Monday, March 31, 2008

Who's in?

Buy Nothing Challenge - April 2008

Hey, I was going to wait awhile before I told you all about my 'new-old' way of living, but then Crunchy went and posted a new challenge and I was all like ummm, yeah already doin' that.  So, if you're wanting to cut back, April's the time.  Heh, heh, April's the time.  My name's April.  Heh, heh.  Oh, sorry, back to bidness.

So, we're cutting back around here.  Waaaay back.  I have some lofty goals and I'll fill you in as I go, but first things first.  This is how I'm preparing myself for the long haul:

1. I'm cleaning out every nook and cranny of my house and selling or getting rid of unwanted/ unused stuff.  This hasn't been that hard since we've only lived here 6 months and I'm not one to keep stuff.  I've made three trips to Goodwill and three trips to a consignment shop.  I've sold stuff on Craigsist and made around $65  from the consignment store.  I also took a box of books to a used book store and made $15.  Why is cleaning out stuff important to my financial picture?  Because it shows me what is important to have in this house.  I don't want to own things we don't use or spend money on more things we won't use.  I'll go into this more later.

2.  I've got Dave Ramsey's books on hold at the library.  I need motivation and I think he's the ticket.  I'll let you know more about my review of him later.  You can google Dave and watch some you-tube stuff on him.  I think he's pretty solid.  I spent a couple days reading other people's opinions on him and there aren't too many nay sayers out there.

3. umm, don't really have a three, is two enough?  I'll list goals later too.  So far, I'm having fun with this challenge.  It's a blast from the past for me, so nothing is hard.....yet.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just finished Dave Ramsey's book and even though, thank goodness, we are not big spenders and in deep debt, we are getting rid of our credit cards and starting to follow his plan. It just makes sense. Good luck with all your big changes!

Stephanie said...

We are trying this too. We don't have a credit card (never have) and when purchases are discussed..It's a Do I NEED it or Do I WANT it question...easy for me a little harder for DH

Cynthia said...

Dave is the way to go. He started here in Nashville a long time ago. We started listening to him when he was on teh local radio station on a show called teh Money Game. Then my husband and I worked for his partner on the Money Game for a while. You can listen to his daily radio show on the internet at Dave Ramsey.com if he doesn't play on a local station.

We have never used credit cards and we have our house paid off and own 2 other houses debt free. That with 6 kids and I have always stayed home. My husband was in college when we got married and we had 4 kids before he graduated. Then he taught school and ran a back hoe in teh summer. Then he worked at a factory for about 8 years. Now we own our own real estate appraisal business. We buy and fix up and then sell houses on teh side.

I say all that to show everyone that anyone on any income can be debt free! It is all about the choices that we make.

OUCH, I just fell off my soap box!!haha

Anyway, GOOD LUCK and I know you can do it!

April said...

Cynthia that is incredible! Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

oooooh! My husband would love for me to do this!!! I need to do it with a few exceptions though...
Our daughter's prom and her birthday is May 1. We also have some household repairs that will require spending some money on materials/tools (of course, our planning to do these projects this month does NOT mean we will).

We have several of Dave Ramsey's books.

Jenni said...

(Said in the whiniest voice you can imagine) But I like my stuff!

Okay, there is stuff I do want to get rid of. And I'm going to vow to stop buying crafty stuff at garage sales just because it's a good deal. I have enough in my attic and on my closet shelves already. Fabric is the worst. Just because I own a sewing machine does not mean that I will ever sew. I refuse to stop collecting old, broken glass from the river and stashing it all over my house, though. It's a sickness, I know. It's because my grandparents lived through the Depression and my mom was a waitress at Waffle House. Or something.

I'll go check out Crunchy's challenge. Dave I'm more skeptical about. From the way I've heard folks talk, this Dave Ramsey thing sounds like some kind of weird cult. People start with him and that's all they can talk about. I think that's his first rule for financial freedom: Thou shalt speak only of Dave Ramsey. I'd be wary of getting sucked in.

Anonymous said...

Cool. We've been doing Dave's thing for a couple months now too. Definitely check out his radio program or podcast.

Jenni said...

Hey, I just realized this is a buy nothing from Target challenge. That I can do. Target is further away than Walmart.