Last month, I wrote a post outlining how my family does a fiscal fast, aka no spend week. I received so many questions and comments from my friends and family that I thought a follow-up post was needed, so that readers could learn how a fiscal fast plays out day after day.
Highlights of the week:
- I forgot we had a birthday party to attend. Something like this can throw one off, as it has done to me in the past. Since I knew I would be writing this post, I held fast and got creative. I had a $10 gift card to Chick-fil-A in my wallet for emergency purposes — you know the emergency where you just NEED be around someone genuinely glad to see you and who also has really good manners? “It’s my pleasure” goes such a long way to soothing this Mama’s heart. I had the kids make a card, and printed out a large picture of the CFA cow, laminated it, and tied a cow print bandana around its neck (leftover from a cow appreciation day costume). I tucked the gift card into the bandana and had a cute and creative gift that the little five-year-old loved.
- My daughter started her first week of school. Someone hold me.
- Crying over dinner one night because everyone was tired, cranky, HANGRY, and I had zero clue what to cook and ordering out wasn’t an option. Thank the sweet Lord Jesus for Lucky Charms cereal and its unnatural ability to medicate everyone into a semi-better mood until bedtime.
- Family movie night watching Fern Gully and Matilda.
- Family game night where my loving and patient husband forgot that he was an adult and trounced every single one of us which led to Grudge Match 2018 where my daughter and I trounced him (and only minimal cheating was involved on our part).
Sunday pre-fast:
- I purposefully did not make a detailed meal plan like I normally do because I wanted to approach this from a beginner’s standpoint. Take my advice and do yourself a favor: meal plan. You’ll thank me later.
- I made a grocery store run and picked up toilet paper, laundry detergent, hand soap, milk, bread, frozen waffles, apples, bananas, salad staples (lettuce, carrots, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers), and deli meat for husband’s lunch since he doesn’t have access to a microwave at work.
- I filled my tank with gas and paid our bills. I also pre-paid for a few things to our daughter’s school since she would be starting that Monday.
- Current food in freezer: chicken drumsticks, cooked taco meat, pizza dough, Boston butt from Farmer’s Market, frozen veggies (broccoli, corn, edamame), frozen fruit, frozen spinach, and frozen waffles.
- Current food in fridge: shredded cheese, crescent rolls, 1/2 rotisserie chicken, flour tortillas, turkey pepperoni, hummus cups, homemade granola bars, and fresh vegetables.
- For breakfast each day my kids and I eat the same things: waffles with peanut butter (and sometimes banana), fruit smoothie with toast, or a homemade granola bar.
- For lunch each day my son and I usually eat leftovers, sandwich, or a salad with protein. My daughter normally takes a lunch of hummus, veggies, pepperoni, cheese, crackers, and a piece of fruit. My husband always eats a sandwich with chips.
- Each day I try and have some set activities, but the rest of the time is daily household chores and free play.
Monday (Day 1):
Activities: laundry (so much laundry), watercolor painting outside on paper grocery bags, cloud experiment to use up shaving cream I hated, and family movie night to celebrate first day of school (we watched Fern Gully).
Dinner: crockpot Boston butt, salad, mac & cheese, roasted carrots, and cornbread.
Tuesday (Day 2):
Activities: story time at local library, nature walk to pick up leaves, flowers, twigs, etc., coloring, and Wikki Stix play.
Our washing machine is not filling up and keeps running water. Do we call a repairman? No; we decided to watch numerous YouTube tutorials and search the DIY Network and found the cause of the problem. My husband was able to fix it using a few supplies he had on hand in the garage. Huge win!
Dinner: chicken quesadillas (using leftover rotisserie chicken), yellow rice (pantry), fresh pico de gallo.
Wednesday (Day 3):
Activities: playing in the rain, sidewalk chalk in the rain, hot chocolate, PJ Mask cartoon marathon, and leaf painting using nature items.
Dinner: crockpot coconut lime chicken (chicken from freezer), brown rice, and frozen broccoli.
Thursday (Day 4):
Activities: crying. Seriously. My children spent most of the day upset by something or someone (usually me) and I desperately wanted to take them out of the house to do something. But, no spending money and a drizzly rainy day meant we stayed at home. I took out a huge bucket loaded up with bubble bath, gave them two sponges, and let them ‘clean the driveway.’ They got to use sidewalk chalk and leftover watercolor paint to paint the driveway, then scrub it off. They had a blast and didn’t fight. I sat on the porch and read a magazine. Winning.
Dinner: Lucky Charms cereal. Enough said. Judge ye not and all that.
Friday (Day 5):
This is usually the day of fasting in which I want to say “later” to this money fast. I want food that someone else has cooked. I want some Starbucks. I want a babysitter. I want a maid since we’ve been mostly home all week and my house looks like something exploded. I try to have everyone be in his or her own space, take naps or have quiet time, and keep meals as simple as possible.
Activity: playing at the park, sidewalk chalk (seriously it never ends and never seems to get used up all the way), blowing bubbles, and nature art animals.
Dinner: sheet pan nachos (using leftover taco meat). I keep it classy and bake these on parchment paper so when they come out of the oven, I can transfer the nachos to another baking sheet that I set on the table and let everyone serve themselves. It takes about 10 minutes to prepare this well-loved meal; everyone especially likes putting on their own toppings.
Saturday (Day 6):
Activity: outdoor chores, birthday party, and family game night.
Dinner: pork flautas (I swapped the sweet potato for pork), salad, chips and leftover pico de gallo.
Sunday (Day 7):
Hallelujah we made it!
Activities: church, naps, family movie night, and game night Grudge Match 2018.
Dinner: homemade pizza (using Publix dough from freezer), copycat crazy bread, and salad.
As you can see, there are no Pinterest-worthy or gourmet meals. The goal for me is to use up as much as I can from the freezer and pantry, and to keep it simple. Planning a simple activity every day helps fight boredom and that ‘blah’ feeling that can lead to impulse purchases. This week, I wasn’t able to sell anything online as I was getting ready for an upcoming consignment sale and it was my daughter’s first week of school. My husband and I estimated we saved about $150 since a repair man would have charged $75 for a service call to look at our washing machine. Not bad for one week of money fasting. We’re going to put this money toward an upcoming vacation that I’ve been planning for a LONG time.
I hope this helps you see how I navigate a fast week. Give it a try and let me know what works and doesn’t work for you. If you’re not ready to commit to an entire week, try giving up one thing like eating out or stopping at Starbucks for an entire week and see how it goes. You can build up to doing a full week — it’s all about baby steps.
