Michelle had a great post at the end of the last thread, and I didn't want to move it out of place but I think it is a great message to post early in this thread:

Today I had my port flushed and I was a bit worried as I am about 3 weeks past when it should have been done. Welcome to the joy of a one car family. Initially it wouldn't flush and I have to say I am amazed at how fast panic sits up and roars in my chest....thankfully, the nurse had the needle in at the wrong angle and it was easily fixed. Good flush and great blood return.

When I got home, I found a post on FB from a friend who took herself to the ER on Dec. 14th, 15th and on the 16th she went and had a stroke followed by a heart attack, a life flight, catherization, stent, ventilator and a 10+ day stay in the hospital. They had to use the paddles on her 6 different times. She is 3 years younger than I am and it was a reminder to me how blessed I am and how fragile life is. She and her husband recently divorced so she has been living on her own and now must sell her house and move in with her mother as she has only 30 percent of her heart working and has to wear a cardiac vest for the next 6 months. The vest will detect any events that would need to have a shock to get the heart back in rhythm. She has to get rid of her beloved dogs too. My heart is very heavy for her and after she has a few days to get settled in, I will be going to visit.

So...this situation with my friend has made me look around at the things I have been unhappy with and have decided to make a list (which is now already made) and get on with taking care of the many things that make me crazy around here. I don't want to take care of them but by not taking care of things, I am prolonging my own crankiness about it which isn't good for anyone.

I am the one who runs in the budget in the house and this month we are taking part in a No Spend Challenge. The only money going out will be for bills, medications, medical co-pays, animal feed and a set amount for groceries. Nothing else. It's not like we spend extra on much of anything....except for this last month with all the holiday activities. I am interested to see how we do. :)

I just spent maybe 15 minutes going through a box of paperwork...a very LARGE box where we have been piling mail and got through about a third of it. It still needs to be sub-divided and put into the proper folders but at least the initial sorting has begun and copious amounts of junk mail and old newspapers have been tended to.

We will be celebrating Christmas with my MIL and FIL tomorrow and the following day all Christmas decorations are being packed up with love and tucked away until next year.

Goodnight All,

Michelle

I looked for "No Spend Challenge" and found a lot of articles from earlier in the year. I found a blog about saving a whole lot over about 15 months (not just one month - she feels the longer you can go, the better).

This guy thought a month was probably too short and had some observations about future attempts.

Here are some tips for managing a 30 day no spending challenge.

I think this is an interesting idea, and today I did shop, but only for the thing that were already on my shopping list. I'll read through some of these tips and see if I can make it through as they suggest. As a gardener, my freezer and pantry shelves are loaded with last summer and fall's produce. That's a great starting place. Some eggs, flour, milk, and the rest in the freezer and let's see what happens.