February is going to be No Spend Month at our house. I should technically say "low" spend month, as it's not like we're spending nothing. We're just going to be on a super low, tight budget.
This is our second no spend month. We did one in 2008, when DH1 was just a baby. We had a set budget for all food, gas, entertainment, etc. of $400. We made it through, but barely!
This month, we're setting the budget at $600 for the month for groceries, entertainment, food, gas etc. (two kids, and they eat a lot more now).
Here is how it will work. Regular bills, like college savings, mortgage, utilities, etc. aren't included in the $600. The budget is only for the purchases we have some modicum of control over. We've also decided not to include milk in the $600, as the boys are growing and drink a lot of it, and we don't want to restrict them.
So, I guess I'm getting ready for no spend month. Although other than gassing up one car,that doesn't mean much! We're not going to be buying or stockpiling groceries or anything else before the challenge, as that defeats the purpose!
The general plan is to eat from the pantry and the chest freezer, which is amazingly full thanks to our fall farm share and recent gift of beef from a friend. That is something we didn't have last time!
My goal is to just hit the reset button on spending, and maybe free up some surplus for savings and extra mortgage payments during the one month spending fast.
Last time, the no spend month impacted our savings and spending for months after. It was really great for us.
Of course, now we have two boys who always seem to have the wants, so I have to brace myself for a bunch of kid complaining!!
Here's a link to more info on no spend month...
http://smallnotebook.org/2012/07/01/no-spend-month-start-here/
Prepping for no spend month
January 28th, 2014 at 10:08 pm
January 28th, 2014 at 10:50 pm 1390949453
January 29th, 2014 at 12:07 am 1390954072
January 29th, 2014 at 12:13 am 1390954387
January 29th, 2014 at 12:18 am 1390954716