31 Days of Spending Zero- Wrap Up

5:12 PM

So.  Our 31 days of spending zero wasn't exactly an epic fail, but we didn't save any extra money.  One thing I learned is to be more intentional with my money.  Like a lot of American's we live paycheck to paycheck.  I pay bills and necessities first and then save a little bit of money for gas and food for the next two weeks.

I had to ask myself several times while shopping if I really "needed" an item.  More often than not it was no.  I did need new tires and an alignment during October so we bought those.  The yarn I bought at Goodwill last week, not so much.  The money for my Rhinebeck trip was set aside in April and I actually came home with money!

I am thinking of driving for both Uber and Lyft in my off time.  Yes I probably make more money at my real job, but it also takes time away from my family.  And I do have to drive 30 minutes each way to work.   So if I work at extra 4 hours, it will take 6-7 hours out of my day.  So my thought is to drive during the day when C is in school to make a little extra cash to pay bills.  That way I don't have to decide which bill is more important to pay.

I didn't finish all of the daily assignments.  Some of them were organization and cleaning days and I can do that on my own.  I did clean out my closet and C's closet and dropped off a ton of stuff to Goodwill and the consignment store.

I also have done a much better job of meal planning and making meals with what we have on hand.  I organized and cleaned out the pantry.  It's much easier to meal plan with an idea of what there is to work with.  Who knew?! I'm still looking for great crockpot meals or casserole/hot dish type of dinners that I can pull out of the freezer and bake.

I would totally do a spending freeze again.  Would I do 31 days or just two weeks?  Not sure, but it was a good jumpstart to doing a budget.  (I know, I'm starting to sound like a broken record on doing a budget, but I swear we will start one day).




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4 comments

  1. I did really good all month until yesterday! I had to pick up meds and browsed around the button section of the store, walking out with 3 large buttons that I don't need, but might one day ;) Hey, I did put back the yarn that I had in my cart!

    I love freezer meals. Now that we are family of three I still struggle to downsize my meals so I just freeze the extras, they work great when I am not feeling well and don't want to cook.

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  2. I hope you find the extra cash in your budget, I think half the battle is knowing where the money is going and for what. Be careful if your driving strangers...

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  3. such a tough balancing act.....but it sounds like you made considerable strides.

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  4. We haven't tried it yet but I think I would like to in January. It's kind of useless for me to try over the holidays. You would make a great Uber driver! All those little things add up.

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I love your comments. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

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