Spending Moratorium

Do you ever have a family spending moratorium? At Rural Ways we spent more money during December 2010 than we earned during the month. Now, I ain’t too book smart, but I know the formula for debt when I see it, and there it is. So, for the month of January 2011, we tried to reverse the trend by imposing a spending moratorium—necessities only, no luxuries. The interesting question, of course, is, which is which. Now, I would say that some of what I’ve seen in the media during the Great Recession has convinced me that most rich westerners are confused by the difference between those two terms. Is Rural Ways? Well, let’s see, what have we purchased during January? Half and half for the coffee, fuel for two cars, cheap red wine for the dinner table, dance lessons for the kid. Hmm. I think we may be a little confused ourselves. On the other hand, we did succeed in reducing our January spending to 1/3 of what it was in December. Does that entitle us to a February splurge on, say, wine that comes in a bottle instead of a plastic bag?