Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Spending Freeze?

I am definitely our family's "latte factor". At least once a day I head to a convenience store for a soda or chocolate fix. Add to that the little things here and there I buy because they are small or we "need" them and it becomes a significant leak in our finances. Given that we carry a significant amount of debt we want to pay off and it is an issue.

So I'm contemplating a spending freeze for an indefinite amount of time. Obviously we have our fixed expenses and will still need to buy groceries and gas. And we need to buy a dryer this weekend (hopefully used or seriously discounted from the scratch and dent section). Using the laundromat is costing us $25 a week plus the cost of disposable diapers (we normally use cloth).

Aside from these things there is nothing we NEED. The girls have more than enough clothing. I have craft supplies and books to last several months. And giving up the daily snack runs will be good for my wallet and my waistline.

At some point this year we are expecting a bit of a bonus from my husband's job. We have plans on each taking some fun money from that. I'm thinking keeping to the spending freeze until that bonus comes through should be doable.

The only thing I let go of today is the pressure to let go of something every day ;) A nap with the baby in the morning and gymnastics with the eldest in the afternoon ate up much of the day.

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