I’m taking the Family Financial Challenge #SavingMadeSimple #PGMom

I am a big fan of Gail Vaz-Oxlade and I’m excited to be taking her Family Financial Challenge this month.

What is the challenge?

Each week in February will be broken down into themes and will be followed by tips, tricks and weekly challenges based on the following topics:

• Week 1 – Cash, Cash, Cash

Challenge: Are you ready to take control of your money and your life?  Join Gail as she leads you step-by-step to financial freedom. Sign up on mymoneymychoices.com to begin the 23 step guide. By following the process you will examine your financial habits, understand where your money goes and set up financial goals. This month you guessed it – you will be spending ONLY CASH for your consumer purchases.

• Week 2 – Food

Challenge:  Now that you have the basics set up, this week is about learning where you can save money in the home! Winter is cold, dreary and makes everyone want to stay indoors. This can often lead us into bad habits such as ordering in food, which is not always as healthy and hard on the bank account.

When you spend more time cooking at home, you spend more time cleaning up at home. Cleaning products can also increase the grocery bill and there is nothing worse than spending money on products that don’t perform to your expectations. By purchasing P&G brands like Ultra Dawn, Bounty Basic and Cascade ActionPacs you are getting value products you can rely on to get the job done for less.

• Week 3 – Family

Challenge: Comparing yourself to your friends, family, co-workers or neighbors is a bad habit that can get you into trouble financially. If you’re always trying to keep up, then you’ll be willing to use credit to acquire what you need to stay ahead of the pack. Trying to keep up with other people’s lifestyles is a game that will suck you financially dry.

Finding things for the family to do can be time consuming and can be hard on the budget. Public holidays can also throw off your budget if you did not plan for that extra day off. But, family activities don’t have to cost a lot! This week we will look for ways to have fun on a buget.

• Week 4 – Clothes

Challenge: Have you ever notice how stuff piles up? How many lipsticks do you have? Pairs of shoes? Winter jackets? Fall jackets? Spring jackets? Do you see where we are going with this? We have the phenomenal ability to accumulate stuff. From kid’s clothes to sportswear, most people have more stuff than their parents did! Yet we can always buy more.

This week we challenge you to take inventory of the articles of clothing and truly appreciate what you have. To do that, you need to remember the value of the stuff you’ve already got, using it up, wearing it out and making do until you MUST buy more. Take care of your stuff!

TWITTER PARTY!

Don’t miss the exciting Twitter party happening this month. On Thursday, February 6 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. EST, money-maven Gail Vaz-Oxlade will be participating in a Chatelaine #SavingMadeSimple Twitter chat. From saving money by getting better value from your laundry detergent to re-purposing leftovers, Gail will share helpful tips and tricks that will have your money working for you. You can also ask Gail your money questions by hashtagging #SavingMadeSimple!

I hope that my readers will take part at home and together we can all become more financially savvy by the end of the month.

Disclosure: I am a P&Gmom/mamanP&G. As part of my affiliation with this group I receive products and special access to P&G events and opportunities. The opinions on this blog are my own.