In January (and now February) we have started doing a no-spend challenge. I put the rules we follow in another blog post, but folks have asked me why we do it, and what we do with the money we save doing it. http://www.homemaking911.com/2023/01/04/our-rules-for-no-spend-january/

At first, we had had several months in a row with large expenses, including Christmas month, so it seemed like a great way to reset and replenish some of our savings. Then I began to realize that when my oldest kids were at home, we were always on a tight budget and they learned from our example how to save, or wait, or go out and make some money when things were tight.

Our kids sometimes paid for luxuries like summer camp with their own money, or fund raise for mission trips. But as our income increased, our youngest children have no real working memory of being told, ” I am sorry but we cannot get you new shoes until next month” because we have gotten really good at keeping some money in reserve for things like that. Having a short period where we all have a halt on spending, and have to make tough choices is a good discipline.

Also, I truly get joy out of bargaining, planning, looking for low cost items, challenging myself to use up weird stuff from the pantry, and using the apps and things that give me birthday freebies (It just happens to coincide with my birthday month!).

What do we do with the money we save? Well, each year around March we go ahead and look ahead to the entire year and try to fund upcoming expenses. Tuition for the kids’ co-ops, real estate taxes (we no longer have a mortgage so we write that check ourselves), vacation, investments are all things we try to pay in a lump sum so I am not having to try to keep up with payments and savings all year. If a kid wants to do something special (like ice skating camp) we will try to ear mark some money for that. I also do a huge pantry restock. I look over everything- it should be almost empty. If something is still full I know I need to use it up and maybe not purchase s much on the next stock up. This excludes our long-term food storage. We also purchase our large beef order. If we still have freezer space I will buy a large quantitiy of chicken for the freezer as well.

An unexpected bonus is that we start decluttering. I was looking for some books to sell for some extra cash, and ended up selling a bunch, donating a bunch and giving some away. Then, inspired by that I have reduced in other areas as well, and them my children often follow suit. My sons decided this week to let go of their entire lego collection.

So I think it helps us all appreciate things more, helps us declutter, helps rebuild savings after a season of spending and gives us time to reflect on what we want to include in the budget for next year.