February is Frugality Month!

Back in January, after the bills had been paid from Christmas gifts and all of the holiday fun, I started thinking about February. And how it might be time to buckle down on a few things. Every now and then I like to set a challenge for myself, plus I'm a big fan of alliteration, therefore I have declared February to be frugality month. Frugal February.

This month I have decided we will live on just one income, just to see if we could make it. Thankfully, this isn't a necessity. So far both MD and I have managed to survive the numerous layoffs that have occurred at the company we work for (knock on wood). However, it has been stated that another 13 million dollars in cuts will most likely need to be made this year, and we all know you don't cut 13 million by just eliminating pens and copy paper. So I thought it would be good to see if we could survive on less. We've done this before. Years ago, before I got pregnant we did the same thing, just in case I decided I wanted to stay home with the baby we (I) needed to know if we could pull it off. It worked out OK. Not great, just OK. Even for a cheapo like me, sometimes it was a bit too much. The fact that I knew we could do it was comforting though. I've always liked working for pay so I returned to my job although I've now worked half time, 75% time, full time and 80% time trying to find the right balance. I also don't want to turn this into a post about working at home vs. working for pay (I would be the first to tell you working at home as a "stay" {ha ha} at home mom is HARD, HARD, HARD work).

I digress. Back to the challenge. I decided we would start the month with whatever money was "left over" in the checking account. Side note--I love that idea--"left over" money. HA! It reminds me of the days in college when people would ask you if you had "any extra beer" like the case suddenly came with 25 or 26 instead of 24. Not that I was drinking a case of beer, or with people who were doing such a thing mind you, this was only an example...

ANYWAY, I figured the "left over" money would be enough to make it to payday on the 10th. Piece of cake. Most of our bills are due after payday and I really couldn't see any surprise expenses in the next couple of weeks. Only January was kind of expensive. Insurance was due. We also typically pay the full year of our shared cell phone in January. We had a date night at a fancy restaurant. A deposit on Boy Scout camp in the summer was required. After making our usual transfers to the savings account and minus a donation to the Red Cross, it appears that our "left over" funds total...gulp, $42.40.

And so we begin. I'll let you know how it goes.