June/July Money Freeze

I am the kind of person who likes to have a little cushion in the bank. I like to know that if I want to buy something new for myself or take Kallie to Studio Movie Grill for dinner and a movie, I can and not have to worry about it. I also like to have emergency cash in case something pops up, for instance, my car breaks down! Haha!!

My bank account has shrunk under my happy amount over the past couple of weeks due to fixing my old car and putting a big chunk of a down payment on my new one so my monthly car note is under where I want it to be.  With all that business going on, my bank account is not up to my standards. I'm about to solve that problem.

Kallie will be with her Dad from June 28th to August 4th for summer. (Sad face...) Due to this, this little momma doesn't have to pay daycare! Cha-ching!!! I am going to save a ton of money because of this lovely fact but I want to make sure I save 90% of it. I know this is easier said than done so I figure I better start practicing now. I am about to start a big money FREEZE. Starting Monday, June 11, I am going into full on grown up mode baby. This is really weird, and I'm astonished I'm about to say this, but I'm excited to get started.

 I thought I'd layout some ground rules for this challenge.  I'm sure I will force myself to reference back to this many times...to remind myself.

1. No clothes. Nada.  For Kallie or myself. I am going to go through my closet and organize again because I know I have some clothes in there that I have forgotten about.

2. No eating out. No I don't have time to cook dinner, no impromptu lunches, no quick coffee runs.  No Starbucks, no Sonic cokes.  If I'm gonna eat, I better be eating at home or bringing it from home.  And if I planned poorly and didn't bring food, I'll have to make do with the cheez-its in the kitchen.

3. No booze. This is the hardest one for me. Sad, but true. I look forward to a glass of wine when I get home from work. The problem is that adds up quick. $20 a week for a bottle of wine...That's $80-$100 a month. More if I have friends over.

4. No new beauty products.  No new nail polish, new lotions, or new makeup.  Nothing new goes into my makeup bag or under my sink, unless I run out of shampoo or something. I don't want to stink.

5. No extra entertainment. No movies, no Redbox rentals, no new Blu-ray purchases. I have a pretty sweet movie collection and my Cable isn't too shabby. I will have to make do with those or what I have saved on my DVR. I'm not really worried about this.

6. No pampering.  At home mani/pedis, self-maintained brows and such are going to have to get me through the next 8 weeks.

Exceptions: Now of course, there are a few exceptions to this list, because I am human.

a. My grandfather’s birthday party is coming up next weekend and I need a new dress for it. All my family is coming in for it so of course I want to look cute for all the pictures that will be happening. Who knows though...I may find a forgotten about dress when I go through my closet.

b. I want to take Kallie to do something special before she goes off with her dad for 5 weeks. Probably will take her to the movies and dinner. We both love that time together and I will need it.

c. Bikram Yoga. I am signing up for a month while the little nugget is gone. This actually helps in other areas. You HAVE to eat healthy and drink lots of water, so it will motivate me to not want to eat out or drink alcohol.

d. Kallie will be home for 1 weekend and I plan on taking her to do fun things for those 2 1/2 days. I'm thinking about getting creative with this though. Find free things to do around Dallas. Might make for a fun blog post! :-)

e. The weekend of July 20th, one of my best friends and I are going to Austin to have a girls weekend. I'm pretty sure there will be some money spent on food and going out. I know we won't go overboard though. Are you reading this Katherine?? :-)

f. Small social exceptions. I know I shouldn't but the freeze is sort of like a diet. I'm bad with diets. As soon as you tell me I can't have chocolate, that's all I want. So.....if little work happy hours pop up, lunches with the ladies ever so often, or nights out with friends comes about, I am totally in. My co-workers and close friends are pretty good about saving money so I figure these won't be too big spender situations.

How does that sound? Hard? You bet, but I'm always up for a challenge. I'm most worried about the no booze but as soon as I see how much money I save, this won't be as much of a challenge.

I'll continue to post regular posts throughout this freeze on Mondays. Check back Monday for the official kick-off! Please cross your fingers for me.

{Inspired by Smart and Sassy with Sprinkles' September Spending Freeze.}