Last month’s saving challenge was so effective that I truly had a hard time deciding what would help us maintain the momentum as we head forward into our February Savings Challenge. Not to worry, because I think this month’s plan is going to be even better! Check out my video below to see exactly what our budget looks like!

February Savings Challenge

For the month of February, my family will pay off at least $2,750 of debt through careful savings within our budget. Our first step will be to pay off one of our cars and then turn around and sell it, sticking the income from the sale back into our debt payoff plan. It likely won’t all happen this month, but if we stick to our game plan, we should be well on the way to success.

Check out the video detailing our real life budget!

Ways we are saving this month

We’ve decided to embrace a few different ways to save additional funds this month.

Cash Only System

In an effort to further save money, we are going back to a cash-only system. The “envelope” system is a popular one, especially for those just starting out in tracking their income, and we are going to work toward saving as many individual dollars as we possibly can throughout the process.

You can see what my envelope system looks like in the video below. Purchase the binder HERE and the zippered pouches HERE.

No Online Shopping

Quite different from last month, we are switching it up and plan to stay clear of online shopping for the month of February. It’s not going to be easy, as we do enjoy our Amazon purchases, but if we are going to make a concerted effort to only purchase things with cash, then we need to let the online shopping go as well.

Save the Change

As we always do with cash, we are going to spend the month of February saving the change AND the one-dollar bills. This will be hard because, in our effort to stuff our envelopes, we ended up with some one-dollar bills to start with. In that case, if there are fewer than five, one-dollar bills in an envelope, those additional dollars will be put into our savings envelope. I’m not going to say that this will be an easy feat, but it might keep us thinking about breaking those larger bills or, at least, shopping less frequently.

Ways We Might Fail

Of course, with every great strategy comes the opportunity for failure so I’ve gone ahead and thought about the deterrents that might get in the way of us achieving our goal.

My Birthday

It’s my birthday month and, because we normally celebrate all month long, it might be tempting to break away from our debt payoff plan and create a few more expenses along the way.

I have already mentioned to Justin and the girls that, while I do appreciate them coming up with a nice card (or making one for me), I’d prefer to see us become debt free and would love to celebrate more when we get to that point. So, in lieu of birthday gifts, I’m asking them to simply stick to the budget and help me see how much money we can put aside.

Of course, this is only an effective strategy if they stick to it so…I’ll be sure to report back on that topic.

Vacation

In addition to this month being my birthday month (did I mention I like to celebrate all month long?), Justin and I are heading out of town for a few days for a work conference he will be attending and some vacation (mostly for me). As the hotel and conference amounts are paid for by his employment, Justin and I will be responsible solely for our food, gas to get there, and any additional purchases we make along the way.

The problem is that we tend to get excited with our spending when we are on vacation, so we’ve set aside a certain amount of money, and will be leaving the cards at home so that we aren’t tempted to use them.

Tip: Have an upcoming vacation in mind? If so, you’ll want to grab my FREE Vacation Planning Template to keep you on track with your budget and your fun goals!

Valentine’s Day

Despite the fact that Justin and I don’t personally celebrate Valentine’s Day with gifts (can you say expensive?), our kids will need cards to give to their friends and classmates and a few things for their class parties. Thankfully, that money is already accounted for in our school year fund and won’t create a dent in our already tight budget. (Do you need a school year fund? If so, check out my post on that very subject HERE.)

What About You?

How are you going to achieve your savings goals this month? Will you follow along with us, revert to paying with cash, and shop only in stores, or will you choose a different method?

Leave me a comment below and let me know how you plan to conquer that savings goal this month! (I’d love to be able to cheer you on!)