I shared at the beginning of the month that we are doing NO SPEND JANUARY in our household. After doing a yearly budget review, it’s a chance to reset and find the areas that put the most stress on our budget and impede on our savings plan.

If you missed it, I blogged about it last year – it was a huge success and a great reset for us!

While I was able to report Friday morning we had spent ZERO – on anything unnecessary- I unfortunately have to share we had some spending occur this weekend! Sharing because while it upset me, it makes me want to dig my heels in further and finish this month with a BANG!

Sharing what was spent and the areas we are doing well. I also have some commentary as to why the spending happened…

Mid-Month Check In

Non-essential spending

• Dining out – EAT IN! (unless it is something that has been planned with friends) UPDATE – ugh so we had a rough Friday. The kiddos had a snow day and doggie had a grooming appointment. The appointment lasted 4 hours and during that time I took the kids swimming. Instead of driving back home I got a drive thru lunch while we waited for Nellie. JP had his basketball game followed by my brothers rivalry game so we offered to buy post game pizza for the crew. And lastly, I came down with the tummy bug this weekend – while Andrew did good cooking, my grocery run got put on hold so subs for the kiddos it was!
• Coffee shops – MAKE COFFEE AT HOME! Still no Sbux or Dunkin! Whoaaa hoo!!
• Fast Food – MAKE LUNCHES AT HOME! Besides my timing and lack of planning Friday – we’ve made lunch at home and Andrew has taken his to work!
• Clothing – I HAVE PLENTY! WORK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE – haven’t bought a single thing!
• Home Decor – I LOVE WHAT I HAVE! LESS CLUTTER IS BETTER – nothing purchased here!
• Shopping Trips – DON’T TEMPT YOURSELF! – haven’t stepped foot in the door to Target, Walmart, etc.

I shared my plan to throw away 31 unused items – while I’m pretty far behind here is what I’ve done so far.:

• – Shirt I shrunk of Andrews – oops!
• Old kids cup

Excited to see how much we save as opposed to last month! It gives us a clearer picture on our pain points, which can easily be avoided most of the time! Being conscience of your budget is so important!

I’ve shared some budget posts relative to this challenge before, you can check them out!

TIP JAR: NO SPENDING JANUARY – RECAP
BUDGETING FOR 2021
LIFE LATELY: BUDGET REVIEW – SAVINGS CHALLENGE
LIFE LATELY: SAVINGS CHALLENGE – MID-MONTH UPDATE
TIP JAR: SAVINGS CHALLENGE – THE FINAL VERDICT: SUCCESS OR FAIL?

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