Oil Change - The 3,000 Mile Myth!

I think we can all agree that our modern vehicles are pretty dang sweet.  They have become, for the passengers at least, a moving living room of sorts with DVD players and TV screens.  There are heated seats, automatic defrosting windows, push-button ignitions, GPS, exterior proximity sensors, etc.  We've come a long way from that old Model T.  Suffice it to say, so has our motor oil.

Not sure about you but, I tack up lots of miles with my commute to and from work.  I found myself getting an oil change every two months.  I got pretty sick of spending an afternoon in the waiting rooms of auto shops which invariably - no matter where I go - will be screening trashy, daytime talk shows like Maury etc. 

That 3,000 mile oil change rule isn't a rule.  It's more like a bad suggestion.  With modern vehicles and new advances in motor oil, we don't need to change our oil that often.  To do so is just more money in the pockets of oil companies and auto shops, and not to mention harder on the environment.  Here is a great article describing this in more detail.  Save yourself the money and hassle by waiting until 8,000-10,000 miles to get your oil changed.  

No-Spend Challenge Complete!

It's finally over!  The 30 Day No-Spend Challenge is complete!  I was really dragging there by the end, but here's my 30 day, budget breakdown:

Average monthly gas usage - $108.42
Gas usage during NSC - $109.09
No savings here, but just a few cents below average: -$0.67.

Average monthly food purchases - $324.28
Food purchases during NSC - $156.93
I was able to cut my food costs by over half, saving $167.35!

Average monthly "fun money" - $47
Fun money spent during NSC - $17.15
I did break the eating out rule twice, but I was still able to stay way below my monthly average and saved $29.85.

Savings by simply not buying random things during NSC - $72

This brings my total savings during the 30 Day No-Spend Challenge to $268.53!

Photo Credit

I'm very happy with that end total.  It is a surprising amount for me.  I've always thought of myself as a pretty thrifty person, but this challenge taught me exactly how thrifty I could be.  If I kept my spending this tight for a whole year, I'd save over $3,200!  Craziness!  

If I were going to try to do this challenge more often, I think a more reasonable and sustainable time frame for me would be 15 days each month.  By only strictly restricting my spending half of the month, I could still feel like I could live a normal life while still saving some money.  I've heard of people going for a 6 month+ No-Spend Challenge!  I commend them wholeheartedly, but I've got to have a little wiggle room.  I like obscure food ingredients and eating at new restaurants way too much to go without them for a half a year.  

For those of you who tackled this challenge as well, how did it go?  Did you save as much as you thought you would?  Did you surprise yourself?  Thank you for joining me on this journey.  Stay tuned for more budget tips and kitchen tricks.  

Budget Tip - Bake your own Bread

If you and your family eat a lot of bread, that money can stack up, especially if you are buying good quality bread.  Were're talking about $1 homemade vs. $5 store bought for a single loaf.  Making bread at home can be very easy though.  I've been making our own bread for maybe 9 or 10 years.  The traditional method takes quite a bit of practice/experience and trial and error, but I've been thoroughly enjoying the laziness convenience that is the No-Knead method.

My good friend at work got me started with no-knead bread, but YouTuber ArtisanBreadWithStev showed me how simple it really is.  He has a great introduction video that is definitely worth watching.  I'm partial to using a sourdough starter so this is the recipe that I use most often, but when I want to use dry, packaged yeast, I use this recipe.  You can still make a variety of flavors and shapes with the no-knead method, and you don't need any special equipment.

I love that I can control what goes into the bread we eat.  Ours doesn't have any preservatives, unnecessary binders, or other junk.  Obviously it's got a much shorter shelf life than the plastic bagged bread you find at the grocery store, but any extra loaves you make can be stored in the freezer.  And stale bread has it's place in the kitchen too: homemade croutons, breadcrumbs, panzanella, French toast, bread pudding, hello!