The second month of the year is on the books and it was an eye-opening one! I started the year with my approved spending list, which I knew would adjust throughout the year. Somehow I totally missed approved gardening expenses!

I decided late last year that I wanted to focus on growing some of our food this year and learn to grow from seed. My plan entailed getting two raised beds put in the yard, buying a small greenhouse for growing the seeds indoors, and of course, the dirt to fill the beds with, good organic seeds. grow lights, heat mats, … the whole she-bang.

Maybe my mind is still on Wisconsin time, which would have me starting to think about raised beds in April, not February. It didn’t occur to me that I’d be needing to put everything in motion in February to be on top of timelines for a productive garden!

Thanks to a local friend, he is helping me with building the beds. Still, the cost of lumber and supplies was around $400, and the dirt to fill them with was hundreds of dollars! Now, it would be more if I was going the easy route of buying a bunch of bagged soil. Instead, I’ve been studying the work of Mel Bartholomew and following his recipe for the absolute best soil possible to grow a lot of healthy things in a small space. (Except for using coconut coir instead of peat moss.)

This is where the value-based spending focus came in.

I knew that I wanted to grow our own organic produce. I also know that I want to make it as easy on myself as possible for this all to work. So a lot of my spending choices were for higher quality items to hopefully help this whole gardening thing be a fruitful (pun intended) venture.

All the seeds I bought were organic and purchased directly from reputable seed companies. I purchased three self-watering seedling trays. The dirt mix could have been done cheaper, but I also know the soil plays a huge role in the success of your plants, so this was a no-brainer for me. I also bought a good water filter system so I could use distilled water for the seedlings (and to start drinking filtered water instead of tap water), two heat mats, and a pretty glass mister for when the little guys pop their heads up.

Something I went cheap on were the grow lights. I couldn’t stomach coughing up hundreds of dollars on them when I hadn’t even grown from seeds before, and I may not even like it that much! So I went with some $23 clip on lights that were touted on-line as the best quality budget lights you could get.

I really enjoyed taking my time with these garden spending decisions. I deeply considered what made sense to invest more money in, and what didn’t. I researched things I could do now that would make for an easier experience throughout the summer and feel great about the decisions.

I also purchased a bed frame for our guest room which is on our approved spending list. It may still be sitting in a box in the living room… but we’ll get it assembled soon. I think. 🙂

The other item I purchased this month was a grounding mat. (Spencer also bought one so each bed has one now.) I mentioned in last month’s post that I really wanted to buy one, but didn’t. I had these on my radar since 2019 as a way to naturally reduce inflammation and I was excited to finally try these out. And they work! By day two I noticed that upon waking up I had fewer aches and pains in my body and Spencer’s back arthritis started calming down quickly. This purchase aligns very closely with my value around prioritizing health and vitality for the long term and not relying on Western medicine unless absolutely necessary.

Here’s my February Recap:

Wins

• Even with all these expenses last month, I was still able to add $1,000 to my emergency fund! This gave me a solid appreciation for how far I can stretch my income.

• I didn’t go to Costco AT ALL because we didn’t run out of anything! March will be a re-stocking month, but I have a much clearer sense of how fast we go through our staple items. Cheers to only going there every 4-6 weeks from now on!

• I had been watching flight prices for my Denver trip for about two months. I scored the best price I’ve ever gotten by being patient! (Less than $300!)

• I allow myself two book purchases a month. This month was just one – a $4 used copy of the Square Foot Gardening book.

Temptations

• Even with my friend helping me build two raised beds, I was eyeing the purchase of a third one from Epic Gardening for 25% off. I will put one more on my approved expense list for the end of the year if I feel that I’d happily use (and keep up with) another bed.

Missteps and UGH moments

• Not anticipating all the gardening expenses this early in the year was definitely an ‘ugh’ moment for me. It still felt great to cash flow it all and still pad my savings, but I am pushing back my aggressive car paydown date by one month (April) because of it.

New Resources

• This podcast from the Minimalists was what prompted me to finally buy the grounding mat I’d been considering for so long. I have a soft spot for The Minimalists since they are part of what prompted me to take charge of my finances back in 2017!

• This documentary is also great and it talks all about grounding, how, and why it works.

• Square Foot Gardening is brand new to me, and already a holy grail for my garden planning for this year. It was created by Mel Bartholomew who was a civil engineer and efficiency expert. He made this method to help people grow the most high-quality food in a small area and breaks it down to make it (seemingly) SO easy. His book is one of the most popular gardening books ever sold and I’m learning a lot from it.

Reflections

This level of discernment with spending is already feeling like an ingrained habit. It was enjoyable to spend time considering my purchases last month and make decisions from a clear, value-based place.

Looking forward I’m eager to see my cash on hand amount go up significantly next month, then watch my car balance drop!