Grow Your Fund is a daily post that gives you a chance to win prizes 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.
Click below for even more details on each challenge…
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!
Nancy says
No Dining Out–still none for us this month!
Budget–30 days of nothing for us this month, only buying groceries and gas.
Tammy S says
Minniemize-ran 14 miles.
No dining out-spent $8 getting pizza and breadsticks for the kiddos.
Melissa says
No dining out- We went out on Sunday evening but not since.
Minniemizing- I haven’t done so well the last few days but will be exercising in just a bit.
Declutter- I went through my sons’ closets and found some more items to be donated. We’ll be heading to Goodwill this morning.
Gina says
NDO- We caved and ate at Culver’s yesterday as it was a pouring down rain kind of day we couldn’t do a picnic and we got out late from church as my husband had some ministry work he had to attend to so Culver’s it was.
Minniemize. Cheeseburger,fries,and root beer for lunch. No working out. Yup that’s how it went.
Declutter- Working on decluttering the dining room table that always gets messy and finding a definite spot for everything. Need help.
Cathie says
I was so busy yesterday that I cannot recall if I commented so I’ll post for both today and yesterday:
No Dining Out: none (and my husband wanted to yesterday – but I talked him out of it!)
Minniemize: worked in yard all day yesterday, walked tonight for 30 minutes
Declutter: declutter the flower beds yesterday, preparing for fall. rounded up all the trash. found a few more clothing items to donate.
Renee says
no dining out…ate at home today.
declutter…house is free of clutter at last! Next day off, I get to tackle the garage sale pile.
budget…no money spent today…can’t spend a penny for the rest of the week! Printed off the FREE disney book for my daughter tonight. Have my free walgreens collage to pick up when I’m needing a little pick-me-up!
minnie…walked while I waited on the school bus to come this afternoon. Not so well on the eating, but didn’t totally blow it either!
Melanie says
Minniemize – completed my workout today!
No dining out – no eating out for us.
Budget – didn’t spend any money today.
Declutter – I’m tossing stuff, and DH is digging it out of the garage sale pile. Grrr.
Kymm says
no dining- this weekend I made some dinners ahead. We have been sick with an upper respiratory/ viral mix and have had NO energy. I was able to eek out a little energy and make curried acorn squash soup (dinner last night with a salad and dinner tuesday with blts) and individual lasagnas that will be dinner tonight.
budget-ha. with the unexpected dr visits- we have now spent $90 (after insurance) on antibiotics, cough syrup etc…
minniemize- Disney is going to be kicking my butt in one month if I don’t get it in gear. With being sick- I barely have the energy to get out of bed and go to work.
declutter- have been SLOWLY working on removing summer accents and replacing with Halloween decor. I’m really behind this year!
Julie H says
No Dining Out – We ate in for meals yesterday but I did get my hubby a malt for getting everything done on his “honey do” list. But since we usually eat out on the weekends and we didn’t this week, I’m okay with that. (-:
Budget – Budget’s looking really good this month. I’m going to have almost half my monthly household budget left so I can do some stockpiling on food, diapers, and other stuff so I don’t have to go shopping for a while once baby comes.
Declutter – Did a massive clean out of our pass-thru area that just becomes a junk magnet. Lots of mail, lots of papers, lots of junk. But now it’s all clean again
Heather H says
No dining out for us!
jennifer says
NDO: not tonight!! not leaving the house when its all rainy and stormy-even tho its been this was for a week straight!
Budget:working on re-doing the budget…im not quite happy with it!
minnemizing-been a little slacking since its raining and i cant get out and run around with my daughter-so i have to settle for the wii fit. it gets the job done, i just want some darn sun with my workout!!!
Jamie H. says
Minniemizing: I haven’t updated anything over the weekend because Friday is my “weigh-in day” and I weighed and gained a pound after working hard on the 30-day shred video and trying to control my eating. So, I didn’t work out all weekend. But, I did decide to try to kick my weight loss back into gear by starting the Special K challenge – and wouldn’t you know that Special K was Harris Teeter’s evic deal for Saturday! Great timing. I also did my step aerobics video earlier this morning! My legs are like jello!!!
No dining out: I will be eating my bowl of special K for dinner since I had my salad for my lunch meal. However, I do have spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove for my family’s supper tonight.
Budgeting: We have been tracking every penny spent and came in under budget for last pay period. That was money directly towards savings account. Now, it’s a new pay period – As someone said last week – “every penny has a job!” If it doesn’t pay a bill, it goes to the savings account. This challenge has been so great for our family. Thank you!!!
Decluttering: Moved several bags of unnecessary items up to the attic yesterday, so I am now rearranging items to make use of space in our house. Today is a big cleaning day for me… hopefully I’ll break a sweat and burn some more calories!
Donna B says
Decluttering Challenge—gotta clean up the living room today—we just got a new to us buffet so it has to be cleaned & figure out what is going into it—-think I might use the top shelf (inside the doors so nobody else sees the mess) for our notebooks that we use for homeschooling
Donna B says
Budget Challenge—will get my $160 to use for the next 2 weeks today—get $70 per week for groceries & $20 goes into a “gifts” envelope
Donna B says
Minniemizing for the Mouse—REALLY need to get back on the diet train!!!!
Donna B says
No Dining Out—we went out yesterday to Dickey’s—–kids eat FREE on Sundays!!!!
Tammie W says
no dining out-lunch at home and crockpot cooking for dinner
minniemize- did yoga this morning
budget- I have 2 staples rewards $4.98 each and $5 from Synovate for surveys all going into the disney fund
Kristin of Couponing to Disney says
Awesome Disney deposits! :)
Janelle says
No Dining Out – Did great yesterday, even though I really wanted to pull through a drive through because I was tired, I made spaghetti instead.
Decluttering – I started going through my closet to get rid of clothes I don’t wear while I am putting away the summer clothes. This will be a couple of days worth project.
Budget – Well after doing horrible the last couple of weeks, this past week went great!
Minnimizing – walking, walking walking!
Hillary Wallace says
No Dining Out: had lunch out after church, did use one coupon, but it was very nearly a full priced meal …eep… planning on making October a “no dining out” month entirely (other than my hubby’s b-day with his parents)
Minniemizing: nothing yesterday
Budget: Ran into Safeway for a couple bottles of soda (got a deal: 4 for $.75 each) and a package of pull-ups for the kiddo (got the store brand for just $7.99!)…and had a $10 off a purchase coupon from a shopping trip last week. Total spent: $1.47 (which I had on me in change!!) :-D
Decluttering: oh my house is so fall happy! Got my closet cleaned and all my maternity clothes put away. All my “regular” clothes are now neatly hanging in the closet where they belong, and I got rid of some of the ones that I don’t think will ever fit again (or that I never wore anyway).
ClareC says
No dining out: We went shopping for new flooring on Friday afternoon. Hubby took us to Chick-fil-a for dinner. 2 of the kids were at a playdate so just the 4 of us. We spent around $23 for dinner plus dessert. I had forgotten how much cheaper it is to feed 4 people instead of our usual 6. Yesterday, we spent a gorgeous afternoon at the beach. Took a picnic so no eating out then.
Minniemize: Walked the dog Saturday night. Yesterday, played some frisbee at the beach with the kids.
Aly says
NO EATING OUT: I love this, because it truly does save a ton of money! I did eat out yesterday, but it was my son’s birthday and my mother always pays for that, so it was FREE. Otherwise, I would not have gone out .
MINNIEMIZING: Due to the birthday celebration, I did not get to exercise yesterday, but I do really well and get to the gym at least 5 days a week. I’m going to Disneyland in Oct, and you are so right, we need to be in the best shape we can be, to have as much fun as possible!
BUDGET: I’m totally convinced on the power of having a budget and have used one for many years now. I’m still on track with my Sep budget and hope to have a little leftover at the end of this month to add to my fund.
I’m new here and am so happy that I found this website!! Thank you very much!
Michelle says
Declutter: we went through the toys this weekend and got rid of what my kids don’t play with anymore
Budget: still on track, in fact, we are under budget. Our gas and electric bills game in lower than expected, so I moved that money to our disney savings account
Minniemize: not so great this weekend. It was so busy, so I didn’t make it a priority.
No dining out: We went out for dinner on Saturday night, but it was something we had been planning on for a while
CJ says
No dining
No eating out for us this weekend. I tried a couple new recipes that were a hit(they are cheap to make also).
Minniemize
I cleaned all weekend. I did preatty good at eating the right things and portion control.
Michelle says
Could you share your recipes?
Becky says
Sorry, I’ve been away a few days! Here’s my weekend update!
Budget – Eh, we ended up eating out a couple times. But, I used the Fandango bucks I won to see Lion King 3D for free last night. Also, had bought a $25 off $35 for a restaurant, so we ate their last night, and that split the bill in half. Deals and coupons are awesome!
No Dining Out – Well, Friday we had Wendy’s $1 menu and only spent $4 something. Saturday we had lunch out and got $5 off the bill w/ an Entertainment book coupon. Then last night we had dinner out and used the Restaurant.com coupon. Otherwise we ate Bkft and Dinner in Friday, Bkft and dinner in Saturday, and Brunch in on Sunday. And so far, breakfast in this morning. :)
Minniemizing – Worst thing…haven’t been keeping up at exercising. Last day I did was Thursday night. Though, we walked around the SC State Museum for 2-3 hours on Saturday (Free b/c of the Museum Day!).
Declutter – I sorted this huge pile of papers I had and put stuff away into their folders. Tossed things I didn’t need. Felt so good to sort that pile! Definitely more than 25 pieces of paper sorted…easily 200!
We leave on Thursday for our trip. So…this week is going to be chaotic. I work at home today, tomorrow, and Wed. Then, at night I’ll have to be getting ready for the trip. Packing and laundry to do, plus a couple things to get at the store. Oh my! Disney on Friday! Oooh…can’t believe it’s the week of! Hopefully fit in an exercise and a walk this week before we go, too!
Becky says
I bought the $25 off $35 Restaurant.com coupon/discount for $2. :)
And, again…oooh leave for Trip Thursday and DISNEY on Friday!!!
Amy W says
No dining out:
Went to Ruby Tuesday after church with another couple yesterday, and as we were eating, another couple from church came up to us and asked if we wanted their extra bogo entree coupons! Yes please! :) So we got two entrees, trips to their amazing salad bar, and I have lunch for today all for $18 and that includes the $5 tip! :)
Minniemizing:
rested yesterday :)
Decluttering:
nothing in this area yesterday, but back to it today!
Budget:
spent the $18 mentioned above and our tithe
Liz W. says
Budget- Went shopping Thursday and stayed under my budget, first time in months!
No Dining Out- We are football fans, so usually we get pizza or some type of junk food. All weekend we ate in! I made chicken pot pie yesterday!
Minniemize- I am working out three time this week, and I am trying to get my significant other to walk with me :)
Disney in 53 days!
Kristin of Couponing to Disney says
53 days! How exciting!
Natalie says
No dining out: We had leftovers yesterday, and today I brought my lunch for work!
Budget: Still on budget, did my grocery shopping for the next 2-3 weeks Saturday and spent a little over $100, but I had a giftcard I used to cover most of it! So I had very little out of pocket expense, so I’m still on budget!
Minniemizing: Ready to hit the gym and get some weight off this week!
Decluttering: Got rid of more shoes this weekend! My hubby is so proud! ;)
Kristen D. says
Decluttering: Dumped some more things, including a few dog toys that were hanging on to life by a single thread.
Budget: Spent nothing yesterday!
No Dining Out: We were good yesterday and grilled out :D
Minniemize: I’m about to kick it up a notch with more exercising! :D
Denise says
No dining Out – We are eating breakfast & lunch at home, but going out to dinner for grandpa’s b-day. Grandpa will pay. Happy Birthday Grandpa!
Minniemize – Running 3 miles. My first 5K is in less than 2 weeks!
Budget – Need to go to the store to get some groceries.
Declutter – Taking my daughter to recycle her soda cans today. Glad to get them out of here and she will be happy to have a little money!
Kristin of Couponing to Disney says
Happy birthday to your Grandpa! Good luck on your 5k!
Candice says
No Dining Out: Only ate out once while visiting family over the weekend. Cooked food together for the other meals.
Budget: Only bought one grocery item over the past 3 or 4 days.
Declutter: Worked on finding stockpile homes for some items that had been accumulating in the guest bedroom.
fran says
declutter-cleaned out both bathrooms vanitys and got 3 grocery bags of trash out of the drawers Yuck
minimize-taking our daughter to her neuro visit today so i know we will be walking quite a bit in childrens hospital
no dining eatng breakfast and dinner here have a burger king coupon for lunch that wil fed the three of us for 10 bucks so gonna take the extra five we would of used and put it in the fund
buget- going to make my grocery list tomorrow
Angela N says
Declutter – An neighbor came over yesterday and bought $33 worth of small items from my garage sale pile.
No dining – Going to eat all our meals at home today.
Budget – Doing well for the end of the month.
Kristin of Couponing to Disney says
It’s always awesome when you can make money from decluttering! :)
Sandi C. says
Declutter- finally taking outgrown clothes to consignment shop today.
Min. for Mouse – walked 20 minutes this morning.
No dining out- I have a menu of homecooked meals planned for the week.
Budget- stayed on budget with grocery shopping yesterday.
Michele says
Decluttering – Got rid of at least 25 toys yesterday
Minniemizing – Helped my parents with moving yesterday. Moved and unpacked a TON of boxes!
No dining out – At at home yesterday for all meals
Budget – Still under budget for the week
Kristin of Couponing to Disney says
You’re doing great!