Have you ever had that moment when you come up with this amazing idea? I mean it seems borderline genius! And so you begin to work toward that idea and then comes the "Ouch" moment. The moment you realize it's going to cost you something.....
I had one of those this week. Our church has been doing a series called Moneybomb. It's one of those series that one moment is encouraging, the next moment is challenging and in nearly every moment provides this underlying conviction about how I've used money unwisely.
One of the things I've been learning over the past few years is to stop living in the guilt of what I haven't gotten right and to move forward into the future that holds the things I can change. I can beat myself up over my tendency to cope with issues using retail therapy. Or I can celebrate the fact I found an awesome counselor and am getting more out of what I spend for that therapy then a credit card bill. I can look at where I've overspent in the past and beat myself up. Or I can move forward finding ways to change those habits and re-channel that spending.
Which brings us to my brilliant idea of last week... One of the books that has had a huge impact on my life this year is a book written by blogger Ruth Soukup titled, Living Well, Spending Less. In this book, Ruth shares her own struggles with money, debt and how she's taken steps to change her habits. In her book she briefly talks about a no spend month that her husband suggested they do while they were struggling with their own finances at one point. I acknowledged the idea at the time, but quickly moved on rationalizing all of the reasons that it didn't work for us. And then last Tuesday, Ruth posts to her Instagram account the news that their family in getting ready to do a no spend October. This combined with the series at church led to a little voice inside saying.... "this might help that budget line item titled dining out". So before I could talk myself out of it again, I texted the idea to my husband.
That's how I find myself with a week left before we begin our no spend October. Can I share it's kind of scary? I have all of these "what ifs" popping up in my head. What if the starkness of a month of no spending triggers my panic attacks? What if I forgot to prepare for something I didn't realize we need? Our concessions since it was rather last minute has been to keep our grocery budget as usual, but to see if we can have left over at the end of the month to roll into the savings and to keep previously made appointments with mentors and family. I still find myself a little apprehensive though...
I think my big "ouch" moment came in realizing I need to give up my Starbucks study sessions for four weeks. That's a little hard. We actually discussed whether I keep them or not, but I know our purpose is to reset our priorities. As much as I like to think it is, Starbucks is NOT a necessity. It's a luxury. One of the convicting realizations that I've had over the past week is the way we have come to view our dining out as a necessity rather than a treat or a luxury. Part of me knows we really need this reset, but another part of me fears the unknown and what comes with it.
What about you? Does your life need a reset in an area? Maybe a no spend October is something your budget needs, too. Want to join us in the adventure? Company always makes the trip more fun!
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
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