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).

Week one of the 31 days of living well and spending zero challenge is in the books.  How'd we do?  I thought we did really well until I got home from work yesterday.  I didn't think it was too difficult this week to not spend any money.  But I worked seven out of the last eight days.

Like most people we live paycheck to paycheck so when payday rolls around we usually have most of the check already accounted for.  This week was no exception.  I got paid on Monday and paid the bills that were due from the 1st-15th.  I shopped at Target and Costco and bought ONLY the items that were on my list!!!  That was a major score for me.  Have you ever gone to Target and only bought list items?  It's difficult.

One of the challenges this week was a pantry clean out.  I dug through the pantry and freezer and made lists of what we had on hand and will try to meal plans around that.  I also went to the grocery store for perishables.  My grocery budget this week was $30.  I spent $33 and was impressed that I got everything I needed!

I got home from work yesterday to find that my husband had purchased a new bicycle.  Ugh.  So I'm a little bit frustrated.  Apparently he is not on board with the challenge.  We've also paid for a new tires and a hefty car repair bill.

I put money aside back in April for my Rhinebeck trip with the Dragons (Bryan calls our crafting group that because as he says we sit around and "spew fire").  My challenge for that will be to stick to the budget I set up!

I'm excited to see what week 2 has in store!