No Spending in February

Okay, Jason and I decided that we are going to have a month of not spending ANY money. I am so excited. Usually, I try to make up weird fun little contests and goals for myself and my family, but I'm the only one trying to do them. So, I was surprised when Jason actually agreed on it and I think it's going to be even more fun and more successful that way.
So, here is the plan...
So, I already prepaid all our bills for next month. And I've been gradually buying all the groceries we'll need for the month. Saturday, I'll finish that off. And Saturday night, I'll be filling up my van with gas and making that last a whole month. So, we're not really spending NO money, but by purchasing all the necessities before the month and then NOT spending anything, it will cut out all the mindless, impulse spending that we do. Eating out is our biggest problem. We seem to always be able to justify it. And we make "treat runs" to the grocery store all the time and end up buying so much stuff that we don't need. I think we'll be able to go a month on one tank of gas. Most of the places we HAVE to go (school, church, etc.) are close enough to walk to. But, since it's winter, I rarely walk. So, it will make me think about it more and maybe I'll be homebound or walking by the middle of the month, we'll see. As far as entertainment goes, we have season tickets to the BYU basketball games and we have a pass to the Rec Center. Those are things that we really enjoy and gives us a way to get out.
Anyway, I'm really excited to see how this little experiment goes. I'm hoping that it makes us more creative by looking outside of the box to fulfill our needs. Also, I hope it breaks us of the habit of buying everything we want right when we want it. I've heard a lot of people say you should have a "30 day list" where you put something you want on a list for 3o days before you can buy it. Usually, after the 30 days, you don't even want it anymore. I think this is a great idea, but we've never been disciplined enough to do it. So, maybe this will help us start that. I think it will also help our kids. They are pretty used to saying, "can I get a new toy?" or "can we go to Wendy's?" and unfortunately, the answer is usually "yes". Also, I think it will help us invite people over to our house more instead of suggesting meeting for lunch or dinner or some other thing. Some of our favorite times are just playing games with our friends at home, but we rarely do that.
Well, I'll post throughout the month about how it's going and any challenges we encounter and things we learn. I can't wait for February!