Frugality

Frugality is the quality of being frugal, sparing, thrifty, prudent or economical in the use of consumable resources such as food, time or money, and avoiding waste, lavishness or extravagance (resource).

Avoiding waste, lavishness or extravagance .... hmmmm ....

An overview of my November (non-bill related) finances:

Restaurants: $499.61
Household/Grocery shopping: $682.34
Clothes/Fun shopping: $248.15
Gas (2 cars): $195.72

Yeah, frugal I am not.

But I need to be.  

And quick!

The said truth is (as though my ridiculous overspending wasn't sad enough) the Hubsters and I have an overwhelming pile of debt.  Debt that keeps going up and not down.  Debt that haunts us.  Makes me sad and cry and angry and temperamental all at the same time.  Gets me so stressed out I just say "forget it all, let's go to dinner and forget about it."  Because, yeah, that's going to help things.  But, this has been the viscous cycle we have been in for about as long as I can remember us being together (11 years!).

So it's time for change! Real, actual, make it happen no matter what, change!

I'm tired of cringing every time the phone rings and stressing about which checks can be written and which bills are pushed aside for the time being.  I want to have less papers in my mailbox and more numbers in my checking account.

Effective today we are starting a "No Spend Month."  Something I got inspired to do when browsing through Pinterest and stumbled upon this blog.  And, really I guess for us it's a "No Spend Month plus 2 days" ;)

Here's the 'rules' revised by me and the Hubsters to fit what we hope to achieve out of this:

1.  $350 for the month (plus 2 days) - this is slightly more than 20% of our average spending habits
2.  Take it out in cash - no more debit card!
3.  This budget is for anything that isn't a monthly bill (groceries, gifts, adventures out etc)
4.  Start today to avoid the temptation of "getting in last minute fun and stocking up with junk food" before Dec 1

And that's that.  I'm here to document our adventure and share what works, but also as a means to hold myself more accountable...