Meet More Bang for Your Bucks, Week #35

my husband Ben and I

Happy New Year! My name is Kelli and I blog at More Bang for Your Bucks: I write a little about spending less and saving more, and a lot more about my faith, my family, and whatever enters my mind that day! I am so honored to be Tammy's very first guest blogger of 2012!


When I first started thinking about this post- and let's be honest, Tammy had to remind me on Saturday!- I knew I wanted to write about the word "refresh" to coincide with the New Year. It has actually been a few years since I have made any New Year's resolutions (something about not even making to midnight awake took away the excitement, I guess!), and I decided this year I want to do something different. (Oh, and I did make it to midnight this year!)


Instead of having one huge goal for the whole year, each month I am going to challenge myself to either give up something for those 30ish days, or challenge myself to do something specific everyday for that month. I feel that breaking goals down into chunks will make the success of following through more promising! For example, during the month of January, my family and I will be giving up eating out, with the exception of my daughter's birthday.


So with this idea in mind, I want to give you a few ideas to think about as we start afresh this New Year, in hopes that you will find refreshment this January!

Source: google.ca via Rachel on Interest

1.) Refresh your ideas about money. Take a look around you at your possessions. Do you really need to buy a bunch of more "stuff" this year? Consider going on a "buying freeze" for a month or so and either save the money or invest into a worthy cause. For only $35 a month, you can help feed and educate a child through World Vision. This is the price of a (relatively inexpensive) pair of jeans, or seven coffees from Starbucks. Wear your old jeans a little longer, and buy a bag of Starbucks to brew at home. Our family is going to try to be much more intentional this year of thinking outside our needs and wants, and focus on those who really don't have necessities. My weakness is Hobby Lobby, can I get an amen?

Source: blogs.psychcentral.com via Ashley on Pinterest

2.) Refresh your commitment to the relationships in your life. I lost a valuable friendship in 2011 for reasons that I still don't understand, and it has made me all the more thankful for the lovely friendships that I do have. Assess your relationships. Do you have at least a few friends that you can be truly honest with, that love you unconditionally, ones that you don't have to constantly worry about the security of your friendship? If so, you are one very blessed woman. Be sure to pour into these relationships and let them know how much you love them! Don't take for granted that they know how much they mean to you.
If you don't have rich friendships such as this, I pray that you find them this year. Life is not meant to be lived alone!

Source: tinywhitedaisies.tumblr.com via Angie on Pinterest

3.) Refresh your ideas about thankfulness. Am I the only one that gets annoyed by the after-Christmas commercials? I cringe when I hear, "Didn't get what you really wanted this year? Well come spend even more money after Christmas at our sale!" I really want to take time to enjoy what I do have this year- and it's not going to be easy. There's always something better, newer, flashier that is competing for our attention. A practical application to this idea is to write thank you notes for the gifts you did receive for Christmas. That is going on my list for today!
Friends, I hope that 2012 is a wonderful year for you. Not because of what you acquire or accomplish, but because of the people that you meet, help, and love. Oh, and I'd love for you to make a visit to my blog! :)