spending hiatus

Jocelyn at Simple Lovely has organized a sort of support group for people who want to avoid non-essential spending for the next few months. Scott and I had already decided that we need to be on an austerity budget for a little while in order to do some post-holiday damage control, so this ties in pretty well.

My rule is basically that I am only buying things we need, in other words:

• Groceries & toiletries are ok, but no prepared foods or fancy soaps or anything.  The goal is to keep the weekly Target/Whole Foods bill under $140.
  
• No eating out (I have a feeling this will get modified in committee)
  
• I will only buy coffee when I need to use the bathroom at Starbucks or when caffeine is needed in order to prevent grievous bodily harm to myself or others
  
• No new clothes, housewares, books or craft supplies
• Gardening and home repair items are acceptable within reason
• I'm having a cloth diapering crisis (more on that later, I'm sure) so new prefolds may be purchased
  

I used to attempt this every February when I was single and profligate (February being the shortest month and therefore the least painful during which to budget) but it never worked, but now I have an audience so maybe I'll be accountable.