January Low Spend and Decluttering Challenge: Update #1

 

January is the month where I feel like I get a start over in redoing our finances and also a redo of our house, when I get rid of excess and feel the urge to declutter. So I was so excited to see that the lovely Carla over at My 1/2 Dozen Daily was hosting a January Decluttering and No/Low Spend Challenge. I have decided to join in!

 

Here is update #1:

 

My MAIN goals for this January challenge:

- Financial goals:

• Spend no more than $320 on food for the month. (This averages out to $80 a week). I need to get our grocery budget down as this past 2 months we have been averaging $130 a week for our family due to illnesses and holidays. As of Saturday night, I have spent $58.08 on groceries for the week...so right on track ($261.92 left)
• Spend no more than $150 on household items (diapers, wipes, toilet paper, Tide, dish detergent and trash bags) As of Saturday night, I have spent $17.03 on diapers. This number will go up tomorrow as I have to go out and get wipes, toilet paper, Tide and deodorant. But still on track. (132.97 left)
• No Eating out FAIL--- Today after I went to the grocery store I went to Papa Johns and got a large pizza and breadsticks for the family for lunch. I had won a free Large Pizza so no cost there, but I paid for the breadsticks out of pocket. ($5) I did also get a free 2-Liter of Pepsi because they didn't make my breadsticks before I got there. So FAIL. I will also do a Papa John's mystery shop next week, but that will be reimbursed.
• The EXCEPTIONS:
• Hubby and I are looking into buying new cell phones (ours are over 3 years old) and getting a cheaper plan (if we buy pre-paid we could potentially save $30 a month over our current bill)--Haven't looked into this yet.
• We have to get a title and tags for our new to us van that we were gifted--Did this this morning. It cost us less than I thought and we paid cash we had on hand to get it done!
• This does not affect our utilities, rent, gas for our vehicles, etc.--Ongoing
• As always family emergencies, medical, dental, etc. are not counted against this as well.--Nothing this week, so hopefully this trend continues.

-Decluttering goals:

• I have one decluttering goal for this month---the huge closet (it is the size of a half room) off the bathroom that has become a dumping ground for stuff and storage. It is horrible! Would like to donate/sell at least half of the stuff in there.---Am hoping to work on this on Sunday afternoon. I did repurpose a shelf in there to a downstairs closet to help organize videos.

So overall, I think it was  good first week on this challenge. I hope this trend continues. I need to get to work on that closet/room this week though or it might not get done in time.

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CARLA'S MINI CHALLENGES: Week 1:

 

Each week, Carla will give mini challenges to hopefully be completed alongside your main goals. Here are this week's challenges and how I did:

 

Financial Goal Week One: Instead of buying something you need this week, find a way to "make do". Do you grab a coffee each day on the way to work? can you brew at home & use a travel mug? Run out of an ingredient for a recipe? Can you find a substitution? There are many ways to "make do" each & every day... track how much you would have spent.

I decided this week instead of adding soaps and shampoos to our grocery list to use up what we have in the closet. I know I have several full bottles of shampoo in there and soap that are not my favorites but are perfectly good to use. This saved me about $10 at the store for this week.

I also used a different cheese than the one called for in a recipe since that is what I had on hand. :)

Decluttering Goal Week One: What "thing" clutters up your home the most? Is it clothes? Toys? Books/magazines? Kitchen Stuff? Knick-Knacks? Find a way to get rid of some of these items! Be sure to snap a pic of your declutter!

I finished up decluttering the toys in the kids' rooms. It seems just overall STUFF clutters up our home, so I am looking to get rid of stuff. I donated 4 LARGE trash bags and 1 box full of toys and stuff!


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So there you have it....I think I have done pretty well on the challenges so far. If you are participating in Carla's challenge or you are trying to work on your own financial/ decluttering goals, how are you doing?