Week 2

The update's a little late, but our new business has been going fairly crazy lately, which is nothing but good for us. We did a good job last week with keeping to the list. We are starting to realize just how much a lot of the little things were cutting a huge chunk out of our checking account by the end of the month, and are glad that they aren't doing that now. Off the top of my head we didn't have any slip-ups, so we'll count this as another effective week. Gotta start paying down the college debt soon, but must get caught up on bills first, which is actually only getting harder with Britt out of work for the rest of the pregnancy. If things keep going well with ViSalus, though, we should be able to clear that hurdle within the next couple of months.

Week 1

Our first week was a complete success. Of course, not having any money to spend will keep you from spending it. We got our groceries taken care of without going overboard, got a couple of whiteboard supplies for our business, and put gas in the car. Win. Now onto those bills ...

Beginning

While on a trip to Toronto recently, my wife Brittaney and I heard a story about a young woman who decided to initiate a self-imposed year-long spending freeze in order to tackle all of her debt. Within that year, she paid off all of her debt and came out on top.

You don't hear stories like that anymore. In fact, far too often we hear just the opposite (especially in college towns like Kalamazoo): young adults acquiring massive amounts of college and credit card debt (among others) and setting themselves up for financial failure at a very young age.

Brittaney and I have only one mode of debt: college tuition. And it is a hefty sum.

With a baby on the way and a new business we are getting off of the ground, we decided we wanted to tackle this challenge ourselves. We sat down with a notebook and made a list of things we consider "essential" to spend money on. After doing this, we vowed not to spend money outside of this list for 365 days, starting today.

We have created this blog for accountability reasons. If others are invited to see how we are faring in this challenge, we will be accountable not just too ourselves, but also to the people closest to us. We will post on the blog once each week to detail how well we are (or are not) doing.

I hope you will join us on our journey and offer your feedback, advice, encouragement, and prayers.

The list:
(1) Food (groceries - no eating out)
(2) Rent
(3) Insurance (auto, rental, health)
(4) Gas
(5) Pet food
(6) Baby supplies
(7) NECESSARY clothing purchases (maternity, replacement, seasonal)
(8) Business expenses (tax deductible)
(9) Toiletries and cleaning products
(10) One date per month (under $50) - we feel this is a necessary relationship expense
(11) Doctor, Dentist, & Veterinarian visits

We may add things to the list later in case we left something out or we get good advice, and we will publish changes here.

Blessings!