Jerry and I often feel broke, even though we’re really not. It’s just that lately, we’ve been spending more than saving, and are being more irresponsible than responsible with our extra money. I used to be very strict, and would put any extra money after bills either into savings or applied to debt. Nowadays, I’ve been spending more frivolously on various hobbies. I need to find a happy medium. I can’t be too strict, but I need to be stricter than I have been recently.
To remedy our recent bad spending habits, I decided to make April a “no spend” month. What I mean is: no frivolous spending, no “shopping,” no buying unnecessary things. We need to amp up our savings again, as well as get some more debt paid down. Now is the perfect time, too… saving for maternity leave and our new baby!
Here’s what I will consider acceptable spending in April:
- Bills
- Groceries / toiletries
- Gas
- Food (including our pizza nights and date nights)
- Personal grooming (if any of us need haircuts, waxing, etc.)
- A few pieces of maternity items, sports bras, or other workout items that MAY be needed with the expanding belly (but I will limit this to no more than $50 in April, and only if necessary)
Here’s what I will NOT consider acceptable spending, and will avoid buying in April:
- Books (though I’ve been good about this lately)
- Wax / wax warmers
- Lemax items for my Halloween village
- DVDs and games for Jerry
- Random purchases from Amazon, Walmart, the mall, etc.
- Any clothing beyond the $50 I allocated which I may or may not end up needing for maternity or work out clothes
- Toys for Caleb (he already has WAY too much)
And there we have it! I’ve already talked to Jerry, and he’s on board too. The biggest “offenders” for me lately have been wax and Lemax items. I can literally drop hundreds a month on these during a bad month, so I know I can save a lot by avoiding these things. Jerry’s biggest offenders right now are DVDs, games, and random Amazon purchases. I considered putting “dining out” on the no list, but I decided not to for now. We enjoy going out for date nights and sometimes stopping for a random lunch now and again. We may go more strict after this initial “no spend” experiment, but for now, I am only choosing to eliminate the biggest offenders for us which are hobby items and needless shopping.
At the end of the month, I will assess what we were able to save and put down on debt. I am focusing on our personal loan and one small credit card. I’m going to compare these figures to what we normally pay. I am willing to guess that, barring any financial emergencies, it’ll be a pretty big chunk – much bigger than it’s been in recent months. Check back in at the end of April to see how we did!
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