No Spend Month

Begins today.

Okay, “No Spend” is a little inaccurate. More like “really-cut-down-on-everything” and “just-the-essentials” month. I got this idea from Small Notebook. 31 days, 3 people, $225. What a great way to determine what your real needs are! And what a great way to tuck away some extra savings for our down payment!

via Small Notebook

So here’s the plan… July 24-August 24, 3 people, $225

Rules:
*This amount doesn’t include mortgage, bills, childcare.
*It also doesn’t include Logan’s gas money. Since he travels for work and gets some reimbursement, we’re just putting the reimbursement amount in the tank for the month. My gas will be in that amount.
*It does include groceries, entertainment, and extras.
*Our only other exceptions are for Logan’s birthday (present and dinner) and school supplies (since our amazing PTO reimburses us for some of our purchases).
*We each get $20 out of the $225 to do whatever we want.
*Should there be a medical or car emergency, we take care of it. Of course, that’s way more important than No Spend Month.
*We started the month with our cars about 3/4 full and basic groceries.

I’ve got to admit, I’m dying to spend some money. On Day 1. I took Emily to the zoo (we have a membership), and I just wanted to buy something. I never do that there! It’s going to be a long month!

But at the end, I hope we’ve really determined what’s important versus what we just want. And think twice about those wants before buying them. And appreciate what we have. And save a little money for our new house. That’s what I’m going to remind Logan (and myself) of every time we want to quit this experiment. Which is why I’m blogging about it–you’re holding me accountable. So if I skip out on dinner dates, it’s because of No Spend Month. Ask me again in a month!

Anyone want to join me? 🙂