Sunday, February 1, 2009

The No Spend Challenge


I have thought long and hard about this and am still not sure. Amy has guts, let me tell you. She has been an inspiration for many years now. She has an incredible will and desire that many lack.

We are going to take her challenge, although going by a few of our own rules, like allowing hubby to buy an extra Coke, of he gets caught out later than usual or something along that line. He hauls hazardous waste (like nerve gas, chemical agents and such). He packs a lunch, but some days turn into 16 hours or longer, so......he can do as he needs.

We will eat out two Sunday's this month after church.

However, my goal is to cut our monthly expenses. By how much I am not sure. We shall see about that one come March 1 when it is all tallied up.

So, you might be asking what the goal is. Well, that's easy on paper (to tell you). That would be to have $100 left each week out of hubby's check after paying bills. Now, some weeks his check is down to $300 or so, because there is not enough work to go around. So, we will just have to do the best we can. I currently do NOT have a check coming in from the farm and will not until in June.

We also normally spend $400 a month on groceries, wipes, pull-ups, paper products, cleaning supplies, gifts, toiletries and cosmetics. We will bring that down to $200 this month.

I also will give a day by day account of where and what we are spending money on.

So are you with us? If so jump on board!

Blessings!

5 comments:

ASHLEY said...

THIS SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD IDEA, BUT I AM NOT SURE I COULD DO IT.

Kristi said...

I am all for it. I do not work so we are living off my husband's work income and his disability from the army since he almost lost his life in Iraq. We are actually starting the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace course on Feb. 10th. We have got to get some bills paid off and get some money saved up before my husband goes to nursing school next June. I am going to look into the Challenge you are doing.

ADMIN said...

I've seen a lot of other websites doing the same thing. Some people made it their New Year's resolution to do it for the month of January. I did it myself for an entire year. It was when my kids were 2 years old. I did not buy any new clothing or non-necessities, no fast food, made my own Christmas cards,all gifts were baked goods, none of my favorite coffee creamers, no lunch out, no gym,no hair appointments,(my bf trimmed my hair ) no buying books-my big indulgence- and I was able to put an extra $3,000.00 in my kids college fund. It was worth the effort for me, but I am not high maintenance at all! I'm sure you'll do just fine,Marva. I'll be cheering you on!

Amy said...

Thank you so much for participating, Marva! I think you have a great plan in mind and also are being probably more realistic than me ;) I can't wait to follow your journey.

Mimi- A whole year! Now THAT is a challenge, my friend! Wow! I don't think I could survive that long. What a savings though!

MyKidsMom said...

I'll have to go over to Amy's and check this out. We're waiting for our tax refund (yes, we already filed online) and hopefully the bulk of that will go into savings. But we would definitely like to add more to that.