Spending Zero: Days 2 & 3 Get Ugly

Hi!

I write to you from planet No Spending, where I've already bent the rules a bit; spent the past 24 hours alone; and tackled some seriously ugly situations in my kitchen pantry.

This has been fun!

Days 2 & 3 Challenges:  Get the Kitchen Tight

1) Stock up on staples 
I was technically supposed to do this before Day 1, but upon realizing that a cute little field mouse had feasted upon many of my staples, I found a loophole in my the book that said I may stock up on staples during days 2 & 3 when organizing the pantry and taking inventory.

I headed to Costco and spent $247:
1) Apples and oranges (these will go in my morning smoothies)
2) Frozen ravioli
3) Stew meat; Frozen individually wrapped salmon filets
4) Frozen individually wrapped servings of organic broccoli
5) Large bag of power greens (spinach, baby chard, baby kale)
6) 4 bottles of wine (I already drank half of one of these to get me through the pantry nightmare;) and a liter of Patron (The author warned about the necessity for this)
7) 24 snack packs of cheese, almonds and dried cranberries
8) A lot of chicken broth
9) A lot of cans of diced tomatoes.

Let's discuss the booze.  I normally go out for 1-2 drinks and dinner after work.  This habit is obviously financially draining.  So, drinking at home with friends a couple times a week is a good compromise.  On other evenings, I've given myself permission to go out for tea when I need a social hit.

2) Organize the Pantry
Oh wow, I had no idea what a pile of paperclips this would turn out to be.
Here's how it went down:

• Empty out all pantry items onto clear tabletops
• Throw away everything gross- especially Mr. Mouse's party garbage- So yeah, almost everything.
• Sort out all the items from the previous business owner, who used the current kitchenette as a snack bar at his concert venue.  Plastic cups; coca cola; a lot of cleaning products.. all of these items were set aside to be stored in bins.  This was the biggest job.
• Vacuum and disinfect everything.
• Store any dry goods in critter-proof containers. 
• Face and organize all the cans, spices, broth, etc. for easy access.
• Make a lovely setup for dishes, pots and pans.
• Rearrange all the kitchen appliances for ease of everyday use.
• Clean and organize the fridge and freezer.
• Keep written inventory of every food item.

3) Make Meal Plans
This habit is one of those obvious ones at which I continually chip away, but its effectivity never ceases to amaze me.

• Go through the fridge and take stock of the most perishable items.
• Create meals based on each one.
• Make a list of the week's meals, prioritized by expiration.
• Continue to go through all the items on inventory list, and dream up a master list of meals based on all ingredients available in the kitchen.  
• Each week, use the master list and the fridge to guide the week's meals.

Thoughts

I must admit that this first couple of days were a real challenge.

This is not because I missed spending money, but because I became aware of how I "go out" both mentally and physically to draw on external sources of energy. 

What I missed most was going to my neighborhood bar/restaurant to eat dinner and shoot the shit with other people who worked hard all day, who also have no one to go home to.  I missed having an excuse to leave the house.

"Going out" became a quickly obvious analogy for the turning away from myself, from my stuff.  

As a result of staying in with a lot of time on my hands, I had to conjure up ways to clean up my inner world so it would be a place in which I want to reside.

I fell asleep at 8pm.  That's how much work this was.  I awoke at 7am feeling disoriented, yet refreshed and full of energy for the next challenge ahead.

I began my morning with my meditation and exercise routine, which prepared me for all the work ahead to face more of my STUFF, both within and without.

Gratitude

We've heard it a lot lately:  Gratitude is the name of the game.  In my morning reflection I became aware of the emotions swimming around in my consciousness, and with a non-judgmental set of eyes I allowed myself to deepen into acceptance. 

Thank you for this experience, thank you for this breath, thank you for the courage to get messy.  

Thank you for the patience with my boring and dense story.  Thank you for the health of my body. Thank you for the many resources with which I have been blessed.

If you read all of this, I'm impressed and thank you for joining the ride.

Danielle