Day 42 - The first big payment

Ok, first of all, sorry this is so late. I have been mulling over how much additional principal to send along with our January mortgage payment. To be honest, I've been a little scared to send the money. I keep thinking something catastrophic will happen and we will need that money. In reality, before this experiment I would have spent it all away by now anyway. I probably could have sent a little more than I did. Hopefully I'll get over this fear in the coming months.

I am proud to announce that we have paid off 7% of our mortgage this month! While I had been hoping for more, I'd still consider that a victory. I know that I'm going to have to work a little harder to be able to meet our goal by the end of the year. I've learned some things in this last month I can apply going forward. I didn't expect that I'd do it all perfectly from the get-go. I'm hoping to be rocking it by the fourth month. Kind of like  pregnancy, but easier. Ha!

I was lucky to be able to apply some coupons at the grocery store today to food items that were already on sale, thus reaping a greater savings. I've been working on trying to look for those types of opportunities.

This month we have done an excellent job of not eating out and not buying clothes or things for the house. I was recently invited to a makeup party and declined (sadly) because that does not fit within "the rules". I have been using products that I am not in love with until they are all gone in an effort to not have to purchase a replacement.

Honestly, I can say that I have not felt like I was missing out on anything by not spending money. I have had a weekend or two where I would have loved nothing more than to go to Target and get some "retail therapy", but I did not. And guess what? I'm still here to tell you about it! I am not as well dressed, however. ;)

Thanks to everyone out there who have shared tips and tricks! Thanks for reading. Thanks for being in our corner, silently or not. :)