Our First Fiscal Fast

I picked up a penny today.  Let's hope it means good luck.

We first learned the idea of a fiscal fast watching Jeff Yeager on an episode of TLC's Extreme Cheapskate.  When I started staying at home with my children almost three years ago, I'd say our finances needed an extreme makeover...  We have since made several failed attempts at budgeting and saving.  Fortunately, we don't feel the need to live extravagantly so our comfort with living below our means enabled us to get by cheerfully as our income level dropped (I reduced my work from full time to part time before stopping work outside of the home altogether).  With a growing family, however, that's just not good enough.  An onslaught of unexpected expenses including a "hit and run" on our parked car, major home repairs due to leaks, and hospital stays drained our savings.  So it's time to rebuild because we know firsthand the importance of "back up plans" and emergency funds.  And to take it a step further, we want to continue saving for ourselves for retirement and for our kids of course because let's face it, we've grown up.  (Makes me cringe a little.)  We are bona fide adults and should spend so accordingly.  Therefore today we began our first fiscal fast.

What is a Fiscal Fast?

• A fiscal fast is when you fast from spending money, in other words, NO SPENDING.

The GOALS of our Fiscal Fast:

• To hit the reset button on our spending.  I like to think of it as a fiscal cleanse or detox.  We want to save money of course by not spending, but more importantly this period will give us the opportunity to scrutinize how we use our money so that we can eliminate wasteful spending thus saving more.

The GROUND RULES of our Fiscal Fast:

• Do not spend any money for 10 days.
• This includes charge accounts such as credit cards and toll roads, which will just bill us later.
• This includes gift cards because gift cards are cash (essentially).
• This does not include spending other people's money - HA HA that sounds awful!  In other words, if my best friend wants to take me out for a coffee, I don't have to say no.  After all, this fast is about how I'm spending my money, not how she is spending hers.  That said, we will not seek out opportunities to mooch.  No one likes a mooch.