Is it really possible?

Alright, enough of the serious talk. Let's get down to the nitty-gritty. Is this challenge really going to be possible? I am completely a self-professed gear head and I think that it may be difficult for me to resist buying a new fleece or pair of Carhartts. It is especially hard because I work outside all year long and so it is really easy for me to justify those kinds of purchases. I think that the best way for me to resist is just to avoid. I am not going to tempt myself - I am going to stay clear of the gear stores of Thunder Bay. To ease my sorrows I will probably just end up baking copious amounts of delicious treats - not such a bad compromise.


Here are the rules that we are going to follow:

1. No limit for spending money on food at the grocery store or farmers' market.
2. No limit for spending money on rent, hydro, telephone, or internet.
3. No limit for spending money on our car (gas, oil, repairs) or car related things (insurance, license plate stickers).
4. No limit for spending money on rat food and bedding (for our pet ratties Beaker and Bunsen - but NO toys!).
5. Purchase no clothing (unless ABSOLUTELY necessary to maintain a professional role and in this case try to buy as much second-hand as possible).
6. Monthly payments towards my student loan are allowed (and necessary, got to get rid of the ol' ball and chain!).
7. Dinner out (or any meal) only once a month. No buying alcohol while out.
8. We are only allowed to buy alcohol once a month (in both of our cases this will not be a problem as neither of us are big drinkers).
9. Out to see a movie only once a month.
10. One night out a month to do something recreational that costs money (bowling, mini-putt, etc.)
11. No spending on any household items unless absolutely necessary (if something breaks than we are allowed to replace it).
12. No recreational trips out of the Thunder Bay region.


So far - that's it. I'm sure that we will add more rules to this list as the year progresses and that some of these rules may morph and evolve. It is interesting to note that already some of the rules are becoming a little obscured. This usually occurs when there is something that either of us really wants. For instance, Matt is running a dodgeball league this year at the university and somehow was able to justify the purchase of a set of dodgeballs! Not sure how he got away with that.....????

Besides giving up buying gear, the thing that will be hardest for me is not going on any recreational trips. We have an annual tradition where we drive down to southern Minnesota to a nature centre that I once worked at to buy delicious apples from their orchard. It is really disappointing that we are not able to go there this year. I think it is also disappointing for our family and friends because they often reap the harvest of the fall apple road trip!

Our goal with this challenge is to see if we can live a semi-normal life while still giving a considerable amount of our earnings to the World Food Program. It is our hope that through this investigation we will be able to convince more people that it is relatively easy to give.

-E