Going a month without spending any money + giveaway

Happy Monday friends!! If you’ve been following me for a while I’m sure you’ve heard me talk about going month long periods without spending any money. I did a whole blog post last May and you can read it here. I basically did an overview of what I did, and since that post I’ve had so many requests to do an updated post about how I do it! This is a long one so fair warning!

I can’t say that I stay 100% faithful to not spending an entire month but I do pretty dang good about 90% of the time! If you’re the type of shopper that sees it and needs it asap then you are just like me and the first month you take on will be hard. It took so much self control just to put something back and that’s so embarrassing to say. After a while it does change your outlook because you start to see things and suddenly think Wow, I really don’t need that! This sounds so cliché but doing this little challenge is truly life changing.

So one of the bigger questions I got and basically my whole reasoning for making this post was to really break it down on what I budget myself to buy and ultimately, how to not spend money. Another big one was why I personally chose to start doing this.

I decided to start doing this because I love my credit cards. I hate asking for help and wanted to truly live on my own so I made the mistake of getting credit cards right out of high school thinking I could handle all of them myself. I had no knowledge about anything when it came to them and the addiction gets real! I personally want to get debt free and be so financially stable that I don’t ever need to pull out a credit card again. I also want to be putting away bigger chunks into our savings for our family! I want to build a home, take vacations, and be able to make our house feel like home. A new thing is we’re having a baby in June! Babies are crazy expensive and I’ll be going my whole maternity leave with no pay so having that backup is crucial!

Now, for when it comes to budgeting for the month I spend about an hour getting all the bills and monthly expenses accounted for along with adding in the money that comes in. I usually subtract what I owe from what I will make for the month and the end number is my goal to have left in my account by the end of the month. (I hope this is making sense lol)

Budgeting

You physically can’t go a whole month without spending money because you do need to survive! So, here are the essentials that I did budget for the month.

• -Rent
• -Water bill
• -Electric bill
• -Phone bill
• -Credit Card Payments
• -Car insurance
• -Car payment
• -Monthly medical necessities
• -Laken’s activites
• -Monthly subscriptions
• -groceries
• -gas

The very first month I did this I took it to the extreme to see how low I could get all of our monthly costs. This part definitely isn’t necessary by any means and you’re probably wondering how it even comes into play with just doing this for a month, but it makes a huge difference in the long run. I actually figured out that we could eliminate a lot! Like I said, this isn’t necessary but if you’re wanting to get serous about this it helps. You can skip to the next part if you don’t want to see this but I do want to break down what we figured out.

-We only had cable to watch sports and our package was in the $200 range. Kyler and I both figured out it would be cheaper for him to go to the bar once a week get two drinks and a meal and it wouldn’t even be half of what our cable bill was. We opted to put Netflix and Amazon Prime in place of cable.

-I was able to lower all of our monthly utility bills just by calling to see if they had average payment plans! We know exactly what our utility bills will be each month – yay for no surprises!!

-I went through all of our monthly subscriptions and canceled everything we didn’t need or could live without.

-This takes some time but I was able to find out where to get the best grocery items! It takes a good part of the day but is worth it in my mind! For produce and meat we buy at Sprouts. For all grocery items we buy at Aldi’s. For what we can’t find at either we go to Walmart. (see how I eliminated Target there as a whole?!)

Saving

This is where it gets real tricky. I don’t want to say I’m frugral because let’s be real.. I am far from it. However, I became really cautious of every choice I made. I kept thinking of that end number that I would have in my account if I didn’t spend a whole lot and that alone kept me motivated! When it came to food I didn’t eat out at all! I made it a point to make my meals ahead of time or make enough to have leftovers. I forced myself to eat the snacks we had and to get creative! I also didn’t splurge on any food items we didn’t need.

I didn’t go out at all! I still had a life and did what I needed to but I didn’t go to Target because I was bored. I actually made a list of everything that I could do in our home and made that my priority. It’s crazy how time consuming house work is when it’s put off so long! I did a lot of reorganizing, a lot of cleaning, and a lot of home projects.

I avoided shopping at all costs!! This was easily the hardest part for me haha. I am an online and in-store impulse shopper. I got creative with my outfits. I actually spammed all of the sale emails to help. Instead of buying things asap I added everything to a list of things I would love to have. By the end of the month when I told myself I could go ahead and buy that top or dress I ended up not liking it anymore.

The rules for breaking the rules

I talked a little about this in my Instagram stories a while back about how when I do these monthly things I don’t limit myself if it’s something that I was planning on getting or if I find something that I have been searching for. I had been on the hunt for a while for two acrylic boxes for my makeup storage. I didn’t need them and was going to get them from The Container Store. I walked into Homegoods and found the perfect acrylic boxes half the price of what The Container Store had them for so I did buy them. That was the only extra purchase I made that month though!

I also make an exception for birthday, baby shower, and wedding gifts. It’s very hard to avoid those!

I will be doing the whole no spending as much as I can up until this baby comes. I won’t be holding back on baby items though. I’m planning the nursery and will be buying things as I see them because I want the room done before babies arrival.

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As far as this whole “challenge” goes, the rules are up to you. They can be different for everyone and the exceptions can be whatever you want them to be. I am not a financial advisor so don’t take my advice if it won’t benefit you. This is what has worked for me and our family. If you’re saving for something big in the near future doing something like this is smart. I know so many of you have done this as well and have told shared how much it helped. I love hearing when you all take on a challenge! 🙂

SECRET GIVEAWY!!!!!!!

If you made it this far you are amazing and I appreciate all your support! I want to give back to you all so I have a little giveaway for you! There will be one winner and that winner will get everything pictured below!

One person will win a BaByliss Pro Iron, Bumble and Bumble Thickening hair treatment, and Dermalogica’s Daily Microfoliant and Hydrablur Primer! Total value: $285

Rules are a little different than my usual rules. All you have to do is make sure you’re subscribed to my blog at www.kendraryamer.com (I will check) and you’re following me on Pinterest at www.pinterst.com/kendraraymerblog!

For a bonus entry you can follow me on the LiketoKnow.it app by searching Kendra.Raymer or using this link.

Giveaway will end Wednesday night at Midnight!! 🙂

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xx-Kendra