Not only does tomorrow start a new year.  But it also starts a new month.  And we have decided that we are going to attempt a month long spending freeze.

Now there are certain things that we HAVE to spend money on:  house payment, utilities, student loans, etc.  And there are certain things that we will still spend money on:  telephone and internet.  Though, those things are being re-evaluated.  There are certain necessities such as milk.  And gas.  I'm not gonna say start the month with a full tank of gas, and when it's out, we're done driving.  It's something to consider.  We considered it.  And that's what we decided.

I'm sure there will be other things we will need to ponder throughout the month.  And I think maybe that's the point.  Also, in order to get our higher interest rate at our bank, we have to make a minimum number of debit purchases each month.  So we will track that closely to ensure we meet that requirement.  Again, another thing that is part of the whole point of this experiment:  to think more carefully about how we spend our money and to pay better attention as to the money we spend.

No, we didn't cheat and stock up intentionally on things on the 31st.  But we may cheat with some restaurant gift card usage during the month...

We're still figuring out some of the details.  But that's ok.  No matter what happens, I'm sure we will learn from it.

I hope to share next time about why we're doing this.


See ya next year!  ;)