by Hope
Tomorrow I will announce a March challenge as we say goodbye to February. I don’t know about you, but this month has been much easier for me. I truly didn’t mind the Eat at Home challenge with the break I gave myself to get out of the house occasionally for lunch.
We ate at home every night. And I went to the coffee shop 1-2 times a week to work. It’s amazing the difference in my productivity when there versus in my home office. No distractions like dishes to clean, laundry to do or any other “house” chores distracting me.
How’s your eating out been this month? Did you join in the challenge? Or modify your norm at all?
And while it wasn’t supposed to a be a #nospendmonth for us, it really turned out to be. Between our normal busy schedules, the rain and the medical issues, we just didn’t go anywhere or do anything that would have cost us outside of our regular budget.
I have to travel several days this week for work. But next week (the first week of March,) I plan to really sit down and take a look at my finances. It’s time to pay off some more debt with my savings from January and February!
Looking forward to the last couple of months of this school year:
- Princess will be playing with a rec volleyball league ($142 for the season, I mentioned it back in January) beginning next week in addition to her 4 high school classes and 2 college classes. She is going to keep me busy!
- Sea Cadet is enjoying his new job and learning new auto skills (he’s working at a car wash/oil change place,) and looking froward to finishing his Advanced EMT studies in July.
- History Buff is enjoying his new job at a big box home improvement store and working hard to stick to a budget. He learned a hard lesson this semester after not sticking to his budget last fall. He is very excited about his schooling and has chosen to pursue certifications in machine lathe and welding simultaneously. I am very proud of how hard he is working on his finances.
I’m excited about the new challenge for March. I hope you will join me. These monthly challenges are really helping me stay focused.
Hope is a creative, solutions-focused business manager helping clients grow their business and work more efficiently by leveraging expertise in project management, digital marketing, & tech solutions. She’s recently become an empty nester as her 5 foster/adoptive kids have spread their wings. She lives with her 5 dogs in a small town in NE Georgia and prefers the mountains to the beaches any day. She struggles with the travel bug and is doing her best to help each of her kids as their finish schooling and become independent (but it’s hard!) She has run her own consulting company for almost twenty years! Hope began sharing her journey with the BAD community in the Spring of 2015 and feels like she has finally in a place to really focus on making wise financial decisions.
Can’t wait to see your next move. Have you considered keeping some $ for Sea Cadet’s medical stuff?
It is so astounding to me how much can be saved once we don’t eat out. Just bonkers! I stopped eating out at work as much as possible for the year, and so far I am pleased with the results. Small, but good.
I know right! Eating out definitely continues to be my biggest struggle. But I’m definitely getting better at it. I’m finding the more money I see in my bank account, the less I want to spend it. If that makes any sense.
I haven’t really put any thought into Sea Cadet’s medical bills yet. We will sit down with them next week when I do my own planning and make a plan. I will definitely keep the BAD community posted.
I agree with you 100% – I am glad to have the $$ sitting there ready to save, or pay down a card vs feeling guilty that I spent it on junk!! Good luck with the bills, I am hoping it is not too bad and they work out a great plan for SC.
March is going to be way better for me, because I just got my tax refund last night. I am going to blog about it later, but it was really a boost that enabled me to get rid of three annoying debts.
It’s nice to see a picture of you btw