Hello! It's me again. I am still here I just have felt so busy that blogging slipped my mind these past two weeks. But I am here to summarize my experiences during that time.
My parents came into town on the 15th and I did spend a little money ,that I had planned in advance for, but we had a lot of fun spending little or no money on our days together. The first day we were together we drove to the Hoover Dam. We drove to one of the parking lots above the dam and had a great view! FYI for those traveling to the Hoover Dam don't get trapped into paying 10$ for parking. When we went there were plenty of free parking spaces just a little further away.
Later that day we went to Boulder City had lunch at a little pizza place my Dad treated us. :) Thanks again dad! Then we browsed the antique shops. In the evening we just hung out around the apartment and talked and watched a movie on Netflix.
In my mind this is a perfect way to spend a no spending outing with the family. If we had planned to bring our lunch with us it would have been totally free!
The other fun things we did while they were here were walking through the Bellagio Conservatory and watching the Dancing Fountains. Taking walks to the park and enjoying the out of doors.
So for the rest of the assignments I will try and keep my comments to a minimum. I haven't really been doing each religiously but somehow a lot of the assignments I did during the course of this month so I'll just tell you a little about it.
Re-Fashion Your Clothes {Day 15}
Don't you know it. I didn't do any re-fashioning this month but I have projects ready to be made. For instance: Wide legged pants to turn in to skinny jeans. Shirts that are too big to be taken in. Etc...
Get Fearlessly Crafty {Day 16}
Did I tell you about all the pine cones Jack and I picked up at the park? Well the pine cone project is still waiting to be a reality.
Free Halloween Costumes {Day 17}
I almost made Jack's entire Daniel Tiger costume for free! I just didn't want to spend so much time making a red hoodie so I bought it at the DI for $3 bucks. I even painted shoes Jack had already so I wouldn't have to buy new red ones. Not to shabby I say!
Find New Uses for Old Things {Day 18}
:) This is right up my alley! I've made a few "upcycled" items for my Etsy shop.
Silver platter turned into a stylish chalk board
Silver spoon turned into a napkin holder/ Christmas ornament/ Gift topper. So many uses for this pretty lady.
Homemade Spa Treatment Recipes {Day 19}
My version:
Coconut Oil+Essential Oils = As close as I got to "spa" this month.
Have a Spa Day at Home {Day 20}
I thought this might be really fun to do with a few friends. We could all bring a home made spa treatment and a snack and we could all watch a movie and get our spa on.
Week 3 Reflection {Day 21}
I am hanging in there. Spent some of my cash money on thrift store items but stayed away from using the debit card. I think that is pretty impressive because I hardly ever have cash.
Sell Your Stuff {Day 22}
If you are my friend on FB you know I like selling my stuff. It's a fun way to make money and get rid of stuff I don't need.
Get Free Money {Day 23}
In my experience getting FREE money takes a lot more time than I am willing to put into it. I tried doing Checkout 51. You upload your shopping receipts and if you bought the items they have on their list for that week they give you money. Once you accumulate enough money in your account they send you a check. They didn't have a lot of things I buy usually so I didn't make it to the mark where they pay me. But it when using it with coupons you could get some great deals.
Get Free Stuff {Day 24}
Aww yeah! My take on getting free stuff is accepting every dinner invitation possible. I have my Parents and In-Laws to thank for this BIG TIME!
I also get free digital coupons from this website. I found most all digital coupon sites have the same coupons up at the same time so it I just stick to this one.
Try Bartering {Day 25}
I really need to get better at bartering. I love getting good deals. I shop at thrift shops and have started the Vintage Las Vegas Yard Sale in attempt to score really cool things and also sell some of my own. I would really like a yard sale buddy here in Vegas if anyone is interested:) Brady is in full support of me attending yard sales he just doesn't want to be there with me:)
Have a Free Date Night {Day 26}
Date Night what's that? Seriously, Brady is so super busy that our idea of a date night is to go to bed early. Last weekend we had Brady's mom watch Jack for a few hours just so we could get some projects done around the house that would otherwise be impossible/ dangerous with a one year old in our way. So that counts as our free date night. :)
Free Family Activities {Day 27}
I've taken Jack to a opening of a new housing development were we got everything for free and we had a blast! I have noticed that there have been a few of those happening. The newspaper is always advertising free activities.
Also I am a part of a Meet Up group for free things to do in Las Vegas. I haven't attended any yet but it might be a good place for anyone looking for something.
Week 4 Reflection {Day 28}
I feel I am doing pretty good at not spending. I found that I planned more than enough for food. I am missing my fresh fruits. I ran out about week two. But we've had frozen fruit to replace it with. There has also been many times people have made/ bought us dinner so that made a big difference. I really need to come up with a 2-3 good on the go staples that I have on hand so if I'm out and about during lunch or dinner I have something to eat.
I have also realized that I really like paying with cash. I know people who take a certain amount of cash out each month that they can spend on things they did not budget for before. I didn't see the value in it until this month when I tried it. I like being able to buy whatever I want and I don't have to keep track of my limit because once the cash is gone it's gone.
Re-Assess Your Budget {Day 29}
A couple of months ago I have signed up for Mint.com. It compiles all of your expenses and assets in one place and has some great tools for making budgets and setting goals. This is partially why I decided on doing a no spending challenge this month. After a couple months noticing how much money we are spending it was clear that what I thought we were spending and what we were actually spending were two very different things. So this challenge has been a great cleanse to set up our baseline budget.
Plan for the Holidays {Day 30}
I hardly ever think about this! And I've never really kept track of what we spent during the Thanks Giving and Christmas I don't even know where to begin. So I'm going to do my best and estimate what I think a good budget would be. Please feel free to give me any input.
What are 3 things we can do to help others?
1. Volunteer somewhere (I'll have to do some research as to where)
2. Random acts of kindness while we are out and about. (Having my heart in the right place to serve others)
3. Bring neighbors treats and get to know them better
What are 3 things we Don’t want to do this year?
1. Go to the mall!
2.
3.
What is most important to us this year? What is least important?
-The most important thing this year is giving Jack some fun Christmas experiences. Take him to do a lot of the fun community events.
-The least important is focusing on the gifts instead of family time.
Food Budget
-Thanksgiving: $50- We will be doing one or two dishes with our entire family so I don't think we'll have to spend more than that.
-Christmas: $50- Same thing. We'll see how it goes :)
Gifts
-Jack: $50- I'm planning on getting most of his gifts second hand since he doesn't know the difference and I'll probably buy a couple of outfits as well.
-Brady and Kelly: $50 each. I'm gonna see what Brady thinks of this. We might have to get creative:)
-Our Parents: $50 total. ???
-Sister Gift Exchange: $50. Notice a trend?
-Friends/Neighbors: $50. Why not?
Miscellaneous Holiday Expenses
Travel: To and from SLC Both at Thanks Giving and Christmas- $280.
Decorations: $30. I have a lot of cute home made decoration ideas so this is probably mostly just for supplies.
Entertaining/Parties: $25- no planning on entertaining but if I need to bring something to someone else's party....
Activities: $50
What (Not) to Do Now {Day 31}
How much money did you save this month compared to a normal month of
spending? Was it more or less then you thought it would be?
So this month we saved $400 from last month. I thought we could have saved more. But most of our expenses are bills and rent that pretty much fix our budget. The majority of the savings is from groceries we did have to pick up groceries a few times and we spend around $100 this month. I think we will be able to keep our food budget low in November as well since I still have a lot food in our cupboards. All in all I feel good that we were able to save. It's gotten me motivated to have more of a budget going forward.
What items did you put off buying this month? Which of them are things
you really need? Which of them are wants?
The biggest thing I didn't spend any money on is eating out. I feel like I did pretty good at making a meal plan and having food ready for dinner. We were less likely to run out and grab something to eat cause I just didn't get around to planning a meal. I am excited to be able to go out to eat once in a while for a date this month. It's nice to have a break from cooking.
I would also like to be able to buy fresh fruits and veggies. That is a lot of what I normally eat and I have really missed it. So I'm excited to get my salad on! But I can survive with out them.
What does your pantry & freezer look like? Could you make it another
month on what you have on hand?
I think we could probably do another month like the one we just had. I think I would just try and go to the store weekly to pick up the fresh fruits and veggies and use up everything else in the pantry and freezer we already have.
How has this challenge changed you? What are your goals for the future?
This challenge has been challenging at certain times. It's so easy to drop $30 bucks on take out when everyone else in your family is eating out. So it makes it hard to break away from that and decide to eat at home. It was also hard for me not to go to the stores I like. It's sometimes a stress reliever to just browse around and maybe buy a few things here or there. I really enjoy shopping. I know that it might not be the healthiest way to relieve stress. I definitely don't want to become a hoarder or a impulsive shopper. So I will be sure to keep to a budget when shopping.
I plan to keep to a budget and continue to try and use what I have first before running out to buy something. I plan on taking out cash for misc. expenses that I can spend on anything I would like and then when I'm done with that cash I have to stop spending. This challenge was a good reminder that I have more than what I need and I should be more resourceful and less wasteful.
Let me know how your 31 Days of Living Well & Spending Zero Challenge went...
No comments:
Post a Comment