My challenge for the next month

Well we've had a look at the state of budget and all that bad stuff and hubby and I have set ourselves the ultimate challenge leading up to Christmas....a month of anti-consumerism. We haven't been in great shape since I had to have 7 weeks off work and we really need to sort ourselves out!

We'll only be allowed to pay the bills and essentials and of course any purchases we're already committed too and that is it!

So wish us luck! (guessing no one else wants to join the challenge? )

So have you done your Christmas shopping or are all friends, families and kids doomed to receive recycled goods this year?

There's a website with good tips I think... simple savings or something like that. I get weekly tips on how to save money.

Good luck - we pretty much do it every week although we get $20 each for spending and buy the odd pack of lollies or block of chocolate. Other than that, we run a pretty tight ship and I don't enjoy it lol

I hope the month gets you back on track - and it would be lovely to ring in the New Year without that bit of stress eh?

Good luck Gen! And good on you guys, its amazing seeing how much you can cut back when you really commit to it eh?
Hubby and I were talking the other day about all the stuff we thought was essential before we bought our house, what a joke!

Good luck Paws

We do this every 3 months and it isn't too hard

I think it saves us a heap of money! We have some very interesting meals with lots of food we find in the back of our cupboards, we swap food from the garden with our neighbours, we don't go many places to save petrol, we do fun things at home with the kids. You will have a blast

marielb wrote: Oh, and I bought most of my Xmas presents for this year at the sales in January - do it every year as that is when I get my Xmas bonus. Its fun to spend and I love opening my present box next month and remembering what I bought

Hehehe yeah I had fun doing that last night and seeing what we had. It was great!!

And yeah I'm sure we will have a blast, we have done it before...just not in the silly season lead up to Christmas, still what must be done must be done!

And it is always amazing how much you can do without.

Yep pick me!

Were on the tight ship until Christmas - and that is so not like us.

But somehow Ive managed to rack up $800 on my credit card in 2 weeks and we didnt even take my card to Australia! So that is going to be gone by Christmas - its my mission. Going to be damn hard but its do able!

So yep I will totally join you!

We're doing this at the moment - we're really having to watch our dollars with the OB bill, and I just got the list of costs for our birth yesterday Bless, all the costs have not long gone up With overtime having been cut for about 8-9 months at Air NZ, and the OT ban continuing, as well as the increase in the mortgage once we refixed in March (about $500 a month), we've really come to realise how much money we were wasting/spending unnecessarily.

We even made our own muesli last week as part of tryign to get our grocery bill down (and it's actually nicer than the supermarket stuff, adn more eco-friendly too because there's no packaging to throw away every single week, just the bag for the rolled oats about once a month!).

So, after I've bought my lunch (because I didn't bring any today), I'll be your anti-consumerist buddy!! (Phew that I bought my maternity stuff last night! - it's funny too, there were things I needed, and I have a list of stuff I wanted to stock up on before finishing work, and it's amazing what you can pare back when you need something essential hmm?)

Yup I'm in too! Any Christmas pressies I haven't already bought will have to be homemade!

Red wrote: Paws, you should make more use of that coffee machine of yours!

It is getting a good workout at the moment I can tell you!!!

ginger wrote:    (also, bless Air NZ for not paying for their dinner, or even contributing ... but then, we have so much fun, I almost forgive them for not mucking up our plans with their own)

So not impressed about that!!! Stupid lack of team Christmas lunches. *sulk*