Spending-free month
We talk about money a lot in our house – A LOT. Because we want to be good savers, because we want to use our resources wisely, because we feel like we don’t have that much of it, because someday we’d like to live in a two story house, maybe even own it, because Tim is self employed, because we’re terrified of the cost of college. But the truth is, it’s mostly talk – we’re not actually very good at paying attention to our money. We know what our monthly expenses are, we have some automatic savings set up, but where does the rest go? Do we even have “the rest” to go anywhere? We’re not sure. Our budget spreadsheet (yes, we have a budget spreadsheet... but that’s just talk on paper) says we do and the financial planner has ideas for where it should go. But it still feels like a lot of talk and a bit of make believe. So this month we’ve chosen a number, we’re making one cash withdrawal, we’ll of course keep paying rent and utilities, but that’s it. If we don’t have the cash (or we want to be able to buy food in three weeks) we’re not spending money on it. I’m actually pretty excited. I’m hoping that this scheme won’t make us feel deprived, that it will help us feel empowered. But really, I’m just tired of talking about money and ready to start doing something. I hope Nathan’s on board!