No Spend January: Week 2 & 3 Round Up

Greetings from Albuquerque, New Mexico! I’m sure you’re going to be as surprised as I am but… I didn’t spend any money over the past two weeks.

I know. Insane.

I have to say though, I wasn’t feeling my best the first week and a half. I skipped breakfast for almost the entire second week. I just wasn’t hungry and I chalk that up to making too large of meals for lunch and dinner.

No Spend January: Week 2 & 3 Round Up

Okay, so just a reminder of the rules for the month:

• $25 at coffee shops for the whole month
• $35 a week for groceries
• $50 for eating out for the whole month

Here’s what I spent…

Technically, my first two items could come out of my travel fund but I wanted to share how I don’t generally buy things while traveling. I normally make my own snacks/meals but I was running late on this trip so I couldn’t pack as much as I wanted too.

Plus, by the time I got to the very high Albuquerque altitude, I realized I was dehydrated and got a migraine. It was terrible. So I gave into salt and as much electrolytes as I could get.

• $6.44 – pumpkin loaf & potato chips at the Seatac airport Starbucks
• $11.07 – electrolyte drink, coconut water & potato chips at the mart in Albuquerque
• $30.00 – brunch with the girls on the first Sunday! Such a treat.

My meal plan

My first week’s pizza bread lasted FOREVER. No joke. I froze half of the pizza for the following week. The salads were so filling that I was bursting and could only eat a quarter of the bread. I also got lucky. I went into work for one day this week and they catered. So, I got two sandwiches from the office for free. Then, we had family dinner at my parents house. So, technically I got 3 meals for zero dollars.

Is this cheating? I’m not sure but I felt very fortunate.

• Breakfast:
  • 2 Hard boiled eggs
• Lunch:
  • Veggie tacos! These veggies lasted forever and were so good.
  • Pizza bread
  • Chicken soup (leftover chicken thighs & pepper from my first grocery haul)
• Dinner:
  • Italian artichoke and apple salad with a side of veggie bread pizza
  • Tofu teriyaki with a side of rice and broccoli (also ate as leftovers for lunch)

The only addition is I made brownies from scratch for dessert one night because I was craving something sweet. Don’t get excited for me. They weren’t that good. I could only use what I had in the house. It made it difficult to find a recipe that accommodated.

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How it went

In all honesty, I’m proud of myself. I went through all of the things I recently purchased and made returns on everything I wasn’t going to use or gift.

So, I felt like I made money.

What I did instead of spending money

My first round up, I mentioned that I wouldn’t window shop at all. Which, I didn’t window shop for clothing but I did window shop for yarn. I’m planning my next big project for when I’m done with the sweater I’m making.

I really love knitting. It’s helped with my anxiety so much.

• Workout – this has upped in the past few weeks because I wasn’t feeling well. So, I’m trying to get my strength back.
• Took a module on Premiere Pro – a program I want to learn this year.
• Paid my credit cards in full – both are zero’d. I couldn’t be more proud! I kept having a small balance every month. It was driving me crazy.
• Deep Cleaned my Kitchen & picked up – twice.
• Spent time with friends
• Worked – … a lot. last week was so busy for three days straight.
• Made appts – for future dr appts and went to the dentist.

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I feel like this week is cheating because I’m currently at my Aunt’s house. I thought I would have spent a lot more money than I have! Instead, I haven’t spent anything because she’s bought the groceries and I’ve been helping around the house.

We’ll see what happens next week and by the end of this one.

If you’re having a No Spend Month, I hope yours is going well too!

Other posts you might enjoy:

• No Spend January: Week 1 Round Up
• Free Ways to Workout at Home (or While Traveling)
• Monthly Subscriptions That Are Actually Worth It