The #YearofNo

What is the #yearofno?

 

A couple of years ago, my husband began the Lord leading him into a new direction. About a year ago Andy begin the schooling to become an ordained minister.

 

 I wholeheartedly support him and do not want our finances to be a stumbling block for him as he heeds he Lord's will. I know that God overcomes whatever one's circumstance  in order to achieve His will but I know that Satan could use that as a doubt.

 

 Andy and I have not always made good choices with our income.

 

A lot  of debt came from a hard pregnancy and delivery and other various bad decisions.

 

We have come a long way with the Lord's help.

 

 This year my goal is to pay off and to save as much as possible.

 

 I decided on the #yearofno as some crazy philosophy in which we buy nothing that we don't absolutely need and that isn't in the budget.

 

 The# yearo no has already proved to be trying but God is faithful.

 

We had a couple expenses come up, including a broken oven, that weren't in the budget.

 

God showed up!

 

Our local bank was giving away money for certain savings and services you have with your account. Somehow the money that we received from our local bank covered all the expenses including the oven repair to almost the $1.

 

 I am excited to see what the Lord has in store for our #yearofno.

 

 I know that it's going to be hard and trying. Almost anything worth while is but I know that we can do it  together and with Christ.

 

I know that we will look crazy when we tell our friends we can't go out to eat or we can't do certain things because denial isn't something people do in society today. Sacrifice, discipline and self-denial are what will help us be successful.

 

So, this month, January, here are a few goals to get us started.

 

I am starting out with the pantry challenge. We have only spent about $100 filling in groceries and we are eating out of our pantry and freezer. This is a good practice because it not only saves money for a month but it also uses up the excess you have and waste is limited. It gets kind of crazy trying to make everything come together but it's so rewarding.

 

Our family  also been using disposable napkins and plates at the end of my pregnancy and when I had Baby Coulson.  We have cut those out as well - back to using glass plates and cloth napkins.

 

In the same theme, we have also began using cloth diapers again with Coulson and we are trying to potty train Ellison. Diapers really add up. I already had a large stash of cloth diapers. It just took drawing a line in the sand and making myself do it.

 

Those are just a few ways that we are trying to save money this month. In February we will be adding something different to keep the snowball going.

 

Are there any ways that you can cut back and save money this year?

 

 Is that a passion you have for you and your family?

"The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower becomes the lender's slave." - Proverbs 22:7