31 days of What!?!?

"Oh I think I need to rethink this!!"

Can that really be my thoughts the first full day for us into this?! Oh but it is.

What am I talking about you might ask... Well, my husband and I have decided to join the 31 days of ZERO spending this month. Sadly, all day yesterday was a wash but we did sign our commitment paper and make our ground rules last night before bed. Still Jan. 1st does that count? So, this morning thoughts of what was NOT added to our ground rules is hitting me and ouch!!

I should not have been going through an activity guide of the surrounding cities and a local community center. Do you have any idea how many cool... CHEAP... yes, costs some money... activities are going on for the month of January that we would love for the kids to take part in!? Yea, me either until I have this signed commitment looming over my head. la sigh.

Oh... and OH... Do you know how many pictures I wanted to get printed for my 2013 Project Life catch up at Costco for pick up tomorrow too that I did not remember to add to our ground rules in the "we budgeted in for this" department. Ok, now the alligator tears are coming!

Well, make an exception you might say. "Oh how I want to"; I would say, but I can't. No, I won't. Because I am fearful that would lead to more blurred lines or penciled in exceptions that we did not remember to include in the first place throughout the rest of the month. Then that would defeat the purpose of the whole idea of it.

Ugh ugh ugh.

Although I guess this is part of the point, huh? An eye opener of all that we want to spend on/actually spend on. I truly just want to stop eating out and saying yes to every little whim. Activities for the kids and pictures though I view in a different category. Ones we should say yes to but don't because we always spend where we shouldn't beforehand leaving nothing for the latter. Does that make sense? Oh, but we did remember to include my nails continuing to be done. Dumb huh? When my husband received his promotion at the end of 2013 that was one thing he said he wanted me to do. Get my nails done and to keep it up. A little me time/spoiling that he's always wanted to provide. I asked him last night as we were writing up the rules if he wanted them taken off (since it is time to fill them, technically, but I would take them off for the sake of this.) He said no. That we already budget for them and we are trying to cut out the extra spending. So we added them to the what we are already accounting for. But we didn't add for pictures to be printed or activities that may come up for the kids.

Ok, I think this is an eye opening we have messed up priorities time. What do you think? Or maybe I am justifying it to "we haven't been able to ever consider many activities before because of one car and finances and now that both of those tables have turned those two categories have not learned to move to the front of the thought line."

Justifying, huh?

Ugh.

So, here is to 31 days of living well and being on a spending freeze unless survival needed. I should take the nails off huh? Ugh. The wording from the ground rules is killing me! I'm a thinkin' God has a huge stretching and growing for me (for us) this month. We have decided that we are going to do one of these once a quarter as we are feeling very lead to make huge changes to our finances this year.

It's going to be an interesting ride that's for sure.

Is God leading you to make some hard inward decisions this year? This month? This day?