Month 1: A Year Without Spending

It has been a whole month already! We are still going strong. It is hard to not want things sometimes, especially working in the children's department of a department store. We went clothes shopping for Jayne at Nana and Papa's house. Jayne should be about set for summer now. I will probably make him some more shorts though with all the fabric I have laying around. We have spent a lot more quality time together which is wonderful. We built a raised garden in the back yard too. We decided that since it was a family togetherness activity we could spend some money on the things we need and as it turns out the only things we need to get are dirt and seeds. We repourposed some boards from the garage to make the frame and used some extra wall paint to paint the edges, that was Jayne's favorite part. The 1 thing that has us figuring out how to fund it is Ponyo! We got Ponyo from netflix the other day and Jayne loved it so much that he is still talking about it. Adam decided he would save his tip money for it (they are not alowed to take tips at work, but occasionally someone will insist). So it is still not part of our regular earnings. This month went by so fast that the year will be over before we know it!

We have been asked a lot of questions in the last month and I thought I would do a little Q&A.

Q: What can you spend money on?

A: We can spend on nesesities like food and depleatables like gas and toilet paper. We can also spend on things that are required for work or school. And last but not least, we can spend on family outings as the main purpose is to spend more time together.

Q: What about shoes and clothes for Jayne?

A: We got a lot of hand-me-downs from Jayne's uncles and I will make some for him too. We will probably have to buy him shoes though as there are no hand-me-downs and his are getting small.

Q: What about Christmas?

A: Well, we already have a few things since I ussually start shopping in January and go all year. We will also be doing trades with our etsy shops...so if you have a shop and want to trade just let us know and we will see if there is anything we want : )

We have also had a lot of people that think they couldn't do it and think it is amazing that we are going to try this. You can do it! You certainly don't have to be as limited about spending as we are. Just pick 1 thing that you spend a lot on and start with that. We did that before, no purchasing movies for X amount of time. We cut down a lot of spending that way and it is much easier than cutting everything.

We look forward to more updates and questions! Keep them coming and we will do another Q&A next month : )