Fall is coming! While some people like to spring clean I don't like to clean at all. Just kidding. I like to fall clean.

And one of the ways I am going to fall clean is through a no spend challenge and an eat the pantry challenge.

That means for all of September we will not be spending money outside of our necessities.

We will pay our bills, gas our cars and keep our babies in diapers. We will eat fresh produce and continue to meet our financial obligations. But we will NOT spend money on things outside of our basic needs.

As you may remember during our first no spend challenge we finally paid off our debt. I can't say the two were not related.

This time, though, we are taking things one step further by issuing an eat from the pantry challenge. I have allotted a small amount to our grocery budget for milk and fresh produce. And I hope you will join us as we encourage each other to save money.

No entertainment money, no going out to eat, no stopping by Goodwill just to see what cute sweaters are on the rack. None of that.

Instead we will put any extra money toward savings goals. But we won't be doing the following:

hitting up the drive through for breakfast
buying books for our Kindle
stopping by Zaxby's for lunch after church
buying things simply because they are a good deal

I will be checking in each Monday to tell you how our progress is going. I will also be focusing on frugal meal plans, DIYs and entertainment.

I think it could be fun.

You can join us but don't be intimidated. This is not all or nothing. If you just don't feel up to the full commitment pick one area of your spending and focus on that. Say you just don't get coffee at the drive through all month and you carry a thermos instead or you don't hit up the Redbox and go to the library instead.

These little changes add up quick.

If you do decide to join in on the fun you can let me know just Tweet me, Facebook me or snap a photo for Instagram and use the hashtags #NOSpendSeptember #pantrychallenge

We can do this!

What are some things you could give up for the month?

Featured