Another No Spend Month - December edition

Welcome back, friends! In a previous post, I vented about a lot of things but I don't remember if I vented about money. Every once in a while, when Craig and I have a lot of crap going on, we take our finances by the reigns and do a no spend month. December will be no exception.

Two of our best friends are marrying each other in early-January which means bachelorette/bachelor parties and whatnot in December. The parties will be rather expensive and will definitely weigh on our budget.

Here's what we have going on in December and this will definitely impact our budget:

• Christmas/Hanukkah
• Bachelorette Party
• Bachelor Party
• My cousin is visiting

Officially, I have another 8-10 weeks to go before I'm ready to pop but we're trying to plan, plan, plan. Part of the planning is getting our finances in order. We're actually not buying baby stuff right now - we bought a crib and just need to replace a wheel but no major expenditure there.

Understand this: Craig and I are not bad with money - we're just a little lax sometimes. Since we have parties and wedding gifts to pay for, we're really tightening our wallets. Think of this as a preventative move. We're trying to prevent being broke.

As I've said, we've done the no spend month before but we're doing it a little differently this time...

We're taking 1,100 shekels ($290) and using it towards:

• Groceries/Eating out
• Entertainment (movies, concerts...etc.)

What we're NOT buying/spending money on:

• Clothing
• Household accessories (unless it's baby related)
• Shampoo, conditioner, body soap, facial soap, deoderant ...etc. (We have LOADS of this stuff)
• Hair cuts/Hair color (I can do this stuff myself)

Credit cards will be used for the following ONLY:

• To pay for stuff needed for the parties
• Emergencies
• Wedding gift
• Bills

For the bachelor party or any extras, we're going to have a cushioning of 500 shekels ($132). This is to be used only if we need it.

We don't pay for gas but here's what we do pay for:
Rent: 3,100 shekels ($820)
Car: 2,900 shekels ($766)
Cell Phones: 500 shekels combined ($132)
Other utilities...

Since my cousin is coming for a few days, we want to show her a good time but we also have family to see - which will cut down on our spending.

Here's what kills us every month: groceries. Food here is expensive - even simple things that used to cost almost nothing (like lentils) are now super expensive (10 shekels a kilo - which may not seem like a lot but consider that I paid 6 shekels just a few months ago). We'll be back to menu planning starting December 1st! Thankfully, I can pre-cut veggies and whatnot to put into soup and stick it in the freezer. I made a giant batch of sweet potato soup last night (and dropped half of it on the floor), so that's already in the freezer!

Here's what we already have in the freezer/pantry:
- 3 servings of sweet potato soup
- 2 individual frozen pizzas
- Dough
- French Fries
- Frozen salmon
- Frozen chicken fingers
- A box of Mac and Cheese
- LOTS of Quinoa
- LOTS of rice
... a lot of other random foods...

Stay up to date with our No Spend Month!