Over in more ways than one

The Challenge is over and boy was it ever eye opening.

To begin, I learned that there is very little that we need that we don't already have. There is almost always a solution that doesn't require going to the store. I also learned that I used to spend half of my free time shopping for something, anything. Everytime I got bored at the house, I caught myself thinking, I should just go to the store...

The other thing that I found absolutely stunning is that I have so much food in my house even after a month of not bringing anything home. Towards the end of the last week, I started to notice a small dent in the pantry and in the freezers but not much of a dent. In fact, there is still so much food, Cole and I have agreed that we are going to continue our spend free month with a few exceptions. One is we will go to the grocery store for necessities such as milk, eggs and fresh fruit. But we are still going to try and refrain from solving all of our immediate problems with cash.

I really do want to get rid of the food in the pantry. I would love to use it all and then only purchase things that we really need and use frequently. Starting from scratch, a new beginning...

Speaking of new beginnings, the other result of the Challenge is that it put a spot light on the cracks in mine and Bill's relationship. I won't go so far as to say that the Challenge was the reason why we broke, I will however throw it out there that the Challenge illuminated the fundamental differences in our core values with respect to our individual relationship and attitude towards money and other important things.


If I had to do it all over again, would I? You bet I would.