Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Welcoming 2014 and starting a No-low Spend challenge.

Pin It

Happy New Year, everyone!! May this year be full of love, excitement and successes for you!

I was really looking forward to the beginning of this new year. The 2013 was not very nice to us. So many things have happened. Some I told you about, others - didn't. Some were not mine to tell... Or maybe, I was just too tired of complaining. Just writing this makes me too emotional. But hey, we are all together, have a roof over our head and food on the table, jobs we like, many blessings in life - life is beautiful!!

Still I'm quietly hoping for a little nicer year ahead :) This time I decided not to make any plans, goals or resolutions. We will take it slow, one month at a time, and hope for the best...


 Like in January we joined Carla's No-Low Spend challenge to save some money towards the ER bill that we are yet to receive:) But it's not going to be pretty, so we want to be extra-careful with our finances. We are planning on staying low in most of the categories. I don't put a number on it (well, other than the grocery budget that we want to lower to below $250 again). We will just try to spend as little as possible while still living a normal life. One of the ways to save money is just to shop less, so another small challenge that we I have (because it's not a challenge for Hubby. I already have to twist his arms to get him in a store) is to have 12 no-spend days in January. I think, this should be doable... I think...

By the end of the month I would love for us to save at least $500. Obviously, everything medical or work related will be an exclusion from this challenge. I also have two more exclusions but I will tell you about it a little later :) But for that we already have some money set aside.

I'm excited for this challenge. It will be a good start to the New Year!

Do you have any goals/resolutions that you want to achieve in the next 12 months?

11 comments:

  1. Happy New Year to you and your family. I'm sure you can manage this first challenge because when you break it down, it's only three days each week you need to avoid the shops. You can do it. When we do our grocery shopping we buy extra bread and milk and freeze it so that we don't have to "just nip out" for more and pick up other bits at the same time. Could this work for you?
    Carolx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I try to do it too :) I think, it's very doable. I just need to keep track of what I already have on hand and substitute one things for another.

      Delete
  2. Good luck with your goal of saving money towards your ER bill. I'm glad your son is better.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Same here, Lena.... i'm ready for a wonderful 2014... last year wasn't the best year for my family either. :(
    Great goal though, I think it's pretty much the same as mine.. lol! Only mine is split up a bit differently. Hope your medical bill ends up being *less* than what you're expecting.. wouldn't that be a treat! ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I hope so too! I doubt it will happen but it would be nice :)

      Delete
  4. Hi Lena - like you I just want to take 2014 one month, maybe one week, at a time. Things happened that knocked me sideways so I'm not hoping for too much, just calm and peace of mind. Let's hope 2014 doesn't throw too many nasty surprises at us!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, Jane, I really hope you have an amazing year ahead! Hugs!!

      Delete
  5. You have shown such courage and grace with all your family faced in 2013. Thank you for being such an inspiration to the rest of us. Good luck in 2014. BTW, most hospitals will give a self pay discount as well as let you make payments at 0% interest.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, thank you, Debby :) You are so sweet! We already got a 40% discount but we are still waiting for the actual number so we can try to negotiate it even further.

      Delete
  6. Doing small challenges at a time can aid in this saving up project you have, Lena. Saving up is never easy since the impulse and temptation to spend is always there. Always remember the reason you wanted to save up in the first place and hold on to it. Good luck! :)

    Angel Richards

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...