The lesson in change

How I spent my change

DAY 1
$4.02 - 6-inch turkey sub from Subway
$2.99 - salad from Whole Foods
$.99 bottle of water (forgot my water bottle. Bad, Stephanie) - Whole Foods
$1.11 - nectarine (crazy expensive nectarine that was only just o.k.) - Whole Foods
$2.10 - small cafe au lait - Whole Foods
$.44 - tax - Whole Foods

DAY 2
$5.75 - grilled chicken sandwich at the White Sox Game
$3.25 - soft pretzel at White Sox Game
$6.25 - vodka lemonade at White Sox Game

DAY 3
$0
(I literally didn't leave the house)

DAY 4
$2.41 - Starbucks Grande misto

DAY 5
$0

DAY 6
$2.34 - butterscotch dipped ice cream cone from Dairy Queen (my reward for beating my 5K time)

DAY 7
$1.98 - Starburcks Grande drip coffee
$2.95 - chips & guac from Chipotle

TOTAL SPENT: $36.58
LEFTOVER: $1.38
MISSING: $.91 (I either spent this somewhere and didn't get a receipt or lost this change. I'm not sure why I'm not balance out.)

I caught on that if you don't have to leave the house, you don't have to spend any money.

This challenge forced me to really consider each penny I spent. One thing I didn't mention is that in addition to tracking each penny spent, I was also tracking my food "points" all week. During our fight to save our house I gained over ten pounds and haven't been able to shed that weight. My mom and step dad are doing Weight Watchers and I decided to join them. For anyone who isn't familiar with Weight Watchers, it works with a point system - each food has a points value that you deduct from your daily allotted points. The way it works is you write everything down that you eat and stay within your points.

So in addition to writing down every penny spent, I was writing down every bite of food and points spent. This worked! Not only was I evaluating was it worth it in terms of how much it cost in change, but also how much it cost in calories. I don't know whether or not I lost any weight this week because I didn't weigh myself at the beginning.... but I do feel really empowered and much healthier. This challenge caused me to make smart choices all around and showed me that not spending (points or money) doesn't have to make me feel deprived.

I chose to spend my change and points at Starbucks two days this week because when I go there to write I focus so much better. That was worth it to me.

Sunday morning I paid for my $1.98 grande drip coffee in all dimes. I told the barista, "I'm spending nothing but change for a whole week." And she told me that every year she saves her spare change until just before Christmas when she takes all of her change and uses it to buy her two grandchildren savings bonds. Last year she had enough to give them each a $150 savings bond. It really struck me how much we can learn from each other. In just simple ways.

Earlier in the week I had been embarrassed to pay in all change. And I wouldn't say anything about it. Just pay and watch the quizzical look on the cashier's eye. But yesterday, when I said something and let the embarrassment go, I was treated to this wonderful anecdote.

It made me wonder why I was so embarrassed. Is it because I want people to think I have it all together? Probably. I want to appear capable and in charge of life. When I struggle with our situation, it's most likely because that need to be "handling things" is driving me. But when I'm able to let that need go I'm actually at peace with our circumstances. And so much happier.

At the end of the week was there anything I wasn't able to do because of the money?

One thing only. Art in the Barn. This is an annual event in Barrington that I used to love to go to as a kid. It's always been equated with Fall in my mind. It's a big art fair that takes place in... yes, a barn. There's art and food and music and apple cider and beautiful fall weather and changing leaves all around. We'd been planning to go for weeks and I was so excited to be able to be here for it. I love Art in the Barn. But I didn't get to go. Why? There was a $5 entry fee that I didn't know about and therefore wasn't in my budget. I only had $4 left. Bob offered to pay for me. But that would have been breaking my own rules.

At first I was mad at the event for charging a fee and then I was feeling sorry for myself for not getting to go (hello, 7-year-old.) Then I realized that this was an opportunity to stick to my word, to let it go and create something else. Bob was concerned that I'd be upset about it the rest of the day. I told him that I was choosing to stick to my word and it's not always easy to do that. In the end it would have been silly to ruin the whole day pouting because I didn't get to go to an art fair. Seriously. So we left. And instead, we went to the MAC store where I exchanged six empty makeup tubes (some from the 90s) for a free lip gloss. Lip gloss really does work wonders.

Life is a learning process. We're all in it together. And you know what? I love this. I love that every day is a new opportunity to learn something about life and myself. You're never too old to get back to the basics. The fundamentals. The pennies, so to speak, in life.

This challenge forced me back into that feeling of being a child. Paying with change at the candy store. Pushing my pennies, nickels and dimes towards the cashier, "Do I have enough?" The exhilarating thing is that more often than not the answer is, "Yes."

The race
My mom donated the money for my 5K race on Saturday. Thanks, Mom! I was so happy to get to run this race and I was very proud of my time. I'm falling back in love with running.

My cohorts
Well, I haven't heard from Cece, but here's what Jackie had to say about the challenge:

It went fairly well
It was difficult but not as much as i thought it would be
I learned that I spend money on stuff I don't really want (especially
food) and it made me really question whether something was "worth it"

one funny observation was that I felt like the kid brother in "From
the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler" carrying around a bag
of spare change.

I asked for receipts for everything (which i rarely do) so that I
could keep an account.

Cece, let us know how you did in the comments below. I'd also love to hear from anyone else who followed along at home. Please comment below. Thank you!