Experiment Five: Three Ways To Spend Less Money

My husband and I are very focused on spending our money with intention and saving our money with intention. This hasn't always been the case - I was more of a spender a year ago. Money that we would set aside for emergency savings would some how be spent, but a year ago we started focusing on spending less and saving more for the things we find more meaningful.

Here are a few ways we are focusing on SPENDING LESS

1. 52 Week Challenge: We opened a separate savings account in the Fall and started this challenge. Every paycheck, I move money into this account (2 weeks worth at a time). The first few weeks were easy so I cheated and deposited weeks 1-7 into the account to start. We are now on week 32. By the end of the 52 weeks we will have saved $1,378 dollars. 

2. 2015 Financial Goals: At the beginning of 2015, my husband and I agreed on 3 Financial Goals - Summer Road Trip, Twins Preschool, and getting our Emergency Savings up to $10,000. These goals were going to challenge us to be fairly strict about saving our money each month. We have already saved for our Road Trip, saved just over half of what we need for Preschool, and have maintained our current emergency savings so it will be easier to reach our goal once we've finished saving for Preschool.

3. Putting Aside the Pay Raise: This one is going to be new to us. Every April my husband gets some type of pay increase, and I am sure that every year we find a way to spend it without even thinking. But this year we have decided to be more intentional with this money. Instead of adding this money to our monthly budget, we are opening a separate savings account and saving it every month. This experiment in saving instead of spending will help us make additional principal payments on our mortgage - helping us get closer to being financially free! 

Experiment Four - One Less Dresser

I have always enjoyed being creative - coloring, drawing, painting. I have always been drawn to the arts and I see this same joy in my girls. One way I keep creativity at their fingertips is by keeping paper and crayons on our kitchen table. At some point every day I find my 3 girls at the table coloring to their hearts desire.

Four, Three, Two, One, None

Back in 2012 we had FOUR dressers in our home. Two in our bedroom, One in our oldest daughter's bedroom, and One in the twins' bedroom - pretty normal I would say. 

When the twins were born we wanted them in our bedroom for the first few months. Our PackNPlay wasn't big enough for 2 babies, so we decided to set up one of the cribs in our room along with our glider. There wasn't enough space for all this furniture, so we consolidated our clothes to one dresser (took the other dresser out) and we had enough space. Once the twins were old enough to sleep in their own room, we were so comfortable with one dresser that we never brought the second dresser back in our room. And we were down to THREE.

Right before the twins turned 2 years old, we decided to experiment with having all 3 girls share a room. I had recently read about a family whose 3 boys share a room and fell in love with their morning routine. You can find their story here. Our girls have been sharing one bedroom for a year now and I can't imagine it any other way. Our oldest wasn't fully using her dresser, so we were able to use half the drawers for the twins (and get rid of the twins' dresser). And we were down to TWO. 

About a month ago my husband and I decided to experiment with not using our dresser. We moved all our clothes to our closet. We weren't fully utilizing our closet so there was plenty of space. Over the past few months we went through our clothes and consolidated to the items we truly needed and loved. We haven't missed our dresser. And we were down to ONE.

Enjoying sitting at their play table!

My husband's wardrobe:

1 black suit

5 button-down dress shirts

2 pairs of khakis

1 pair of jeans

2 pairs of shorts

1 pair of workout pants

A few t-shirts

2 sweatshirts

and the other essentials

My wardrobe:

2 dresses

3 nice long sleeve tops

2 pairs of nice pants

1 pair of jeans

2 pairs of shorts

1 pair of workout pants

A few t-shirts

2 sweatshirts

and the other essentials

About a week after not using our dresser we decided to experiment with not using the girls' dresser. We moved all their clothes to their closet - fully utilizing their closet now. With the space we gained, we were able to move their play table and chairs to their room (which houses their lamp and music). We were also able to move the rocking chair from in front of their closet to the empty wall. The girls love having their music at their fingertips - much easier for dance parties. And I don't have to move the rocking chair every time I need to access their closet! And now we are down to NONE.