What did we learn???
I am late with this post. No shock there.
Looking back at our "no spend Month"...what did we learn? did we make it? will we do it again? blah blah blah.
Looking back, I have to say one of the biggest benefits for me was not once worrying about how much money we had in out checking account! For January, right after the holidays, that was a blessing. We took $300 out in cash right at the beginning of the month, and that was the money we had to spend. Easy. If I am not constantly shopping from the checking account, there is plenty of money to pay bills with.
We did not starve or do without much. We had gotten into the habit of eating out, a lot, because I am basically a slacker and don't like to cook 7 days a week...and we are crazy busy some nights. This forced me to PLAN AHEAD and be prepared for those times. My son acted like he was being tortured for most of the month...but he, like me, can be overly dramatic. There were even a couple of occasions where one of the kids would ask to go get a slushy or ice cream and i would just say, "no spend month" and that would end it.
I did get lazy in the last few days about keeping up with our expenses. I can't tell you how much we ended up with, but i will say that we did manage to live out of our $300 budget for the month as we planned.
I think we should do it again. I think it is good for us, and the kids, to step back, take stock of what we have and what we really need.
15 days into the new month....we've spent a lot! we have fallen almost back into the excess, but maybe another "no spend" month is just around the corner!
Looking back at our "no spend Month"...what did we learn? did we make it? will we do it again? blah blah blah.
Looking back, I have to say one of the biggest benefits for me was not once worrying about how much money we had in out checking account! For January, right after the holidays, that was a blessing. We took $300 out in cash right at the beginning of the month, and that was the money we had to spend. Easy. If I am not constantly shopping from the checking account, there is plenty of money to pay bills with.
We did not starve or do without much. We had gotten into the habit of eating out, a lot, because I am basically a slacker and don't like to cook 7 days a week...and we are crazy busy some nights. This forced me to PLAN AHEAD and be prepared for those times. My son acted like he was being tortured for most of the month...but he, like me, can be overly dramatic. There were even a couple of occasions where one of the kids would ask to go get a slushy or ice cream and i would just say, "no spend month" and that would end it.
I did get lazy in the last few days about keeping up with our expenses. I can't tell you how much we ended up with, but i will say that we did manage to live out of our $300 budget for the month as we planned.
I think we should do it again. I think it is good for us, and the kids, to step back, take stock of what we have and what we really need.
15 days into the new month....we've spent a lot! we have fallen almost back into the excess, but maybe another "no spend" month is just around the corner!
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