31 Days of LIving Well and Spending WAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaay less!

I read Ruth Soukup's blog Living Well Spending Less blog, and she did a 31 day challenge of spending ZERO! eek! I signed up and I read and reread her experience and then looked at our finances over the past year and knew we needed something radical and soon.
Next conversation, was with my beloved husband.  He totally agreed and we spent September on a trial run of less spending. It was pretty cool.  But still not the best.
One fun tip we really pursued, is a list to the grocery store. We have a white board that hangs on our laundry room door, by the kitchen.  I used to carry a 3x5 card, but found myself forgetting the card.  I now take a photo of the list to bring to the store.  This is a good beginning, but it is very fallible to run to the store for 6-10 items, because you come home with twenty!

We had a birthday and a few melt down days that we ate out, but it was a whole lot better than the summer months prior. The ice maker on the fridge has been a pain in our finances! Last month, my hubby replaced this arm thingee, then a potentiometer. Fancy word for knob. that tells the icemaker to produce cubed ice not crushed went bad. I know first world problem. But my hubby is awesome and ordered the part and fixed it.  Our Creeper Van, also had to have a full tune up! Luckily, we have a freind who is a come to your house mechanic and charges very great prices.  

It is October 3rd, and we are three days into our challenge, which we tweaked a bit.  We decided that grocery shopping would have to happen.  That meant major meal planning, and sticking to it. Pop in tomorrow to see the Menu planning and shopping that worked! 

~never lose your joy