No Spend July: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

I've decided to embark upon a season that probably seems crazy to most. For one month, the month of July, I am not going to spend any extra money. Obviously, we still need to buy groceries and diapers, and pay our bills,  but other than that....nada, zip, zilch. I've been realizing over the past few months that I spend way too much money on way too much stuff. Amazon and I are very tight friends that need some time a part. We need a "break-up" period, if you will. I should probably admit to the fact that I might have a bit of an online shopping addiction. There's so much cute baby stuff, so many new books, so many new anything and everything-s that I don't need to buy. The FEDEX and UPS guy probably know the location of my house by heart by now. That is a problem.

I know a lot of people do No Spend November, but I am doing No Spend July. Maybe I'll do November too?

It's simple. Don't spend any money except for the bare necessities. (I feel like Mogli from the Jungle Book should sing us a little tune every time I write those words.) 

WHAT IS ALLOWED: 

+ Obviously, groceries and diapers are needed.

+ We need to pay our mortgage, bills, and buy gas to get to work to pay those bills.

+ One date night out with my husband is allowed. Finding a coupon for the evening's festivities will be a must. 

+ Anything related to building my business with Doterra falls under what I can spend. I need to spend a certain amount each month to keep building my business and earning commission. Which is awesome! I have a few classes this month so I shouldn't need to dip into my spending. 

WHAT IS NOT ALLOWED: 

+ Coffeeshops. (Boo)

+ Any salon appts. (ex: manis, pedis, eye brow wax, etc, etc, etc.)

+ Nothing from Amazon

+ Nothing from Target, Ross, or any other store for that matter.

+ Eating out. Grabbing a big ol' delicious salad at Whole Foods. Then leaving after buying half of the store, ie. half of my paycheck. 

+ Etc.

+ Etc.

+ Etc.

I am ready. I need this change. I need this challenge.

I will update periodically as to how the challenge is going.

This will be a month of taking my lunch to work. Making my coffee at home. Not looking at Amazon, ever. 

I can totally do this. 

It's funny because as I have been working on this, I have seen so many ads for 50% off everything in the store, BOGO free with this purchase, and the list goes on and on. The struggle is real! 

Here are resources to help: 

+ Read about how Fun Cheap or Free buys her groceries. No coupons! 

+ Cheap or Free Date Night Ideas

+ 5 Simple Ways to Accomplish Your Financial Goals 

+ Dave Ramsey is the master of getting out of debt. Here are few of his budgeting forms. 

+ I've been using ReadyForZero to help manage my payments and get us out of debt. 

Currently Clicking: Week #17

Each and every week, I gather links of all of the places I have been perusing in the great, grand internet. There are plenty of people out there doing big things and small things. Some of these are practical, some are inspiring. This week, I am obsessing over backsplashes for our kitchen, baby-proofing our house without sacrificing style, how to kill a music career, a village that is a work of art, battling the feelings of needing to be supermom, more research on solid foods for the baby, and making sure I don't throw out all of produce I just bought a week later. 

+ Kitchen Inspiration: 10 Tile Backsplashes that Totally Steal the Show or 10 Painted Kitchen Backsplashes. Clearly I have backsplashes on the brain. I think it can make or break the look & feel of a kitchen. It's also a simple way to make a big change. 

+ Baby Marin will be mobile before we know it. Child proofing is in our future but I don't want to sacrifice style for safety. I believe that they can work together. Here's 9 Tips for Smart, Kid-Friendly Design.

+ I am a musician at heart and sometimes by trade. I definitely don't boast in having a music career of any sort but I have plenty of friends that are well on their way. Here are 17 Ways to Kill a Music Career. All good reminders. 

+The African Village Where Every Home is A Work of Art. This is so awesome. 

+ Even though I only have one little baby now, I still try to do too much too often. This is a good reminder. Why You Can Stop the Exhausting Work of Trying to be Supermom.

+ Want Kids to Eat Better, Sooner? Skip the Mush!  I am still researching introducing solids to little Marin. Baby-Led Feeding seems to be a big deal. 

+ How many times have you gone to the store and bought a ton of great produce only to have it wither away and go bad too quickly? Check out The Kitchn's Guide to Storing Fruits & Vegetables. 

Intentions for July

I desire to have good intentions for this new month that we find ourselves in. The summer is flying by. Once the 4th of July hits, I feel like school starts again and then Christmas hits. Here we go.

+ No Spend July (more information coming soon)

+ No TV binge watching until later at night with my man. Read a book.

+ Walks and exercising with Marin. I so enjoy this and need to do it much more often than I do. Now if I could only get my hands on one of these....

+ Edit the Wedding. We photographed a wedding and I need to edit like crazy.

+ Eat as clean as possible with one cheat meal a week. One. One. One. One. (my high school reunion is at the beginning of August. Oh my!) I am currently in the middle of a Facebook competition where winner takes all if your lose the most percentage of weight & inches. The winnings would not be bad at all.

+ Start introducing solid foods to Marin. (research, research, research.) Right when we have breastfeeding down, we have another thing to throw into the mix.

+ Work through BLOG LIFE. I haven't hardly touched it yet.

+ Teach a few Doterra classes. 

+ Revisit my 28 Things Before 28 List. August will be here before I know it.

Baby Marin: Week Nineteen

(I took these photos way too late at night. They are a little fuzzy, but I like them.) 



Marin is 19 weeks old this week. She is 135 days old. We love her more everyday and she surprises us more every day. I sound like a broken record, but the fact that she sleeps through the night at four months old still shocks me. She's drooling like crazy and soaking bibs like it's going out of style. I believe teething is not too far off in our future. We are gearing up to start introducing solids and I have been researching that new process like crazy. We still need to get a high chair. I went through all of her clothes the other day and put away far too many things that she's already grown out of.

Our baby is growing up so fast.

Baby Marin. Week Nineteen.