Can you go a week without spending money?

I'm not talking about not paying your utility bill, or skipping out on your mortgage payment. I'm talking about spending that looks like a cup of coffee at the corner cafe, a tank of gas for the car, a video rental, a new toy, a quick bite out for lunch or even the cart of groceries to get through the week.

I just realized this morning that I haven't spent ANY money whatsoever, for the past week. No gas for the car, no groceries, no extras, nothing. I'm guessing this happens more often than I realize. I just don't always think about it. How about you? Do you ever go a week or more without spending a single cent?

We live in a society where money appears to flow freely from pocket to merchant. Spending money seems to be the path to life's enjoyment, for many Americans. In my area, the mall and movie theaters are packed to the gills on weekends. This may be news to some, but shopping is not a hobby.

I think it is significant when we realize that the enjoyment of our own lives is not dependent on how much or how little we spend. We can find so much satisfaction with age-old hobbies like drawing, reading, playing games (as kids, my sister and I found ourselves enormously entertained for hours, with an ordinary deck of cards), or making music. And many of these past times won't make you cringe when you open the credit card bill next month.

It's Friday. I'm making plans for our family weekend. We won't be eating out, but instead, we'll work together, and have a good time at that, making our Saturday dinner (probably homemade pizza). We may get out the Scrabble board and see who's learned some new vocabulary. There's an art gallery in my area that I've been meaning to check out. That's on my personal plan for entertainment tomorrow afternoon. We won't be going to the mall, plugging our behinds into a theater seat or screaming our dinner order into the speaker at the drive through. I probably won't think too much about how little money we spend, this weekend. But when our financial goals are someday realized, I'll be glad we made the choices that we did over the years.

Early November lunch round-up

Much of what I made for lunches this week was either made Sunday evening (the baking) or were leftovers from Sunday and Monday's dinners. I've been preparing a little extra 2 nights in a row, to provide enough leftovers to get through several days' lunches. I did spend part of Monday afternoon making the pudding cups and zucchini bread and cream cheese sandwiches. My family really enjoys the ease of opening the fridge and choosing from this selection, according to what sounds appealing to them. And I like not having to think about lunches for the week, after I finish making up the selection each Monday.

• apple chunk muffins
• cornbread
• Asian-style turkey-tofu-noodle soup
• bean and veggie burger patties
• baked apples
• "zucchini" bread/cream cheese sandwiches ("zucchini" is a tiny, under ripe pumpkin, peeled and grated)
• homemade chocolate pudding cups

Have you noticed the ads for Christmas yet? I know it's now November, and all, but I'd like to postpone thinking about Christmas for just 1 week.

I hope your week is going well.