No Spend Month

Sorry about the blogging hiatus. I will get some pictures posted soon. We have had a very fun and busy summer. It is already July and time is slipping away from me quickly. Last weekend I was lucky enough to have a girl's reunion with all of the girl's I have grown-up with. It was so fun and therapeutic! We talked a lot! One thing that resonated with me was our discussions on budgeting. I have been thinking a lot about ways that I can be better at budgeting. I am not going to lie, I have never budgeted well. Thanks to my very financially savvy husband we have savings and a home but I would like to develop this skill/practice more so I can set a better example for Eliza and surprise my husband! Thanks to pinterest I was introduced to the No Spend Month, from the Small Notebook blog. Basically, the challenge is to spend less than $250 in 31 days. The reason I want to do this is because I spend a lot of time looking for things to buy to improve our home and lifestyle. Imagine what I could do with that spare time; spend more time with my husband, play with my daughter more, do more crafts, clean my house more, make more green smoothies, do more for other people! Maybe instead of shopping (online or in-person, dang you TJ MAXX and Target!) I could finish all of the projects on my to-do list? So this challenge is meaningful to me in 2 ways, 1) to spend less and learn how to budget but even more importantly it will 2) free up some more of my precious, never-enough time so that I can pursue more meaningful activities. I am blogging this so I can be accountable! So for the next 31 days I will spend less than $300 (sorry, I need the extra $50, I am not a miracle-worker :)). This will not include gas or household bills (mortgage, utilities etc.), savings, tithing etc. Basically this is the money I would use on groceries, food/entertainment, shopping at Target and TJMaxx convincing myself I need things for my house or Eliza etc. Do you think I can do it? Good, because I don't! But, I will try and I will tell you all about it!