Get ready! Get set! FREEZE! Have you ever tried not spending a penny for a whole week? That’s right, Momma’s! This week’s challenge? Don’t spend ANY money on yourself, your kids, your dog… nothing! If there’s an emergency… mayyyybe. Ha! kidding! But it has to be a serious emergency…. Like a blood involved kind of emergency. If you were with us on last week’s challenge, you know what food you have in your kitchen, so you can get creative and make meals with what you have. I promise you can do it!
There’s a reason I didn’t warn you yesterday or a few days before. Be honest! How many of us would have run to the store to stock up?!! How many of us would frantically buy things like a Dr. Pepper addict (ahem…. B) would binge on Dr. Pepper if someone told her she couldn’t have it for a week? The purpose of this challenge is to inspire you to look to what you have instead of looking outside of yourself to fill your empty spots. It also helps you to appreciate all the things you already have!
I want you to think about why this would be good for you. Whether it be to ignite your creative juices (free date night is going to be interesting…), or to save money, or because YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS, dang it! Find some reason why you are doing this and write it down. Put it somewhere you will see it every day and keep it in mind all week. Dig deep. Where will you put the extra money you save? Towards credit cards, your car, savings.. have a game plan and it will motivate you to keep going.
Once you get in the mindset that you can’t spend money, a shift begins to happen. You realize that you don’t actually NEED that Spring Decor at Michaels that is 30% off because it’s January. You will see how much you CAN live without. You’ll realize instant gratification is not as fulfilling as patience and saving for only the things that will really bring you happiness. I promise that as you gain control as to what you really want to spend your money on, you will begin to be content with what you have. You’ll notice your inner dialogue will change. You’ll start asking yourself, “do I really need that?” So many of the things we purchase in this time of plenty aren’t things we really “need”.
Here’s the rules..
1. No spending money for 6 days. Get excited about it! Don’t try to find every excuse in the book as to why you need to spend money this week. Really give it your all!
• Challenge starts January 7th-13th
• When we say no spending, that means.. no babysitters, no going out to eat, grocery shopping, you name it and try not to spend it!
• This does NOT include bills and utilities.
• Gas.. that’s up to you but either way try not to drive as much and conserve as much gas as you can!
2. Why you’re doing it. Find some reason why you are doing this and keep it in mind. Dig deep. Do you have debt? Is it weighing you down? Do you want more financial freedom? Find what resonates with you. Remember it and it will motivate you to keep going.
3. Save that money! The money you’ll be saving needs to find a place. Do you have credit card debit to pay for? car loans to pay off? Find a place where you want to put that extra money, even if it’s to stash it away. Don’t go and spend a bunch of money right before and the second the challenge ends don’t go buy everything you can. Try to go on to the next week without feeling like you have to splurge.
4. Share with us. We love our Mom tribe and the community we have. Post about this money freeze and tag @mom_life_crisis_ to help us all out with the ideas you’ve come up with and we will be doing the same on our insta stories! We want to go along with you in this challenge and we’re excited to see all these dollar bills add up! And there’s a..
GIVEAWAY!!
Each time you share a picture and tag us on a post or insta story of what your doing for the challenge this week, you will be entered to win a $50 dollar gift card to a surprise home store!
So get creative. Think of some fun date nights that don’t cost anything.. playing games, watch a Netflix movie, go on a walk, go sledding. There are so many fun dates for free! Putting a different combination of clothes together can feel like a new outfit. Use what food you have in your pantry for dinners this week.
You guys can do this! Keep up the awesome work!!
–Brooke