In a world of increasing consumerism I hit a point where I wanted to slow down my purchasing. To be honest inflation has made everything SO expensive, and I wanted to prioritize what I spend my money on. I love clothes, but definitely get caught up in fast fashion and spending money on items that I only wear a handful of times. We're over halfway through the year so I thought it would be a great time to check in and share tips I've learned during this challenge + the items I've bought.
Maybe it's the Enneagram 7 in me but I love a challenge at the beginning of a new year. Over the years I've done a few budgeting/shopping challenges. For instance in college I went a year with only buying second hand clothing, and when my kids were babies I did a 6 month no shopping challenge.
For some reason I'm more motivated about our spending and budgeting this year. Probably because I have a dozen trips on my mind and I can't travel AND shop to my heart's desire. So here we go....24 ITEMS IN 2024!
I'm not here to tell you that you need to set goals or challenges in 2020. Some days, some weeks, some years you simply need to survive and that is OK. We all have our tough seasons of life...hello raising babies. However, if you want to make changes to your life, setting goals are a game changer. I've seen personally how participating in challenges and setting goals have dramatically impacted my life.
First off, we sold our home! If you're new here, we bought our current home before we had sold our original home. It took longer than expected but it's done and we are rich...j/k. We did profit almost $100k on the sale and only owned the house 5 1/2 years, but we are putting that money towards our new home, maxing our kid's college funds for the year, paying off our debt (minus the van) and saving the rest. After we signed Alex went straight to the Toyota dealership to buy himself a truck, but I threatened him to WALK AWAY, haha! We are both spenders but know we have to save and be financially smart so we can set our family up for success.
Check out what we spent in June on eating out, home decor and clothing!
5 years ago we bought our first home, and today we move out of that home. It's extremely bittersweet saying goodbye to our neighbors and to this home that has been our safe haven over the years.
It's been 3 months since I started my budget challenge! The goal is to cut my family's eating out budget in half for the next 6 months, and cut our clothing budget to $200 per month. Today I'm sharing what we spent in March and what we're planning for April.
Money isn't a fun topic, but it needs to be discussed more! That's why I am transparent about my budgeting and spending to give you an honest look at what spending looks like for our family of five. There is shame in money, believe me I've been there. Debt isn't fun, and it's hard opening up about mistakes you've made or struggles you have with money. My goal is to create an open space for people to be honest about their financial struggles, goals and wins! Read about our 2019 financial goals here!
Here's the thing I've learned about goals. They are much easier to achieve when you break them up in to smaller more achievable goals. They aren't so scary when they are digestible. Today I'm sharing my 2019 financial goals. They aren't huge, but they are taking steps in the right direction.
Towards the end of every year I take an in-depth look at my spending over the past year. I also look at where my family is financially. Did we increase our debt? Did we decrease it? Did our spending habits change? Did we make any expensive purchases we regret now? Could we have saved more?
