Spending Freeze Finale

This experiment is over and lessons are learned. There are a few things that I want to clarify and share what I have taken from this. As I said in the beginning, I wasn't going to feed my family generic mac and cheese and powdered milk to "keep us from spending money." We continued to eat the same healthy and mostly fresh food. That wasn't the point. I also wasn't going to keep us from "doing anything fun" for weeks while we sat around and watched Max's toe nails grow. That wasn't the point either. We are each already trying a new activity this year with Megan's piano lessons, Lucy's Tae-Kwon-Do and my triathlon training.

What was the purpose of the spending freeze? To become more aware of our expenses and our day to day spending. I also wanted to evaluate and grab a hold of more impulse buys. Sure I want new workout pants, ipod, spice rack, and shark vacuum, but can't I get by with what I have for now?

I learned that it really is harder to part with your money when it is in cash. As you recall, I did not want to break that $100 dollar bill. Once I did, I became painfully aware of where each bit went; gas, birthday party gifts, lunch out, groceries, a car wash...

I am not opposed to spending money. I love to spend money on experiences and travel. I would much rather spend $10 and take Lucy to the Des Moines Playhouse like I did last Friday, than spend it on some new smelling lotion. I am just more mindful of expenses and since I have figured out how to never pay for toothpaste, shaving cream, or deodorant (thanks to Wendy and introducing me to Walgreens Shopping) that is just all the more we have to spend intangible things. I love introducing my kids to new and different things, places and experiences.

I am also going to begin paying for things in cash. I know of a lot of people that do this and follow the Dave Ramsey approach. It is just too darn easy to whip out the debit card and lose track of what you spend. I was amazed when I looked at our bank account over the past few weeks and saw how boring and nonexistent our transactions had been.

The Spending Freeze was actually kind of fun. It was almost as if we were in pioneer days and we just didn't go shopping.That is a huge accomplishment for me consider our proximity to so many stores. It's over, but a new more responsible way of spending has begun.