January Spending Freeze

Last month, I participated with Erin & friends for the January Spending Freeze. Like when I did a spending freeze in July, the point was to only spend money on necessities like bills and food.

I won't say that I was perfect this month, but thinking about the spending freeze definitely saved me money!

Of course I had some bills and necessary expenses this month, including my cell phone bill and some food. I still live at home, so I don't have to pay rent or utilities or any of that fun stuff. I had to get gas for my car, and I also paid for my car insurance this month. It's due early next month, but I figured that I would take care of it early since I could. I also had to send out an eBay order, so I had to pay a few dollars for shipping, but technically that's covered in the price that the buyer paid, so never mind. I also had to pay for a Kickstarter campaign that I pledged to last month.

I actually did go shopping a couple times this month, but I didn't really buy anything. I had to print off some pictures at Target for my grandma, and I went there again towards the end of the month, but there were a lot of things that I wanted to buy that I didn't. I just got mascara like I needed to, and some granola bars which were on clearance and I had a coupon for! I used some credits from Christmas returns to buy some Pyrex and Wilton bakeware at Gordman's and a pair of tights at Kohl's. I also was able to use some of my Amazon credit (from SwagBucks gift cards) to buy a book. Finally, I did also buy some foam stickers for my Sunday school kids and a little pick me up for a friend who needed a smile. They made me smile too, so that was a bonus.

There were a lot of things that I wanted to buy last month, but I said no so that I could call this a success. Do you know how hard it is to go to Target and not buy everything? I was so proud of myself for spending less than ten dollars there!

I'm going to try to let this experience guide me through the rest of the year. Do I need cute Eiffel Tower notecards for a dollar? I have a 20% off coupon though! But I knew that I already had so many notecards at home, so I put them back. And then there was that album I wanted to buy on iTunes, but I said no. January really helped me put my spending habits in check!

xoxo.

July Spending Freeze {Revisited}

July Spending Freeze {original post}

July is over now. How did my goal of not making unnecessary purchases in July go?

I confess that it did not go as I had hoped. I kind of caved on the 30th. But I'm going to count it as a month anyway, since I think that I did really well and I didn't spend any money on the last few days of June.

There was a comment left on my original post saying something along the lines of, "the longer you do it, the easier it is." I totally agree! It became so much easier to not go shopping as the month went on. {Even though it seemed like every store was having a great sale!}

I even went to Target one day towards the end of the month, but I didn't buy anything, even though they had a lot of fun stuff on sale or clearance including a cute cardigan, fun cookie mix, and school supplies.

There were also a few days where I wanted to go to my favorite local green coffeehouse for a smoothie, or to Dairy Queen for a Blizzard, but I stayed strong!

On the 30th though, I bought a concert ticket. It was something that I was going to buy either way, and I wanted to do it sooner rather than later.

The next day, I went to Target. I bought a new belt, which was on clearance. I seriously need to buy a real leather belt instead of the not-so-great quality ones I have from Target and Old Navy. I also bought some socks, which were also on clearance. I bought a small pair of scissors and a roll of electric tape for my camera bag so that I can cover that little light on the front of my camera when I'm photographing during a show in a dark room. The final thing that I bought was a cupcake carrier. I have been wanting to get one of these for quite some time now, and I will need to use it on my birthday next Friday, so I went and finally bought it.

Aside from these purchases on the last two days of July, I also bought some groceries, gas for my car, and a car wash. I also had to pay my cell phone bill, car insurance, vehicle registration, and the bill for getting the rust removal on my car.

It was a challenge, but I am very proud of how I did!

I think that each month, I'm going to put a certain amount of my paycheck aside to spend on fun things like new clothes, and the rest will be for my savings account/necessities.

xoxo.

July Spending Freeze {biggest weakness}

{I decided to combine this with From Mrs. to Mama's 52 Weeks of Blogging with a Purpose, since this week's topic is "my biggest weakness."}

My biggest weakness is definitely spending money on unnecessary things. At this point in my life, I have the luxury of not really having to spend money on things like rent and bills, since I live with my parents. I'm very lucky. They have always said that as long as I am going to school {which I pay for} and have a job, I can still live here.

I shouldn't even call it a spending freeze, because I'm not saying that I'm not going to spend any money. I will only be buying necessities (like food and car repairs, etc.). This means no trips to Target to wander around and spend $50 on random things.

That last sentence is a true story. Last July, I was finishing my final exam for one of my self-paced computer classes, and I told myself that when I finished, I could go to Target. I ended up spending a little more than $50 on two v-neck tees, two tank tops, two picture frames, a box of cake mix, a packet of frosting add-in stuff, a pack of Lip Smackers, a bottle of clear nail polish, and a box of nail stickers. I went in for one item, the clear nail polish, and I left with all of that. The sad thing is that I didn't even really care that I had just spent that money. Yes, I do still wear the clothes and use the frames, and a lot {if not all} of those items were on sale or clearance, but I really didn't need them.

One of the major expenses that I have to pay this month is for some rust removal on Luna. I also have to pay car registration towards the end of the month, and my car insurance comes due in early August.

Why am I doing this?  I guess there are two reasons. One is to prove that I can, in fact, go a month without buying unnecessary things. I tried it last month, but totally failed about three quarters of the way through. The second reason is that I want to put away some money so that early next year, I can take a few days off and go on a mini-vacation!

Once the month is over, I think it would be a smart idea for me to sit down and actually budget how I plan on spending my money.

How's it going? Well, we're one week in, and the only money that I've spent is on Luna's rust removal! Thanks, Mom, for picking up some things that I could have totally paid for at the grocery store.

Just because I currently have a "disposable income" (according to my mom), doesn't mean that I have to dispose of it.

Here's to hoping that the rest of the month goes well!

via

xoxo.

{everyone else has some really good posts, so click above and go read them!}