Day 3: A new clothesline & family time

We're starting day three of our No Spend Challenge having already spent $125! Seriously, right out of the gate we had to fork over some dough. But, I will say that we made this amount stretch much further than we would have before.  (Read the following using the voice of the dude from the Price is Right, the one who makes the Showcase of a ceramic Dalmatian sound like a pot of gold!)

Tell them what $125 gets them Kim

• A full tank of gas ($30)
• $60 dollars worth of groceries for $34--I  love coupons & sales!
• A Doctor's appointment ($35 a pop)
• A refill of prescriptions ($4 a month)
• Birthday gifts for 2 little boys ($20)
• Anchors to hang our new clothesline ($2)

You're thinking...you still spent a good amount of money is 2 days, Kim. What makes this different? The difference is we are actually thinking about our needs and planning on how to spend the money. Last month, $125 would have been spent in about 2 hours for dinner & "something cool" we should get for the house, kid, yard, etc. And, $125 is all the cash we took out. The cash is gone until next Friday when we'll take another $125 to last us hopefully to the end of the month (but I do have budgeted an extra $100 just in case).

Other "frugal" things we've done or are planning on doing:

• Transferred our credit card balance to our no-balance one that was offering 0% interest for 6 months-saving us up to $300!
• hanging 99% of our laundry out to dry instead of using our electric dryer.
• keeping the ceiling fans going to circulate the air in the house to keep it cool...turning on the AC only when extremely necessary.
• freezing half of all the fruits and freezable veggies we've been buying-this cuts down on throwing out anything when it goes bad from us not using it!
• Making homemade pizza dough this weekend to freeze
• And I'm most excited about: figuring out how to 'can' my famous Vodka Sauce so I can make a big vat of it and not have to freeze it...our freezer hasn't any more room!

This "No Spend Challenge" (NSC) is not just about not spending money, its also about saving on utilities, enjoying what we already have, getting closer as a family, and taking the time and effort to stop-look-listen to the present...stop rushing for tomorrow and looking back on yesterday asking "Where did it go" and answering "I can't remember".

Yep, this NSC is about living today for today and making every action count!

Now I'm off to make some cookie dough for a few orders I have!

Have a great holiday weekend!