I should be able to pick last month’s winners today.
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!
neenah says
No Dining Out – No eating out yesterday…homemade pizza for supper.
Decluttering Challenge – Not much progress Tuesday. Felt sick as soon as I got out of bed. Went to the bathroom to get a cold washcloth…passed out…hit my face on the toilet on my way down. Now I have a bruised nose, bruised left eyebrow & cheek bone. Looking for a black eye within the next few hours. But it could have been worse….could have hit my mouth & knocked a tooth out. Spent most of the day resting & holding an ice pack on my face. Hopefully back to the decluttering challenge today.
Gina says
NDO- DH brought lunch and made pasta for dinner. Sun we did go out for lunch,but had some punch cards left so just spent $3 and some change for chips and drinks to go with the sandwiches so think we did pretty well.
Minniemize- Did not workout yesterday even though I wanted to because my son’s finely constructed wood buildings were out all over the floor and there was no room for me. Ate well and only had 1 cookie and 2 apples dipped in some caramel and 1 small helping of pudding.
Declutter-Made some great progress on Sun cleaning out my clothes closet. Getting rid of one bagful of stuff and selling another bagful!
Bethany M says
We did technically dine out tonight, but for free! I won one of the Domino’s artisan pizza’s on Facebook and I made a salad to go with it. So good!
I just got done exercising for about 20 minutes during Biggest Loser.
My daughter and I went through one of her small toy drawers and took out a few things she doesn’t play with any more and added them to the Goodwill bag. I’ll have to go through another time when she’s in school so she won’t influence my decision. lol
Natalie says
No dining out: Brought my lunch today and my hubby made Mexican Mac for us tonight!
Budget: No money spent so far!
Minniemizing: Hit the Cross Body Fit machine today and some weights, but didn’t do as good eating this evening… Oh well, always tomorrow!
Decluttering: Working on getting rid of papers and coupons I don’t need. My (home) office is cluttered!!!
Renee says
No dining out…ate all meals in. Took leftovers to work for lunch.
budget…window shopped, but did not buy! Yay me! Only money spent today was gas for the car.
minnie…not too much success here…gotta work harder!
declutter…worked today so no time to declutter yet!
Margarita says
Budget- I broke down and spent $28 out of my fund for decorations and extension cords, I know that does not sound smart, but we need them for later and I was able to score a $10 cord for $1.98 and a $19.99 power strip for $5.98. The other stuff was not needed at all, but I wanted to decorate. So, I am now at approx. $134 for the month (excluding groceries). I am going to try my hardest to not go anywhere else but to work this week, that is how I feel I will maintain it until I get used to this.
Minniemizing- No exercise yet today, except for walking around the store,lol. I also have not been very good with eating, now that I have been on high protein and fiber diet, I do not want to eat, which is bad. So, I will start to plan my meals for the week and eat because I have to. My real goals like I said before is to become stronger, becoming smaller would be nice benefit, but if I do not shrink, I will be happy for the muscles!
Kristin of Couponing to Disney says
Sounds like you got a deal! :)
Tara says
NDO-I took my sons out today, so we ate out at the food court. Was only $15 for the 3 of us…not too healthy, but we had fun
Budget-I am working on making a better household budget so I can reach my financial goals, plus we are going to Disney in March!
Minniemizing-didn’t really get too much excercise today. With 2 small kids and bad weather, it makes it difficult. I am going to try to walk on my breaks at work more often!
Declutter-I went through my kids’ clothes and got rid of a bunch…next I go through my wardrobe!
Aly says
No DINING OUT: Was tempted to go to the cafeteria at work and was walking in, but then I changed my mind and thought of something I could make at home. So succeeded here for the day!
BUDGET: Doing well. I got the Staples gift card for $8 that was offered earlier today.
MINNIEMIZING: I’m on my way out the door to do this right now. Me and my beloved Stairmaster!
DECLUTTER: Too busy during the week to do this. My boss has me jumpin’ all the time, I work a lot. But I will do some decluttering this weekend.
Kristin of Couponing to Disney says
Good job on resisting dining out! :)
Kymm says
no dining- leftover chili made into chili sphagetti last night.
declutter-cleaned out my coupon binder
minniemize- omg I’m going to be huffing and puffig around Disney!
budget- we are on a wing and a prayer with our Disney Budget. i had to get super creative with funding this trip. Just need everything to work out! Monthly bill budget is on target. Of course our energy bill was $195 more than expected!
Lesley Bryant says
Declutter
Went through DVD’s and videos and got rid of half of them.
Kristin of Couponing to Disney says
Good job! :)
Lesley Bryant says
No Dining
Tacos tonight
Minniemizing
Been waking up every morning at 630 to go run even before you posted this challenge.
Lisa says
No Dining Out
We had to leave the house at 230 this morning to drop my husband off, so I stopped and picked up breakfast on the way home and spent $21.
Minniemizing
Long day, and our boys are sick. Ate well, but didn’t get my workout in. Time to get back on the ball tomorrow morning!
Angela N says
NDO – Loving this cooler weather. I backed a homemade apple pie for dessert too! Going to make baked potatoes for dinner.
Budget – Went to the grocery store to buy some sour cream for the potatoes and started falling for the in store coupons for so much off with $10 or more purchase when I really only needed a few items. I didn’t end up having at least $10 so the coupons didn’t take off anything so I ended up putting the unneeded items back. I really dislike those types of promotions because you have to spend more to save.
Declutter – Started using my action file today. It takes 21 days to change a habit I have to keep telling myself and doing it. A system only works if you use it. I sure hope I win the contest for the room makeover. I could use some more hands on experience.
ClareC says
NDO: Nothing the past couple of days. Last night for dinner we had Korean Beef Stir Fry, rice, veggies and homemade apple pie for dessert. Yum!
Minniemize: walked the dog last night. love the cooler temps!
Budget: finally tallied up grocery budget for Sept. Was $50 over. Hope to do a little better this month. So far, I’m on track for my first week.
Tammie Whitaker says
no dining out- no dining out yesterday or today
minniemize-did 30 day shred and my girls did it with me
budget-no spending planned for today
Sarah says
No dining out: We ate in last night.
Minniemizing: Got through 15 minutes of my 30 day shred, then the little one woke up…aiming for 20 today!
Budget: Haven’t spent anything yet.
Decluttering: Organized the lundry/cleaning closet. Found a lot of cleaners I forgot I had, that should help on the budget for a little while :)
Liz W. says
No Dining out- we ate all of our meals at home or at work! I didn’t spend a penny!
Budget: We didn’t spend any money so still staying on track with that!
jennifer says
NDO: after what all i got at the grocery store this week, there will be no reasons to eat out!!! we got sooo much-including soooo much fresh meat for under 100 bucks! woohoo!!!
budget: a little tighter than normal this week due to house and car being due, but we worked it out. even better reason to not eat out!!
Minnemizing: got a new bike for my birthday, so i have been riding and riding all around the neighborhood with my 2year old in her kiddie seat on back!!!! we ride at least 2 miles a day!!!!!
Kristin of Couponing to Disney says
Sounds like you did great on your shopping trip! :)
Heather H says
No dining out for us, we had some of our canned chicken with sauce and brown rice.
CJ says
No dining
I made chicken cordon bleu, Pasta with marinara and green beans last night. I was great.
Budget
I have made a new goal for my grocery shopping. I will spend $20 a week. Last week I only spent $20. so far this week I have spent $10. But that isn’t bad saying I was spending $50 a week.
Minniemize
I walked yesterday and did 200 step ups.
Julie H says
No Dining Out – We didn’t eat out for meals but I did satisfy my husband’s craving for ice cream last night. That was $7 for the two of us.
Budget – No household money spent.
Amy W says
No dining out:
No dining out yesterday! I made a meal that I learned how to make at Apples of Gold!!: No Boil Vegetable Lasagna! It was delicious! :) (It was really really huge though, so we will be eating on that for awhile lol)
Minniemizing:
Walked around and helped push my friends’ strollers at the zoo! :)
Decluttering:
3 loads of laundry and organized coupons
Budget:
Spent $15 in groceries yesterday (didn’t have time to get everything we needed for the whole week)
Lois says
Minniemize: Walked over 6 miles yesterday. I had to take my car in for repairs, which were supposed to be 3 -4 hours. I took it in early, then my 4 yr old and I walked to her preschool (she rode in the stroller mostly). Then when some of the girls at the preschool wanted to walk I joined them since I had no where to go (no car). Then when preschool was over, we walked back to the mechanic.
Budget: Let’s not talk about that one. The car repairs were $625. I knew it was coming and put away money for 3 months, and still came up $160 short. Oh well…$160 short is much better than $600 short.
DeClutter: Didn’t get any done since I wasn’t home all morning, but I did get all my coupons cut out for the last 2 weeks. I packed them up in a backpack with some scissors and clipped at the preschool.
Dining OUt: We had to do a Costco run, so we had dinner at the food court there. Not the best health wise, but it was only $10 for the whole family. LOL
Kristin of Couponing to Disney says
$160 short is MUCH better than $600 short!