Spending Hiatus: Week 5 update

Two posts in one day?!? Do you think the devil has a sufficient ear muff supply to cope with his newly-frozen home?

In the midst of all my daily projects, I do need to report on our Spending Hiatus last week. As I mentioned last time, we hit the halfway mark on Thursday, which is, incidentally, when we threw all our hard work out the window and went shopping.

It all started with Espen's 4 month doctor's appointment. He was given the go-ahead to start eating solids and drinking juice, so naturally we had to go and buy him some. And, oh no, our local grocery store was not good enough. No, Mama had to go to Target.

We did pretty well with the baby food itself, and just got a few things for him to try over the next couple of weeks. But we also knew that Espen was going to need somewhere to sit while we fed him, and let's be honest: holding a baby while he is being introduced to pureed prunes does not sound especially appealing to me.

"Well, let's just go see what they have in the way of highchairs", we said.

Bada bing, bada boom, all of a sudden one of them was in our shopping cart. Hmm, how did that happen?

(It was the nicest one too!)

Well, we quickly left before spending any more money, only to discover that we were all starving hungry.

"Panda Express?", we said.

Shazam, we were in the drive-through ordering us up some orange chicken. Wha?

OK, in all honesty, we would have bought the highchair anyway. But we would have researched it and found the ultimate in highchair awesomeness (which Nick wouldn't let me buy anyway, due to some obscure reason that has to do with money), and then eventually bought the chair at Target. But doesn't Espen look cute in it?

(Please note that Peter Rabbit was not a menu item.)

And dinner at Panda Express was actually not that much more than dinner at home would have been, because 1) We shared a meal, and 2) we used the little survey coupon from the back of the receipt. Dinner for 2 for less than $6!

But it's still naughty and breaks the rules of not eating out unless we're with friends. (But I haven't eaten out since MAY!!!!)

Other areas where we didn't save

• Father's Day. I bought Nick's gift a couple of weeks ago, so that has already been accounted for. However, we DO NOT scrimp on special occasions around here! Any opportunity for gifts and tasty food is heartily embraced by us. So Nick got the breakfast, dinner and dessert that his little heart desired along with Super Mario Galaxy 2, and this book from Espen.
  
  (A quick aside to note that should any of you be related to anyone by the name of Paul and Caleb, this book could easily have be written with them in mind. I suggest a speedy purchase.)
  
  
• Nick has been doing most of my birthday shopping this week, and seeing that this birthday is a big one, my gift is proportionate. See aforementioned feelings on special occasions.
  
  
• I also co-hosted a baby shower for a friend. Not at all a big expense, and something I was both delighted and excited to do, but it should probably be noted as an out of the ordinary expenditure. See aforementioned feelings on special occasions.

Other than that, we've really done pretty well with our spending this last week. We're trying to keep up with the smart cooking and using our ingredients for more than one meal. I've discovered that this also has the added bonus of helping us to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, which can only be a good thing. I have to say too, that making a shopping list has been really helpful for me in terms of cutting down the impulse buys.

3 weeks to go!