This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase products or services linked from this page, Summit of Coin may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Can't believe it has been two weeks since my last post. The last two weeks have been kind of busy for our family and I had a hard time finding time to write. During the last two weekends, we spent one weekend running a 10k in Galveston and the following weekend running a half marathon in Houston. Both were amazing accomplishments (at least for me). This was my first attempt at a half marathon and I successfully finished!
In two weeks, I will be attempting another. Hopefully, I will improve my time! I have also started my basketball season and have my first game is in a week. From basketball practice to training for a half marathon, I have been letting my blogging duties slip.
Even though, I let my blogging duties slip, the Summit of Coin family was still in the middle of our Buy "Nothing" New Challenge. I have to say...I was proud of our accomplishment this month. We ended on a pretty good note. Therefore, let's jump into the nothing 'new' challenge update.
October Spending Report:
- Auto: $711.52
- Gas
- Tolls
- Repairs (Replaced the battery in my wife's car)
- Cash: $40
- Used for Misc. Expenses
- Clothing: $70
- Dining: $278.89
- Includes date nights
- Daycare: $1,250
- Donations: $354.75
- Entertainment: $0
- Gifts: $0
- Groceries: $1,224
- Health & Fitness: $116.90
- Household: $1,372
- Replaced our Washer and Dryer
- Insurance: $90.50
- Homeowners Insurance
- Medical: $35
- Chiropractor for my wife/Massages
- Mortgage: $1,041.55
- Interest
- Taxes
- My Kids: $129
- Used Clothes
- Diapers
- Birthday Invitations
- Utilities: $382.60
- Streaming TV Service
- Internet
- Water
- Electricity (Earned $100 discount)
- Natural Gas
- Cell Phones
- Vacation/Travel: $182.85
- Hotel stay in Galveston
GRAND TOTAL: $7,279.56
After posting my last article, I decided to make a change with tracking child expenses. I wanted to separate the daycare expenses and the other random purchases that we make for our daughter. This change has been made in my budgeting software for the entire year, however this is the first month on Summit of Coin that actually shows childcare costs separated from the other kids expenses.
This month we spent over $7,000 dollars again. Our increased spending was aided by the fact that we needed to get my wife's car a new battery (one month after replacing my battery) and we purchased a 'new' washer and a 'new' dryer." Our previous dryer was a used dryer that was given to us, but it quit drying at an efficient pace. One day it took a load of laundry 5 hours to dry.
Not long after the dryer gave us fits...the washer quit completing the wash cycle. It still did the rinse and spin cycles, but would not wash. Thus, we decided it was time for a new washer and dryer. We will gain energy efficiency with our new dryer and should see a decrease in our electricity as a result of this purchase.
Did we stay away from buying anything new in October?
As a I mentioned earlier, we did purchase the washer and dryer. When we started this challenge, we listed off items that were exempt like food, household repair items and car repairs (more was included you can read about it here).
This month we did buy new stuff that was exempt:
- Diapers ($23)
- Car Battery ($100)
- Unmentionables
- Washer and Dryer?
Now - - - does the new washer and dryer fall under the exemptions listed at the beginning of the challenge. In the challenge, we listed off exemptions and included was the following:
- Home Maintenance
We didn't exactly lay out the whether this meant repairs for the home or replacing appliances. Therefore, I think it could be left up to interpretation. Replacing a washer and dryer is technically home maintenance, but could we have repaired the broken down appliances? Probably, but I don't know if there is a concrete answer.
However, I feel like purchasing a new washer and dryer is kind of cheating and I don't believe it falls under the parameters set back in July. Don't get me wrong, I would make the purchase again! My clothes don't smell moldy anymore, because they are getting dried efficiently! Therefore, we bought two new items that did not fit the parameters:
- Washer
- Dryer
At the beginning of this article, I mentioned that I was proud of our accomplishment this month. That's because our ONLY new purchases were a washer and dryer. That's right, everything else that we purchased - - - was used!
Three Month Running Tally of New Items Purchased
- August: (2) Portable Charger and Battery Pack
- September: (2) Birthday Gift and Ear Muffs
- October: (2) Washer and Dryer
- Total: SIX New Items Purchased
THREE DOWN, A LIFETIME TO GO!
I honestly can't believe we have already completed our challenge! It has been amazing to see everything that we don't buy, because of our challenge. We are no longer locked into any parameters and are free to buy anything that we want! That actually sounds a little scary. I hope we don't run out and buy everything in sight (I don't think we will).
My wife has even hinted at attempting this challenge again down the road and possibly extending the length of the challenge (yippee)! I will keep you updated and even post next month about how we fared in November with no restrictions. It will be interesting to see if this challenge will create a lifetime habit of buying used items.
What are your thoughts? Where would you place a new washer and dryer in this scenario?
