Why I'm Doing A Spending Fast

January 20th, 2015

My word for 2015 is "Present" and hubs is "Harmony". Together, we want more peaceful lives where we spend more time being present; not preoccupied by other things. And getting rid of debt will help both of those happen more naturally.

While browsing Pinterest for frugal budget ideas, I found Anna's blog And Then We Saved. She created something called a Spending Fast ® to get your ass in gear to start paying off debt and start saving money. After reading her story, I realized that it wouldn't be too unrealistic to think that we could do the same thing. Maybe not in just fifteen short months, but if we are diligent, it won't take too long.

I realize that not everything is going to be black and white; "Yes" and "No".

For example, if we're out of the house and need to eat or drink, we will. But considering we can't eat basically anywhere fast food is served anyway (we're Vegan!), we will try to go to a grocery store. That will be a positive as far as money and health are concerned.

"Won't it be boring?" Maybe. But it's not like we don't have enough to do at home / cheap / free outside of home... I think it looks more daunting than it will actually end up being.

"What about spending for your boys?" They're the biggest reason we're doing this. We have too much in debt to be able to relax; we can't do everything we'd like because too much goes to bills each month. We want to end up maybe buying a home in a few years... And we definitely aren't in a position to do that today.

We've taken Anna's advice and outlined two lists; "My Needs" and "My Wants". The "My Needs" list will be things that we absolutely have to use money on. Period. The "My Wants" list will be things that we will not be spending money on. Of course, there are always going to be situations where spending money will be necessary, but it's our goal to not do that. I'm going to be blogging the whole thing, so if we slip up (I should say when; just being realistic,) you will know about it. And just as Anna wrote, our list can't be totally comprehensive, but this is a pretty good start.

What I Will Have To Spend Money On (My Needs)

Rent

Utilities (unplug more often, use less water, etc)

Car Payment

Gas

Car Insurance

License Plates

Car Upkeep

Credit Card Bills (work on paying off...)

Food

Toiletries & Essentials (toilet paper, dish soap, etc; try homemade / using greener versions...)

Cell Phones

Internet

Anything the Boys Need (diapers, clothing if they've outgrown theirs...)

Pet Stuff (litter, food...)

Faucet Filters

School-related items (text books, paper, etc for when Pooh starts Kindergarten this Autumn...)

Our handfasting (we're married but are having a handfasting sometime this year.)

What I'm Not Spending Money On (My Wants)

Credit Cards (here I mean not using the money once it's available...)

Starbucks (or any other treats...)

Going Out To Eat

Collectibles (comics, action figures, pop vinyls...)

Thrifting

Garage Sales

Body Modifications

Etsy

Clothes & Accessories (Shoes, purses...)

Unnecessary "usuals" (Perfume, candles...)

Unnecessary pet stuff (toys, catnip, fish tank statues...)

Stuff For the Apartment (dishes, tapestries, tchotchkes...)

Gifts (family and friends will understand and hopefully appreciate cards and homemade gifts...)

Random things we didn't budget for (photobooth pictures, souvenirs, gas station snacks...)

Most trips (if we plan a trip, it'll be local and as cheap as possible...)

Our plan is to basically do what we can at first... With hubs having to take off a few weeks for the birth of our second boy (and only getting paid for one of those weeks,) we don't really know what we'll be looking like money-wise. But after he goes back to work and we're back to getting regular paychecks, then we'll figure that out. We're thinking that when we pay off something, we'll use part of it to pay toward another thing and then a small portion of that will go into savings. I know, it's a super inventive idea... Haha.

I'll be posting about our Spending Fast pretty often... In years past, when I've done "Mission 101" projects, I've made big lists of cheap / free ideas to do... So I'll be sharing things like that, too.

Instead of making a post every time we slip up or pay something off, I'll write about it here on my Spending Fast Updates page. I'll mention most when I post as well, but I thought having them all in the same place would be a good idea.

Alright, well... here's to being debt free!!

Spending Fast ® via And Then We Saved

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