30 Days of Diminishing Resolve
"Mom! We're going to Wal Mart to buy a remote control monster truck!" Curt squealed as we loaded the car.
"Well that's odd," I glared at my husband, "Since we're supposed to be in the mid
dle of 30 Days of Nothing."
At which point, I launched into a lecture about remote control monster trucks, how we trashed one of them this past summer, how another one languishes in the toy box and how the plastic pieces of garbage are just a ploy to suck consumers in to buying overpriced batteries.
"Curt, you're not getting a monster truck," my husband declared.
We'd already slipped that morning, having traveled to the city to buy my husband's work shoes. We'd put it off as long as we could, but it really was a necessity. We'd also broken down and allowed our kids to spend their newly-set allotment of candy money. We all have our addictions.
Clearly, our resolve is diminishing. We've discovered 30 days is a very long time.
But we have set some financial goals. Both Curtis and Deena have decided to spend no more than $1.50 per week on candy, will deposit $2 per month to the bank, and put $1 per month in the Unicef box on our counter.
My husband and I have committed to paying extra toward our mortgage every month, to work toward paying it off early. We'll add to our giving, by contributing to community drives and sponsorships that would foster our kids' participation, like buying for the food shelf, sponsoring a family's Christmas, etc. And we've learned that by putting off impulse purchases, we often skip them entirely, because it turns out we don't miss the thing we didn't buy. So we'll continue to limit our trips to the city. Period.
What are your financial goals?
More 30 Days posts:
Pre-30 Days
Day 1
Week 1
Week 2
30 Days of Gratitude
For more participants in this project, visit Intent.
Technorati Tag: 30 Days of Nothing
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"Well that's odd," I glared at my husband, "Since we're supposed to be in the mid
dle of 30 Days of Nothing."At which point, I launched into a lecture about remote control monster trucks, how we trashed one of them this past summer, how another one languishes in the toy box and how the plastic pieces of garbage are just a ploy to suck consumers in to buying overpriced batteries.
"Curt, you're not getting a monster truck," my husband declared.
We'd already slipped that morning, having traveled to the city to buy my husband's work shoes. We'd put it off as long as we could, but it really was a necessity. We'd also broken down and allowed our kids to spend their newly-set allotment of candy money. We all have our addictions.
Clearly, our resolve is diminishing. We've discovered 30 days is a very long time.
But we have set some financial goals. Both Curtis and Deena have decided to spend no more than $1.50 per week on candy, will deposit $2 per month to the bank, and put $1 per month in the Unicef box on our counter.
My husband and I have committed to paying extra toward our mortgage every month, to work toward paying it off early. We'll add to our giving, by contributing to community drives and sponsorships that would foster our kids' participation, like buying for the food shelf, sponsoring a family's Christmas, etc. And we've learned that by putting off impulse purchases, we often skip them entirely, because it turns out we don't miss the thing we didn't buy. So we'll continue to limit our trips to the city. Period.
What are your financial goals?
More 30 Days posts:
Pre-30 Days
Day 1
Week 1
Week 2
30 Days of Gratitude
For more participants in this project, visit Intent.
Technorati Tag: 30 Days of Nothing
posted by Kelly Curtis at
8:56 AM
3 Comments:
Kelly,
My husband has had some financial goals for the last *ahem* 15 years, that I thought we could never do - like paying extra on the mortgage - and now I am realizing we CAN work toward those goals. I really wish I had figured that out 15 years ago!
I've learned and grown so much over these 22 days...which is a VERY long time. :) It sounds like your family is learning and growing a lot as well.
I appreciate your updates!
By
Anonymous, At
10:06 AM
Kind of off the subject.. but dealing with 'spending'
Last year we did something very different for Christmas. (Yes we did buy the grandkids a little something)
....
We told our daughters and their men that our Christmas money was going to go to a fund for Saving Lives In Kashmir that we had heard about from friends. (The big earthquake relief effort)
Two of our daughters decided to add to the fund as well.
Quite a change from the spending frenzy and last minute gift crazies we all go through.
By
Pamela, At
10:24 AM
Tonia - thank you for your update as well. I'm so glad you thought to start this project. We have learned so much!
Pamela - that is such a fantastic idea. I would love to do that instead of the crazy Christmas we usually experience. Thank you so much for your ideas and feedback.
By
Kelly Curtis, At
10:40 AM
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