Anybody can do a weekly challenge .... but how many of us can stick to a real challenge for a whole month? Well this chick is going to try it. Due to our overwhelming debt and our ever expanding waistlines, I talked Derek into doing a monthly challenge called "Go Nowhere Month". For the month of October we are not going to go out to eat as a family, not going to get take-out food as a family, not going to go to the movies, not going to go shopping just for the sake of shopping and basically live like we are poor folks (wait ... we are). The rules of "Go Nowhere Month" are that Derek and I can each get a fast food lunch once per week (Bueno for me every Friday) and we can go places as a family as long as it doesn't cost us anything. For example: Rachel has to take her Senior picture for "the panel" on the 16th and we are then going to go to the mountains to take family pictures after that with my sister and her kids. We are going to pack a picnic lunch (because we all know that sandwiches taste better in the mountains) and not spend money on take-out food or going out to eat that day. We also have my nephew's birthday party on the 24th, but it doesn't start until 2 so we can eat lunch at home before we leave.
Derek tried to sabotage the plan on Saturday when we ended up with only two kids at home. "You know ... we could go out to eat with only two kids and it would be a lot cheaper than normal". I thought about it for a second .... I really considered it ... but then I started adding it all up in my head .... a tank of gas $30, dinner for the four of us plus tip around $50, drinks that we would have bought at the gas station before we left town $6 ..... nope .... not going to do it ! I was tempted ... but I resisted !
It's going to be tough. Really tough. Derek and I have spent the last nineteen years living above our means - eating take-out food, buying junk that we didn't really need, taking vacations that we couldn't afford, etc. etc. It's time to stop ! We have so many bills that I have to write all of their due dates on the calendar each month in order to keep track of them and I am tired of it. I AM TIRED OF IT !!!
So let the challenge begin !!! I just hope that Taco Bueno doesn't have to declare bankruptcy without my daily contributions to their bottom line.
Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI made a similar decision almost 2 years ago that I was going to completely stop eating out, that anything I wanted I would make. So, I literally haven't been to a restaurant of any kind in almost 2 years and have become a fabulous cook! :)
ReplyDeleteAfter a decade of eating out almost exclusively, the change has been nice and I seldom miss it ;)
This is going to be a tough one for me for sure ... after 19 years of take-out food and spending like we had the money, it's going to take a lot of willpower to change those bad habits. I am determined and when I can pay off the Sam's card at the end of the month then that will feel better than any Taco Bueno burrito could possibly taste (maybe).
ReplyDeleteGood luck! The Husband and I eat out way too much, but we don't have kids to worry about. I know you can do this. I believe in you!
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