100 Day Challenge #2: If I can't buy it in a supermarket then I'm not buying it

One of the more bizarre but interesting challenges I am laying down for myself is this:

I will be limiting my spending to just those items I can get in a supermarket. Now with the size of some supermarkets you'd think - easy you can get anything in the supermarkets these days including clothes - where is the challenge in that.

The challenge is that where I live (Perth, Western Australia) supermarkets don't stock clothes (other than socks, undies and hosiery) unless you are a baby and wander round in romper suits and vests all day, which I don't of course. Our supermarkets don't even sell booze, though they do sell chocolate, but hey I'm not out to stop buying everything, just "stuff".

Now there are some obvious caveats. I will be buying fuel for my car and if my family needs anything then the rules don't apply, ditto with presents - although I am tempted to go with vouchers from now on anyway, and you can get those in supermarkets.

The other big caveat is the weekend, when I do intend buying a cup of coffee to go with my breakfast - after all I am not sitting staring at my partner as he eats his :-/

Why would I challenge myself in this way?

Well there are many reasons:

1. I want to save some money. Christmas is coming up and I want to give my kids money towards their respective vehicles. I buy something like 3 or 4 cups of coffee's each week. That will have to stop. It's a nice but bad habit to have. I think the average cup of coffee here now is the ridiculous price of $4.50 so I'm going to be saving between $13.50 and $18 a week which will add up to several hundred dollars by the end of the 100 days.
2. I can't buy alcohol. Again a nice but bad habit to have. This one will save me both $'s and calories. Now, again there is a caveat, my partner and I do go out a couple of times a week and it will be up to me whether I choose to have a drink or not. As I want / need to lose another 10 kilos this is going to be a great way to do it - alcohol as we are told is "empty" calories.
3. No bought lunches, and if the kids want takeaway, well they are old enough to get themselves onto a bus and fetch it. Now if I buy lunch once a fortnight currently that's about as much as I do buy, but limiting my purchases to supermarket based foods means I can buy it all in one go on a weekend and take it to work - they have a fridge and freezer believe it or not, not to mention a microwave oven :-) which should save me some more money.
4. I don't need more "stuff" - as you know I am getting rid of some of the "stuff" I own with the discard 100 things in 100 days challenge to myself.  However I do have 2 very big indulgences, one is books, the other is clothes. Well I have a brand new e-reader (my birthday present) with a squillion books loaded (I love books and will buy lots of them normally), the new toy means I won't need to. And I really do have more than enough clothes. So - the exception I will give myself with regards to "stuff" is postage stamps. I do still hand write the odd letter, so will need a means to send them. So - postage stamps are allowed. But that's about it.

So - there you have it, my very big challenge to myself - no lunch time, or other kind of impulse shopping and if I can't buy it in a supermarket, then I can't have it.