Renee Emerson

inspired by The Frugalwoods (my current read), bryan and i are planning to spend nothing this month (other than basic groceries, diapers, absolute necessities).

though Frugalwoods is not written from a christian perspective (so sometimes her pursuit of happiness is angled at the wrong aim), i’m finding the book engaging and inspiring. bryan and i took some time to write out our financial goals, both short and long term, and are adopting her outlook of “if i buy this, is this taking away from my ultimate financial goal?” instead of doing a line by line budget.

i’d say we are fairly frugal as it is, but there has been some “spending creep” in the past year–we are going out to eat a little more often, buying a few more wants than necessary, being a little looser with our cash. that would be ok if we weren’t working toward a goal, but right now we have some debt from repairing our fixer upper house and we’d like to start working towards something else with bryan’s career (i have no idea what that may be–ministry? music? both? working from home doing…something?)–and we certainly can’t depend on my freelance work as our primary income, so i’m not sure exactly what that nebulous ultimate goal IS.  and i don’t suppose its really for ME to figure out as much as it is for bryan–i guess as it is, i’d like us to be in the financial position to allow us to jump at a chance should one arise.

so, i’ll post updates here, to keep accountable, on how our no-spend month goes. feel free to heap shame on my head if i spend outside the lines!