The "Why" Behind the Great Grocery Challenge

Since opening up my blog to more people, I've had a few people approach me with various levels of incredulity or curiosity about "The Great Grocery Challenge." They wonder where I got the idea (the grocery game message boards), what I think about living on a budget (absolutely necessary and completely liberating), and whether I can keep up the challenge once I start working full time. I've been doing hardcore coupon shopping for quite a while now, including while I was teaching 5th grade full time. Considering that this past year's full-time school load, part time volunteering at Shell Beach, and job-sharing of 4th grade at CCS add up to significantly more than a full-time job, doing this with just a full-time job is going to seem easy-breezy come December.

But the number one question I have received is why??

To which I can simply reply, "Why not?" What reason would there be to deliberately spend more money than I need to spend?

But there's more to it than that. There are three main reasons, some less serious than others.

One reason for the challenge is that, believe it or not, it's just a little bit fun. We're approaching the phase where the challenge portion is becoming more of an actual challenge. Summer is a traditionally slow period for couponing and hot deals, so our stockpile of goodies and necessities is dwindling.

Which means that now's the time when it becomes really interesting. Can we really live on $25/week if we have to make sacrifices? For a couple of months, my coupons, stockpiles (built on a budget of $50/week, not including eating out costs), and creative financing (donating blood = one free Mo's sandwich) have made the challenge relatively painless (except for that whole needle stick part). It would be so easy to look at that $6.50 gallon of Naked Juice OJ and the $5 left in the budget and say, "Forget it, I can't do it. Raise the budget to normal levels." But that's no fun; that's quitting before the game has really begun.

Another reason for "The Great Grocery Challenge" is resetting our consumption default. We live in such a consumerist society that most Americans default mode is "buy it." I want to reset my default to "leave it on the shelf" and to do that requires getting radical about consumption habits. The GGC has filtered into every facet of our consumptive lives, so that every purchase is a thoughtful purchase even if we have the money to spend- from spending $4 on a new litter box (yes) or $5/month on text messaging on the cell phone (undecided) to $1000 for a new camera (no) or $400 on a plane ticket to visit family (yes). It doesn't mean we don't purchase ever; it means that every purchase has been considered and there is a rational reason for overriding the default mode.

We also want to get "gazelle intense" about paying off my student loan and our mortgage. And, yes, we know the arguments pro and con for paying off a mortgage. Ultimately, our decision comes down to this:

Proverbs 22:7 The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

We've come to believe God wants us to have no debt, not even so-called "good debt" like mortgages and student loans. I don't believe the Bible expressly forbids going into debt, and it even has specific guidelines for handling borrowing and lending. It sure makes clear that being in debt is not God's ideal, however. For us, eliminating debt means increasing the opportunity to put money toward God's goals, and it's where we feel we're supposed to be . . . even if that means living on $25/week for a while.