It’s Going To Be A Low Spend/No Spend Year In 2024!

  

Previously I shared with you my plans for an extreme grocery budget in 2024.  I’ve come up with some more ideas of ways I want to challenge myself to keep my spending low.  Hold onto your seats my friends, this post is a lengthy one.

 

Since retiring I have had a $25 per month fuel budget for my vehicles.  Last spring I sold the car leaving me with my sweet little pickup truck.  I bought my truck brand new in 1997, it is a manual transmission with only 83,000 miles on it.  It has a king cab with a pair of jump seats in the back and is more than adequate to meet my needs at this time whether I am going to the grocery store, feed store or Home Depot.  It costs me very little to drive, insure, license and maintain.  I've decided to continue with my same $25 per month gasoline budget next year.  I do not include the motorhome in this budget as that fuel is typically part of my travel budget.

 

Now that I have invested in an E-bike I do feel that a more minimal fuel budget is realistic.  Plus, it will force me to use the E-bike more often or my regular bicycle for that matter.  I can also walk.  I have a cute little cargo trailer I built for myself and my regular bicycle several years ago so if I do have a lot of stuff to go and get I can do that with no problem.  It works really well.

 

At this time I have a $25 pocket money budget and a $25 entertainment budget too and this year I will be combining those two into one budget and reducing it by half.  I found last year that I struggled to use either one, but I do think it is important to have funds set aside for fun and leisure.  So, a single $25 per month budget will be set for fun & leisure.  Again, whatever I do not use I will rollover to the following month to be used as I see fit, no guilt or explanation necessary.

 

In 2024 I will not have a travel budget.  I’m foregoing all travel plans in 2024 as I feel the costs of traveling are just too high at this time.  There is currently no place I want to go that I am willing to shell out that kind of money.  As a single traveler I have to pay almost as much as a couple would and I really don’t wish to do that.  I’m willing to wait until prices go down or I have a friend that has the time to go with me and share the cost.

 

I will not have a clothing budget in 2024.  After a year spent purging and reassessing my closet I find that at the present time there is no piece of clothing I need to add to my wardrobe, nor do I need to replace anything.  I am blessed to have plenty.  If I want to add something new or I do end up needing to replace an item I will just have to figure out a creative way to do so with the resources I have available.

 

This next year I will have a small $100 budget for my yard and garden.  I have a lot of plans swirling around in my head for things I’d like to do beginning this spring so I’m going to have to get really creative to make it happen.  I have quite a bit of stuff in my garage at the moment so I’m hopeful I will be able to get what I have planned completed with this budget.

 

In the upcoming year I won’t need to purchase much in the way of miscellaneous items.  I am currently working my way through a boatload of craft supplies and sewing supplies that have accumulated over the years.  Last year I purged and reorganized my gift wrap organizer and restocked some bows I bought on clearance after Christmas in 2022 so I don’t really need anything.  I stocked up on office supplies prior to retiring and was blessed with a large stack of scrap copy paper from our compliance department in the equivalent of about three reams so I still have a lot to work with.  If I decide to give someone a gift I’ll have to make them one or get creative to purchase something because I will not have a budget next year for gift giving.

 

My current cell phone plan is with Tracfone which I have had for well over 20 years.  It is more than enough to meet my needs, in fact every year I end up rolling over a ton of unused minutes, texts and data.  I purchased my new Motorola smart phone last spring from Amazon ($49) and I purchase service, minutes, texts and data a year at a time, with promo codes if available.  My service renews each year in September and last year I paid $125 with a promo code for $15 OFF so my service cost me $110 for the entire year ($9.16/month).  This year I was able to purchase a year of service for only $99 with no available promo code and was offered an additional year of service for $49 at checkout.  I decided to go ahead and purchase two years of service for $148 ($6.16/month).  In 2024 I will not need to spend any money on cell phone service so my budget will be $0.

 

My internet service is a flat $25 per month after I applied and qualified for a federal internet access grant.  Currently I do not have any subscriptions services for watching television and I do not have any intention of adding those types of services in 2024.  After thinning down my technology I have only one TV and I have a Roku on it.  I am able to stream so many free programs and movies available to me that having anything in addition to that seems like overkill, not to mention a complete waste of money.  If there is a particular movie I want to see I will check with the public library and borrow it.

 

In addition, I do not have a Prime membership.  I do not have a membership to Costco, Sam’s Club or any other store for that matter.  I do not pay an annual fee on my credit card and I do not pay a monthly service fee on my checking or savings accounts.  I pay my car insurance all at one every year in November so I do not pay service fees to break it up into installment payments and I receive an additional discount on my premiums for paying it all at once.

 

I think that pretty much covers it for now.  If I think of something else I want to do I will let you know.  I’m actually excited and looking forward to all of this because I just love a really good challenge, or in this case, challenges.  Many, many possibilities lie ahead and I’m ready!