The $250 Challenge

Tomorrow is the start of something new for my little family.

Hm. That was a little more punny than I intended.... Bummer.

But really. Tomorrow Hubster and I are embarking on a financial challenge to get our financial heads on straight and get a little more cash in our savings accounts. Here's the scoop:

We are allotted $250 cash for the month of January to spend on all incidentals and non-planned monthly expenses. You read that right. Our family of 4 will spend a mere $250 on diapers, wipes, food, gas, toiletries, eating out, haircuts, and everything else that is not a regularly scheduled monthly bill.

There are a few outside rules:

• Medical expenses: We have a medical flex account that covers doctor visits, prescriptions, dentists etc. We will use that if there is need. If it is not a flex-eligible expense, it comes out of the $250. 
• If I get a full time job during the month of January (it could happen), and there are NECESSARY expenses that come with it, those will be excluded from the $250. 
• Prepaid expenses will not be included. For example, Hubster has a massage on Monday we bought it with a Living Social deal like 4 months ago, so it doesn't count against the $250. The tip does. (o.0)
• There will be no purchasing items with Christmas money until February. Gift cards are OK as they are under the "Prepaid Items" clause. For the record we don't have any gift cards...
• All moneys not used for monthly bills will be directly funneled into our lowest credit card balance. After that has been paid off the rest will go directly into savings. 

I'm a little nervous about this. But more than that I'm excited. I'm curious to see what we will miss, but I'm more interested in what we don't miss.

So here we go!