31 Day Spending Freeze Commitment

Gord and I are on board and committed to 31 Days of No Spending in October!  

For us it will be about assessing our Needs vs. Wants and finding creative ways around things like birthdays, halloween etc.  I know that there will never be a perfect month to start and I know we could stand to tighten the belt a little so we are committing to this 31 day challenge and will be setting our ground rules for it tonight! 

This morning we both went to starbucks for coffee together for the last time.  Using our pre-loaded starbucks cards, no actual spending happened as it was money we already spent right!  I only have $7 left on my starbucks card which I intend to spread out over the course of the month and not load it again until November!  I got a tall organic Yukon blend which will be my last for a while.  We plan on making sure we take time in the morning to bring a travel mug of Organic coffee into work with us.  

As for Halloween we already have a costume for Asher and Fraser will be using one of Ashers old costumes.  We weren't clever enough to purchase treats to hand out for halloween yet, since I always wait until a few days before halloween to do it in order to not be tempted.  See my post on How to get through Halloween without overdoing it for a few tips on staying on track and not eating all that candy this Halloween. 

Tonight Gord and I are filling out the Commitment Sheet you will see below after the kids are in bed.  Will also lay out our ground rules for the month and try to anticipate any events that may come up and plan how we will tackle them.  We already have two Birthday Parties on Saturday which Asher needs to attend.  Luckily I purchased some Lego sets about a month ago so we may be able to use one of those for at least one of the birthdays.... otherwise we may need to get creative!  Any tips you might have for me please share... comment below!! 

Because I know we will need fresh produce weekly as well as milk and yogurt I will probably allot 30-50 dollars for weekly groceries.  This is a huge reduction for us Trust ME!!! But I know we are going to need fresh fruit and veggies for lunches every week, I just am not able to sacrifice healthy eating for a month.  But we are going to commit to using up items in our pantry and freezer and not purchasing any fresh meat or bread.  I'm pretty confident we got this!  

I will be blogging my way through this challenge and participating in the #31daysLWSZ Blog Tour also.  Follow along and check out my progress through the challenge!

Spending Freeze Challenge Blog Posts

Spending Freeze Day 2 - The Organized Pantry

Spending Freeze Facebook Event

If you want to join the Spending Freeze Challenge along with me I'd love to have some accountability.  I've created a public Facebook Event which we can all join and share our journey!  

 31 Day Spending Freeze Commitment

31 Day Spending Freeze Ground Rules

Ruth Soukup from Living well and Spending less says: Create your own ground rules that account for your circumstances, and find the best ways to make your no-spend month work for you and your family. If you have an empty freezer and pantry, yes, you might have to do a little shopping beforehand, but keep it frugal and plan for the month.

There are a few expenses we can definitely cut out for the month:

• Eating out at restaurants
• Coffee from coffee shops
• Clothing
• Hobbies—crafts, classes, etc.
• Entertainment
• Toys
• Cosmetics
• Furniture and home décor

Here are a few expenses that we will consider needs/need to pay for items this month: 

Mortgage/rent
Food
Insurance (health, car, and life)
Gas
Car repairs
Utilities (gas, electricity, water, sewer, trash, etc.)
Medical expenses

Fresh Produce and Dairy (Milk and yogurt)

Shakeology (Yes it's essential lol)