I didn’t post about it, but yes, I did do my No-Frills Five in February. And the end of March is approaching, so it’s time again. This month, Consumption Rebellion is kicking my ass from five to seven. Which necessarily will include a weekend. This will make it much more challenging for me, which is good, right? That’s the point.
Including a weekend means, for one, I have to tell My Man about it. Yes, I did the last two fivers without even telling him. He’s in class all week, so it was easy to keep my little limitations to myself. I still won’t ask him to join me, I believe to each their own. But I can’t be letting him pay for dinner, and call that a challenge. So, no family spending anyway. And weekends are of course when we usually do something fun like go out to dinner or ice cream. Mostly I don’t want to deprive myself of this weekly indulgence. For lots of reasons I feel it’s justified at this point in my life. But, just once, wouldn’t it be good to take a picnic to the park instead?
This month I will be going a step farther in the No-Frills spirit. No consumption of homemade frills either. That means I can’t make my own brownies instead of going to the bakery for a treat. No treat. Get it? I will also nix my afternoon cuppa, and you know how I feel about that. Not the morning cuppa though. That one’s till death do us part.
And I’ve got my caveats, but I’m not gonna list every damn one. I’ll break my vows if I feel I need to. It’s my own damn challenge to my own damn self, thank you very much.
If anyone cares to join me in any way, whatever you can muster, make up your own soft-core challenge. Write your own rules. Decide to give up just one thing. Be small and proud.
Apron Stringz 
Oooh, go for it. I think you’re hard-core, adding the non-homemade-treat thing in there, but as you say it’s your own challenge for your own reasons and you know the things you want to push yourself on!
I haven’t done a no-spend challenge yet (apart from doing no-spend in certain specific areas). For me think I’d just be money-shuffling – you know, not spending on seven days but making up for it before and after. But I think I really need to do this soon, partly because it’d make me really get organised, and partly because I know I’ll feel all squirmy at not being able to buy a coffee, or a paper, or that extra ingredient for dinner that I forgot… because forking over money is a daily activity, and I’ll feel lost without it. So I MUST do this. Some time.
huh. this is like lent. guilt metamorphs into catholicism.
I don’t think it’s guilt. I mean, this could certainly seem like Lent, but that’s in the mind of the beholder, really. I’ve seen a few other people doing this sort of thing – Mark Boyle and Andy and/or Dave Hamilton in the UK (I don’t remember which) and no one seems to make it about guilt. Self control, self-awareness – community-building, even (bartering with people or even just giving and getting without keeping tabs, building relationships and trust) – there’s a lot positive to be gotten from challenging yourself in this way, and not just financial, and it doesn’t have to have anything to do with deprivation or sacrifice.
Obviously everyone will get something different out of it…
OK, no homemade treat seems overly hard core to me too. I admit I hadn’t read the first no frills post so I did a search and went back to read it. I qoute “But, I have often fallen prey to a very all or nothing mindset”. Hmmm
But hey, kudos anyway.
ok, after thinking that this sounded like a good idea, but not really applicable to me just now (things are pretty tight around here, plus i’ve been sort of accidentally giving things up without really noticing, and i don’t want to jinx anything by paying attention to it) – it occurred to me that i could give up microwaving my porridge every morning. i’m against the microwave anyway, but i’m more against avoiding making porridge cos it’s more time and trouble than toast and nutella in preparation and cleanup, but our toaster died a while back, and i’ve been mellower in the mornings, and currently no urgent appointments to rush to, so now would be a good time to develop a new habit.
it’s not a no-spend sort of thing (in fact, it’s retrograde in terms of lectricity and water. hm.) but it is a bit no-frilly and perhaps in the right spirit.
i read a quote in a book about making braided rugs, something like ‘in New England the mentality is that if it’s harder and takes longer, it has to be better’. =)
thanks for provoking thoughts.
This is your challenge and you can make your rules but, to me, the no homemade treats seems harsh. I like shopping my pantry – it really helps me to remember to make more vegetarian meals – and I like taking the time out of my day to work on things that show my love for my family. I’m definitely an acts of service kind of person.
Too much service, however, makes me very crabby and that sometimes leads me into words/actions/shopping I didn’t plan on.
For your porridge reader, I’ve been making mine in a slow cooker on low overnight.