My first day of the challenge! Friday last week, we had one day of amazing sunshine. There I was, truckin' on home listening to my music and snapchatting my accomplishment to friends after successfully catching the right bus home from an appointment (See me there, to the left? Looking all smug and content?) - which I would have normally driven to, and hey.. both bus trips somehow cost me 96c combined... so not a bad saving there! - By midnight I'm tripping over my cats to move my washing inside because the sky opened up and dumped a year's worth of rain on probably only my washing. (Most Adeladians would fondly recall being awoken at 2:06am this night by mysterious, ominous thunder! The mystery made headlines, social media exploded, we were so confused. It was thunder guys.. thunder).Aaaaaand for five days now the downpour continues. This has made my commitment to less driving more difficult, simply because the allure of being warm and dry in the car on the way to work is significantly more attractive than the alternative. The magical season of spring was supposed to arrive just in time for my challenge, but alas... Adelaide weather is dumb, and winter is still with us; overstaying it's welcome, dampening my clothes along with my spirits.
My first no-spend weekend was a pretty big success. On Friday I had some friends over for an impromtu BBQ. Usually this would mean a mad dash to the shop... $30 - $40 later I would have bought too many snacks & drinks, more food than needed for the BBQ and disposable everything to save on clean up. This is where your wonderful, supportive friends step in! The good old fashioned BYO = not as stingy as it sounds. With ingredients I already had, I whipped up a large cauliflower & macaroni cheese bake, and when friends asked what to bring, I suggested one thing each. And together we had a very reasonably sized dinner and enough snacks to last us into a 2.5 hour game of Cards Against Humanity. Stress-free, and I left the cleaning for the next day.Cutting out that mad dash to the shop saved a lot of money. And my goal of driving less would have also meant really planning the 15min walk, which helped to stop me and make me think - is this REALLY necessary?
Now Sunday was going to be a challenge.
I caught up with a friend who was visiting from Sydney whom I hadn't seen in months. What do we do when we catch up? Go out for a meal of course, and definitely a coffee.. or three. Coffee is of course my weakness.
We made the plan and I informed her of my challenge. Her partner, her sister & I all headed off for a 'coffee' (I'd made my peace with the fact I would be drinking water, while staring longingly at the coffee and trying hard to refrain from stealing a sip when she turned her head..), but despite my firm objection, she shouted me a coffee anyway! I could have kissed her. But my mouth was occupied. Savouring every magical moment spent with my coffee. I mean with her! Not the coffee....
They all bought breakfast and I refrained. I just cradled my sweet sweet mocha like the heavenly blessing it was.
The rest of the week... well, due to Winter's blantant subbornness I, of course, failed at walking. Instead I conceded to driving my car a little instead of walking. But still driving as little as possible, making the most of the trip by doing other things I need to do, and have still maintained my minimal spending when buying necessities.
However, I have not once caved to buying a coffee! Which I knew would be a tough habit to curb... but making do with some 'decent' instant coffee has been a good compromise 👍To sum up this first week... I'm doing alright. Not as well as I'd hoped, but still committed to this thing and giving it everything I can while adjusting to the sudden changes and boundaries I've set myself. Until next time! 👌
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