Not a big spender!

Today marks the start of my no-spend year. What does that mean? I cannot spend on anything that is not necessary and/or new. I also have to budget my food expenses, which is huge for us since we are on a special diet, and work on trimming down our budget for other things.

Now, what is necessary spending?

• Items we need to get by - like food (work on the cost!), basic clothing (used), toiletries, gasoline, electricity, etc
• Renovation materials, services, tools, and anything else that will allow us to complete the house to make it livable.
• Children's lessons, classes, and homeschool materials, within reason
• RV park fees and basic expenses related to travel, including entrance fees to parks

What is not necessary?

• Toys, except related to the outdoors
• Really, it's anything we don't NEED

How I will help myself accomplish this:

Before buying anything, I will ask myself, "Do I NEED this, or do I want it?"

I will set-up a clear budget for monthly expenses, and out of that will make discoveries for what needs trimming out of the budget. I'm not the best budgeter, and I'm not much of a planner by nature, so this will take serious commitment from me.

Certain things I may find I need, while others may disagree. For instance, I need a haircut within that year. Nothing fancy, no styling, just a nice haircut. I also need to buy a few books here and there, although at the moment, I have a nice stash. The biggest factor for us will be food, since that's where we spend most of our money, and paying certain bills on time. I'm horrible about writing things down and keeping a calendar, in my personal life anyway, and that will be a goal of mine this year. I want to avoid fees and charges too, whenever and wherever I can.

There are a few things this year I already planned to budget for that are outside of this realm, and make me a bit of a cheater. One being a tablet computer. Ha! I don't need it though, and perhaps I will change my mind as time goes on.