The Haven of Home: Debt Reduction Challenge

May 8, 2010

May's Debt Reduction Challenge

This month's category of choice is Utilities. Ironically, I'm sitting in the dark with a hurricane lamp to provide light while I'm typing this. The entire street went dark about 10 minutes ago, perhaps to provide inspiration!

Isn't it amazing how much we've come to rely on electricity? That convenience has not been around for all that long, but it has permeated every area of living for us.

THE CHALLENGE:

For this month, designate TWO days during which electricity will be minimized. From 8am to 8pm, unplug EVERYTHING that is not necessary. (I will leave the refrigeration along--obviously--and won't bother with the hot water heater as savings there would only be if I turned it off for an extended period of time.)

That would mean:

No lights.
No hot food. (Prepare cold food the day before.)
No computer and other electronics. (Now I've gone to meddling.)
Unplug all "phantom power" cords. (If it's plugged in, unplug it. Even when things are off on a unit, they draw power from the outlet.)

There are two ways to determine your savings. One would be to compare last month's bill to this month's bill. The difference could be calculated according to the wattage price.

You could also go out and write down the meter numbers at the beginning and ending of the day before and then the beginning and ending of the day of the challenge. Compare the two and use the difference to figure the savings.

I mentioned I would also provide a lighter version of the challenge:

Lite Version:

Choose two days during which you will unplug everything that is unnecessary for three HOURS, either in a row or throughout the day. Calculate the savings as above.

I've decided to turn off all unnecessary electricity on May 12 and May 17.

I normally wash a load of laundry on each of those days. I figured out my costs and came to 34 cents per load which INCLUDES the water. I think I'll go ahead and do the laundry!

May 7, 2010

Would you like to be challenged?

The last two weeks have been busy with a capital "B." We started out getting ready for our giant yard sale. Then we had the yard sale. Then we had a delightful family come and visit (waves to FarmMom). We had a fantastic time visiting and celebrating Cinco de Mayo. Now it's time to get back to the "routine" of life.

The yard sale was pretty successful. We didn't make as much as last year because most of the furniture didn't go and I was pretty much loading people up with stuff for cheap prices just to get it out of the house! The money will be, of course, put on The Debt.

That got me thinking about other places to find some money. I can't have a yard sale every month (HEAVEN FORBID!!), but I began to put together a Debt Reduction Challenge for myself. I'm going to post my ideas below and I invite you to join me in this challenge.

(Remember this oldy to the left? I actually used one of this at an office I worked at in 1981!)

My Debt Reduction Challenge is this: Each month for a year I've chosen a budget category as a focus for reduction. The money that is saved from that month will go toward reducing the debt. It may not seem like much, but it's almost "free money" because we would normally have spent it. (Two of the categories will be repeated.)

I decided to provide a "Lite" and an "Extreme" version for each month. Something is better than nothing, and it DOES add up.

If you'd like to participate, here's how I would like you to "sign up."

Notify me of your intention to participate in the comments at the bottom of this post.
If you have a blog, do a post about your commitment and link back to this post so that others can join, if they wish.
Report back on my "Debt Reduction Challenge" post at the end of each month. I will do a separate post for each month.
Enjoy finding even more ways to free yourself from the bondage of debt!

Here are the categories I've chosen to find those extra bucks. I will do a post for each one to give more details: