Now that the month of February is over, read how it went for Amy Dunn and her family during their attempt not to spend money. Go HERE.

We're into the home stretch on our 28-day experiment in living off the consumer grid.

I love my crock pot.

Let me count the ways: 

One of the best ways to save money, I have discovered over the years, is to surround yourself with frugal friends.

If you have keeping-up-with-the-Joneses types of friends, you're an oddball for cutting up old t-shirts into rags. You're an eccentric, at best, for outfitting yourself in thrift shop finds. And you're downright weird if you happen to let slip that you dip into the recycling bins to hunt for coupons. 

But in frugal friendship circles, you're a genius.

Here are a few more truths I've discovered about my dearest, most thrifty, companions:

(In case this is your first time reading The Dollar Diet blog, my family and I are on a quest to go the entire month of February without spending any money. No kidding. We'll pay the monthly bills, put gas in our cars to get to and from work and spend just $10 a week on milk and produce, but that's it. If it's discretionary, it's off limits. Click here to read the introductory post.)

It couldn't have happened at a worse time.

My laptop is dead. Officially pronounced so by my computer geek husband.

He had ressurrected it from the grave several times before over the last several months but this time he let me know there was nothing more he could do.

I'm trying to look on the bright side here but am having a tough time finding one.

I sure wasn't banking on going without a computer when I signed myself up for 28 days of no spending.

It's one thing to do without fast food or a diet soda from the vending machine. But my computer?

This will be a true measure of my materialism.

I'll let you know how it goes. 

Don't miss Amy Dunn's recent blog post about what you do when you run out of bread.

Dunn is trying to spend as little money as possible during the month of February.

As you might imagine, 17 days into our 28-day no-spend challenge, our normally packed pantry has some gaping holes.

My mom, the very woman who taught me everything I know about couponing, was the first to break the news to me that rumors were circulating on the Internet that Harris Teeter would be offering Super Double coupons starting today.

Once a week at our house, we eat breakfast for dinner.
It's a great way to trim the grocery budget. Pancakes, after all, are way cheaper to serve than even the cheapest cuts of beef or chicken.