Grow Your Fund is a daily post that gives you a chance to win a gift card by checking in on all the various challenges you are participating in. You can choose to participate in one, two or even all of the challenges giving you even more opportunities to Grow Your Fund!
The Challenges
No Dining Out: The concept is simple, lower your family’s dining out bill and add the money you save to your fund.
Minniemizing for the Mouse: Get in shape for your trip to Disney by walking at least 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week. The average person walks 8 or more miles a day at Disney World. Your feet will thank you!
Not going to Disney? Don’t worry. You can participate too. Just commit to working out at least 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week!
Budget Challenge: Can your family stay on budget this month for groceries, entertainment, dining, etc? Do you think you could even challenge yourself not to spend a dime 5 days this month? Be sure to report on your spending vs your budget every day. The goal is to be able to add the extra money saved at the end of the month to your fund!
*If you haven’t set a budget yet, you might want to check out this post.
Decluttering Challenge: Is your stuff starting to overtake your house? Do you feel like your kids room is full of too much junk and not enough fun? If so, I challenge you to find a new home for just 25 items a day for the next 30 days. This could be 25 articles of clothing, 25 books you no longer read, 25 toys your kids ignore. Have a box for items to donations, a box for items to sell and throw the rest away! At the end of the challenge, have a yard sale and add the earnings to your fund!
The prizes
At the end of each month, I will pick FOUR winners who will each receive $25 to add to their fund. Look for the winners to be announced on the 3rd of each month.
How to enter
Leave a comment with the title of the challenges it is for. You can participate in one, two, three or even all four challenges. There will be one winner per challenge, and winners can win multiple times! It’s all done by using Random.org, so if your number comes up and you are eligible, you win! In order to be eligible to win, you must actively participate in the challenge for at least FIVE calendar days.
My Updates
No Dining: Took Jacob by Chickfila for a special lunch with Mommy. Spent $9.90.
Budget Challenge: Staying on track with the budget. Having a cash budget helps so much.
Decluttering: I had to clean out the van yesterday. Of course that just involved putting it all in the den since we were in a hurry and I had to put a crib in the back of the van for a friend, but I did get the junk out of the van.
Minniemizing: I am doing fair. I am not doing great and I am not doing poorly. I really struggle when I start to PMS. You know all the cravings that go along with that and the stress. When I PMS, it’s like the world is out to get me and everyone in it wants to make my life miserable. And when I feel like that, I eat stuff I shouldn’t to calm myself down.
One of the perks of Medifast (this perk is available to anyone who uses the program) is getting to talk with a behavior specialist. I have finally worked up the courage to talk with him this coming week about my stress eating and how to handle it better. I know there are so many things that I could be doing better and I am so ready to start doing them.
Medifast disclosure and details:
Medifast is not cheap. I know that. But being overweight isn’t cheap either. I spent a lot of time debating on if this was something that I wanted to share on my blog. But it all comes down to the fact that I want to get rid of this weight so that I can truly enjoy Disney. And if it is by the support of my amazing readers that I do it once and for all, then I need that. I am not encouraging you to try Medifast nor I am not saying that Medifast is the only or the best way to lose weight. I am just looking for support from my wonderful friends. If you don’t want to support me, please don’t comment. Just skip over the post. As Thumper said, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothin’ at all.” If you don’t want to offer your support or you are looking for support yourself, feel free to comment.
Medifast recently introduced a new customer savings program. If you use the coupon code, DISNEY56, and sign up for Medifast Advantage when you order $250+, you’ll receive 56 free Medifast Meals and free shipping! Medifast Advantage has a lot of perks, including free customizable meals and a free BlenderBottle® with minimum purchase.
*FTC Disclosure: Medifast provides their products for my personal use for free. I am not paid or compensated in any other way for mentioning their products (although I want to shout from the rooftops about my success which you know the results are ‘not typical’). All thoughts and opinions here on my blog are 100% mine. I am very inspired to be given this amazing opportunity, and I want to share my success with all my
readersfriends. Thank you for reading my blog. It’s because of your tremendous support and encouragement that I was given this opportunity. And that means more to me than words can say.
No Dining
- Take a look at your current dining out budget. How much did you spend last month going out to eat? That is money that could have gone into your fund instead! Try cutting your out to eat costs this month and adding the difference to your fund.
- Set a weekly dining out budget, if you resist going out to eat, add that amount to your fund instead.
- If you were seriously about to go out to eat (like had your coat on and was going out the door or pulled into the drive thru and then pulled back out), add the amount you would have spent to your fund.
- Going out to eat and using a coupon or paying with a gift card? You could add that amount to your fund too. For example… if you had a $25 gift card to Cracker Barrel and you used it, you could take $25 cash out of your budget and add it to the fund. Or if you used a $10 coupon, you could take $10 cash out of the budget and add it to the fund.
- You must challenge yourself. Try to spend less than you spend now. If you don’t go out to eat at all, challenge yourself to try new meals this month. As long as you are challenging yourself when it comes to your family’s eating habits, you can participate!
- You are allowed 1 freebie meal that you don’t have to count or report back to us about. Please report on everything else though so we can encourage and support one another!
- Free meals do not count against you. This is a challenge to spend less money going out to eat than you usually spend. If someone else is paying for the meal or you have a coupon to make it free, great!
- At the end of the month, you will need to comment on the very last post to be entered to win. I will choose the winner from that post and verify that you have commented on at least 5 days worth of posts. The comments must of occurred on 5 DIFFERENT days. Meaning if on the 30th, you commented on that post and then went back and commented on 4 days worth of posts, you would be disqualified. You must comment on 5 different posts on 5 different days.
Minniemizing for the Mouse
- I need to get fit for the mouse. My feet hurt so bad from all that walking and for once I’d love to experience Disney without being in pain. We are going in November, so I am hoping to make a big lifestyle change between now and then. I can’t do it alone and so I need the help from all of you!
- Check in each day and report on your progress. The goal is to exercise for at least 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week. For those of us going to Disney, walking for those 20 minutes is a great way to not only get in shape, but prepare our feet.
- It really doesn’t matter what you do as long as you are moving!
- At the end of the month, you will need to comment on the very last post to be entered to win. I will choose the winner from that post and verify that you have commented on at least 5 days worth of posts. The comments must of occurred on 5 DIFFERENT days. Meaning if on the 30th, you commented on that post and then went back and commented on 4 days worth of posts, you would be disqualified. You must comment on 5 different posts on 5 different days.
Budget Challenge
- Everyone needs a budget. Budgets will help you to be in control of your money without your money being in control of you. You dictate where your money goes and how it is spent.
- Don’t have a budget? I’ve written a few articles that should help you set one… How to Set a Budget and How to Set a Grocery Budget. You’ll find even more helpful advice under Getting Started Couponing and Your Fund.
- Each day, check in and let us know how much you spent the day before and if you stayed under budget or not. We aren’t here to critique your budget (unless you ask!), but we are here to support you in staying on track!
- Also feel free to include bargain brags. Did you find a great deal or do something creative to save money, be sure to share it with all of us!
- At the end of the month, you will need to comment on the very last post to be entered to win. I will choose the winner from that post and verify that you have commented on at least 5 days worth of posts. The comments must of occurred on 5 DIFFERENT days. Meaning if on the 30th, you commented on that post and then went back and commented on 4 days worth of posts, you would be disqualified. You must comment on 5 different posts on 5 different days.
Decluttering Challenge
- It doesn’t take long for the stuff to start taking over your home. The kids rooms start overflowing with broken, neglected and just plain weird no idea where they came from toys. Your stockpile starts to spread from the kitchen, to the hall, to your bathtub. You start finding that the home for more and more items is the middle of your living room floor. Etc!
- It can be overwhelming to take on the task of decluttering your home, but the end rewards are so worth the effort. To make the process easy, I challenge you to find just 25 items every day to find a new home for. Get a box labeled donations, one labeled to sell, and one for trash. Go through 25 items a day and either put it in one of the 3 boxes or find a new permanent place for it.
- At the end of 30 days, you will have an organized home and you can have a yard sale to add more money to your fund!
- Be sure to post every day that you have gone through your 25 items and found a new home for them. Don’t just put them back where they don’t belong.
- At the end of the month, you will need to comment on the very last post to be entered to win. I will choose the winner from that post and verify that you have commented on at least 5 days worth of posts. The comments must of occurred on 5 DIFFERENT days. Meaning if on the 30th, you commented on that post and then went back and commented on 4 days worth of posts, you would be disqualified. You must comment on 5 different posts on 5 different days.
Good luck!
{ 51 comments… read them below or add one }
No Dining Out: We were good and ate both meals in yesterday!
Budget: Spent no money :D YAY!
Declutter: I went to work hard on our guest bedroom- I have one massive donate box, a smaller yard sale box and condensed two boxes and a bag into one storage container! Woo!
Minniemize: Snacked all day :( But I did exercise!
Sounds like you are doing well :)
Decluttering: organized the canisters on my counter to add space. Also reorganized silverware drawer.
Budget: last night we had a “budget buster” evening going out for a friends birthday. We did plan on going out and knew we would be spending. We have been good about not going out to eat this week and also the grocery budget has come in under, so we felt comfortable spending what we did. Now its back to trying not to exceed our budgets.
No Dining out: We have had a few adult lunches and splurged on pizza because we really NEVER eat out so I blew my dining budget: $40.
Bill Budget: I got my tax money back so I paid a large amount of money on one of my cars. Started to purchase summer clothing for me and my kids to get ahead and also have been finding great toy deals for my gift closet. My budget goals are starting to improve slowly. I also put down $1000 on our summer vacation from my tax money. My goal is to pay off my car by summer, and start paying off my credit cards one by one. I really think by summer I’ll have a real budget.
Decluttering: We cleaned out our basement so we can finish the room.. which included 2 loads to the dump. I went through my closet, my kids closet and most junk draws. TAlk about progress. I have one bag of clothes to donate and plan to tackle the attic next.
Sounds like your budget is coming along pretty well :)
declutter: I went through my youngest daughters sock drawer this morning. Threw 14 single socks away that didn’t have a match…I am getting sick of the sock monster with one foot who steals one sock at a time in my house…hahahaha.
Minnimize: I woke up early to FINALLY go excersize. Hubby was home with the girls. Walked 30 minutes, then realized that the hot tub was calling my name.
Dinning out: NOT TODAY. We are home for today and tomorrow, before we go back for more Dr.s appointments at Mayo for the rest of the week (possibly longer!) My month of March will be eating out too often, not because we choose to, but because we have to.
Budget: Hubby and I are going over our final budget for the month of Feb. tomorrow night. Our regular budget is well under our goal, which is great. Unfortunately, We had a big budget buster last week with having to take a last minute medical trip to Mayo for my daughter. BUT, thankfully we have an emergency medical fund to pull from AND I had been saving up coupons and gift cards to eat out on. It wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Priceline saved us a huge chunk of change for two nights hotel!
I never will understand that sock monster :)
Minniemize: Ran 3 miles
Budget: had a party (I’m a consultant for Passion Parties) made my 1st months’ car payment!! Yay! Adding those $$ to Disney fund!
Declutter: nothing major today
No Dining Out: Ate out for dinner. Gotta learn to make Chinese at home!
Congratulations on your fund deposit!
Budget: Found a great deal on meat, so stockedn up… chicken for .33 a lb!!
No Dining Out: went out last night as planned, spent $50 at outback for all 5!! Used coupons and got big beer for $3.50 by buying at bar for happy hour and carrying to table!
Minnimize: family went swimming, good fun!
Declutter: started to clean out 1 basket of paperwork, found husband’s leave papers!
That is an awesome deal on chicken!
No dining out – sandwiches for lunch, making chicken and rice for dinner
Budget – still on budget for the month, no shopping today
Minniemize – ran a 5k yesterday so I am taking today off:)
No Dining Out: Had to work yesterday, so I grabbed Zaxby’s on the way home. I spent $6.
Budget: Did great yesterday grocery shopping at Publix and Winn Dixie – spent $42 total.
Decluttering: I’ve been trying to get things organized off and on this weekend, but I haven’t made a whole lot of progress.
No dining out: We went out for Chinese food for lunch yesterday, but it was the only meal we ate out the entire weekend. Yeah for us!
minniemize:down 3 pounds!
Budget: we are so on track this month. I finally got my husband on board to be more involved with finanaces. I think it has really helped him to see exactly how our money is being spent.
Declutter: cleaned out the car yesterday. Seriously, how does it get so messy, so fast?
Congratulations on your weight loss!
Decluttering challenge!! I have gone through all of the clothes closets in our house and am getting rid of clothes and shoes!!
NDO- went to Pizza Hut, spent 22.00. Husband’s basketball tourn. went longer than planned, then had to go to another basketball game (is the season almost over???). hurried, got pizza in between (though this pregnancy, i’m craving pizza hut like crazy).
Declutter- cleaned out and went through my canning cabinet (getting all of the veggies/fruits out to eat so we can make way for more in a couple of months). need to make room for the maple syrup trees we’re tapping.
Bdgt- spent 5.00 oop at cvs, got 13.00 back in ECB’s, and the 22.00 for the pizza. good week this week for budget, we’re under.
No Dining Out: We ate at IHOP for lunch today.
Declutter: I have been busy cleaning up the office and selling things on Ebay.
Budget: We went to the local Home & Garden show and found some nice ideas for home improvement, which is what we are couponing to. I spent around $30 on a flowerpot and a few bracelets from Uganda. We went to Macy’s where I found three girls dresses, normally a total of $89.95, for just $11.95!
Minimize: I started Weight Watchers and I have been doing pretty good. But, the Girl Scouts just delievered their cookies…
NDO: tried a new recipe to use up leftovers and came up with asparagus zucchini pita pizza! Family loved it, and we didn’t eat out.
Minniemize: worked out for 1/2 hour, and tried wii fit. Still haven’t lost as much as i should. maybe I should eat only 1 girl scout cookie a day.
Budget: Went shopping yesterday for basics like cheese and meat. Community Coffee was set up at Kroger, giving away a free 12 oz bag coffee grounds; got 3 (one for each adult in household).
Declutter: Shifted through all our tools, got rid of unneeded multiples. Now they are organized for the next long weekend’s ‘Honeydo’ projects.
NDO: This weekend we had my younger sister spent the night. We asked her if she would like to dine out or eat at home and she chose eating at home :) Yay for saving $$. The hubby cooked his famous homemade tortellini alfredo and garlic bread.
Minniemize: Worked out for 30 min and plan on starting P90X with my husband tomorrow. Kind of nervous.
Budget: Just got back our taxes and placed our $ in the appropriate spots savings and taking care of a few things that need to get done.
Declutter: This weekend is cleaning weekend at our house. Every day we clean and make sure everything is in its right spot, but once a month usually the first Monday/Tuesday of the month we mark it on our calendar to do a BIG clean! Re-organizing and scrubbing floors, tubs, toilets, etc. Well cleaning day is here because we slacked off last month with our boys being sick.
No Dining Out: I went out last night with friends and should have come in under budget but ended up paying extra for some friends who left early and didn’t leave enough money to cover their meals. I will try to compensate by not eating out at all this week.
Budget Challenge: Despite going over on my dining out budget, I was still under budget overall for the week and will be contributing $50.45 to my fund. Yay! :)
Decluttering: I spent a few hours today doing a MAJOR clean of my bedroom — going through and filing papers, doing an edit of my closet, and dusting and vacuuming. I also put together a box of donations for Goodwill to drop off later this week.
Minniemize: Today is World Yoga Day and the local Y had classes tonight. 2 hours worth of yoga, I feel great!
Minniemizing- don’t think I sat down all weekend til tonight. Running errands no formal exercise.
Declutter- well the cat peed on my work back pack so I had to empty sort pitch and save. Then laundered and sterilized backpack (looks new!) does that count?
No dining- grabbed Starbucks for lunch. Came out of Dhs Starbucks budget so nothing extra. Went to friends for dinner.
Budget- went a a little over groceries. went to goodwill and scored brand new lawn chairs for $3 each- score!
Disney budget- fine fine. On track.
No Dining Out- bought some food at Arby’s after baseball practice for me and the kids. Spent about $14.50.
Minnimizing- I’ve been lazy this weekend- no exercising for me. :(
NDO- Well yesterday we were out running errands and we did go to McD’s for lunch with awesome coupons we had. All together for the day we spent about $11.50 which included an Angus burger meal for DH, 2 packages of chicken bites,a smoothie and apple slices for my son(and yes he everything,but a few chicken bites all up)and a grilled chicken sandwich and smoothie for me and 3 ice cream cones so think we did pretty well. Today we brought a lunch.
Minniemize- Well thought I did pretty well and made wise food choices when we ate out. Didn’t workout the last few days though. We had our first rehearsal today for our musical that I’m directing plus trying to get things ready for my son’s party plus homeschooling so yeah something has to give. That’s my sticking point and desserts.
Declutter- Cleaned out a bookcase and threw some things away.
Budget-Ok I’ll have to admit I haven’t checked the account,but will know by tomorrow. Believe we over in gas and grocery and eating out though. Yeah not good. Had to pick up a few things for my son’s party at the dollar store. Am staying in budget with that.
Minniemize: Saturday ran 9.9 miles, my friend did 9.2. I run faster than her, so I would double back on the walking portion so I ddn’t get too far ahead. We would touch base about the route, then go our own pace. WE did the last .6 together. Sunday, I rode the exercise bike for 40 min, 11 miles. My hubby made an awesome mandarin chicken salad for dinner. (We are both trying to get in shape for the Disney trip/cruise in June)
Budget: Going well, although we had to buy new towels this weekend, so that threw us off just a bit, but we will recover by Friday.
No Dining Out: Saturday was bad, it my was niece’s Sweet 16, and she wanted to go out to the Hard Rock Cafe…$60 for a family of four (and we had 2 kids eat off the kids’ menu, and no alchohol…can’t imagine what my sister in law’s bill was…2 teenagers, plus margaritas and souvenir glasses). Sunday, I packed lunch for me and my daughter as we were doing booth sales for girl scout cookies. Hubby made a fantastic dinner, so no dining out on Sunday (but we are out of dining money for the week due to the dinner on Saturday, so we’ll be dining in for the rest of the week.
DeClutter: I’m going through the linen closet and pulling all the old towels and donating them to a bunny rescue.
On Friday: I deposited $174+ into the Disney Fund!!
Dinning out: We went to Olive Garden last night as a birthday treat for myself. It was expensive, but since we NEVER go out to eat anymore once in a blue moon is ok.
Minnimizing: I am still having a hard time with this. I am starting my diet this week, and would like to get out any walk if the weather gets nice.
Budget: Budget resets tomorrow and I am still within with $8 left over. It’s not much but better than going over!
Decluttering: Cleaned the garage out, have a box going to goodwill. =)
No Dining Out: had my son’s annual cub scout banquet on Saturday, $30 for the family
Minniemize: have a cold so haven’t felt too much like walking
Budget: managed to save $20 from the budget last week, so that’s going in the fund
No Dining: 2 cheese burger and a large fry this weekend for the babies but that is all for dinning out..
Budget Challenge: A little off track due to the fact it I had buy a computer keyboard because my wonderful son plucked all the keys off of my laptop
Decluttering:Got rid of old news papers and gave them to my Grandpa for his wood burning stove.
Minniemizing: Watched what I ate at my grandpa’s birthday party I feel like I did great
No Dining Out – Hubby was all set to go to Subway – had a craving – walked to the kitchen and I fixed dinner instead – no money spent.
Decluttering – I DID IT – I cleaned out our guest room AND got rid of 27 things to donate to charity!
Minniemizing – does it count that I was up and down the stairs more times than I can count doing laundry and moving some folks from church – I can’t work out after that! but I got plenty of exercise.
Budgeting – I went over the grocery budget but that was because they had a sale on meat (half price and went toward gas purchases) – so I spent $108 but ultimately saved $3 on gas and I froze the meat so over the next 4 months it should save me about $20 a month.
Budgeting – Staying on track and did not spend a dime today!
Decluttering – cleaned out 2 closests this wekend and got rid of a bunch of stuff
No Dining OUt – I didn’t spend any money dining out all week, we did use our free pizza from Papa Johns though
No dining out: Fail today. We were too far from home at lunch time today but we found a great little grill and had some yummy burgers and fries.
Minniemizing: Fail today. No time. I did do some work outside over the weekend.
Budgeting: Still way under budget and the end of the month is closing in.
Decluttering: No decluttering today.
Minniemizing for the Mouse- did 14 mins on the cross fit today and 20 on the bike…felt so much better after.
No dining out- made some shepherds pie from our ground beef from our cow we raised :)
Budget- paid off one quarter in my taxes..felt good about that…3 more to go!
Decluttering: No decluttering today but I did manage to get the laundry done.
Budget – I made an important step toward keeping on budget by seperating my bill money from my spending money into seperate accounts. This way I won’t accidently overspend on great coupon deals and have to skimp on my bills – plus I put all my credit cards in a drawer and won’t let myself even look at them for 6 months – that will be a real challenge!
Minnemizing – I actually got up at 5:30 and did yoga before I got ready for my day – it was a bit hard but hopefully in the days to come it will get easier
Decluttering – I pulled out 37 books that the kids don’t read anymore and set them aside for a garage sale – money to put in our fund later.
Minniemizing – I waled every day this week (4 days in a row and will do it again tomorrow – goal reached for me!) Snow is coming down now so it will be hard to motivate more than my work day of walking.
Budgeting – missed the ad about .20 extra on gas for each 6 Gortons coupons used – was on sale half price – had coupons = great savings but @ 30 gallons of gas (put into gas cans whatever doesn’t fit in the car) – that’s -$6 off my gas budget and into my Disney gas fund.
No Dining Out: No dining out today. Yay!
Budgeting: Under budget for the month. Getting ready to make a transfer to our Disney Fund!
Decluttering: No decluttering today, just normal household cleaning and laundry.
Minniemizing: No workout or walking today. Planning on some walking/hiking tomorrow.
No Dining Out: No dining out today! Was going to order pizza but my 10 year old asked for Mac&Cheese instead she just saved me $20. Thanks Kiddo.
Minniemizing for the Mouse: I am down 7lbs. I have been watching what I eat and lots of veggies!
Budget Challenge: Today I made an appointment to meet with the Disney Timeshare people to see if we can save on our Disney Vacation long term and since we are going they are giving us a $50 Visa Gift Card for coming that is going straight into the Disney Fund!! Also doing great on my budget this month we are half way through our month and I am doing great have plenty of freezer meals and more then enough meat and snack to get us through. Also Great on Daipers will not have to buy anymore this month!!!
Decluttering Challenge: I cleaned my pantry because I got my FREE Tupperware for having a party. I got rid of some old stuff combined boxes of cereal since we had like 50 of them open. Great to be able to tell where my food is.
No Dining Out- Went to subway for lunch feed family for $10 this time.
Budget-Used my free milk coupon WYB 3 breakfast items
and B2G1 Hungry Jack pancake mix coupon together and got everything for less than $2. Yay!
Minniemizing- No activity today, but it will be a new month tomorrow.
Decluttering- Got rid of my old coupons and reorganized the new ones, today.
Minniemize: On Saturday I hurt my leg doing my 9 miles, so I took it easy the next couple. I tried to run again on Tuesday, and the same pain. Today, I’m off to the pool for a non-impact workout to see if it makes a difference. I got on the scale on Monday, and down 3 lbs. I’ve been stuck since Nov with the scale not moving, so I was very happy.
DeClutter: My daughter didn’t have school on MOnday, so we went through the playrooom. We took out a huge bag of garbage, plus we donated books to the preschool and the school library, and we have a stack of toys waiting to either be tagged to sell or donated.
No Dining Out: We haven’t dined out all week, which is great. But we went out to dinner on Saturday for my niece’s sweet 16, and it was very expensive, and we are out of dining money for the week (which is part of the reason we didn’t go out at all through the week).
Budget: We are doing fine, and I think I might have leftovers from the grocery budget this week. ;-) As long as I don’t shop today, we’ll have about $15 leftover.