One thing we have decided to buy new is stuff for the back yard. Our backyard is big but there is no patio or deck, so our table would sink into the soft ground. I came up with a design that will allow us to build a deck that can be taken with us the next time we move. (We will build four separate 6x6 sections that will be carriage bolted to each other, for a full 12x12 deck.) We also plan to buy a gazebo ($200), possibly a new grill ($150 or so. Ours is 8 years old and falling apart) and wood and various soil components for four 4x4 square foot garden beds. We had planned to sell our current patio set and buy a new one, because the wrought iron is rusting (loaned it to my brother while we lived in an apartment in Ohio and he left it out all winter, uncovered) and there are only four chairs for five people. After thinking about it I decided that I like our current set, so we will just paint it and buy a chair that sort of matches so we don't have to keep dragging a kitchen chair out there. All together, we will be spending less than $500, and since we are doing the compact for financial reasons, and we budgeted for this, I am totally ok with it. Justification? Maybe.Everything else that I purchased falls under the exemptions that I decided on when we started. (Bras, cross trainers, shoes for large footed children.)
We have also decided to take the kids to Germany next summer, so there will be various purchases throughout the upcoming year. (Passports mostly.)
Another thing that I decided is that it isn't fair of me to drag my family along on my crazy adventure. I am the one who decided to do the compact, and it isn't fair of me to force it on them. Of course, I wouldn't hand them money and ask them to buy me something (I think that would violate the spirit of the compact), but I am not going to try to stop them from purchasing new.
So basically, no new purchases for April, but probably plenty for May.
Cross posted at Life, in a Nutshell
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