Thursday, December 31, 2009

Feast or Famine

As I think about starting a new year I realize that I have no idea how 2010 will go for our family. I think my own personal motto lately has become "Prepare for the worst, hope for the best". In November of 2009 my brother and sister-in-law had a challenge in their home, they called in "No Money November". At first I thought it was crazy, not to spend more than $125 on groceries or gas for the entire month. Pay only their monthly bills, ie) mortgage, utilities, credit cards, etc. And spend no other money for the entire month. Now they live in a community where they never have to drive more than 10 miles to get anywhere and he rides his bike to work so they seriously only spent $25 on gas for their vehicles (wouldn't that be nice). But as the month went on she blogged about her experience, her attitude was positive, they were holding to their plan and there was a sense of accomplishment in her tone. At the end of the month he sent out an email that went over the entire experience, what they learned, what they would change and how fulfilling the experience was. I've been thinking about that email for the past two weeks and wondering some things about myself:


  1. Do I have the self discipline to do this?

  2. Would my food storage hold up for the month?

  3. Would we eat well balanced meals?

  4. How would my children react?

  5. What would my bank account look like at the end of the month?

The more I think about it the less crazy it sounds and the more sensible it seems. Especially as I mentally check the expenses for the rest of the holidays and second guess myself at the necessity of the expenditures. So.......here comes "No Money January" at the Mitchell house, let's bring on this learning experience!

1 comment:

Mel said...

What a neat challenge! Wishing your family a great experience from it.