Using What I Have Journal Entry #23: Baking Bread and Launching a New Low Spend Month

 

I need a reset.

Shopping on the 6-week cycle isn't working super well anymore, so I am anticipating shorter trips more frequently in the fall. When I was just waiting until I felt I had to go, it did average 6 weeks, but setting a deliberate 6-week cycle meant I was buying a lot more on purpose to last the 6 weeks--and then it wasn't going according to plan and things got off kilter. I'd have bought something for a specific meal, and then wouldn't have calculated something properly, and had to repurpose it or save it for the next 6-week cycle.

Also, infrequent shopping had a reason that presently doesn't exist. I was optimizing my time in part because I'd taken a second job three months ago. I loved the work and it paid well, but for reasons that had nothing to do with my performance, that gig abruptly went away last week. Right now, my expenses are not so high that I should be as concerned as I am about what this means for me. And I have ideas for how to try to replace some of that income, income I hadn't even planned to spend so much as stock away in a medical expense fund because my insurance premiums, etc. are slated to go up by about 70% overall in 2027. Anyway--I'll be fine, but I'm feeling my anxiety spike more about money now that the little extra is going away.

Yay.

So I decided to make October a Low Spend Month. As I set forth on this frugal mission, I wanted bread, and it was oven weather again, so I tried a recipe in The Enchanted Broccoli Forest (1982), using easy vegan swaps. The bread turned out in a way that bewildered me, both dense and tender, somehow. But I didn't have to buy anything to make the bread, since I had flour and such already. And I've been spending a lot more on bread than it costs to make bread. Bread is always cheaper to make yourself.

I'm not doing the low spend right now because I necessarily have to, but because I need something to help me feel I'm gaining a sense of control again. You may or may not enjoy the meals I pull together as a result, and perhaps, I may or may not either! But for some reason, I feel like it will help me feel better, plus it will make room in the fridge, freezer, and pantry for all those fun holiday goodies that will come in November and December.

A low spend, for me, is not "spend nothing," so I will still shop sometimes. But I'll focus instead, more than I did over the summer, on getting meals together based on what I have around, rather than what sounds good to me.

Anyway, that's the plan. If it makes me feel worse, I'll stop, but we'll see.

My last "low spend month" was in 2023, and that was a summer one (August, so the blog tells me.) I found that hard because it meant I couldn't fully enjoy the summer produce, and it's a lot harder to keep expenses down and not use the oven. I'm hoping this one will be a bit more fun.

At least it will mean more of my own freshly baked bread!