31 Days of Zero Spending

Today was our first day of zero spending. I actually wanted to run into the store as I needed tissue paper for a gift, but resorted to using wrapping paper from my basement. So it begins...

I stumbled across this blog about spending zero! At first, I read it and ignored it thinking it was not feasible. I kept thinking about it! I then shared it with my husband! Of course it went just as I expected - he loved the idea! I seriously think he would've got up and started dancing if it wasn't presented to him as a guest was making his way to our door.

So, we are going through the month of January with zero spending. Just to clarify, this is zero spending outside of necessities. If you are interested in doing this now or another month, I'll go over our necessities and what made the cut!

Exceptions:

• Tithing
• Bills
• Milk, bread, eggs
• Diapers
• Gas
• Christian concert and home party already planned
• Animal food
• Toiletries

We will not be buying any additional food until we use up everything possible in our pantry. We have a lot of food (and I'm sure most of us do) that we don't use. We either don't feel like it or get bored with it. Either way, we will be using up everything in our pantry. As far as meats go, we have enough for a year as we get whole hogs and beef from our farmer friends. If you don't have a stock, I would suggest going shopping or put food into your exceptions.

We will not be eating out or going shopping. We will not be getting paper towels when we run out or syrup and ketchup when it is gone. I will not be buying a Starbucks after I drop my boy off to see his birth mom every other week or that creamer I love :( 

Our goal this month is to reflect on how little we truly need and how blessed we really are. We hope to save more than we normally do and clean out our pantry. Our kiddos are excited and so are we. We are not doing this because we secretly have spending issues or because we got our credit card statement. Haha. In fact, we don't use credit cards and are very good at saving. We simply want to live simply :)

If you want to take this challenge, then I would encourage you to sit down with your spouse and figure out your necessities. If you already have something planned (like birthdays, etc), then do as you see fit. We just set a budget for said events.

I am really excited to get this going and hope we stay strong throughout. I know I will need to get creative with meals to completely use what we have, but it will be good :)  So, here goes 31 Days of Zero Spending. 1 down, 30 to go :)