New Year .. New Challenges

This year I have two New Years resolutions. The first is to reduce, the second is keep going. I decided to not make them very specific so that I could interpret them in many different ways and keep challenging myself to change.
For my reduce challenge this month we’ve started budgeting more strictly. We’ve set amounts that we are allowed to spend on fun, groceries, the house, and Jaden. I’ve found that one of the most challenging things about this is that both Pete and I see our budgeted amount for fun ... and then spend it. When normally we would question our purchases or put them off for a while, we’ve just been going for it, because after all, we’ve budgeted for it. Plus, I spend way more on Jaden each month then the $30 I budgeted for him... so I’m spending some of my money on him because I love buying books and craft supplies and clothes for him. Yes I love shopping. This is hard.
To go along with this I’ve created a new guideline for myself: what comes in must go out. If we buy anything new, or bring anything new into the house, we have to get rid of the equivalent amount of stuff. This became particularly challenging last week when we got a call from my brother-in-law saying he had just sent us two large boxes of trains. J loves them, but set up they take up his ENTIRE bedroom floor .. and he has a huge bedroom. So, into the closets I went, and out went one box and two bags of clothes, books, and stuff none of which we needed or had used in months.
And there is still more work to do ....