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Frugal February
This February marks the 23rd year of the Cheapskates Club "No Spending" Month. The very first Frugal February no spending month was way back in February 2002 and it has become bigger and bigger with every passing year.
Why have a no spend challenge, especially for a whole month, is a question I am asked over and over every February.
February is a great month for a spending freeze, if for no other reason than it only has 28, oops, 29 days in it! Another reason is to get finances back on track after the Christmas/summer holiday/back-to-school expenses that we all have.
Embracing a spending freeze challenge is very freeing. Some participants breeze through by simply staying away from the shops! Others move to a cash budget (I'll write more about that later, cash is king in the budgeting world) and once the cash is gone, it's gone. Others only spend one day a week or fortnight. There are so many ways to not spend.
Of course it's not entirely possible to go a whole 29 days without spending for most people. There are bills to be paid, emergencies come up, food to be bought and so on. And I don't expect you to freeze spending on essentials, just on the things that aren't essential.
Those are the things that eat into your money: the coffee, the newspaper, the Tim Tams in the grocery trolley (you can make much nicer biscuits yourself for far less), the new dress that you just love but will never wear, the toy car for the baby, well you get the idea. None of these things is essential to life (not even the Tim Tams); they are all wants rather than needs and therefore can be ditched for 4 weeks.
Essential spending is on the things that are just that: essential to life. Things such as your mortgage or rent, bills that fall due during the month, fuel for the car, food (but only if it's on your list) and medications. There may also be some other "essential" spending you need to do, especially if you have children in school. The start of the school year seems to require money for excursions and other unexpected items; don't let your children miss out because you are doing the no spend challenge (unless of course you would normally not bother), just make a note so that next year you will be prepared.
This year, just to mix things up a bit, the challenge is two-fold:
1.to be as frugal as possible during February
2.to spend the minimum on groceries and add the excess to a grocery slush fund.
Not spending money is great fun. You learn to be creative, finding things you already have to replace the items you want to buy, taking advantage of your local library for books and audio books, DVDs and movies, CDs, even your favourite magazines.
You might even learn to sew and do simple clothing repairs yourself (here's a step-by-step How to… for sewing on buttons) instead of paying someone else to do it or worse still buying a new garment.
And cooking! Frugal February is the ideal time to try out some new recipes, especially from the $2 Dinner recipe file. Or you may like to take one of your favourite recipes and give it the Cheapskates treatment to make it cheaper and more frugal and budget friendly.
Below are some resources to help you not only survive but thrive during Frugal February
Why have a no spend challenge, especially for a whole month, is a question I am asked over and over every February.
February is a great month for a spending freeze, if for no other reason than it only has 28, oops, 29 days in it! Another reason is to get finances back on track after the Christmas/summer holiday/back-to-school expenses that we all have.
Embracing a spending freeze challenge is very freeing. Some participants breeze through by simply staying away from the shops! Others move to a cash budget (I'll write more about that later, cash is king in the budgeting world) and once the cash is gone, it's gone. Others only spend one day a week or fortnight. There are so many ways to not spend.
Of course it's not entirely possible to go a whole 29 days without spending for most people. There are bills to be paid, emergencies come up, food to be bought and so on. And I don't expect you to freeze spending on essentials, just on the things that aren't essential.
Those are the things that eat into your money: the coffee, the newspaper, the Tim Tams in the grocery trolley (you can make much nicer biscuits yourself for far less), the new dress that you just love but will never wear, the toy car for the baby, well you get the idea. None of these things is essential to life (not even the Tim Tams); they are all wants rather than needs and therefore can be ditched for 4 weeks.
Essential spending is on the things that are just that: essential to life. Things such as your mortgage or rent, bills that fall due during the month, fuel for the car, food (but only if it's on your list) and medications. There may also be some other "essential" spending you need to do, especially if you have children in school. The start of the school year seems to require money for excursions and other unexpected items; don't let your children miss out because you are doing the no spend challenge (unless of course you would normally not bother), just make a note so that next year you will be prepared.
This year, just to mix things up a bit, the challenge is two-fold:
1.to be as frugal as possible during February
2.to spend the minimum on groceries and add the excess to a grocery slush fund.
Not spending money is great fun. You learn to be creative, finding things you already have to replace the items you want to buy, taking advantage of your local library for books and audio books, DVDs and movies, CDs, even your favourite magazines.
You might even learn to sew and do simple clothing repairs yourself (here's a step-by-step How to… for sewing on buttons) instead of paying someone else to do it or worse still buying a new garment.
And cooking! Frugal February is the ideal time to try out some new recipes, especially from the $2 Dinner recipe file. Or you may like to take one of your favourite recipes and give it the Cheapskates treatment to make it cheaper and more frugal and budget friendly.
Below are some resources to help you not only survive but thrive during Frugal February
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