Our Spending Diet - The Final Tally

On October 1st, we went on a Spending Diet for the entire month of October. We had a few allowable expenses for the month, but the general rule was to cut out any unnecessary, non-essential spending.

So how did we do?

We were able to reduce our spending by about $500 for the month. That sounds like a lot and it makes me wonder if we should revisit our budget, but we didn't spend a single cent on clothing, household needs or wants, and miscellaneous wants. And we reduced our grocery bill by about $125 of that $500. Our budget for groceries is usually $500, but we only spent $375. That budget of $500 is for our family of four and includes baby items like diapers and wipes.

However, the $500 was quickly and practically negated by a $375 repair that was abruptly needed on my husband's car. I guess there was a reason we went on the spending diet, we just didn't know it yet on October 1st. The good news is that we didn't have to dip into our savings to pay for the car repair. Our reduced spending for the month covered the expense and left us with about $125 remaining...until last night when our gas fireplace stopped working. My husband went to the store today and the replacement part will cost $122.35...no lie, I am staring at the receipt.

How did we reduce spending by $500?

• WE. AVOIDED. THE. STORES!!! I didn't go to Target once during the month of October. Target tends to be a thorn in our budget's side.
  
• To reduce the grocery bill, we ate from the pantry, utilized the leftovers for lunches and avoided separate trips to the store. I also planned a weekly menu and stuck to my list.
  
• Every time I had an urge to go to a store, like Target, or purchase something "extra" at the grocery store, I made a conscious, yet sometimes difficult effort not to.

Where do we go from here? Like I said above, $500 is a lot of money. Can we reduce our spending by that much on a regular basis? It isn't realistic to think that we'll never buy any more clothing or household items, but maybe we can reduce our budget for those categories as well as groceries. We have proven to ourselves that we can live on even less.

Are you on a spending diet? Have you evaluated your spending lately? Is there wiggle room in your budget to reduce it even more?

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This post is linked to:

• Money Saving Mom