After yesterday's curfuffle, I really wanted to get things back on track and try to bring my balance closer to zero. I hadn't spent a cent and then remembered I had to pick up a book for one of my kids on my way home ($10.50) and, of course, there was a few groceries ($13), too.
But as I sat down to a late dinner, I was happily interrupted by a couple of neighbours bearing a gift – a bottle of wine – sensing I could use it. I've been a believer in the power of positive thought or manifesting long before "The Secret" came out. The results have been evident in my life far too many times to ignore.
"By believing passionately in something that
still does not exist, we create it. The
non-existent is whatever we have not
sufficiently desired." – Nikos Kazantzakis
An anecdote I had decided to not share on the weekend was my debate over coffee. I love coffee, locally-roasted fair trade coffees and I seek them out like a vintage wine collector. But on the weekend, I ran out of coffee beans and struggled with whether I could justify buying a $14 bag of beans during this experiment. I even contemplated trying to calculate how long a bag lasts and figuring out the cost per day but I never got around to it. I was almost resigned to picking up a no name tin from the grocery store and then dropped by another friend's house I'm taking care of while they're away and lo' and behold...on their counter was a newly opened bag of the exact coffee I had just finished, Te Aro Big Bro. Being a coffee snob, I knew how wrong it would be to let this bag go stale while my friend was globe trotting, only to return to old coffee. So I am gladly doing the right thing, enjoying his beans and will make sure he has fresh coffee upon his return.
Spent: $23.50
I'm loving this experiment but I also am wondering at why certain things are 'Out' - like charity. The $12 figure would come from what's left after paying for house payments & utilities ... so those exclusions make sense ... but charity? My sense is that our ability to be charitable also relies on our disposable income so my sense is that it should be in.
ReplyDeleteYour thoughts?
Dear Missus, I see where you're coming from but that's precisely why I left charity out. I'm not saying the poor are not charitable but if I truly only had $12 to live on on a given day would I actually give $20 away? The purpose of my 'experiment' here is to highlight the daily challenges of living on $12 a day but I don't want to stop contributing to causes I believe in during this time frame which would be the reality were I to count it.
ReplyDeleteThe charity thing is an interesting subject. I always used to give to charity but now living off of $12 a day and needing to desperately to get out of debt I no longer have the income available to give to charity. I would love to but there isn't money for it. So, charity should definitely be included in your $12 budget but ALSO I totally see where you're coming from.
ReplyDeleteAND I LOVE coffee especially fair trade Guatemalan Antigua beans. It's been one of my most difficult struggles along this journey.