The First Buy Something Slip Up

It happened. I knew it was going to. I tried to deny it would, but I knew deep down I couldn’t keep up Buy Nothing Year for an ENTIRE year! And so today was the day. January 5th, 2015: the day I bought something for the first time in 2015. Only 5 days into our challenge – but frankly, I’m surprised it took that long.

The thing about doing any kind of challenge is you should expect one thing & one thing only out of it:

PROGRESS, NOT PERFECTION

And guess what? There was definitely progress so far, so what more can I ask for (besides the $10 I spent to magically make its way back into my wallet).

So what happened?

Long story short; we stayed out way later than we had hoped at Game Night with my aunt & uncle’s family. Little Cthulhu had an appointment this morning, going over one of the absolute worst freeways in existence in the state of Washingtonland: I-405. It involved long traffic, being cut off & of course, down pouring rain (because what other kind of weather do we ever have in this state, right?)

I was tired. My half a muffin breakfast didn’t fill my gut. And I needed something to lift my spirits knowing that it was going to be a long wait (without a radio) in the car until we got to her appointment. Really, only one thing fills my soul like that: music. But when music isn’t available: coffee.

So, here is why I’m not beating myself mercilessly over my first, very conscience slip up of our Buy Nothing Year.

• It opened up dialogue: I not only talked to Mr. Ender about the decision to splurge on Starbucks, I talked to myself — a lot. Like internally while I was grabbing everything we’d need from every corner of the apartment, while I was buckling the kids in the car, while I was exiting the complex, all the way up the road, all the way up the other road & finally before approaching Ender with the idea. Even as we entered the parking lot, I still felt the guilt in my gut that $10 for coffee wasn’t worth my financial freedom. It made me hyper aware though & made me think through the consequence of spending that money, something that doesn’t typically  happen when I swipe my card. One of the worst things couples fight about is money. Could it be that there isn’t enough talk, talk, talking about it & enough joint decision making on what it’s spend on?
• It made me consider all alternatives & look for solutions to not allow the same mistake twice: We have an additional appointment this week & one next week. Next week’s is at the hospital & we ALWAYS get coffee at the hospital because they have three Starbucks on campus, not to mention the countless ones on the way there. We agreed it would be in our best interest to cough up the money from our grocery budget to buy some K-Cups & have to eat leftovers a couple days for dinner to make up for it. As for alternatives? I could of gotten cheaper coffee at McDonald’s. I could of asked a friend on the property to brew some up if they had some. Worst of all: I could of stopped at our apartment office which has a Keurig available for a free cup (BUT they do not have decaff & my anxiety does not allow me regular caffeine anymore) but none of these would of amounted to…
• I got a free coffee for next time: OK, so you could totally twist this that I did NOT get a free coffee. I paid for this coffee quite a few times because you need purchase 12 drinks with the Starbucks Rewards program before your 13th is free (not including the 30 in a calendar year you need to purchase before you qualify for your 13th free after every 12 drink purchases). But I previously hit Sbux 11 time prior, resulting in today’s purchase adding up to my 13th being on the house. I’m saving this bad boy for a rainy day. Or Cthulhu’s next exam to make sure she is still cancer free.

So, there you have it. I screwed up today, but I’m back on the Buying Nothing wagon & I can’t say the knowledge gained wasn’t worth the $10 spent.

I’m happy to report we stopped at the library for free entertainment, used the leftover ham from Christmas (frozen) in our dinner quiche & dropped off 10 ink cartridges to Staples (x$3 each credit)  amounting to $30 to use later for toilet paper. (You will soon discover my biggest fear in this challenge is not having money for toilet paper)