A few days late with this recap, but here goes! (Basically) a month down! I won’t lie, it’s been hard!
Goal #1: Declutter. I was able to pass along some unused toys and clothes to my friend! It was about three bags full so that felt good. I’m feeling a bit stuck in the decluttering journey and know that I need to get to the basement sooner rather later. But… we need a dumpster.
Goal #2: No new stuff/No spend challenge. We didn’t buy anything new! That feels really good because we made it the entire month! The no spend challenge was a little trickier this week. An unfortunate flood from our refrigerator — someone (I won’t mention names, but a certain 4 year old) left the water dispenser open and running in the fridge and it flooded all of our food that was sitting in the drawers beneath the water. We had floating condiments and ruined deli meat and wet, soggy cheese 🙂 the water ultimately spread into the freezer, and poured underneath the fridge. It was a pain to clean it all up, and then we tossed a good amount of food we deemed “lunch meals”. So, that day we got Chipotle, and got the kids Mcdonalds. One night, Sean and I also went out for drinks and appetizers. So… we spent a bit of money this week.
But I will say, that when I did our budget, I budgeted $100 (a month) for fast food, takeout, restaurants and when I added it all up we still only came in at $90. So, that’s a win!
One thing I want to be mindful of in February, is our grocery budget. I think in my attempt to not spend any money on non-essentials… I went WAY over budget on food and household items. Obviously, we need more food since we aren’t eating out as much, but in February I’m going to take a closer look and be more mindful of what essentials I’m buying.
Goal #3: Save $20K. This week was hard! But I see my downfall. I need to readjust some numbers in my budget to be able to save $60 a day especially during weeks we don’t have a paycheck coming in! Plus, Javi and Lola seemed super expensive this week! First, there was Lola’s spring baseball registration (she’s certain she wants to play), then there was Running Club for Javi, and then Lola’s deposit for her spring recital costumes were due. So, the money I had planned to save… went entirely to them. It looks like I need to raise my sinking fund for the kids, which means something else has to be lowered (ie: groceries!)
Week 4 savings: $60
Total saved: $1060 (5.3% at goal)
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