How to Frugal Your February
I am so excited to announce that this February we are going to be having a frugal February. While we are making this a no-spend month, I am hoping to invoke so much more than simply not buying anything.
Here are some of our rules/regulations we are going to be following for this challenge:
Have a Grocery Budget
While food is a necessity, in previous no-spend months I’ve used groceries as a crutch to feed (pun!) my shopping habit…claiming I need lobster in order to feel I am indulging is not what we are doing this month. I will have a grocery budget to stick to for our family in order to ensure that we have nutritious food but aren’t overspending.
Combine Excursions
While I’ve been mostly doing this for a while now, I’ve also found myself needlessly running errands here, there, and everywhere in an attempt to get out of the house or to have some alone time when the kids are driving me bonkers. This month I will wait to run errands or do grocery shopping until I can combine trips and have time to go to multiple stores if needed.
Eliminate Browsing
Most nights I take Emma to ballet and most of those nights I find myself browsing at least one store. While I am not a huge shopper, I do find this a relaxing way to pass time and get ideas for how to decorate our home. Nothing wrong with those things, right? However, this often leads to discontentment (thinking, I wish I had money for that purse…that I don’t even need) or I do end up spending money on things that I want but, in all actuality, don’t actually need. Instead, I will find things to do that don’t cost money or cause hard feelings…going for a walk, working at the library, reading, etc.
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
This is an old adage from the depression era. While I usually try to keep this on the back of my head, I’d like to instill this even more this month. So instead of buying new shampoo when we get low, we’ll use up shampoo samples or maybe use up some types that are not our favorites.
Cancelling Subscriptions
As hard as it is, I am going to be cancelling some of our subscriptions…kids activities, streaming services, mail in gifts, even coaching, some of it just needs to go.
Good Old Fashioned Fun
We will be going on one vacation because it has already been paid for. We are going to a cabin in the woods and everyone is looking forward to a roaring fire and doing nothing. While we are travelling we will be looking at how we can go without spending money (or hardly any money). Bringing food to cook, board games, puzzles, and things we already have will be what keep us busy instead of browsing and eating out at the closest town.
Work Through Feelings
So many times we want to go somewhere or spend something but we don’t know why. In our “Frugal February Family Meeting” we talked about how we all need to work through our feelings when we feel the need to spend money. Is it out of boredom? Comparison? Habit? What is feeding that urge to go somewhere to get something? We’re hoping this will give the kids (as well as ourselves!) insight on why we do what we do!
Agree on What we are spending
Bills, groceries, gas. Those will pretty much be our only expenses this month. Nick and I usually have him buy things for projects around the house but in February we will be putting those things on a list to buy another month (if truly needed) or we’re going to try to tackle things with items we already have, borrowing neighbors’ tools, etc. These are items we’ve agreed to as we go into the month. Things that we will need to spend money on are things that would cause a potentially dangerous situation. For example if we had a water pipe burst, obviously we would need to pay to get that fixed. A run in Emma’s ballet tights may not constitute a new purchase but her ballet shoes going flat (when they aren’t safe to dance on anymore) would mean we need to make a purchase.
As you can see, this is more than just “not spending money”. It is a whole mind shift into ways to use what you already have and figure out what is important to you and why. We are hoping this will be a great reset for our family regarding consumerism and will help us get back to basics. If you are joining us for your own Frugal February then I encourage you to set some ground rules with everyone involved so you all have clear expectations and can cheer one another on throughout the month.
We have done this before, and it truly was a great way to focus on what is important and to get back to the basics of life. If you’d like to read about our no spend times before, here are some places to start:
Read a kids view of a no-spend year from Emma’s perspective.
My vantage point of a week with no-spending. We went on a pre-planned trip to Chicago during this time and I talk about how perspective changes when you are around stores and shopping. Yikes.
A look at our no-spend Valentine’s Day with some free or cheap food options to make the day more festive.
Here’s how we use things up when we are in a no-spend challenge.
I hope these help you get some bearings on Frugal February. I would love to know if you are joining us in our challenge. If so let us know and share what rules you have for yourself!
