Its amazing to me that we have been doing No Buy Feb for Six years now..
What is No Buy Feb?
It all started years ago as a way for folks to reach two main goals
a) do a home and mind-gut check on spending habits.
b) Pantry Check
I have found that it also add’s in a c) saves money, which can be used in a different ways.
So how do you have a No Buy Feb, you set out your rules.. Everyone has different rules on what is or is not allowed and if you claim it in advance on the Start post, then its all good
We have tradionally allowed a few things each year here on the farm, this includes
a) A critter feed and Care needs including Vet care of course. (no extra spending just cuz though) I do have two cats booked in for altering in Feb.. which fit in this area.
b) Eco-Farm Day, I pay for it in Jan to get the early bird pricing, ( I like to save the money for the gas to get there and back) but the event always happens in Feb, so its officially a feb cost..
c) sometimes one or both of us have needed to travel for work, we allow ourselves a touch of wiggle room while traveling because its just needed.
I have on some years including my green box in the challenge but I have decided that it adds to making the challenge a touch to easy with that box full of extra new fresh food.
So its a New Year and its a new Feb Challenge.. A and B are in play as always..
As far as I know, C is not a factor at this time, and if so, we can pack from home.. but that brings me to D) I will not stop working on my farm projects, so for this year, materials for farm related projects will not be part of the NO Buy Feb!
We also have dental cleaning’s coming up in Feb, which we will be keeping. Routine health needs are going to be considered part of the normal bills even if they are not truly regular monthly bills
So what does that mean.. in real terms.. its simple, other then regular required bills, possible critter needs and farm work projects, no spending! in Feb.. Everything needs to come from the farm, the pantry and so forth.
What we are going in with..
Still waiting for my first sheep to freshen, and my nanny goat is due mid-feb but at the moment, only canned or dry powdered milk in house. (I have one ewe that should be due in the next week)
Chicken eggs- The girls are starting to lay steady now, with five to six eggs coming in daily with nine hens in the coop.. but as I want to set my first hatch in the incubator, I will be quite lean on eggs
Garden -Fresh sprouts..
And the rest.. freezer, Pantry storage and on the hoof as they say..
As always I will do a weekly report on how its going..
[J] Love the idea of this – we’ll have to think up our own for next time!
its just such a good way to check you budget an see where things need improvement, and typically we do come out of the month with a bit of a lump sum in savings that can be used effectively.