January Spending Freeze
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Yuck… December’s money ended so ugly that I don’t even want to talk about it. (Not even because I splurged on other people. I traveled a lot and treated myself. I deserve it?) In order to recover, I’m joining this spending freeze!
I like that it’s flexible and leaves room for each participant to set their own rules. My rules:
- Disney Doesn’t Count. I have my Disney account fully funded (I hope! :|) and have pre-purchased a lot of things like park tickets and such. (And obviously my flight/race/hotel/rental have all been taken care of.) Anything left in the account post-Disney will stay there for my next trip.
- $20 MAX per week on food. I’m trying to eat through my pantry (remember last January’s pantry challenge? there are even stranger things in there this year) and this will be for both groceries and restaurants. One thing I have learned is that I really enjoy eating out, and I really enjoy my Starbucks treats, and it’s more worth it for me to cut back elsewhere than to be upset about not getting these treats. Plus, since it’s my birthday month, I should be getting lots of freebies!
- No. New. Workout. Clothes. (With one exception, if the lululemon Speed Tights or Pace Setter Skirt go back to markdown. I have been coveting those bad.) And really, I can survive the month without any extra clothes/entertainment spending. Hopefully Disney will sate me for the whole month!
- Race registrations are okay. I have two to register for this month, and they are planned expenses.
- Instead of impulse shopping, adopt impulse student loan payments. I am really looking forward to knocking my next smallest loan dead this year.
- Be smart with my gym money – some of you might know that I won a six month membership to the gym I already attend (and love sooooo much!) at my company holiday party. Originally I saw that extra $78 as workout clothes money, but I really need to direct it elsewhere.
So that’s really less of a “freeze,” I guess, but gives me some guidelines for more mindful spending. Like I said, I plan to knock out at least one of my student loans this year, and I want to get my emergency fund re-fully funded after the car and phone fiascos from last year. While I don’t have specific resolutions for the year (too much pressure,) those are definitely two goals I am committing to.
Are you embarking on any spending challenges in January or for all of 2014?
I have never done a spending freeze, I SHOULD, but haven’t.
I am going to try to eat out of my pantry this month, I did just stock up on meat last week so I think i can go a whole month…
It’s kind of fun! Last year I had a lot more variety to work with, but this year it’s a lot slimmer. Hopefully I’ll get some good meat and veggie discounts, otherwise my meals are looking pretty carb-y and tasteless!
I’m on an all year “tighten the budget” plan. 2013 was ugly. I didn’t add to my debt, but I whittled away at my savings more than I realized. Not good at all. So I decided to be very careful with my money for the first three months, then make some decisions on where I can splurge again.
Of course, like you, I’ve got Disney coming up, so I’m trying to let myself have SOME fun there!
But saving money is no fun! 🙁
I need a spending freeze. I’d initially planned on saving my “extra” paycheck (January is a 3 paycheck month for me), but alas my furnace broke after Christmas and I got a new furnace instead. Not the way I wanted to start the new year, but I’m glad I had the money and didn’t have to dip too much into my emergency fund. Happy New Year!
This is a 3-check month for me as well, so I’m hoping to sock half of it away for my e-fund and throw half at my loans.
Happy new year to you!