I am going to try my best to start the spending freeze in February. It will be a personal one because my husband will refuse to...of course saying he makes tons of money...but I will encourage him to cut back and make sure I have a steady supply of frozen meals (tv dinners and such) so he will not have to go out to lunch at work. This month I am going to ease in to it by not buying unneccessary thing and skipping the occassional trip for a cofffee or lunch out. I will also limit our family to my payday pizza (get pizza only on my dh's pay day) and not other eating out. I wish I could start this month but we just had to pay $85 for 8 weeks of figure skating lessons and we promised my daughter a birthday party at a fun place in town (skipping goody bags, limiting guest list, and subbing cookies or mini cupcakes for cake). We also will be enrolling our daughter in art classes they will be $33 a month for 4 lessons with a group. I will also be getting an Angel Foods order at the end of the month. I got 3 boxes 1 standard and 2 meat boxes. Wish me luck.

I may be joining you but not because I'm wanting to -- it may be more of a need than want!

You have a good plan! Good luck!

I think I may be joining you as well. I want to continue this spending freeze was a couple of months if I can. We deparately need to re-think our finances in my house.

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SAHM to 4 rugrats

I am also tottally changing my money Habits in 2008!
It is the little things that add up!

I am following the FTJ Project to a certain degree. I think it'll help me to follow a little bit of something.


I cannot ever Go on a Full spending freeze, because there is too much stuff that comes up in a house with 6 ppl and 4 animals! Also If I totally deny myself anything , I will fail miserably AND I know that I do actually save money by buying Big discounted sale items - so I can never NOT take advantage of those.


So... I am Changing my bad ways for good.

I am also really really hoping to work again part time in 2008.
I don't Care how much my Dh makes -
In this day and age - with kids - Every extra bit helps!
Even if it is all just saved - I really hope we can swing it with Dh's scedule that he can get home a few nights cause I want to Find a job for extra Money and My sanity!

I've been giving serious thought to extending the freeze as well. I think it'll be good for me to pare down for as long as I can to get our finances under control. Next month I'll probably allow a day to eat out (Valentine's Day or something), but cut out anything else unnecessary.

I'm sure I'll be joining you in Feb too! So far I'm THRILLED with the results! Yes, I know it's only been 7 days, but ALL I have spent is money on Groceries! $145 (and I had to stock up on some non-food items) and I'm thinking it should last me two weeks (with the exception of another trip for milk, bread & kitty litter and another few necessities! I'm thinking about $170 for 2 weeks and this is WAY less than I normally spend when I go once a week! Part of this is due to my JUST buying what's on the list and really watching what I NEED, and part of it is just making due - I have so much food that I just never get around to making and now I'm making it!

I love this challenge and am already impressed in what I've managed to save, although I can't put a real amount to it! I do know that if I just go without my $20 weekly spending money I've saved $60 just in these 3 weeks - of course I tend to use my debit card a lot too and when shopping for groceries I ALWAYS come home with more...

Anyway, sorry so long, but I'm planning on being right there with you in Feb! I hope to continue this for a while!!!

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WE'RE DEBT FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

I'm glad you posted this. The FTJ project is designed for anyone to join at any time. I hope others who are just reading about it will consider jumping right on in! We can all support each other no matter where we are on the list of steps or in our own personal financial journeys. WTG!

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