I was looking for a new challenge and thanks to MomAdvice, I have one....
Effective this morning, we are instituting a "no spending rule" in our house until March 1st. There are four reasons that we are doing this:
- To use items from our stockpile. When you have a large pantry and it still can't hold all of your stuff, it is time to cut back. When you have to rearrange your entire freezer in order to fit the 22 boxes of Totinos...it's time to re-think your shopping habits.
- To reduce our spending and get "gazelle-intense" in our Total Money Makeover. Although I am a big fan of Dave Ramsey, we are anything but the perfect candidate to call in to his show. We still take the kids out for dinner (although we try to get cheapo restaurant certificates from Restaurant.com) and I will still pick up the occasional Bakugan at Target.
- To give myself (and my family) a "gut check" and to remind us of the difference between needs and wants.
- To see if I can.
So what does this mean?
For the next 4 weeks, I am reducing our grocery budget to $30 per week. The only groceries that I will be buying is milk, eggs, bread and produce. With the help of the multitude of online recipe sites (especially $5 Dinners), we will be cooking meals from the pantry and freezer.
For the most part, I will be skipping any stock-up sales/Catalina deals unless it is for something that I am running low on and I can save a minimum of 85%
There will be no eating out, stopping at Wawa for a coffee or soda, etc. The one exception is that we will keep our Icee/donut stop after church each Sunday.
There will be no clothes shopping, no trips to Target, no "extras" when we go to the Dollar Tree to get newspapers...nothing, nada, zilch, zero!
It should go without saying that we will be paying our bills, but we are going to be extra mindful of utility use.
Expenses needed to keep the cars running (gas, any repairs) will not be eliminated. But since I am not going to be going out and spending money, my gas use should be reduced as well.
I get 1 treat for the month...the $5 that I spend at the neighborhood Bunco Night each month.
It should be a fun ride...anyone care to join me? I'll be posting updates as we go along!
Be sure to check out MomAdvice and find out who else is participating!
Bet
We did a one week fiscal fast, you can read about here:
http://takeawhisk.blogspot.com/search?q=fiscal+fast
You'll have to scroll to the bottom and read backwards. I think you might enjoy!
Good luck on the one month. You've got the beginning down right, setting up your rules, etc. And I know you've got a well-stocked pantry.
Best wishes!
money-savingmommy
Okay, I think this is the most awesome thing I've heard in a long time. I would love to try it...although I'm not sure how well it would go over with my husband 🙂 I might just give it a try for a week and see how it goes. Although, it you stop by my site and read today's blogs, you'll see that it might be difficult for me too! Thanks for the challenge!
Leah
ACK! what are you doing to me?!!? LOL! i just posted on my blog about how i'm only trying to do $50/week (on average..as long as it equals $200/month) for feeding my family this month just like you! LOL! oh well, i'll still run with my challenge and good luck with yours...that would be so hard...hey, on a side note, our papers had coupons for free coffee at mcd's..no purchase necessary..that could be a nice treat once a week if you got several of them!
Heidi @ GGIP
Good luck! I will be very interested to see what, if anything, will tempt you. I imagine coffee maybe or some other great deals?
Keep us updated.
Julie
Good luck! I'm sure that since you set ground rules and look at the whole thing as a challenge, it won't be that bad.
I selfishly want to know if you're going to continue posting great grocery/drug store deals and coupon previews. I find them really helpful -- especially the coupon previews.
JessicaB
I wish you all the best in keeping with this. I think it is a great idea. Maybe one day I can do something as strong as this.
Amy
I am so happy you are participating! I can't wait to see how your month goes and what you discover during this process. We are already figuring out that we eat out more often than we should and we are only on day three 🙂 Looking forward to reading more and thanks so much for joining the challenge!
Marly
Get the kids involved too. They need to learn about fiscal responsibility and what better time than a month when the entire family is focusing on it. Also, try http://www.fiftyp.com to help them along. They offer free programs and kids can learn about saving, spending, investing and sharing with others.