No Spend Month – the Final Update

This is our last day of no-spend-month.  We started out with $250 in cash to spend on everything except bills, tithe, medical, and moving expenses.  I think we accidentally added a little money to it because I had some cash from selling items on Craigslist.  But we didn’t withdraw any extra money, and it is refreshing to say that we lived a whole month on around $250!

Here are some things that I learned:

• I planned my trips better so that I used as little gas as possible.  I had gotten lazy in this area.
• You can go out to run errands without getting a snack in the drive thru or a coffee at Starbucks (this is my #1 downfall!)
• I used my bread machine to make bread for Ben’s lunches this month.  He said it was more filling, and I love the smell of bread baking.  It saved us about $20.
• I used coupons to get about $100 in free groceries.  They were not the items that I would have put on my list, but it forced me to be creative and use what I had on hand.  We   had sandwiches on leftover hot dog buns.  We had celery and peanut butter instead of milk and cookies.  We had homemade tea instead of Crystal Light.  I had milk in my coffee instead of creamer.  It was the little things! 
• I learned that I can make less for supper and we will still be satisfied, filled, and healthy.  I also discovered that we don’t have to eat meat at every meal!
• I liked using cash to buy groceries because it kept me from getting that “one extra item” each time that would put me over my budget.
• We cleaned out our freezer and cupboards (which needed done anyway for the move).
• I took advantage of great sales and coupons at CVS to actually make money that I can put towards toiletry items.
• I tried to got as cheap as possible on moving expenses, even though it wasn’t included in no-spend-month.  I got free boxes on Craigslist, and newspaper from church friends and neighbors.

It’s been a good month.  Thanks for following along!