Friday, April 15, 2016

My $20 Challenge

My $20 Challenge

So one of my goals this month was to limit my pocket money to $20 for the whole month of April.  My most frequent splurges are lunches out with friends, coffees, books, thrifting, the occasional trip to Target or Joann's, and online shopping when I find a good deal for something I think I need or it's cheap so I should "stock up".

It was kind of a spur of the moment thought due to several things.  Here were a couple of my reasons.
  1. I don't know how much I spend each month.  I don't have any limits on how much I can spend a month.  I mean, I think if I was charging up hundreds of dollars a month, my husband, Jim,  might say something.  But, as it is he always encourages me to spend time with friends or treat myself if I feel like I need to.  And while I love his support and trust in me, I feel like I should be more responsible with how I use our resources. 
  2. I want to take two trips this summer.  One up to Lake Superior and another to Colorado.  While I'm traveling with friends, and we travel relatively frugally, it's still going to take some dough to fund these.  While Jim and I have a joint checking account, and we never talk about my money or your money, I feel like I should be making some cuts to my spending to make up for the extra travel.  After all, if I was single I would have to do this.
  3. I have too much stuff!  I am always seesawing between trying to declutter my house and finding great deals or the perfect something.  I know I have too much stuff- whether it's books or fabric or lipsticks or stationery, I have a tendency to hoard things.  But, then I justify it to myself by saying that I'll use it all eventually.  Time to start using it all.
So, how's it going so far?  Well, to be truthful, it was harder than thought.  Here's my expenditures so far:

April 3     $3.00     for Persians rolls
April 13   $11.00   for lunch out with a friend
April 14   $4.00     for DairyQueen blizzard for treat for Hubs.
total        $18.00

It's going to be a rough go to only spend $2 the rest of the month, but even if I go over, I've already realized a lot about my spending habits, and I do plan on tracking what I spend more closely in the future.  What do you think?  Do you track your monthly spending?  Where does most of your pocket money go?  Any tips to help you keep your money in your pocket longer?  And I'll be sure to update you all on how the second half of the month goes.


3 comments:

  1. What an interesting idea! I don't pay too close attention to what I spend, like this particular project/experiment you are doing, but I am really trying to watch what I spend and not too buy too much. I don't usually spend a lot of money on myself but I'm pretty bad at spending on other people, which is nice, but I should still try and save more, so that's my recent goals.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.blogspot.com

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  2. $20 for the whole month?!! That is very frugal. I think I would have a hard time limiting myself to $20 a week. Heck, just yesterday it cost me $100 for a mani,pedi and lunch with my sister. Kudos to you for doing so well!

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  3. What an awesome personal challenge! I don't often spend money on non-necessities (because, frankly, I just don't have much to spend), but I'm curious now if it adds up to more than $20 per month. I definitely have too much stuff, though, that I've stockpiled over the years!

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