So many ones or ones of many?

Happy New Year!!

I hope you managed to see the new year in style!!

We had some fireworks in the garden (already bought back in November - so doesn't count!) and the children enjoyed them, followed by a buffet, some Scene it Twilight (thanks sis!) and a little bit too much of the bubbly stuff (for us, not them!)

So, it's 1/1/11 - so many ones, or one of many?!

My challenge is up and running and today we have succeeded.

It was a touch and go for a moment as we went out for our walk today. Sis and family are up with us and there was talk of stopping at Starbucks for coffees halfway round the three mile walk. Mr Beehive and I talked about this being part of the challenge and could we actually stand outside the shop whilst sis and co were enjoying drinks, should we forefeit today as it is "New Year" and start at midday (cheat in otherwords?) or should we just be killjoys and kybosh it altogether (spoil the fun for not just our kids, but theirs too?)
Luckily before we'd mentioned any of these ideas to sis and bro, they offered to shout the cups of coffees, so we managed to win that situation!

We had a joint of ham for dinner this evening which will be sliced now for sandwiches and the other half of it will be cubed and made into pea and ham soup for lunch one night this week.

Other than that we've not done anything today that has required money, so there is nothing to report, in fact, I haven't even used the washing machine today, so even less money has been used today.

Our main spends tend to be:
Car - less now than we used to, but still at times for unecessary trips, or trips that could reallly be walked.

Washing and Drying - my children are horrific for looking at clothing and putting it out for washing, or, in the case of Mr Beehive the younger, putting clean clothing BACK (yes, you read that right!) in the washing basket because he's too lazy to hang it up. We have a perfectly serviceable airer and Sheila maid that we can use for drying, so I intend to record my use of the dryer each day AND the car.
It would appear I may well have to resort back to sniffing crotches again - *sigh* the joys of parenting - to ensure items can be worn for a consecutive day!

Extras not on the shopping list - this, along with waste is my biggest bug bear. I write lists and then both myself and Mr Beehive will always manage to come back with more that wasn't on the list "it was on offer" or "just a little treat" tends to be the excuse... not anymore! Waste is another - the children insist on x, then never eat it, two weeks later it's out of date and not fit to eat! Not anymore!! Food recycling is high on my list this month.

If we manage to successfully work this challenge, I may aim to have a new challenge in February/March where we only spend a certain amount each week on food, or where we only have a certain weight of food waste each week or are only allowed to fill one black bag of waste each week.

I'm not seeing this challenge as a cut and dry, one off, but more a gradual lifestyle change where we start to appreciate more the things that we take for granted.