Saving Spree

See? I told you there'd be more.

At the beginning of March, Jason approached me to let me know, in a very serious tone, that we needed a gun safe. He made sure to put emphasis on the word need, hoping to convince me it was a necessity with no further explanation. Okay, I kindly said {I always speak kindly}, we'll save for it, then buy one. But Mr. Serious put his foot down and said, "This is not a want, this is a need." I was skeptical because we have had pretty much the same life, house, valuables (or lack thereof) for over six years so I was rather confused as to how this became a need over night. He reassured me it had nothing to do with the gun he recently purchased. Nothing at all. It was for the pictures and our data. Just in case fire ever decided to consume our humble abode or someone broke in*. I wasn't totally opposed, but I also wasn't about to go make a large purchase on a whim.


That's when I came up with the greatest idea ever! (Just ask Jason what a great idea it was). I kind of like to hoard gift cards so we have accumulated a small stash over the last several months. I proposed to Jason that if we could use only gift cards in the month of March, except bills that we had to pay, we'd use the money we would save to buy a safe. For me, this was pretty easy (except having to forgo my beloved Costco trips). For Jason, it was not. He got a $25 gift card at the beginning of the month for eating out. (We won't say how long it lasted, but I'm guessing no transactions happened after the first week). I was most nervous about the grocery side of things. Especially when we had company for a week, I fed the missionaries and I worked four days in a row, but it all turned out nicely. At the beginning of the month I had left over produce from the week before, then Kiri brought some with her, I bought fresh produce four times (mostly with gift cards) and my mom provided a week of lunches and dinners. We cheated a few times, but the total of our instances of cheating wouldn't total more than the giftcards we didn't use.


Considering doing this again, I decided it was fun and it definitely helped us cut back on how much we spend eating out, but on other stuff, I'll still buy it, just later. Every time I needed/wanted something, I just thought, I'll wait and get it next month. Which means whatever I saved this month will be over spent next month. In case you're wondering, we still don't have a gun case. Our plan was diverted to using the money for our backyard. Much better, if you ask me.

*Jason got nervous when a house in our neighborhood was broken into and that's really how this whole thing started. Funny thing is, it's not the first time this has happened in our neighborhood, more like the third or fourth. He just hadn't known about all the others.