Budget challenge

This week John and I have decided to see if we could go a whole week without spending money on stuff we don't need.  Things like going out to eat more than once a week, buying sports memorabilia, cute clothes for the boy, wine and beer, buying more groceries when we have plenty of food at home, new purses, expensive cameras, new laptop computers, new work clothes for John, balls, balls and more balls for Alex... 

Since I quit my job over eight months ago, we've talked and talked about sticking to a budget, but we keep spending money as if we still have a two income household.  But now, we're talking about buying a new (used) car and we don't even know if we can afford it. The idea of a car payment makes both of us a little sick to our stomachs, but we don't have the cash to pay for a car outright.  We've decided we're going to "practice" having a car payment.  Put the money we would be spending on a car into the bank for a few months and see how it feels. If it's tight, maybe we'll just keep doing it until we can save up a good sized down payment.  If it's easily doable, maybe we'll go right out and buy my Toyota Prius. If I want my fuel efficient foreign made automobile complete with a hatchback that allows me to easily transport a jogging stroller, I need to earn it.  Since I don't make any money, the best I can do is put this family on a strict budget and save for the damned thing.

So to kick off our budget challenge, we're going to try to get by with minimal expenditures the rest of the week.  I've stocked the kitchen with food and snacks, no need to go out to eat until date night on Friday.  We've got plenty of toiletries, I've got a full daycare punch card for the gym and all of the activities I'm doing both with my photography seminars and outings with Alex are free this week.  So as of this moment, I will do a daily post of the cash we spend this week (I won't bore you or myself with our bills, that obviously need to be paid, this is for excess spending only).  My goal is to make myself aware of the money we're spending willy nilly every week.  It's so easy to just hand over a debit card and not even look at the amount I'm spending.  If I have to be held accountable for what I spend and why, I'll likely be more vigilant about sticking to the budget.

And... Go!