<p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Starting October 1st we will be embarking on one month with NO SPENDING!!!</p>
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<p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">I first read about doing this in July when Rachel over at Small Notebook wrote about her new annual tradition of having a month with NO SPENDING!</p>
<p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">She outlines how she does her No spening month here</p>
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<p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Why are we doing this:</p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.375in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">This was completely my idea. I've been overspending a lot lately and after a great conversation with my dear friend Shannon I realized that I have lost a very important reality - the value of a dollar. This really worried me. My husband goes to work daily for our family and I was spending without really thinking!</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.375in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">This really saddened me and I wanted to take control of this situation.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.375in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">I knew September would be a busy and expensive month with all of the birthdays so I thought October would be a great month to do this.</p>
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<p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">How it works:</p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.375in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">We will pay all of our usual bills. After that we will have $250.00 to spend for the rest of the month. This includes groceries, gas, clothing, and entertainment. Today it sounds completely crazy to try to do this but we're determined!</p>
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<p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">Our Plan:</p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.375in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">We will have groceries to start off and both cars will have a tank of gas.</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.375in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">I will stay home more! (no more random drives to Starbucks, Target or to the park.</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.375in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">We will find ways to entertain ourselves at home.</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.75in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">We have Netflix so we'll have regular movie nights. During the days we'll be spending more time outside playing before the weather gets cold.</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.375in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">I've planned out a month of meals trying to use mostly food we have in the freezer and pantry. We'll have weekly pizza nights, roast a<span> </span>chicken and use the meat for several meals. There will be rice and beans a number of times. Our dining may not be fancy but we will eat!</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.375in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">We'll be making coffee at home. I'm determined to break my Starbucks addiction (at least for the most part!).</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.375in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">I hope to use this extra time at home to get things listed on Craigslist or priced for a yardsale in the spring.</p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.375in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;">I also hope to keep busy making several gifts for Christmas. We're hoping to have a "handmade christmas" this year.</p>