No Spend August

Well, it's August!  And around here we are all just thrilled! Ha. We are trying something very different this month.  We are doing a "no spend" month.  I'll be honest... the kid's faces are more a reflection of their disdain for mom's photo shoot but their faces reflect a bit of what's been going through my head as we've been mulling around this idea for the past two months.

 

So what does a "no spend" month look like?  Well, for our family it means we are officially on a spending freeze. That means besides the necessity of paying our bills we will be aiming to spend zero dollars outside of our home.  Yikes! 

No lattes.  No gym membership.  No Birchbox subscription.  No Little Man Ice Cream.  No date nights.  Nada. Zip. Zilch. 

 

But why?  Why a "no spend" month?  Well, let's just be honest... we live in a world of excess.  And personally, we are just sick of it.  It sounds odd, but I feel like it's actually become a reality that excess creates anxiety.  It's as shameful as it sounds.  We are raising babies in a world where they don't know want or need.  Our biggest problem at our house is the mound of laundry that needs folding.  And really friends, that's not a problem.  That is a blessing.

But while that is the bigger picture that we are aiming to tackle, a "no spend" month is also just a very practical way for us as a family to practice simplicity, to work on discipline and to save some money.  

Honestly, I have no idea how this month is going to go.  We might fall flat on our faces as we try something new.  We've never done anything like this. 

Our goal is to not set foot in a single store this month. 

For us, this meant that yesterday we did ALL of our monthly grocery shopping.  Jeremy and I were at Target until they literally turned the lights off in the store as we loaded our cart with everything to complete our meal plan for the month.  Baby shower and birthday gifts were bought ahead of time too. 

We so often fall into the trap of running to the store last minute for items and coming out with a cart load of "extras".  Isn't that the running joke of Target shopping?  You go in for tooth paste and leave with a cart of house pillows and clearance goodies?  Well, not this month. 

 This month, our hair cuts will wait.  Our family nights out will be to free local splash pads and ice cream back home.  A date night will look like meaningful conversation after we've put our babies to bed and watching the sunset from our back patio.

Truthfully, while I'm a little bit nervous about how this little experiment will go... I'm also really excited for a challenge.  One of my favorite song lines goes, "Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same."  And while this may be a "little" hard thing... I believe it's the right thing. 

I'll keep you posted as our month goes on!  I'm excited to share about the lessons we learn along the way!  Here's to trying something a little new.  Here's to "No Spend" August!

* For an updated re-cap of how our No Spend August went, check out Happy September.  You can also read about how our New Year No Spend challenge went in January!