Spending Fast - Day 31 - The Results

Today is the last day of our spending fast. It has changed my perspective on how we spend money as a family (needs vs. wants). We have worked really hard as a family this month on this challenge. We have all sacrificed, and I am really excited to share the results with you.

My budget for grocery and household items each month is $650.00. I feel like that is pretty tight already for our family of 8 so I wasn't sure how I would be able to spend less. I am very proud to report that I spent $472.00 on grocery and household items this month!!!!! That means I saved $178.00 in that category of my budget.

By donating their allowance, and doing their store, the kids saved $43.00. I am so proud of them for making this sacrifice. They have been impacted as well.

Rick calculated all of the money that we normally have budgeted in various categories each month. Instead of keeping that money that was not spent in those categories, we are going to take it all and put it towards our adoption. So, calculating the money the kids saved and the money that we saved by not spending in the month of January, we saved a total of $657.00 this month!!! Wowzers!! I didn't know what to expect, but that is definitely more than I expected.

Rick asked me if I thought it was worth it. I would say, "absolutely!" I would do it again and I may do it again later this year. I have so enjoyed having a challenge set before me this month that I have decided to do a different challenge each month of the year. Stay tuned in my next post to see what my next challenge will be.

I cannot end this post without acknowledging the special blessings God gave to us this month. Rick and I were able to go on a date and eat out because we had a gift card given to us. We were treated to a meal by friends. Chick-fil-a had free bfast every Wed. morning. We had a meal brought to us when we had quite a bit of sickness. We were also given pizza money for an evening when I was too sick to cook. We got a special gift of batteries from special friends(if you read my "resourcefulness post" you will understand why). These things spoke volumes to my kids as we sacrificed and saw God provide some of our wants.

So, what will I do tomorow? I am getting my boys haircuts. I am scheduling a haircut for myself. Some time this week, I am getting Chipotle, my favorite!!! I am buying a stylus for my Palm Pilot. I have been using a pen top for the last couple of weeks. We also need a new doorknob to our garage. It is falling off, and we have been waiting until Feb. to keep from spending. I don't have a long list, just a few things that I have been waiting to purchase once this fast is over. We told the kids we would celebrate our accomplishment in some way. I'll take pictures and share about that later. If you are still reading my blog, I commend you. It has been a long month of many spending fast blog posts. Now to February's Challenge!!