Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Spending Freeze

We are embarking upon a spending freeze. With the wedding, house renovations, new home-related purchases (like a couch--finally!), and the holidays we've been watching our savings dwindle and our credit card balances grow. Not good.

We're actually pretty good with money, but we just haven't been careful lately. We want to get back into that. So for the next two months we are voluntarily freezing all unnecessary spending. For us, that means:
1. No new home accessories or furniture
2. No new clothing purchases
3. Packing lunches for work and eating lunch out only once a week
4. Meal planning and entering the grocery store only with a list
5. Focusing on free entertainment

What it doesn't mean:
1. We will eat frugally (we enjoy food--both cooking and eating--and will be careful but not unreasonable)
2. We'll pass up truly stellar deals (like a fantastic piece of yard sale furniture we can restore
3. We'll put off necessary purchases, expensive or not (like my new, already-purchased phone or the new nightguard I'm going to need since we think the puppies may have eaten the last one)

What can I say? We're realistic.

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