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No Spend Month: Recap #2

We mentioned in our immediate recap of our No Spend Month, that we expected to see a lot of results the following month, rather than immediately after.

After our No Spend Month, we were able to put an extra $1,400 towards our mortgage.

This has been a huge blessing for us, but you may be thinking....where did that money come from and how much money were you spending on frivolous things on the regular?!

First, we always try to put a few hundred extra towards our mortgage on any given month. So part of this money was the usual amount we pay towards our debt. Yes, not spending money on anything except for food basics, gas, utilities and rent certainly saved us some cash....but it was more than just that.

I mentioned in our earlier recap (read more here) about how this exercise helped change my mindset of spending. Part of this money (about $180 of it) came from the huge clothing sale I had last weekend as a way to simplify my life and living more intentionally (see post here). It was a snowball effect of our original effort of resetting our spending priorities.

By making it a priority not to spend money for 31 days, we became a little happier, lived a little more simply, and those affects are still being seen over this next month. We were able to spend more quality time together, and focusing on our financial health meant I also was able to set up a meeting with a financial planner (something I've been trying to do for 3 years). I cooked more, and learned to enjoy cooking a little more...and I lost 5 pounds, which of course I love. My spending on Lorelai has been capped, we've even set a new budget that I strive to stay within. I also don't go shopping unless we need something, preventing myself from browsing...and even better I don't browse stores for sales online....which ever since my maternity leave has become second nature for me. (Any other parents out there find that their online shopping was exponentially more frequent on maternity leave?? All those hours sitting feeding my child or late night rocking had me on my phone A LOT).

This was a huge success for our family, and we love that it kicked off 2018 on the right foot. We have a goal for 2018 to pay down $15,000 of our mortgage this year. This will only happen if we are willing to go above and beyond the norm to pay off our debt!
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