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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

March NO SPEND month!!

I am going to try to explain this NO SPEND month the best I can. I have never done an entire no spend month before, We have done weekends and week before. First thing I did was make a list of stuff for us to do during no spend month, Lots of projects etc. I posted this list on a previous post, I have also added to it. I have 3 jars of change saved already and plan to save all the change we get until April 1st, This is our reward for No Spend month. I think everyone has it narrowed down to two things, Either a trip to the Tulsa zoo or a trip to the Museum of natural history in Wichita Kansas, Whichever it is the jar money has to cover all costs. Ok back to no spend month. I also have spent this passed month ( and will up to March 1st) getting all the supplies I will need for the month of march, I have my stockpile built up fairly well, But don't want to use it all up either. I am not grocery shopping this month at all, Just purchasing things we will have to have....
Paper towels were top of my list, We are paper towel wasters I might as well admit this now, The shame. Well no more I tell ya no moreeeeee. I have taken paper towels off the list, I have spent the last week making a huge rag bag, outta of old scraps old t shirts etc. We shall see how the mass takes to this, Actually they have no choice muhahahaha. The other things on my list are:
Powdered milk- I use alot of this, But I have ordered some different "organic" types for us to try during the month.
garbage bags,Laundry supplies-2 bars fels naptha,1 box borax,1 box washing soda-With this I can make up two 5 gallon containers of my laundry soap. $50 kerosene, coffee, flour, sugar, brown sugar and eggs. This is what is left that I have not purchased yet.
We also kinda use the envelope system, We use the checking account for bills. And the household budget oney goes into these envelopes. I will put in just enough to cover the Gas for the car, Regular milk, Fresh produce. That is it. I can't buy enough of this ahead of time.
That money will already be in the envelopes before any of the March paychecks come in. This No spend month is turning into two things, Not only so we can see how much we nickel and dime our selves and spend on crud, But also exactly how prepared are we, Becuase we think we are pretty darn prepared, We shall find out, All a learning experience.
NO SPEND MONTH
The entire paychecks,Tax refund check from state ($550) can only be spent on current or back debt, That is it, That is final. No ohhhh darn I am out of butter, Run to the store and get some, I have planned for this and have heavy cream stored in the fridge in smaller containers just in case. And I have also researched alternatives to everything. If we run out of toilet paper ( which we won't due to stockpile, but you never know) I have some old flannel shirts cut up into squares and ready to be utilized. Although I have tried to prepare in every way I know I have not, And that is good, I want us to run out of something, Have to make due. We can't learn if we don't. We are really hoping this goes well and we understand how much we could pay down debt and still live the "good life", We want a homestead worse then anything, And we want to pay cash for it like we did this house. The only way to do that is to pay down debt and save alot of money quickly. If all goes well, I plan on doing this every 3 months. With my plan, we could pay off our debt, save enough money for the land we want paying cash by the end of the year. Then we could start building our house next year, Put this house on the market and get outta dodge so to speak!!!
Also the change jars are incentive to the kids to not ask or want to spend, With the option that this is completed without too much argument or resistance an entire day trip somewhere, Well this they are quite excited about. If you have any more ?'s about this just ask and I will answer them for you. I am going to post twice weekly during march as to how we are doing, what we have done, all the experiences good and bad. Happy saving and no spending, Michelle

5 comments:

Elizabeth said...

I will be curious to see how this pans out!

Jessica said...

I can't wait to see how you do with this.

We did no spending during the month of January, but I was allowed to buy food (necessities only - no snacks or convenience foods). It was very challenging, but since doing it I have noticed I think twice about buying things - if I could live without them for a whole month, surely I don't need them now!

Unknown said...

I am very curious!! :) We have learned to cut back a lot by not buying convenience foods, thanks to the Miserly Moms book by Jonni McCoy, but I still think we could benefit from a no spend month. I am excited to see how things go.

I had a thought for you, that might help "us" aka people without a clue! :) What if when you find something on sale, like the cream, for instance, post about it. I knew that butter could be made from cream, but I don't think enough about it to actually stock up or even LOOK for the stuff in the sale paper. Ya know? Anyway, if you have time. I think you have some great ideas. Keep 'em comin'!

frugalredneck said...

Ty Elizabeth me too haha. Scottish Twins, I am allowing in my envelopes for some fresh food and milk, Stuff like that, Just not going to run out cause I am outta 1 thing, I downloaded some alternatives for different foods and stuff, But I can't keep fresh produce for a month and have it look real nice hahaha!!!But I know that as frugal as I am, We nickel and dime ourselves broke sometimes, That is what I most want us to stop. P.S. Scottish I hope you like my next post, YOU inspired me!!!!
Sabrina I have that cookbook too, It is really nice, I think you might really like Dining on a dime , My library has it and I bet yours does too or they could get it for you, I really love tawra's newsletters and blog too, I think you might too it is www.Livingonadime.com or www.livingonadime.com/blog/ I have her e cookbook and I love itttt!!!
Ya know sabrina when I started out doing the blog I was posting deals I had found, Then I stopped doing it, Mainly because I only have Walmart in my town other then Marvins food saver, and on occasion I Travel the 15 miles to Save a Lot. But I thought who shops at those stores, I don't know, And as far as walmart goes, That is hard, Because 2 walmarts 10miles apart have different prices, My walmart Sells it's brand milk for $3.79 a gallon, But the one 15 miles from here sells the same milk for $3.29 a gallon, Go figure. If you have a marvins food saver, or a Save a Lot though I would be more then happy to post the good deals I get from them. Just let me know!!! Michelle

Unknown said...

Michelle,
I have neither of those two stores. We have an IGA and a local store called Mickey's Food Store. About 15 miles away is a Food Lion and Kroger and Walmart. I dispise Walmart these days. Some of their prices are really good, and some are a rip off. I am trying to figure out who has what the cheapest the most often, but that can be a challenge. I really am enjoying your blog!