Budget Reboot Challenge: Good Ol' Fashion H20

Hello Budget Reboot, have you tried turning it off and on again?

Money saving posts are always the same - stop doing this, stop buying that, stop having any fun and live a sad deprived life while watching the numbers in your bank account tick up and up. Of course, they don't frame it that way, but when someone asks you to give up something you love in the name of money, we get pretty defensive.

Instead of 'giving up' let's try something new. Hit the refresh button on your spending habits with this Budget Reboot Challenge.

This month's challenge: Replacing all your bad habits with a glass of water

Did you try last months Budget Reboot Challenge: Fast Fashion?

Asking you to replace a bad habit with a glass of water sounds like a joke, and not a funny one at that. However there are plenty of things to consider, starting from the mundane to the obscure.

Firstly you can replace expensive drinks with water. Sweet teas, fruit juices, soft drinks, and especially energy drinks add up to hundreds of dollars marching out of your wallet each year. However water (and I'm talking about water from the tap, not expensive bottled water) is just a few cents per kilolitre.

Replacing habits with water

If you are tired and need a pick me up it's easy to reach for a coffee, an energy drink or something sugary to try and spike your energy. But if you are dehydrated you'll only experience a small rush, followed by feeling even worse than before. If you are dehydrated a couple of glasses of water will be a better pick me up than an energy drink.

More than replacing drinks with drinks, you can reduce other expensive unhealthy habits as well. If your dehydrated, your brain will send hunger signals. Rather than buying an expensive packet of chips from the vending machine, first have a glass of water.

To truly stretch this experiment - can water help you quit smoking? Maybe. If you're smoking is an excuse to walk away from your desk and go outside, consider swapping one cigarette a day for a glass of water. It may satisfy that need to step outside, to fidget with something, to have a break.

Reducing needs by drinking enough

There are other things that are indirectly connected to how well hydrated you are that are costing money on a daily basis.

I have three different moisturizer tubs - one on my work desk, one in my bag, and one in the bathroom. Despite this I have been dealing with dry cracked hands for more than three months. The moisturizer is covering up the symptoms, but the cause is that I am dehydrated.

Just as I carry two lip balms around - instead, I could be carrying around a bottle of water.

Lastly, I very rarely take painkillers for headaches. For small pains I drink a glass of water and go on with my day. For bigger aches I have a couple of glasses and a nap. Only when the pain is bad enough that I can't nap I take painkillers. I only need to use painkillers once or twice a year - in most cases an extra glass of water solves the problem.

Click to embiggen!

Turn it off and on again: Bad Habits vs. Water

The point of the Budget Reboot Challenge isn't to force you to change your ways, but to commit to something for a set period and see what it's really like. Turn off snacking, smoking, your moisturizer reliance, and turn on water instead, and at the end of your commitment, ask yourself if you really need to add that habit back in again?

How long can you replace a habit with a glass of water? One Week? One Month? One Year? How much can you save doing it?

I can commit to drinking two litres of water a day for a month!

At the end of that; well to be honest this is a habit I'll probably keep. I have been using a lot of moisturizer as my hands have been extremely dry and scaly. In the last week drinking two litres of water a day I've already noticed an improvement. I'm hoping that by simply drinking more water, I can stop moisturizing every day.

Whatever you're replacing with water, ask yourself at the end of the month:

Do I need my old habit?
Do I feel healthier?
Did I save money?

Budget Reboot September, how did you go?

Back in September I asked you to try buying less clothes, or even none! I committed to buying nothing, except for one costume. And I have to say, I failed. Wondering what I bought? What super exciting item was it that ruined my plans. What glitzy, glamour piece caught my eye? Nothing exciting, I bought socks... wheee!

Total cost of socks? $8 which I will wear until the holes are so big they don't stay on my feet.

Budget Reboot Challenge: Fast fashion

Hello Budget Reboot, have you tried turning it off and on again?

Money saving posts are always the same - stop doing this, stop buying that, stop having any fun and live a sad deprived life while watching the numbers in your bank account tick up and up. Of course, they don't frame it that way, but when someone asks you to give up something you love in the name of money, we get pretty defensive.

Instead of 'giving up' let's try something new. Hit the refresh button on your spending habits with this Budget Reboot Challenge.

This month's challenge: Clothes Shopping

Did you try last months Budget Reboot Challenge: Eating Less Meat?

Spring is finally here! Not just according to the calendar, but according to the weather as well. The Spring Equinox is tomorrow which means warmth, long days, sunshine, and a whole new wardrobe! Time to start shopping for new shoes, shirts, shorts, light-weight summer jackets, and all those things that you bought this time last year.

Wait, bought this time last year? If we bought all these things last year, why do we need to buy them again?

According to the ABC's War on Waste, Australians go through a ridiculous amount of clothes. In this documentary they work with a group of girls to teach that that clothes can be worn more than once. These girls actually had to be encouraged that it was okay to wear the same outfit twice, whereas I have a jacket in regular rotation that I have owned for more than eight years.

Apparently I'm doing it wrong though - apparently at the end of every season I'm supposed to throw out those clothes and buy a new set. All my winter clothes, out the door to make room for all my Spring-wear. That I'm going to toss in 3 months to buy Summer wear.

If you couldn't tell by my dripping sarcasm, I think this is bloody ridiculous. To be fair I am removing all my winter wear from my cupboard - and stashing it elsewhere in my house. When it gets cold again next year I'll shift it all back into my cupboard.

The cost of a whole new wardrobe

Clothes these days are cheap. T-shirts for $5, pants for $10, jumpers and dresses for $20. With a few hours shopping effort (why would you want to!) you could purchase a whole new wardrobe for under $300, giving you a whole new look and variety of choices for summer. 

With so many cheap (poorly made, sweatshop) clothes available it's easy to get suckered into the fast fashion movement. It doesn't seem like much at the time to spend $30-$40 on a whole new outfit. But over time, it adds up to a ridiculous amount - which chains you to your 9-5 desk for years longer.

Let's assume you replace your wardrobe each season for $300. On top of that, you buy some outfits for special occasions (weddings and such) that you absolutely cannot wear again (oh the shame of outfit recycling!). These special occasion outfits cost another $400 a year.

Each year you're spending $1,600 a year on clothes. While it might not seem like much at the time, after 10 years you've lost out on $22,000, all for clothes that only stay in your wardrobe for a few weeks. 

If you were to put that extra money towards shortening your mortgage you could knock 9 years off your mortgage. If you've got a credit card debt, letting your clothes last through the seasons could be the quickest way out of the hole - by not spending any more, and freeing up money to make extra repayments.

Why buy new when there is so much excellent
under-priced stock in the thrift shop

Turn it off and on again: Buying any new clothes

The point of the Budget Reboot Challenge isn't to force you to change your ways, but to commit to something for a set period and see what it's really like. Turn off clothes shopping, and at the end of your commitment, ask yourself if you really need to add it back in again?

How long could you go without buying a new item of clothing? Big Kid Little Adult has started a challenge, to buy nothing new for a year (underwear excluded, you can buy that). Going in to summer if you need a few more singlets, just cut the sleeves off a ratty old shirt. I have so many of these, I actually have to hide shirts from myself in summer, otherwise I'll cut them all up!

How long can you commit to not buying new clothes? One Week? One Month? One Year? How much can you save doing it?

I can commit to Buying Nothing for a month! (Except for one costume... I've got dress-up needs! But I promise to buy second hand)

At the end of that, Turn It On again: This is the fun part. After the end of your commitment, you're free! You can buy as many new clothes as you want, but first I need you to do a status check for me.

Did you miss shopping? Did you find new ways to wear existing clothes?
Did you save money? How much?
Did you really feel like you were missing out? Maybe you could keep going with it?

Budget Reboot August, how did you go?

Back in August I asked you to try eating less meat. I committed to finding a meatless meal that Mr. FIRE would enjoy, and I failed. Drat. I fed him Miso Soup and Eggs on Hash Browns. While he enjoyed both of them, he argued that the Miso left him hungry, and that Eggs on Hash Browns made a great breakfast but weren't enough for a dinner. The search continues!

I did eat a lot of meat free meals myself while Mr. FIRE was away for work. Mostly because it was easier (being lazy helps some times). While I normally spend $200 a month on groceries, September is on track to be closer to $150. This is a pretty big saving, but to be fair it might be more that Mr. FIRE was away, than that I spent less. Then again, while he's away I have to buy everything myself, rather than sharing the cost - so maybe I did save?

Budget Reboot Challenge: Eating Meat

Hello Budget Reboot, have you tried turning it off and on again?

Money saving posts are always the same - stop doing this, stop buying that, stop having any fun and live a sad deprived life while watching the numbers in your bank account tick up and up. Of course, they don't frame it that way, but when someone asks you to give up something you love in the name of money, we get pretty defensive.

Instead of 'giving up' let's try something new. Hit the refresh button on your spending habits with this Budget Reboot Challenge.

This month's challenge: Eating Meat.

Let's start with a simple assertion: Steak is delicious. Bacon is delicious. I think people are designed to eat meat and it tastes amazing - this post isn't going to try and convert you to a meat free lifestyle.

But what about a meat free meal. Just a couple of times a week.

Meat versus alternative proteins - in dollars

At my local supermarket I can buy chicken breasts for $9 a kilo. I can buy cheap casserole steak for $12 a kilo, or delicious marinated Kangaroo steak for $32.70 a kilo.

Or I can pick up a tin of mixed beans for $1.88 a kilo. I can buy a dozen eggs for $3, or collect them from my back yard for next to nothing. There are also an amazing variety of cheeses to choose from, as well as tofu, nuts, milk, yoghurt, mushrooms and other protein heavy vegetables. If you plan it well, you can get just as much protein from a meat free meal, for a fraction of the cost.

I'm not eating salad!

Okay, cool, that's fair - salads aren't for everyone, although a Lentil, Roast Carrot and Feta salad is divine. There are plenty of meat free meals you can take out for a spin that aren't salads.

Soup

A FIRE household favourite is a simple pumpkin soup. Made with butternut pumpkin, sweet potato, carrots, coconut milk and a little Thai curry paste, it's the only vegetarian meal Mr. FIRE actively begs me to make. You need a kilo of pumpkin, a kilo of sweet potato, and 500g of carrots. Peel and cube the whole lot and toss it in a giant soup pot with 2 tablespoons of Thai curry paste and a litre of chicken stock. Simmer for an hour, then blend and add 2 cans of coconut milk. It's one of the easiest vegetarian dishes I know, and costs less than $1 a serve.

Eggs

Another option is to have breakfast for dinner. Inspired by Adventures With Poopsie I've been having eggs on hash browns for dinner while Mr. FIRE is away for work. You can buy the hash browns frozen, or make your own.

To make your own hash browns you need:

• Two medium potatoes
• A small handful of grated cheese
• A pinch of chives
• A dash of salt and pepper

Peel the potatoes and grate them onto a plate. Zap the grated potato in the microwave for 2 minutes, then dump it into a mixing bowl. Stir in chives, cheese, salt and pepper. Dump the whole lot in a hot frying pan and press flat - the flatter it is, the better it cooks. 

Hash browns take 5-10 minutes to cook through, so keep an eye on them and start cooking the eggs when you think they're done. The extra couple of minutes on the hashbrowns is important to make them extra crispy. Then enjoy delicious, easy dinner for about $1.50.

Beans and rice

Finally, I need to mention the Frugalwoods Rice and Beans recipe. At first I thought this would be sad and dull, but worth it as an occasional ultra frugal meal. I was wrong, this is one of the most delicious meals in my lunch rotation for less than a dollar a serve.

Give it a whirl, you won't regret it!

Cheap, delicious options

There are hundreds of ways to eat a meatless meal. The ones I've listed above are just the super easy options. Each meal listed above costs around $1 a serve. In contrast, a single pork loin chop would cost me $3.50, plus the costs of sides.

A single meatless meal is $4 cheaper than a meat based one. Having a single meatless meal each week will save you $208 a year, invested that $4 is worth $3,000 over ten years. For another way to look at cost, you would need to invest $5,200 to have a passive income of $4 a week to pay for that steak.

Turn it off and on again: Expensive meat based meals

The point of the Budget Reboot Challenge isn't to force you to change your ways, but to commit to something for a set period and see what it's really like. Turn off eating meat for every meal, and at the end of your commitment, ask yourself if you really need to add it back in again?

You can urn off eating meat in a variety of ways: commit to meatless Mondays for a month. or perhaps not eating meat for a full week. Maybe you're only going to commit to learning one meat free recipe. Pick something you can handle and make a commitment to yourself.

I, LadyFIRE, commit to finding a meatless meal that Mr. FIRE will enjoy.

I know that doesn't sound like much, but you haven't met Mr. FIRE. It's going to be a challenge!

At the end of the month, turn it on again: This is the fun part. After the end of your commitment, you're free! You can eat as much meat as you want, but first I need you to do a status check for me.

Did you enjoy your meatless meals? Maybe you could cook them more often?
Did you save money? How much?
Did you really feel like you were missing out? Did those meatless meals leave you hangry or were they actually pretty satisfying. Maybe you could keep going with it?