Trendsetting- Day 6

I guess considering the economic state of our country my spending freeze is hardly a trend setting event. Though since I began my 30 days it seems cheapskate pointers everywhere. On Thursday Oprah featured a show on how to shop/cook meals spending less money, metro magazine had an article featured on saving money, and my sweet hubby sent me a yahoo article about extreme cheapskates. All of this and not a moment too late as I have discovered that I little experience with being thrifty.

Example
My first day at Lunds I spent $25, over half of my weekly budget. On my list? a rotisserie chicken, a dozen eggs, string cheese, and some mini haggendaz bars that were 2-for-1. $25? Really?

And then I did something I've never done before, I inspected the receipt. They missed my ice cream discount! I did another thing I've never done, I waited 15 minutes until the manager came up to the counter to refund me $4.55. Hey, I only have $40/wk on groceries, I need every cent.

Lunds clearly doesn't fall into my cheapskate budget so yesterday I went to Aldi. I am a bit of a grocery snob so I wasn't too excited but was pleasantly surprised to find fresh o.j., skim milk, and a large bottle of creamer all for $5.05

I am off to the market tonight and have $14.50 to spend for the rest of the week.
Organizing starts tomorrow!

Flexi-Lexi- Day 30

This is it, time to hang up my yoga hat. Not really though, my goal now after a 30 day free for all is to get in 5 days of yoga a week. It is good for my body, good for my soul. I am feeling stretchy and light, or maybe that is just the month of March...hmmm....

Spring is on it's way, whether the snow today leads you to believe that or not, it is coming. So I am excited to announce my next experiment(s). Actually I had decided on them two weeks ago but didn't want to spoil the spring surprise.

In honor of spring (cleaning) and April (taxes) I have decided to go the extra mile and take on two experiments at once. I am going on a 30 day spending freeze (Ala tax season) and a 30 day organization/cleaning/De-cluttering heat wave (Ala spring cleaning). I like the idea of blending a freeze with a wave in hopes that I won't be chilled.

In my head I imagine that all the time I will bemoan not being able to spend money I will instead be spending in time, clearing things out and cleaning up.

My husband is enormously excited about the next month for two reasons; he is inherently frugal, and he would like some help around the house keeping it clean (he generally does all our house work, and yes, I know I am a lucky girl!)

I do have a 30 day organizing/cleaning plan but I will save you the gritty details for the days following. Here are my spending freeze guidelines; only monthly bills can be paid, $30/week on gas, and $40/week on groceries (about 2/3 of what I currently spend) I am relinquishing most of what I consider my fun money. No massages, private training, acupuncture, lunches out, and my weekly life coaching calls. The exceptions to this are my cycling class (it is already paid for) and my monthly yoga membership (I want to keep up on my yoga).

I plan on keeping an ongoing list of things I would like to have bought, lunches I would have taken, and hot cocoas I would have purchased from the coffee shop next to my studio so I can have a tally at the end of the month of what I have saved myself.

I'll keep you posted. Another exciting month of changing my life story begins. I've always been a spender. Can I be a saver????

Something I noticed- Day 25

Somewhere between Days 15-18 I stopped paying attention to the story I've been telling myself most of my life about how inflexible I am and started to enjoy the journey of each class. And tonight I was pleasantly surprised to notice how flexible I've become.

This is exactly the reason I've chosen to do these experiments. It is an opportunity to tell a different story and create new threads in my life.

Love yoga- Day 24

Ok I have been remiss in my blogging but not in my 30 day yoga commitment. Here's a peak at my top ten yoga moments in the last couple weeks....

1. Love yoga with my sis in Dallas
2. Love yoga with my good friend Sarah, great dinner and conversation after
3. Love yoga when my heels touched the floor in down dog for the first time EVER
4. Love yoga when I ran into a friend I haven't seen in a great while in the locker room
5. Love yoga when I caught a look at myself in the mirror and couldn't help but smile
6. Love that yoga has improved my conscious breath
7. Love a late night yoga scramble in my living room (hey I got day 18 in, even if down to the wire)
8. Love yoga on Sat., it opened up a possibility for me to teach IntenSati at the Edina studio
9. Love yoga with Nealy and Nora teaching
10. Love happy hour yoga, a glass of wine followed by a good sweat