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Showing posts with label No Spend Challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label No Spend Challenge. Show all posts

Thursday, January 1, 2015

125. The "No Spend Challenge" Day 1 - January 2015



Time for another No Spend Challenge! This month we are challenging ourselves again to cut spending drastically with a “No Spend Month.” Check out our first challenge last year in October 2014, also what we learned 31 days later from our October 2014 No Spend Challenge, and finally some highlights from the month of October 2014

We've actually created a group with over 1300 members on Facebook called The No Spend Challenge to encourage and facilitate helping others take the challenge to save. 

This is the first day so simply put we’re making the commitment and setting some ground rules.

I think both of us are a little apprehensive about doing this challenge again. Even more so trying this again on a month that once again is essentially 5 weeks.

Our goal is to save 20% of our budget by the end of the month. We believe this goal is SMART. It’s specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-sensitive.

Please note each family should account for their own circumstances. If there are known events like birthdays, vacations, vehicle maintenance, doctors appointments fit them in the budget and then move on. If you’re doing this for the first time and you don’t have a huge stockpile of food in the pantry, refrigerator, and freezer you’ll probably have to make a few trips to the store and include that in your rules as well.

We’ve set our sights again not to spend money on anything outside of our basic necessities and eat from our food pantry, refrigerator, and freezer as much as possible. We’re limiting grocery shopping to essentials 
(milk, eggs, fresh fruit, etc.) only.

These are the things that we will seek to avoid this month:

No eating out at restaurants.
No Starbucks.
No shopping at stores.
No shopping online.
No excess entertainment (we already subscribe to Netflix monthly, but no Redbox or Amazon Online rentals). 
No extras. (chocolate, manicures, pedicures, games, etc.)
No home décor.
No toys. (We tend to buy $1 toys at Target)
No crafts or hobbies.

We’ve agreed to a mini-budget to allow for our basic needs  this month. This includes a small stipend for DW, myself, and miscellaneous expenses outside of our normal bills we may incur this month. 

We're also accounting for some free give aways in our new Facebook Group: Dave Ramsey - Total Money Makeover (note the group has no official affiliation with Dave Ramsey). This group was officially launched last night about 9pm and already has 400 members! 

We hope this challenge will help us once again refocus our efforts in reducing our debt. We also hope it will motivate us to be better stewards of the resources God has given us.

We understand that life does not always go according to planned and our experiment may not go exactly as planned. However, we hope once again the discipline will prove beneficial and a good learning experience regardless of the outcome.



Source I used: http://www.livingwellspendingless.com/31-days/livingwellspendingzero/


#nospendchallenge


-------------------------------------------------------

Follow me on Twitter! @JWKEagle

Check out my pins on Pinterest! http://www.pinterest.com/jonathanwkey/ 

Also look for the blog's website online: #‎eaglesoaringhigher


Looking for a particular topic? Please check out the new Table of Contents to see posts listed by topic.  

Monday, November 3, 2014

116. The No Spend Challenge - October 2014 Highlights



Some highlights from this past month's no spend challenge:

Day 2: Craft time at a church. Lunch provided!

Day 3: Game night & dinner at friends house!

Day 4: Had a good lunch with grandparents at their place.  Enjoyed a meal at night with our church small group!

Day 9: Raided our loose change piggy bank for a $4 treat at Sonic. 

Day 10: Got 6 DVDs and 3 books at the library #lovefreestuff

Day 17: Fun times at the Science & History Museum!

Day 18: Enjoyed a meal at night with our church small group!

Day 22: A tank of gas lasted 24 days with the civic! #wohoo

Day 24: Boo at the Zoo! Free candy and game booths! 

Day 24: Got to hang out with friends, play games, and roast marshmallows over candles.

Day 25: Cleared out the garage. Sold books and got $32 from Half Priced Books. Wohoo!


Day 26: Fall festival at our church! Great company, bounce house, free meal, face painting, canoe rides, and hay rides. Wohoo! 

Day 27: Got 8 DVDs and 8 books at the library. #lovefreestuff

Day 30: Today I drove a new car rental Toyota Camry. For a brief moment I thought about how nice it would be to drive a new car. Then I remembered I love my little paid off Honda Civic. #nocarpayment

Day 31: Went to two trunk or treats. Dinner was provided. Free candy and activities for the kids. Used the candy to give away to our neighborhood kids. 


#nospendchallenge

-------------------------------------------------------

Follow me on Twitter! @JWKEagle

Check out my pins on Pinterest! http://www.pinterest.com/jonathanwkey/ 

Also look for the blog's website online:
#‎eaglesoaringhigher


Looking for a particular topic? Please check out the new Table of Contents to see posts listed by topic.  

Saturday, November 1, 2014

115. The No Spend Challenge - 31 Days Later: What We Learned


Last month our family did the no spend challenge (click for the challenge we gave ourselves on October 1st). Our goal as a family of 4 was to save $800 in October 2014. We are happy to report that we more than doubled that savings goal!

A. What We Did: 




*We ate primarily what was in our fridge, pantry, and freezer. 
*We bought very minimal groceries. 
*We did eat out some (4 times) but typically spent less than $20 per trip. I also took a friend out to eat. 
*We resisted Starbucks runs. 
*We didn't shop at department stores at the mall. 
*We spent next to nothing extra on entertainment (no Amazon or Redbox rentals).
*We bought no home decor.
*We spent a fraction of what we normally spend on crafts and hobbies. 
*We avoided $1 toys at Target. 
*What was excluded from this challenge: Mortgage, Utilities, Netflix, Giving (including a fundraiser for the Pregnancy Help Center), Health Expenses, Sinking Fund Savings, Diapers & Wipes, etc.
*We cleared out the garage and sold books to Half Priced books for $32!

B. What We Learned: 




*We CAN live on a lot less than we thought we could.
*We CAN resist the urge to impulse buy when we have a motivation to do so. 
*Instead of a 24-48 hour wait time to evaluate purchases this was like a 31 day wait time to evaluate purchases. 
*If we wait to buy,  a lot of times we can get it cheaper or on sale. 
*We made it on a week of groceries for example with canned goods, bread, eggs, milk, some fruit, and yogurt. 
*We spent less money because we really evaluated purchases as to whether they were needs or wants. 
*Turns out a lot of what we looked at were wants.
*A tank of gas for the Civic lasted 24 days! 

C. Some Highlighted Areas We Saved Money:




*We spent about $315 on groceries and eating out for the month. Typically we'd spend $600-800. 
*This included about $25 for a work related trip. Normally on trips I'd easily spend $50-60. 
*Last month we spent $840 between groceries and eating out. Wow!
*We also enjoyed some free meals with family, friends, and at our local church. 
*We spent $88 on gas this month. Typically we'd spend $120-200. Filled up the car and the van only once. 
*Last month we spent $163 on gas. 

D. For Fun & Entertainment: 


*Went to the local public library three times. We checked out books and DVD’s for free. 
*Went to the local Zoo twice since we have a family membership pass.
*Went to the local Science and History Museum since we have a family membership pass.
*Went to local parks at least once a week. One time we even had a picnic. 

E. For Halloween:

*We went to Boo at the Zoo, fall parties, and other fall festivals where we accumulated candy. 
*We decided we didn’t need to eat 3 buckets worth of candy. 
*Instead of buying candy at the store, we gave out most of the candy we had accumulated to our neighborhood kids when they came “trick or treating”. 
*Some friends and family kindly let us borrow Halloween costumes for our kids. 
*Money spent on Halloween: $0 (In contrast see what Americans spent this year.)

October 2014 No Spend Challenge? Done.




Overall this no spend challenge was a very good experience. We highly recommend it to others to try out. It has changed our outlook on money and finances. 


October was a great month to do this as it’s right before the holidays of Thanksgiving in November and Christmas in December. We're going to take a good portion of what we saved and apply it to our mortgage.

Thanks to my wife for helping me with this post. ;-)

Be sure to check out this past months highlights!

What about you? Have you tried a no spend challenge? What did you learn and how much did you save? Leave a comment!



#nospendchallenge

-------------------------------------------------------

Follow me on Twitter! @JWKEagle

Check out my pins on Pinterest! http://www.pinterest.com/jonathanwkey/ 

Also look for the blog's website online:
#‎eaglesoaringhigher


Looking for a particular topic? Please check out the new Table of Contents to see posts listed by topic.  

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

101. The "No Spend Challenge" Day 1 - October 2014


This month we are challenging ourselves to cut spending drastically with a “No Spend Month.” This is the first day so simply put we’re making the commitment and setting some ground rules. (Edit: See what we learned 31 days later and how we saved nearly $1600 in a month!)

I think both of us are a little apprehensive about doing this challenge. Even more so trying this for the first time on a month that has essentially 5 weeks.

Our goal is to save $800 by the end of the month. We believe this goal is SMART. It’s specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-sensitive.

Please note each family should account for their own circumstances. If there are known events like birthdays, vacations, vehicle maintenance, doctors appointments fit them in the budget and then move on. If you’re doing this for the first time and you don’t have a huge stockpile of food in the pantry, fridge, and freezer you’ll probably have to make a few trips to the store and include that in your rules as well.

We’ve set our sights not to spend money on anything outside of our basic necessities and eat from our food pantry/freezer as much as possible. We’re limiting grocery shopping to essentials only.

These are the things that we will seek to avoid this month:

No eating out at restaurants.
No Starbucks.
No shopping at stores.
No shopping online.
No excess entertainment (we already subscribe to Netflix monthly, but no Redbox or Amazon Online rentals). 
No extras. (chocolate, manicures, pedicures, games, etc.)
No home décor.
No toys. (We tend to buy $1 toys at Target)
No crafts or hobbies.

We’ve agreed to a mini-budget to allow for our basic needs this month. This includes a small stipend for DW, myself, and miscellaneous expenses outside of our normal bills we may incur this month. For example, we are planning to attend a charitable function at the end of the month and so we allotted an amount for a donation at that event. 


We hope this challenge will help us refocus our efforts in reducing our debt. We also hope it will motivate us to be better stewards of the resources God has given us.

We understand that life does not always go according to planned and our experiment may not go exactly as planned. However, we hope the discipline will prove beneficial and a good learning experience regardless of the outcome.



Source I used: http://www.livingwellspendingless.com/31-days/livingwellspendingzero/


#nospendchallenge


-------------------------------------------------------

Follow me on Twitter! @JWKEagle

Check out my pins on Pinterest! http://www.pinterest.com/jonathanwkey/ 

Also look for the blog's website online:
#‎eaglesoaringhigher


Looking for a particular topic? Please check out the new Table of Contents to see posts listed by topic.