The Challenge

Lenten Musings

For Lent we are embarking on a social conscience experiment. We are going to be really thinking about our wants versus our needs and will be trying to buy only things that are needs. This has quickly become a topic of conversation at our house since most of the things we purchase on a regular basis are absolutely wants- Gatorade for soccer games- a want; tortilla chips for southwestern salad- a want; coffee, diet coke, crackers- all wants. My problem is that if I follow this logic I could quickly get us down to eating rice and beans with some veggies thrown in for nutrition. And that to me is not really sustainable. So, I think the goal is to be mindful of the items that I do purchase and be creative with the things that are in my home and look for ways to use what is already there to make meals.

Here are my goals:
$40/week or less at the grocery store
$15/week for Heather for lunch- trying to set myself up for success but still make it a challenge
No other outside purchases- no cute new spring sandals, no clothes, no junk, no eating out, no snacks at soccer games; one item that I am still toying with is haircuts- I am going to ask my dad to cut the boys hair, but Jay and I? Jay will probably have to have his cut but maybe he can stretch it out a week. But me? I am thinking I will have to stretch mine out 3 weeks longer- doable? Yes- oh yeah and I want to color my hair one more time before summer too- definitely a want.

We will still have to pay for school lunches, soccer fees, drum and gymnastics lessons, gas for the cars.

What am I hoping to gain out of this experiment?
First- let’s not kid ourselves- We’d like to save some money. I really have no idea how much it will actually be but I think it should at least be $500, which would be a nice thing to throw at debt.
Second- I want to examine for myself what is important to me- what I can live with and what I really crave. Hopefully this will not be all about food and what I have or don’t have but since we have not really been spending too much on other stuff it probably will become that.
I would also like for my kids to gain a sense of how privileged they are. Lots of families- even some we know live like this all the time. Even more live with so much less. My kids don’t realize how blessed we all are- they just think that this is the way life is. I also want them to think about their wants vs. their needs and start to understand the difference between them. Do I think that my 6 year old is going to get that? No. He will probably just complain that he doesn’t get any more Fun-yuns to eat- or ask where the candy is.

A secondary part of this is that once we take the focus off of our wants, can we get closer to God and what he wants and needs for us? Can we take the time to pray more as a family? To start our own bible exploration together? Even if it is just reading the Lenten prayer guides and our children’s bible to the kids, how can we all start thinking more about God and his needs?