Our pledge, part IV.

We've made it three weeks without going to a major chain retailer, restaurant or grocery store. Here's our pledge, part II, and part III. We've adjusted where we shop but also how we shop, where we go on dates, what we do for entertainment -- everything. It's sort of like a cleanse.

Overall, we're spending less and saving more. Part of this is because our options of places to spend money have greatly diminished and we're less likely to stop somewhere. We're also less likely to be somewhere that we'd enjoy making impulse buys (i.e. Target). Sunday morning shopping is leisurely, and although it's time consuming to buy things at all different places, it's kind of fun.

We've found new places to spend our time like outdoor farms and local flea markets. As you can imagine, we were pretty nervous about missing our usual date nights at the movies once we decided to "go local" but my mom pointed out that the drive-in near us is locally/family owned. The best part? We were able to see two movies, for the price of one!

I've had a few minor lapses in judgement where all I want is a burrito from Chipotle, but luckily Sean talks me down (although it's easy for him since that's not his favorite place).

Here's our spending for the third week:

A hard part is finding something when you've waited until the last minute: case in point -- we had a wedding Saturday afternoon and 40 minutes before arriving at the church we still didn't have a card. Typically, this would be a no-brainer and we'd stop at CVS or Target and it wouldn't be an issue. But finding a wedding related card? At the last minute? That's a tough one! (We ended up finding one at one of the places we stopped for ice cream last week).

We've been noticing what businesses offer to us other than what they advertise for. For instance, our local hardware store sells our cat's dry food. And our local liquor store sells our cat's wet food. Odd? Yes. The local market sells Sunday morning homemade donuts that are far tastier than anything I've ever ordered from Dunkin Donuts and the local ice cream shop gives us the opportunity to watch sheep roam around the parking lot which is actually very entertaining. 

Here's to the end of the month being as successful as the beginning!