relationship to spending, and more importantly, to experience financial security in a different light. I can now appreciate that one person's version of "wasted" money, can be another person's version of a gift. Think Judas and Jesus, when it came to having his head anointed with oil. Judas rebuked the woman who spent the money on oil, instead of feeding the poor - yet Jesus said the oil had been saved for her to anoint his head.

Did you catch that part...saved? Yep, you can save money for all sorts of reasons too - like paying off debtors and/or giving gifts. The intent is always at the feet of the person who spends the money. From the outside, with our own version of financial security, we won't always see someone else's intent. Which is why I'm glad our little family at Gully Grove, has now come full circle.

We're better equipped to navigate what money actually means to our family - it's a cash carrot, not a relationship banquet we should be dining from every day. A very subtle difference, but nonetheless a very important one.

I think many people of our generation probably get snagged on the same confusion around what money is meant to represent. What can it actually achieve? They have been coaxed into believing money enables people, when really, human labour is what does anything. As lovely as that sentiment is, it's not going to pay your debtors (if you're in debt) money still does that job; but we should still be in control of our ideals and what we value first. Money should never be in control of ethical priorities. The person comes first, the money, last.

Do we really have a choice though? Yes we do, but it's never an easy one to stick to when life suddenly gets harder. Sharing that responsibility with someone else is harder still. Then again, you could stand to learn something really wonderful and unique about them that you didn't know before.

Ask yourselves: if my financial security was taken away tomorrow, what would I do then?

Digital drama

So I went looking for a replacement digital camera when our old one died. I spent several hours doing research on the internet to narrow down the type of camera I'd be interested in. The expedition paid off in the end, as I found the type of camera I wanted and several places I could buy one from. Easy right!

Then the drama of, "are you sure this is the one", set in?

There are two lines of thinking I carry whenever it comes to making decisions. There's what I want and then there's reality. Much of my initial research is done gathering information on what I want. When it comes to crunch time however, I find what I want, doesn't always align with reality.

I wanted a digital camera with better zoom capabilities...it's really that simple.

Better zoom means better close ups. Only the camera with better zoom capabilities I was looking at, wasn't very stream line. It was bulky and larger than the types of digital cameras I'm used to. This was not a fancy professional camera, it was very basic but it did have the capacity for 10 zoom.

My old digital camera was 3 zoom, which I'm not sure they make any more. It was the even, rectangular shape however, that made it easy to hold.

Old Canon Power Shot A410
~ deceased 2010 ~

The reality of putting the new camera in my pocket or taking it in the car however, meant more opportunities for accidents. It was an irregular shape with different places to click buttons. Given I wouldn't be the only one using the camera, I had to take other members of the family into consideration. I could just see our daughter's nearly eight-year old fingers, struggling to hold the camera and hit the shutter button at the same time.

A hundred dollars more expensive for the camera I wanted, and yet (in reality) it was probably twice as likely to get dropped. It was pretty simple to stick to the basic digital camera after that.

At the moment, I'm looking at a 4 zoom camera (4 optical, 4 digital - does that make it 8?) with all the standard features, basic digital cameras have. It's one of the cheapest ones I could find with a brand I trust. For me it's Canon. I don't have experience with other brands, but the Canon cameras I've used in the past have all been reliable. Especially when it comes to family on-the-go treatment.

New Cannon Power Shot A3100 IS
~ commissioned 2010 ~

By the way, I know there are better Canon cameras available, that are streamline and with exceptional zoom capacities too - but again, on a family budget with family treatment of a family camera; the reality is the extra money would again, be for naught. What we ended up with, was a pretty acceptable compromise. It's a budget consciencious camera with a reliable brand, which has a little better capacity for zoom. A little better capacity for zoom is still acceptable. I'm more than happy with that.

So you've seen a photo of our old camera and our new one, hopefully taken for the last time by my mobile phone. But I've yet to demonstrate what quality of pictures can actually be taken with the new camera. A suitable subject is probably one of the main reasons we have a digital camera - capturing what we do as a family.

Now witness the awesome power of a 4 zoom digital camera!

Zoikes!

It's Mango Man Dave, demonstrating his awe at such a powerful zoom. Look at the exceptional detail it captures, as his eyes pop out of his head. All in focus too! Now do I know how to shop for a bargain or what?

Mango Man Dave is pleased, and so was our daughter...once she got the Mango's back!

By the way, if you're wondering what happened to our no spend year, I've got some thoughts to share on that next year. I wanted to talk about our experience, on the anniversary of our decision to start our no spend year. Even though it didn't all go to plan, we learned some interesting (and surprising) revelations along the way.

Making sacrifices

I knew with our no spend year, there would be sacrifices to make. It's not until you're actually experiencing the highs and lows of not spending however, that you can start to make concrete judgments about what your *real* expenses are.

There have been many layers to this no spend challenge. Simply choosing not to spend money on luxuries is an obvious first layer. The second layer has been about rebuilding our relationships with each other, now that we no longer have the distraction of spending. The third layer, has been about redefining our expenses.

Three months into our no-spend year, I'm starting to reconsider some expenses.

A pumpkin flower after the rain

We all need electricity and water - that's a given. We pretty much need a telephone too - in case of emergencies. But the internet has been a luxury we've pandered to for quite a while. When I first started our blog, we were on "dial-up", the very inferior cousin to high speed broadband. It wasn't long until I realised with all my photos, that I could probably do with broadband.

Everyone was talking about broadband at the time - how much easier and faster it was to use. I still held off from getting the more expensive broadband connection however, until our daughter started school. I wanted to be contactable during the day (in case there were emergencies) and we were in a "black-spot" for mobile coverage in the house - so I had another, more important reason to get broadband then.

So we did, and for over two years, it's been great. I can jump on the computer without having to interfere with our phone connection.

Fast forward to now however, where I'm doing home education at home - and where I shouldn't be on the internet for most part of the day anyway. With March being a big bills month for us, I had to look at our internet issue again. I mean, how much do I value speed on the internet, to paying off our debts?

We have the money for broadband, but do we really have to spend $30 extra for internet speed per month? I've compared dial-up to broadband, and we could stand to save $300 per year, if we used the inferior cousin. I know it's slower. I know it can make you want to pull your hair out sometimes. I know it's inconvenient when you receive incoming calls that can't get through.

I know all these things, but the $300 savings is staring me in the face, without a genuine reason to keep the broadband anymore. It's time for a sacrifice. It's time to make a concrete decision about what's more important in life - internet speed or paying off our mortgage?

No-one can make this decision but us. It's our unique circumstances that brought the issue of broadband into question again. I've actually been trying to stay away from technology in favour of spending time with our family anyway. It really seemed like a hollow pursuit (technology) when you can't spend money on DVD rentals, or buying new gadgets for the garden and kitchen.

Don't get me wrong - technology is a wonderful time saver in many pursuits. But with our no spend year, the focus has changed from what has always gotten us by, to what do we really need to get by.

Dave and I have decided we're going to ditch the broadband, in favour of cheaper dial-up. We'll have to get smarter at when and how we use the internet. Early mornings is where we'll start, so the phone line will be open to receive calls during the day. I'll schedule my internet time, like I would cleaning or homeschooling - making it a part of my day, not all of my day.

I've noticed with broadband, I'll have it on all day to receive any emails. Espeically when it comes to publishing your lovely comments to my blog. I don't like to keep people waiting if I can help it. But in a very subtle way, the focus of internet usage has seeped into my life as if it was running it. While I like the speed and convenience of broadband, it has opened my conscience to suggestion, that maybe I need to justify the cost - maybe I need to use it all the time. Maybe it's more important than the rest of my life?

I can still have a blog, I can still use the internet - but it has to be shaped to our family's needs.

On the plus side, I'll be taking moderation off your comments so you no longer have to wait for me to publish them. I'll check all comments during my scheduled internet time, and delete those purely promoting spam. I've wanted to protect you lot from spammers, but I guess it's part of the internet world. I'll deal with them as I come to them, rather than putting your valuable thoughts on hold to deal with them.

We're all mature adults who navigate the world wide web daily...we know what a spam comment looks like. Please avoid them if they pop up from time to time. :)

A pumpkin harvest - a store of energy - human labour and food

On the whole, our no-spend year challenge is doing well. We're focusing on the lessons rather than purely the money. It's great to have savings, but I find it's our old natures, which seriously threaten any gains. It requires a new nature, or the savings don't stick and the debt inevitably blows out somewhere else.

It's quite a juggling act, trying to figure out what should be spent one week to the next. This has threatened to do my head in many times. I've wanted to be discouraged - I mean, what's it all for, if I can't manage to save money this month? The new nature comes in when I realise it's not just about saving money. It's about realising what's better about me as a human being. What did I evaluate? What did I carry? What did I drop? When did I take time to be an organic human being with other important organics - human, plant or animal?

Money and technology are lovely additions to life, but for our family today, they have been an unconscious distraction from bigger responsibilities too. Growing our minds, for example. Growing our compassion and generosity bank too. Focusing just on money, can make me short tempered and unreasonable - it's ugly, LOL.

But you know what, as a person, I can grow. Just like my daughter and garden too. Money is not a reflection of my growth, no matter what I choose to spend on or not - from this month or the next.

So I'm actually wondering at this point, what I'm sacrificing? Internet speed? Technology? Options? As long as I don't sacrifice my ability to grow, or others, then what have I lost of value?

Your greatest investment in life is life...keep investing, no matter what. :)

Being considerate

The rain has me inside again - it's been like this for a few days now. I'm not complaining, as I've recently planted some seedlings in the garden which are absolutely loving these conditions.

But I've done a lot of cleaning and I will probably start a new dishcloth today, so I'm left with enough time, to write about something that's been on my mind lately. Consideration. How much consideration do you give any situation you find yourself in?

Two more dishcloths to add to the collection

Funnily enough, I was going to make this post about my working class background (ie: feeling guilty for owning anything indulgent) but it didn't feel quite right somehow. For as much as my attitude towards possessions came through my working class/edge of poverty background, what has been on my mind lately was more than that. It was about weighing up any decision I make, against a scale of understanding.

Now I could have said, moral code, or weighing my decisions against an ethical blueprint. But even that seemed a little dodgy to me. I mean, how do I know it's moral or ethical? Is it because I found the right amount of justification, or a lot of people seem to agree with me? The simple truth is, I can only make decisions, against a scale of understanding I've arrived at to date.

If you're wondering where this is coming from, it all started when we broke our pledge to the no-spend year, by purchasing plants at the nursery recently. There was nothing really sinister about that - we did have the money and it was a wise investment - so why was I feeling so guilty about it?

This led me to consider my working class/edge of poverty background. I say, "edge of poverty", because I was raised by a single parent who worked for a minimum wage, and the government pension for sole parents (back then) wasn't enough to live on. Needless to say, I learned a lot about frugal living from my mum. I also learned a love of gardening too. It didn't matter where we lived, we were always looking for a place to plant something.

So here in lies my dilemma...a love of gardening drew me to purchase the plants recently, but we are attempting to live more frugally for a greater good too. Both ideologies (enjoyment and sacrifice) seemed to clash in one decision. Result...guilt!

Since then, my mind has been occupied with a desperate attempt to locate a "repair patch". Like when your antivirus program realises it's vulnerable to attack, and the kind programmers develop a repair patch to fix it. For without the repair patch, the whole system becomes defunct. And when I mean defunct, we can hardly throw a whole human being into the trash when they start reading "error" messages in their Central Processing Unit, can we?

I hope it doesn't come to that, because I happen to think I'm a very useful model of human and could even become a vintage collectible one day. But I digress, I first needed to address this error in my programming. How do I do that?

Well it leads me to the very title of this entry - being considerate. An act of consideration would allow me to accept, it wasn't weakness on my part for purchasing the plants. It may have been spontaneous and derived from desire - but these are not bad things of themselves. They only become bad when they start overruling every other part of your thinking. I would know it is bad for example, if I wasn't able to pay my bills or meet my responsibilities because of those desires.

What dirty laundry? I'm clean, I tell you!

Still, financial ability, has always hinged on the unpredictable nature of the future too. For example, what if a series of events took all our money away from us - events no-one could have predicted? Does that mean we spend the entire 20 years it takes to pay back the mortgage, never spending for pleasure?

We need to operate under a certain amount of ignorance, dare I say, over-confidence, that the future will be manageable. Even if it's not perfect, it can be managed nonetheless. It doesn't mean only living for desire, or only living to an exact moral code either. It means considering that both ideologies will clash at times, so neither one should rule indefinitely.

For without consideration, what is morality and justice anyway?

Maybe as a society, we have to work harder on encouraging consideration towards others too. Our social dialogue and attraction to opinions about certain kinds of people, doesn't do us any favours sometimes. Perhaps it's not enough to teach people they're wrong and everything they do is wrong. Humans can be great self-regulators, if they're taught how to be accepting of themselves and others. By "great", I guess I mean, moderate, too.

Constantly going from one extreme to another, doesn't allow time for consideration...and that's where we really get our understanding from. Through consideration. Believe me though, it's easier to read about than implement. No one is perfect!

That means, you and me. But it's still worth considering all the same....

I've been meaning to...

As I'm writing this entry, I'm wondering if I'll even have time to finish it. So much to do and so many times I've jumped on the computer to write a post, then something always whisks me away. It's not a terrible thing for this to happen, I suppose, as it's just my life and it takes priority. Well, it's not just my life either. It's also the life of our six-year old daughter, a hard working husband and a plethora of chooks.

Speaking of which, I have a few photos of my barnevelders. Actually, I think they're a barnevelder crossed with a welsummer, although they were sold to me as a pure breed at the time. This was the earlier picture I took last year, when they were only a few weeks old. Those two in the picture, turned out to be hens - one was red and one more ginger-blonde.

They are quite docile. Adorable in fact. You can pick them up as they scratch for food near your feet. On the other hand, they can be quite flighty when they want to be too! Their eggs are a lovely dark brown colour, but one girl lays a really splotchy coloured egg. I don't have a decent picture of the eggs yet, but this is the ginger-blonde girl, we named Penny...all grown up!

Her sister we named Jenny. So they are Penny and Jenny - shouldn't be too hard to remember I hope. Their two brothers had to get the chop, unfortunately, as they were terribly aggressive and we couldn't have that. Not this boy though, remember him...

We decided to name him "Alfred" after all this time. He just seemed to carry himself like a dignified Alfred, strutting around the yard - head held high, like most Araucanas do. Well, I've gone and crossed him with our two barney girls, who share Hilltop coop with him and two other araucana hens.

The eggs are due out of the incubator in a day or so. I know - terrible aren't I; for not writing something about it sooner? What can I say...I've been having fun learning how to Homeschool and not spend money, LOL. The only reason I have time now is due to the fact our daughter is having a few days sleep-over at her Nan's.

We missed her terribly yesterday. So much so, Dave and I had a sudden urge for chocolate and fatty food all day. Okay, so we were working hard in the garden too, but most of the day we both wanted something deep fried and covered in chocolate. It took me until the late afternoon to realise, we were missing our girl. The food was our compensation for the void I think.

Upon speaking to her on the phone later that night, she too confessed tears that day, all because she missed us too. Awwwh...

How are we going to be when she leaves home for good? I'm surprised how much we miss her now. I'm longing for those hundred questions and hugs and kisses we have every morning. I want a big squishy hug right now. And this folks, is why most of my days are spent wondering if I have the time to blog. Life with my family under wing, is amazing. My daughter is amazing for all the things she gets me to do. My husband is amazing for not complaining about all the crazy stuff we do too, LOL.

How do I convey that all in a post? Believe me, I try to, but then something always calls me away. Like the recyclables I should be taking to the transfer station right now. I've put it off for three weeks already, LOL. I promised myself I would do that today. Hang on a minute...

...back again! Did you miss me? Of course not, LOL, what just took me 30 minutes to drop off three bags of recyclables at the transfer station, and two bags of clothes at the thrift shop bin, can appear mere seconds in cyber space. But I just had to run out and do that - it was bugging me. I wasn't going to miss another week.

Perhaps due to the fact, in part, that we've been increasingly busy in the garden. More ramp digging, feeding and mulching the fruit trees, seed collecting and something recently which broke our no spend year. Ooops! I guess we were compensating for our daughter's absence and spent just over a hundred dollars at the nursery. If we were going to break our no spend challenge though, then I'm glad it was on plants. When you buy a fruit tree, you're buying it's lifetime of food production for your family. Or when you buy flowering trees and shrubs, you're also buying it's lifetime of food production for the eco-system it will be planted in.

Needles to say, AGAIN, I reckon if you're going to break a no-spend challenge on anything, then plants have to be an incredibly sensible indulgence. Of course, we didn't just go willy-nilly at the nursery with an open wallet. We made sure every purchase had a purpose in the garden.

For starters, we needed another pollinator avocado to help fruit production with the first avocado we planted earlier. It was beneficial to plant them in the same season together, even if it was a few months apart. That way, they should come into production around the same time. We've got at least a 3 year wait for first fruits on avocado (yum...avocado) so that's why I didn't want to lag a year behind with the pollinator.

Secondly though, we bought a blood orange citrus tree. Not exactly an essential citrus to have in the garden (in a no spend year) but I haven't seen them stocked in nurseries much, so we took the plunge and grabbed it. We also purchased 10 assorted natives for a noise barrier between us and the neighbours dogs.

Every time we hear them howling, it reminds us of last Christmas when the neighbours went away. They left their dogs on the property (friends came to feed and check on them) but on Christmas eve they wouldn't stop howling. It was very frustrating.

As much as it irritates me, I don't want to be one of those constantly, "shaking my fingers at the neighbours", type neighbours. On the whole, they're not bad dogs and the neighbours do what they can to control them. Besides, we always meant to plant a native garden on our side of the property boundary anyway. Feeling indulgent, we spent our money on some bird feeding and sanity saving plants, LOL.

One last picture before I dash off and turn into a pumpkin! These are the luffa's doing exceptionally well on their trellis. It's a pity it's taken them so long to get to this point, as the heat of summer is almost gone.

For this reason, we're planning on some permanent grape vines next season instead. They'll take a few years of training before we get the kind of coverage we want, but I love the thought of a green wall here, so it will be worth the time invested.

Anyway, that's just a quick run-down of our happenings lately. I cannot promise how regularly I'll be posting in future, as the living part of life is something I don't want to miss. I figured if it was getting increasingly difficult to post my thoughts, then maybe I needed to accept that. If anything my daughter's absence has taught me lately, is how important our family is right now. We're going through a busy period with lots of changes - and I cannot predict when that will end. Or at least, when I have enough time to blog.

So don't consider this goodbye, just a few interludes of wonderful distraction. I promise to post when I can...

The crunch year of 2010

Christmas presents from my family - which I adore

It's coming up to Australia Day soon, which means two things! It's nearly the end of January already - crikey, where has it gone - and school starts back, the day afterwards.

For us this year however, we won't be returning to school as we know it. Although I must confess to being extremely undecided in the last few weeks. I've been tossing and turning over our decision to home school - in fact, it wasn't too late to enroll in a public school. To this end, I started researching other schools in our district and then looked at the on-line bookstore, which has many school lists for the various schools. I normally purchased school books for her previous school, through this on-line store.

I did something different however, I decided to look at what other schools were putting down as relevant text books and materials for grade 2. Some had calculators - others didn't. Some had maths, spelling and writing texts - others didn't. Some had a combination between the two ends of the spectrum. It then dawned on me, if every school does it differently - what was I so afraid of?

To start with, I'm going to buy some of the recommended texts for maths, spelling and writing - then gradually work our way through it. Dave will be in charge of excursions - which he's enthusiastically accepted! I'll let him know the themes of what we'll be studying, and he can organise and implement excursions around those themes.

Many of the outings, we'll go as a family, but sometimes if I feel like a break, the two of them can attend on their own. Excursions will be planned on Dave's rostered days off from work.

But also this year, is our "no spend" year. Wondering how that's been going? Well, there has been many surprises I wasn't expecting. So far, we've been really strict on not spending. We've decided to ditch the pocket-money idea, as we felt this was kind of cheating. And the harsh reality of NOT SPENDING is rearing itself in many interesting and unexpected ways.

For example, I always thought I didn't spend money. I was the one who could go weeks without spending one cent on myself. My purse could be empty and I'd only take what money I needed to pay for essentials. So I figured not spending was going to be easy for me, right?

WRONG!

I was spending money - only in ways I didn't truly appreciate at first. Every chicken coop project, every trellis, every fruit tree - stuff we would buy to maintain the property - that's where my consumeristic habits were hiding!! I've only just realised it, after three weeks into our no spend year.

Laugh if you will, nod in agreement if you recognised it before me - but it's really serious how physical a consumeristic desire can show itself. I was getting really anxious, pacing around the house for something to do - looking at everything which wasn't done yet, and my "to-do" list was growing longer with each passing day. I WAS starting to feel unhappy. I WAS feeling like I hadn't achieved anything.

More unfortunately (or fortunately) our regular ABC channels were losing reception lately. So we had to defer to commercial channels, to watch some children's shows. After a few days, I started to realise what those little advertisements were doing. They were feeding my sense of anxiousness even further. I thought I was fairly clever when it came to advertising campaigns. They wouldn't fool me. I'm too smart for them!

But the point is, you don't have to believe in what they're advertising. You just have to doubt what it is you're doing, long enough, so you'll go out and buy something to appease it. Of course, no spending means exactly that. I had a very valuable lesson in how much of a consumer I still was. Or more to the point, how quickly I could doubt myself and my abilities.

On the expenses front, we've had a few unexpected bills arrive. A dentist for Dave's teeth, for example. We pay cash, as we don't have health cover. It's not just a one-off bill though. Dave's in for several trips to the dentist this year. In his mid 30's, some of his original fillings received as a youngster, are starting to decay. They need replacing.

We anticipate at least $2,000 minimum at the dentist, this year. And that's just for Dave! I'm sure I'm due for a visit soon. I've only got two fillings, but I'm sure there's room for more. I just don't visit the dentist enough, for them to be found. No pain in my teeth is a good sign, and I brush daily. Still, I can see both of us going through at least $4,000 at the dentist. Which should do us for another 20 years, before our next service, LOL.

So welcome to the crunch year of 2010, folks. It's now getting very serious.

Getting into the mind-set

We've already been experimenting with our "no-spend" challenge planned for next year. We didn't put any stringent rules to it, but we decided to see how winding down our spending activities early, would go.

So last Sunday we decided to visit our local markets in Plainlands; as Dave had the day off from work and we'd always been "meaning" to go there. We only took $30 as a cap on spending, with no intention to buy anything. Most of the time however was spent talking to stall holders. It was a great way of socialising and it distracted us from spending money. In fact, if we had only intended to go with spending money in mind, we may not have taken the cues to chat to the stall holders at all. We met some pretty interesting people too - a guy who bred miniature horses and a couple who grew cactus.

Why is it that making a financial transaction seems to take up so much of our time and social energy, when simply talking is so much cheaper and easier?

By the way, we did end up spending small amounts of money getting our daughter a ride on a miniature pony, and I also bought a succulent known as "hens & chickens", or "house leeks", as they're meant to be edible and water wise. We wanted to support these particular locals because they supported us by coming out for the day, and giving us something to do as a family.

On the way home from the markets however, we decided to visit the annual Celtic festival being held in Helidon. We saw a young lass dancing over some swords, heard some bag-pipes and our daughter even tried her hand at archery, for which she received a little certificate of participation.

Free archery at the annual Celtic festival, Helidon, Qld

What did it cost us at the festival - zilch! It didn't even cost us petrol money, because it was on the journey back home from the markets anyway.

More remarkably, was discovering we hadn't switched on the TV or computer for the whole day either. It was Dave who first mentioned it, as we sat down to a late lunch at home. Our daughter had this big smile on her face because even she hadn't missed the TV. Later that afternoon, Dave and she played a board game, while I baked some muffins, chocolate cookies and a rice pudding for dessert.

I don't think the TV went on until the next morning, for ABC children's programs.

What happened...???

Some where along the way to limiting what we intended to spend that day, came a family with so much to give one another. None of us expected to realise that. The mind boggles at how we managed to miss this for so long.

So the challenge is looking more encouraging than limiting, from where we sit now. But I will say we've had a few dramas with money too. Mostly to do with the actual process of spending it. I'll expand on that in future posts, but needless to say, spending money can sometimes bring great stress with it too.

I'm looking forward to dropping that part of our lives, more and more.

The challenge conditions

We have outlined the conditions we're setting on our no spend year - it's just an outline at this stage, but it's a good place to start as any.

Firstly, the $5 for each member of the family. This is our own personal spending money, we can do what we want with it. Doesn't that contradict the no spend concept though? Technically, yes, but we also consider it a pressure valve for the challenge. If one of us suddenly weakens, we have that limited means to money. Limited, being the target reason we're getting the $5. It's there but it's limited.

When we do the maths $5 doesn't sound like much on it's own, but each member of the family will receive $240 for the year. A total of $720 for the period of the challenge. This money is for our own uses, but we can also pool that money for gifts. For example, on Mother's Day, Dave and our daughter have the option to buy something for me individually - or they can pool their money and give a joint gift. They may not want to buy me anything at all, choosing instead to make something - saving money.

If it comes to giving someone else a gift, we can pool our money together too. The objective isn't about "how much" can I have, but rather how much can I do on a limited amount of funds. By including our daughter, we're hoping to help her understand how to manage money better too.

The other condition we're contemplating is a set amount of money for projects. By projects, I don't mean anything our hearts desire. Pretty much, all projects will come to a halt for 12 months. However, one of the conundrums which almost talked me out of doing this challenge in the first place, was the need to maintain our property. There are a few projects/items which would not be sensible in the long run, to hold up for the year of the challenge.

What we were considering were:

1. A freezer: to store bulk foods cooked in advance, and to be able to buy in bulk when there are specials. As we don't have the ability to grow food at this stage, we will still need to buy it in. We will have a set budget for food which won't alter. Having a freezer expands our options of doing more with our food budget.

2. Wood heater: it will be a free source of heat, utilising an on-site wood supply. It will reduce our winter electricity bills, as well as a continued supply of heat during power outages. The chopping, stacking and collecting of wood becomes a source of activity for the family during winter and the months leading up to it. The heat generated will also allow us to do a range of inside activities (in the living areas) with a degree of comfort. Most importantly though, it also helps reduce fuel around the property during the low bushfire risk period - winter.

The above two outlays, I would really like to do in the next 12 months. I will describe a few more soon, but I would consider them "optional" outlays. One and two, described above, would really assist us in our no spend year. I can't imagine how difficult it would be during winter, to not want to crank up the electric heaters if there is money saved in the bank. We would have achieved so much half way into the challenge, only to be thwarted by having to freeze our butts off inside.

3. Fencing: if we could include this one, all the better, as it's possible our dog will be returning to us next year, when a relative sells their property where she's been living. But the fencing is also required to protect livestock (and plants) from other animals. We have received quite a few visits from our neighbour's dogs - on both sides; and this is a concern for us for our daughter's safety. While they seem like nice dogs, that all changes when a child may not have an adult standing around for protection. I have also caught one of the neighbours' dogs, charging our Hilltop coop, to see the chickens fly around in a tizzy.

4. Carport: to protect the cars from the elements, thereby reducing maintenance bills and generally improving the life of the vehicles. At present we have no protection for the cars, not even the shade of a tree. Of course, I could only see this outlay happening if we could find a second-hand carport or one given to us.

5. Curtains: to help improve the insulation of the home. Our two sliding glass doors (dining room & laundry) currently have no curtains and is a terrible heat escape during winter.

We have not decided if we will proceed with these outlays, but the option for a set amount of money put aside for necessary improvements, is something we feel is important. I was thinking anywhere between $3,000 and $5,000 as the set budget for outlays. When I look at those large numbers, I feel like the challenge is not worth the effort - but I also wonder if I don't put a cap on possible outlays, then we may not last the distance of the challenge.

Giving up spending on unnecessary desires is one thing, but giving up spending where it will save money in the long run - that seems a little contradictory too. Improving the life of a vehicle, saves money in the long run. Providing a free heat source during winter also saves money in the long run. Fencing saves us from having to replace damaged plants and livestock.

With any money spent on outlays however, the aim would be on sourcing second-hand items in reasonable condition.

This is our general (first draft) outline of the conditions for our challenge. Any comments and suggestions welcome. For example, how would you number the 5 outlays according to importance? Could we do without the freezer perhaps? Maybe fencing should be the top priority? Perhaps we should do without the heater for another 12 months?

What do you think...?

New financial perspective

We've been mulling over money for quite a while now. First it involved getting our heads around the new house payments and everything to do with the property. Then we suffered a set-back when Dave lost his job suddenly. Now he's found new secure employment, we've reached that level of comfort again where we don't have to worry.

Still, we can't get money out of our heads - or at least, I can't. Something doesn't sit quite right with me. How much is enough to live on comfortably, without living to excess? The answer to that question came via my daughter. We've always taught her that she just can't have everything she wants. There is only a certain amount of money to go around. Yet, hidden in those words, was the denial that we were spending every spare cent we had on meeting our own desires.

We came to realise that Dave and I don't have any perspective on how much is enough. We don't have a parent in control of our freedom any more, so it's been left up to us. Well, now it's time to develop a new perspective.

We've devised a plan (a challenge) that will last a year for our family. It will be a no spending year. For 12 months we will not spend money on anything we desire. Of course, this is our first attempt at doing such a thing, so there needs to be a few concessions.

Dave & our daughter, mentally prepare for the challenge

I will go into the specifics later on, as we're still in the planning stages, but the general guidelines for concessions will be:

1. We will each receive $5 a week but that's all the access to money we'll get.

2. We need to spend on a few outlays before the challenge, to save money during the challenge.

Like I said, I'll go into the specifics later on, but the intention of the challenge is to limit our desires for an entire year. If something unexpected happened in the future, we would be forced to live like this anyway. Before that happens, we'd like to voluntarily discover how much is enough. It's only for 12 months.

We're hoping to start the challenge from the 1st of January, 2010.