(Winners will be announced on Monday)
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!
MICHELE says
No eating out – Stayed at home and grilled out!
Minnimizing – Worked in the garage cleaning.
Decluttering – Helped the girls go through things to give away/sell.
Budget – No money spent today!
Susan says
Met my daughter and dad and stepmom for lunch, so ate out, but it was worth it to see them.
Mowed the yard. Had to have sweated off about 5 pounds.
Tamara says
Dining Out- No dining out for the holiday
Budget: Goal this month is to get back on budget. Fell off the wagon last month.
Minniemize: Swam alot over the weekend and working on decreasing the diet coke again
Decluttering: Really working on general areas and whenever I go into the closet to hang up something, I pull out something that I have not worn in forever to donate
Stephanie says
Dining Out – No dining out today.
Budget – No extra money spent today. Clipped and printed several coupons and put them in my ever-growing binder.
Minniemize – Went swimming with the family. We didn’t get to swim as long as we wanted to though because it started raining.
Decluttering – No decluttering today. With my husband off work for the 4th, the kids and I wanted to spend as much quality time with him as we could, so I didn’t do any cleaning.
Trish T says
No Dining Out: Let the kids have dollar menu from Sonic while we were at the outlet mall yesterday. We were there with my sister in law, and it takes an hour to get home, so they would have never made it back home without being miserable hungry.
Minniemize: My sisnlaw showed me a very low cal version of a lava cake that’s homemade, 5 minutes in the microwave and it was so delish!!!
Declutter: nope, haven’t done any of that yet this month.
Budget: Well, my daughters knee had some more issues over the weekend, so it’s back to the doc we go. And while the family has bought some groceries, they are never satisfied with the cheap and easy and my husband gives in to everything they want, so we have already spent quite a bit in groceries….. I get it, I love them to, and we only see them once or twice a year, so I don’t blame him.
Tammie W says
dining out-no dining out for us packed a lunch
minniemize-walked through the neighborhood reading my CVS, Walgreens, and P&G ad.
which lead to budget
Budget-went to CVS bought coffee, jelly, and mouthwash saved $9 and got $6 dollars back
declutter-spent day with girls no cleaning
Rebecca says
No dining out–we went to the Yankees/Mets game yesterday to celebrate my fiance’s birthday. When we arrived at the stadium to pay for parking, for some reason they told us that parking was free (it is usually $19)…I asked if they were kidding!!! (Honestly, I still don’t understand why it was free, but I wasn’t about to complain!)…so we spent that $19 on food at the stadium (normally we don’t eat when we go to games)…we did bring water bottles in with us, so that helped out…Since we were celebrating, I didn’t feel too bad about dining out!! (unfortunately the Yankees lost though….still it was a good game that went into extra innings, and the Yankees announcer always calls the 10th inning “free baseball,” which makes me smile!!!
Clare C. says
No dining out: Ate in on Saturday for my birthday, ate in yesterday, too. Today we went out for breakfast but my parents treated.
Minnemize: I’ve walked the dog 3 of the last 4 days so that’s pretty good.
Declutter: I haven’t done too much with this but hubby helped the girls rearrange their furniture some today which led them to declutter a little and find about 10 items to donate.
tawna says
No dining out- Made brunch and had friends over but we got papa murphys pizza for dinner – but only spent $12!
Minniemize- Did Wii with the kids.
Budget- Doing good!
Declutter- Cleaned like crazy before company- including my nemesis, the office/junk room! Got rid of a giant bag of toys and went through outgrown clothes to sell.
Jennifer says
No Dining Out- This is a real challenge for my family with crazy work schedules and sports we are always tempted to grab take out. We are doing well so far with no dining out! Today I cooked extra meat on the grill so I will have lunch and dinner for tomorrow. Breakfast, lunch & dinner at home 4 days in a row!!
Decluttering- Our goal this month is to find at least 5 items each everyday and put in the garage sale tote. We are having a garage sale in a few weeks (hopefully) and everything that we earn will go into our cruise fund for this fall.
Amy in Pcola says
NDO and BC….Hosted a cookout for 12 today on a very low budget. In fact with the exception of the meat, the meal cost me $.49. Thanks to the gas card deal at Publix, I was able to get my potato salad (BOGO), baked beans (BOGO), cole slaw (B dressing, G cole slaw mix free), and several other items for only $.49 over the price of the $50 gas card!
Shannan says
Minnie- Today I am using my 25 trips up and down the stairs carrying laundry, toys, etc to put them away. Also a short walk this AM.
Declutter- I am loving this challenge, its almost hard to stop at 25 things!! I know if I do I will run out of things in the house and also days to enter. Still working on my closet. Never realized I had so many shoes that I never wear anymore. I am taking them to a consignment store to Grow My Fund!
Julie says
Budget is looking better by the week! Hubby has been working all his hours plus any overtime offered. He is also riding his motorcycle to save on gas. He has been able to save us $200 over the last month to put in our jar!!
Decluttering- we are working on getting the kids new clothes. First we are emptying their closets for a yard sale/goodwill/trash pile. Their new clothes will be bought from what we make and using coupons at the outlet mall!
Minniemize- swam 2 hours yesterday. Really enjoyed running on several trails as well. Sadly, I am 213 now…my weight is increasing not decreasing…but gonna stick with it…
No dining out…eat on the boat for lunch and dinner. made breakfast at home as well.
Ari says
Minniemize me: Today’s my day off from jogging, but I volunteer at a local wildlife center, and today I was up and down, and all over the place, getting food and cleaning cages for four hours. Definitely got a workout this morning!
Lisa says
No Dining Out
No dining out for us today. Leftover black bean soup for lunch and burgers, vinegar slaw and corn on the cob for dinner.
Minniemizing
Beginning Week 7 of the Insanity program. Only 2 more weeks to go after this!
Angela N says
Budget – We are doing really well. Didn’t earn quite as much interest this past month with rates going down. Monthly bills ended up being about $150 less than last month.
No dining – Used the BOGO coupons for KFC, brought food for campout and picked up some cold drinks while traveling in 100 degree weather with no air conditioning and two small children but, kept it all under $15 on the dining out part.
Declutter – With a 1 year old just starting to walk, I’m pretty confined to the camper but, managed to declutter some things. Removed a spice rack we never use, a toaster oven rack never used, found two extra blankets to give to my stepfather for his new camper and various other useless items removed.
Tiffany says
No dining out-Ran a bunch of errands today and was very tempted to just grab lunch and keep going but instead ran home and made a sandwich!
Budget- This is always a challenge for me i am a big impulse buyer but with our upcoming trip I must save so I did my grocery shopping today and stuck to my list and my budget!
heather h says
No dining out for us!
Julie H says
No Dining Out – we ate in for breakfast and lunch and then ended up going out with a friend for dinner.
Budget – We did go grocery shopping and I input it all into the spreadsheet.
Decluttering – Still doing some decluttering from Friday’s mega-declutter.
Katie says
Dining out: We went out to eat last night b/c my daughter was at a sleep over, so it was a nice treat. We really tried to go frugal, but it was just not meant to be. The first restaurant we tried w/ a restaurant.com certificate no longer took those certificates. Then we did another restaurant.com certificate and the restaurant wasn’t open on Sundays (what restaurant isn’t open on Sundays?!). Then we went to a restaurant that we had a free meal certificate at. They were closed until the 5th! It got ridiculous! So we finally settled on a sports bar/restaurant. It was fine. We spent $34 – so still under our $50 budget for the month… but there is a lot of month left!!!
Minniemize – I did not do well yesterday at all. Candy, fried food, wine… not pretty!
Budget – we are doing well with our budget for the month. We actually had a really nice talk last night about our financial goals and found some goals that we were really passionate about so that we would really have some passion behind staying on budget!
Decluttering – I’ll be tackling my dresser today. Also, we are going to be putting our house on the market soon, so we are constantly looking for ways to declutter and make our rooms look larger!
bonnagirl says
No dining out – both my hubby and I are off today so instead of heading to Cracker Barrell, I made biscuits at home this morning (thank you Pillsbury) and later today we are going to a friends for a cook-out. I am bringing a few dishes to share.
Minniemize me: worked out this morning with the Wii for 40 minutes. Now if I can control my self at the cook out later, I’ll be doing good. Had a hard time last night snacking – I just kept wondering back into the kitchen to snack.
Declutter: As I was making things for the cookout today, I looked thru the kitchen and found three different spatulas, extra mixing spoons, miscellaneous utensils and other bowls that I don’t utilize. They went into my donation box.
Brigitte says
no dining out: ate lunch at home but my mom treated me to pizza so i didn’t pay anything
minniemize: walked around meijer for a while but i have a hurt foot and can’t be on it too long :/
budget: not on budget AT ALL!!
declutter: listed some items on ebay yesterday and one already sold!!
Tonya says
No dining out: We had Veggie Ranch Wraps, cantaloupe & cracker crisps.
Minniemize me: Green tea, water, portion control.
Farrah says
No Dining Out- We have not eaten outside of our home at all this month, granted it is only the 4th. :) We are spending time with family and eating at their houses. I haven’t even had to go to the grocery store yet. I am trying to get better at using the food that is already in the house.
Budget- I have always been very good with my money, I am borderline cheap, but I am recently separated from my husband so I have become more aware of my money situation. I have two little girls, 1 and 3, and I am a stay at home Mom. I am currently able to live on child support, but this challenge will really make me take another look at what I spend.
Minniemizing- I have just joined a gym that has free childcare with a family membership! Now that it is just me, I can not depend on someone to watch the girls so that I can have some exercise time. I am paying a little more than what I wanted, but my mental and physical health is worth it. I worked out for an hour on Saturday and I felt like a million bucks.
Sharon Howard says
No Dining Out: Sandwiches for lunch and INCREDIBLE homemade Mexican food at a friends house for dinner…..Better than any restaurant we’ve ever been to – and we’re from San Antonio!
Minniemize: Friend has a pool so we were in it for a couple hours….better than sitting on a couch watching TV!
Decluttering: Invitation to friend’s was a surprise so we did no cleaning of ANY sort!
Carol says
Decluttering – cleaned out all the expired food yesterday and labeled my stockpile so this won’t happen again. Realized that some of my pasta has a 3-year shelf life – who knew? Pantry looks great and family is happy as I had to bake a few slightly expired items. Can you say Brownies!
Also worked on my closet. I have two bags full and still have not done shoes, purses and sweaters.
Kristin says
No Dining Out: Had leftovers for lunch, and had grilled chicken salads for dinner. They were really good and were nice and light since it has been SO HOT.
Renee says
Decided yesterday to take a “vacation day” so we slipped away to Branson for the night.
Budget…the money we spent yesterday and today doesn’t count…it’s vacation! We are avoiding the outlet malls today, though, because we really don’t need anything and we would just be spending money that we don’t need to.
no dining out…eating 3 meals out this weekend….but did get a hotel with continental breakfast and will be home tonight in time to cook out.
minniemizing…swam and played mini golf last night. Does that count? Also walked alot yesterday. Didn’t sit down when I had the opportunity to hopefully burn a few more calories.
Decluttering…nothing…did straighten up the house before we left yesterday, though. We won’t be coming home to a mess tonight!
Elyse says
Dining Out – Went to a family cookout yesterday and we all brought to share. I also met a friend for coffee in the morning at Caribou. Spent a little over $2 on a plain ice coffee. I was hoping to find something under $2, but no luck.
Budget – I have been visiting in Ohio for the holiday weekend and haven’t spend anything except the Caribou coffee. On my way home today and will probably get gas.
Minniemize – Played a couple rounds of volleyball with the family yesterday. We needed it with all the food we ate…
Decluttering – Nothing this weekend except maybe putting any wedding things in order while I was here.