Super Frugal April Challenge

My husband and I have been doing some talking and decided to up our "frugalness" a notch this coming month!  I'm calling it the Super Frugal April Challenge.  We have been living off $80 a month in groceries for a long time, some months spending more if we wanted but mostly we have stuck to it.  This month, we want to not only stick to the grocery budget strictly but also we are not going to be going out to eat, getting fast food, stopping for a candy bar or soda and no coffee shops either.  Every single expenditure will be scrutinized and neither of us will spend anything without the other's knowledge and approval that it is necessary.

We shook on it and only if I get very sick or have to go in the hospital again, will we bend the rules.  I believe I will not spend the whole $80 this month because we have so much I can make from scratch in our pantry that I may only need a few dollars for fresh veggies and fruits.

I did promise my daughter a specific toy if she did her chores all March and got a sticker for each day on her chore chart.  So she will get that but that is it and don't feel sorry for her, she doesn't lack in toys!  ; )

Why are we doing this you might say?  Well for starters, it isn't because we "have" to do it.  God has chosen to bless us financially and instead of buying luxury cars and 'living it up', we have chosen to use it wisely and save and make our money grow.  A lot of it has gone to our medical bills, of which is growing with the numerous bills this past month.  We don't want to take years paying off medical bills!  We would rather sacrifice now to rid ourselves of them and get the debt off of us!  Instead of letting these new bills derail our future financial plans, we have decided to do this Super Frugal April Challenge and save as many pennies as we can.

It is quite humorous the comments and emails I have received since coming public with my $80 a month grocery budget.  The criticisms range from "you are not getting all your nutrients" (which is in no way true!  I actually have a year in Nutrition under my belt and I think I know a little bit about how to eat!) to "living on one income doesn't work and if I would get a job, I wouldn't have to eat so frugally", etc.  You get the just!  I laugh because that just isn't the case.  If we wanted to spend $1,000 a month on groceries WE COULD!  We have that much extra but instead, we CHOOSE to save, pay off medical bills and live frugally.

People don't know how to sacrifice for what they want anymore.  We live in a "give me, give me" and "I have to have it NOW" society.  Rather, then take principles from the Word of God of owing no man and putting your money to work for you (making it grow), they squander what they have and pile up massive amounts of debt to fulfill their covetousness.  They live above their means and they grope and complain that they never have anything and how much debt they are in.  These type of people usually don't pay their tithes either or if they do, they do it grudgingly and end up blaming the church for stealing their money and in that they PROVE that they never really gave that money to God in their hearts.  For if they had, they wouldn't complain about it being gone now would they??  I suppose once they get tired of the hamster wheel, they will get off and start to have some real financial progress in their lives. 

All that being said, I take a quote from Dave Ramsey in what we have chosen to do in our lives and that is:

To live like one else, so one day we can live like no one else!