Hello friends! I know a lot of people are starting lent soon, meaning less chocolate and alcohol consumption. I’m not Catholic but I will be on the 40 day schedule that lent keeps starting Feb. 18th (yesterday). I’m not going to lie, this 40 days isn’t spiritual, it’s just to get my booty in gear to do stuff that I’ve been struggling to do lately.
I will be participating in the #40bagsin40days challenge that has been going on for years! I’ve seen it the past couple years but haven’t felt the need to do major purging until this year. Can we say toddler? The challenge is to work on one area of your home or life each day for 40 days. This can mean getting bags of old clothes to donation, pairing down your 15 bottles of shampoo or organizing all of the 20 second videos of your baby from when every single thing she did was the cutest thing in the world (every. single. thing.)
We’ll also be doing a 40 day spending freeze. Why? Because we really need to. We need to save for our September trip to Disney and our child needs to eventually attend college. A spending freeze can be whatever you feel is necessary.
For us, we’ll only be spending money on the necessities:
- Mortgage
- Utility Bills
- Existing Memberships
- Groceries (Whole30 exclusive)
- Travel Expenses (for visiting family)
- Learning Materials
- Already Planned Activities
We’re starting ANOTHER Whole30 as we knew we would. We took a break for a girls night out and Valentine’s Day but are resuming this weekend. We will never put a hold on learning. If we need books or classes to learn something we’re passionate about, there’s no limit (within reason). We’d already planned to go see The Book of Mormon while it’s in Chicago and to a movie so we’re allowing ourselves to do those activities.
The things we’re not allowed to spend money on:
- Craft Supplies
- Starbucks
- Legos
- New Memberships
- Books
- Video/Board Games
- Movie Tickets/DVDs
- Eating Out
- Tools
- Sophie/Lexi Toys
- Clothes
Do you agree that we have 40 hardcore days ahead? I have high hopes for us during this spending freeze. We have enough of all of the above to last us 10 years. There should be no reason for us to buy anything from the list above. I really wanted to post this for accountability. Is anyone else doing/have done the challenge or a spending freeze? What would improve your well being to give up for a little while?
PS. If you need some extra motivation, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing
is a best seller for a reason. It really makes you take a double take on your life and all the ‘stuff’ you’ve accumulated.
That is definitely a hardcore 40 days! Like, you’re packing a lot into that. Can’t wait to follow along and see how it goes.
We need to do a spending freeze. We’ll probably get on that after we get back from our Disney trip in April because financial recovery is important.
Yea, I don’t use the term hardcore lightly. 🙂 I don’t think I knew you were going to Disney (and soon!!) Do you have a post on it? We’re taking Soph on her first trip in Sept. and I’m already wanting to book the dining reservations. 😉
Nice list, separating into categories! Hopefully you can reach most (or all!) of your goals. Hard core indeed. I’m not doing a 40 day challenge but sounds like a good idea :).
I know it’s the beginning of a goal, so I have a lot of confidence, but I really think we’ll hit these goals! I’m pumped!
OK you are seriously hardcore!! I could never do all three challenges. I’m ok with the No-Spend challenge. You are a trooper!!
How is your second day going?? I’m rocking the #40 challenge so far! Pretty pumped about all three challenges. We’ve done Whole30 twice now so it’s no big thang. 😉
This is VERY HARDCORE!! Kudos to you!!
I am wishing you all the luck, I look forward to your updates 🙂
Thanks Dean! I’ll put a post in the books for later on in the 40 days to update you! Good idea to keep me accountable!