This New Year is bringing all kinds of change here in the Smith Household! Earlier this week, I shared my results of Week One of Intermittent Fasting (you can see that post here), in addition to health diets in this household, it was also time for a spending diet! The past couple years, I’ve looked on with intrigue as other bloggers and influencers have touted “no spend” months. My favorite one being from my dear friend Casey from DIY Playbook ~ you can see her “Frugal February” Posts here. Over the years, Brian and I have become better and better at managing our budget. Early in our marriage we used Dave Ramsey’s Envelope system (which I highly recommend!), and through recent years I felt like we were doing well budgeting for all of the major and large expenses…mortgage / bills / child preschool costs / vacations / holiday gifts / etc. Along with saving for a dream project of ours (and one we’re hoping to finally begin this year…I recently hinted at what it is in Instagram Stories). With a surprise pregnancy in 2018, it meant new expenses for 2019…diapers, bottles, formula…the typical baby costs. So going into 2019, I “felt” prepared, even when some surprise large medical expenses hit our household. But, similar to my own health struggles, I found myself continually confused by the outcome, asking “where is all the money going”…not a good sign, especially if you think you’re on top of your budget. Brian and I call this "the ostrich bird effect”. Essentially, “putting your head in the sand”, only to emerge to find a reality much different than the plan. So this year, inspired by other’s success stories, I decided to try it for ourselves and gave us the goal of a no spend January & February! But before we dove in, I spent the week over the holiday break, combing through our finances and seeing where we were going wrong in 2019. Here’s what I found:
Costs due to convenience.
Let’s say that one more time….Costs due to Convenience!!
It wasn’t large un-planned purchases that were hurting us. Nope, but rather shockingly, it was the HUGE amounts of money we spent on an abundance of small purchases…you know the kind. The kind of purchases like…hey, we’re out of milk, runs to the store for milk…ends up paying $40 for “random stuff”. Hey, we’re out of diapers…runs to Target for Diapers…spends $150?! Slowly, throughout the year our eating out changed as well, “cheap & quick stops” at Chick-fil-a with the kids cost on average $35. Brian started eating more lunches out for work…easily $14…plus more coffee shops for the two of us…goodbye $8! And don’t even get me started on the late night takeouts Brian and I got accustomed to this fall…not great for our wallets OR our waistlines! In addition to food costs, it was other ‘convenience’ buys and therefore unplanned purchases that cost us. Unplanned Target runs, Amazon online purchases…even those at home movie nights add up quickly…$3 rentals don’t sound like a lot unless you’re binge watching like we were. And with binge watching, goes more binge eating…clearly ostrich-birding big time here!
Clearly, the money spent around our food was the number one “convenience” expense for the year ~ and it was sickening! Seriously. And our finances around food is what also helped motivate our decision to give ourselves our own 40 day Intermittent Fasting Challenge. Truth be told they go hand in hand!
So, once I got my head around where we were going wrong, I set the following ground rules for ourselves for January & February:
NO EATING OUT
yup, no eating out of ANY kind! No drive throughs, no takeouts, no eating lunches out. I committed to feeding the kiddos at home only…craving a chic-fil-a milkshake? we make them at home! And Brian committed to taking a bag lunch to work everyday…cost effective? yes! Healthier? yes…a win win! We also promised no coffees out.
Once a Week Grocery Trips
this one is huge! last year I could easily “run” to the grocery store multiple times a day, let alone a week. We live within walking distance to three, so trips to the grocery store are so easy…and again, convenient! So for this part of it, I’m putting more intention and planning into our weekly meal plan. I’ve set a weekly budget and I’m sticking to it. If something’s forgotten, we’ll go without (baring any real needs for the kids…milk, medicine, etc)
NO Target Runs
Ok, mamas out there…some of you may relate to how big of a deal this one is. I LOVE my Target! It’s kid-friendly! There’s a starbucks and cute home decor. It’s one stop shopping at its best…need milk…dog food, diapers and a new welcome mat? All in one place! How CONVENIENT?! And how about that amazing “dollar section” (now called ‘bullseye’)…that has never, not once cost me $1…or $10 for that matter?! So, for the sake of not spending unnecessary money…and detoxing on all things Tarjay…I set the rule for myself that I can not step one foot inside the place for the next two months (think I can do it?) To help be successful at this one, and also to avoid those target runs that I tell myself are needed…we NEED toilet paper…we NEED diapers…I set up an Amazon subscription…ships once a month with the toiletry items that are needed (diapers, wipes, toilet paper) as well as dog food.
NO Shopping period…ONLINE or IN STORE…NONE!
Yup…no after Christmas holiday sales. No late night online buys. No trips to the mall. And with the exception of our Amazon Subscription (automatically sent and charged each month,) NO Amazon purchases…no prime video rentals…nada, zip, nothin’.
In addition to the items above we agreed to NO Beauty buys, no Clothing purchases, no Gardening additions and NO spending on anything that is not a NEED! So again, outside of our monthly bills…the only thing we can use the money for is gas for cars and food for the table! For full transparency, before January 1st I did go out and buy a two month supply of vitamins and supplements (using as a compliment to intermittent fasting) put aside money for the kid’s haircuts (which I took them last week) and set aside haircut money for Brian ~ two cuts over the next 10 weeks. For me, I’m skipping beauty buys all together, forcing myself to use up what I currently have and preventing “impulse” buys.
So, What & Where can we spend money?
(outside of our monthly bills…mortgage, taxes, power, preschool, etc)
Gas Station (for gas only)
The Grocery Store ~ once a week and within our strict budget
Amazon Subscription ~ I mentioned this above, but this is for our monthly dog food and monthly toiletries only…diapers, wipes, toilet paper. Any other “needed” purchases that may come up over the next two months…toothpaste, etc…will be bought and budgeted within our weekly grocery stipend. And while it may be a bit more at our local grocery store…it will be a whole lot less than those $150 Target Runs I typically make.
Well there ya go! Have you done a "no spend month”? Have you always wanted to but never pulled the trigger? What are your tips and tricks to staying on budget and preventing impulse and convenient buys? Join the conversation in the comments below or over on Instagram!