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I know it's been forever since I blogged! Funny thing is, I'm actually PAID to work on a blog, yet I NEVER post on my personal blog. I need to get better at this stuff!
Well, here's to kicking old habits and starting new ones. I am giving myself a 60 day challenge! And, may I invite anyone who dares to try it with me!
You have heard of the amazing Kendi Everyday, who has a 30x30 remix haven't you? Well, go check it out, particularly if you love fashion and have a problem controlling what you spend on it, or if you just want to see how creative you can get!
Her blog inspired me to come up with this 60 day challenge. Only it's not fashion, it's FOOD! And frugal living of course.
Here is the basic idea. Keep track of how much I spend in the first 30 days, (starting yesterday) by saving ALL reciepts. I'm pretty sure I live frugally now, but what if I am spending money on things that are not necessary? At the end of the first 30 days, I will add them all up to see how much money it cost me, my husband, and our little dog to live for one month.
Then, the real challenge is going to be the next 30 days. I am going to attempt to cut the price that it cost us to live the FIRST 30 days by at LEAST 50%. I'm going to give myself a grocery budget, gas budget, and an "entertainment" budget, which will include things like eating out, shopping, ect.
I'm going to post daily blogs with a breakdown of each meal and a total cost for it. By doing this, it will help to keep me accountable for sticking to my challenge.
The main reasons I'm doing this?
1. To prove that you CAN live frugally, even in today's economy.
2. To prove that you can live on less than what you think you can.
3. To save money by realizing the unnessesary things I spend it on.
4. To experiment with ideas for a running series for my position as editor for the money sub-blog at Allwomenstalk.com ( just in case you are a die-hard fan and would love to stalk me, you can follow me here)
5. To give all of you guys ideas and ways to save $$$ for your own budgets.
Here are a few disclaimers. I am NOT including monthly bills, like phone bills, car payment ect.
I may offer a few tips that I've implemented in order to cut back on those expenses in the past, but for this challenge, monthly bills are not included. For the first part of the 60 day challenge, I probably won't post every.single.day. since the main idea is just to observe spending habits.
As far as rules for the second part of the challenge, here is what I'm limiting myself to.
1. I'm not going to set a budget for anything until I have a total for what I spent in the first 30 days.
2. After I DO set a budget, if I go over it in any area one week, I will subtract that total from the next weeks budget.
3. Things that I already have on hand will not count towards my budget.
4. I AM including household products, paper products, personal care products, and dog food as a part of this budget.
5. Any traveling that we do ( more than one hour away from home) will not count towards the budget.
6. I don't have any children....yet.....so if you want to attempt this challenge yourself, and you do have babes of your own, be realistic and add wiggle room.
7. During this challenge, anything that we spend money on that is something we couldn't avoid, or is not something we do on a regular basis will not count. I may include them in a breakdown, just so you can see a complete list, but I'll subtract them from the total budget of the month. For example, next week we have to buy a new tire for our car because ours got a leak. This is not something we normally buy every week, so it doesn't count. Also, my birthday is next week. Birthdays don't occur each week either, so whatever we spend on my birthday won't count.
I think that's about it! Get the basic idea? I hope some of you will join me on this challenge! I don't think it's going to be easy, but I think it will be rewarding.
Well......here goes!
