No Spending Month Review

Every year we set goals and then post them where we can see them each day. This year I made a goal that I wanted to have a no spending for one entire month goal. Charlie was thrilled when he heard about this goal.

We picked February to be our month. By no spending I mean things such as no movie rentals, no clothing purchases, no babysitters, no eating out....the only exception was that I could buy groceries and gas.

The month is over and I have to say I am glad I did it. I am not much of a spender in the first place so I did not think it would be too difficult to accomplish this goal but I did learn a few lessons.

First: I learned that you really can just make do with what you have. Ethan has two pairs of jeans and both of them got holes in the knees at the start of the month. I could not just run out and buy new ones so he went to school with holes. I also pulled out some pants that are still too big for him but we made them work. Sure he was probably not the most fashionable kid in school, but my kids never are and guess what....that's ok!

Second: I learned that if you are not so busy filling your life up with "stuff" Heavenly Father will bless you with opportunities to help others. This was a lesson I was not quite expecting from this little experiment but I was amazed. This month I was almost bombarded with opportunities to serve other people. I have had time to ponder this a bit and I think the reason was two-fold. One, I think that Heavenly Father knew we would have a little extra money this month and presented us with opportunities to share it with others. The second part of this is that I think I was able to be more focused on others this month and not so much on just our little family which made it easier for me to respond to promptings from the spirit. I found myself each morning during my prayers asking to be an answer to another persons prayers...I'm not sure if I was an answer to anyone but I can say I felt closer to the spirit and I did my best to help each person I saw that was in need.

Third: I learned that we can have just as much fun at home being a family as we do going out and doing things. I pretty much already knew this but it was just magnified this week. We spent more time just being together, baking, reading, playing games and we had a blast!

The other day we got our first credit card bill that had the beginning of February on it. It was the first time I found myself being excited to open a credit card bill. Charlie actually came and gave me a kiss when he saw it! Ladies, how often do you get a kiss from your husband over a credit card bill????

Overall I quite enjoyed this little experiment and think I will make it a yearly goal. It really helped put needs and wants into perspective. That being said I am pretty sure I will end up at a drive-thru window at some point this week, not having to cook for one night sounds GLORIOUS!