31 Day Challenge?

[Not_Yet_Prepped]

With part of the "Doing Something" theme that 1Admin is RIGHTFULLY pushing:
One of things my family is doing is starting to focus more on... hmm how do put this "its not so much saving money but more about not spending money unduly." We are pretty typical US suburban dwellers. My family eats out alot so I have challenged my family not to eat out at all for the next 31 days. We just finished a 15 days version of it and it worked... Now I know some of you out there are like "what, that is not hard"... Well for my family it is pretty hard, a week no problem but a full month it is hard to resist that convenience of the numerous great eateries within only a few miles of here.

By not eating out we have more money for other preps... Mainly getting out of all debt is our current primary focus.


So what is your 31 day (month of May) challenge?

[wwdnet]

I will need to think about that one but I like the idea oof cutting down on expenses.

• I could copy you and stop trying to singlehandedly support the economy - cook more/drive-by less! (okay, just put homemade dinner in the oven)
• I drive a great-mph hybrid, so driving less will not save my bank account...maybe I will wash my own car instead of taking it to the nice inside/outside cleanup shop every week.
• I want a new carry toy but maybe I will put that off until the prices smooth out.
• With both of us working long (and not the same) hours, coordinating meals is not easy. I will experiment with extra cooking this weekend and packing leftovers for lunches instead of microwaveable frozen (easy) stuff;)
• Oh yeah, we gave up smoking cigarettes for e-cigs with an eventual quit in mind, so that will pad my budget nicely and have a lot of other benefits!

[xdpatriot]

So what is your 31 day (month of May) challenge?[/QUOTE]


At least 6 miles a day on the bike and/or some type of cardio.

[Not_Yet_Prepped]

we gave up smoking cigarettes for e-cigs with an eventual quit in mind

Congrats...

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At least 6 miles a day on the bike and/or some type of cardio.

Road or Trail?
Awesome... Great for fun, great workout and great transportation... I have not been on my bikes for almost a year now, had a bad broken ankle (more like an exploded ankle). But I am hoping this summer to put down some miles...

[xdpatriot]

Road or Trail?
Awesome... Great for fun, great workout and great transportation... I have not been on my bikes for almost a year now, had a bad broken ankle (more like an exploded ankle). But I am hoping this summer to put down some miles...[/QUOTE]

Road I guess, if dirt roads count

[tarheelsman71]

Learn something new each day, and use it. For example, Spent the evening learning how to hotwire atv's, motorcycles, along with trucks and cars. While this could be seen as an important task for after the ****ake hits the fan, it is actually pertinent for me tomorrow. Seems the security system on my Truck decided to fubar my ignition cylinder. Keys wont move. While you can mess up some electrical stuff in your car if you hotwire it wrong...it was an awesome to find out that almost all motorcycles can be hotwired in about 2 minutes if you take your time, with only a 3 inch piece of copper wire. Wow. ATV's work the same way. Cars are a lot more difficult, and with the newer models a lot of anti-theft technology makes it difficult. Since my 2005 chevy truck has manual windows (My kids still dont know how they work ;) ) am/fm radio, and nothing else I even care about electronically, I look forward to seeing if I can make it happen. Should be interesting. At some point I will have to replace the ignition cylinder, but for now...training.

[WiseOwl]

My challenge is more like a 90 day challenge.
My wife and I are closing on our first home together Friday.

Over the next 90 days from move in, I am going to get it ready for food production, defense, purty yard and landscape, build more onto the deck, learn the art of keeping the correct chemicals in a pool, meet my new neighbors, get an acre cleared and cleaned, get the inside redone to Mrs WO's specs, and finally find some .22LR ammo.

I will also cook mucho meat on the grill and set my non backpacking hammock up so I can lay in it and read more on my Kindle enjoying fresh air (when I catch a break).

[Not_Yet_Prepped]

Road I guess, if dirt roads count

I assume then a "mountain" bike... 6 miles on a mountain bike is decent workout.

This ride was mostly on "access" roads... The middle couple of miles where I was attempting to jump over and over was on a trail... I like bikes!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj-8bo0FCmk&lc=wTRVrGAtj8rzMW4ocL-FQe9CgnKImZVY5V3skYb92A0

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My wife and I are closing on our first home together Friday.

Congrats

[creman]

it's been about a year on the journey to a healthier me. Wife and I decided to get rid of TV so we don't have sat. anymore, we took those payments and bought some exercise equipment once we had enough saved up. Much healthier lifestyle for us as well as not letting the filth of TV in the house. Now we found out the wife is pregnant and it's even more motivation for me to get healthier.

[Not_Yet_Prepped]

Now we found out the wife is pregnant and it's even more motivation for me to get healthier.

Awesome... Congrats...

When my wife got pregnant it motivated me to get off my @$$ ... I want to be an "Active" father and better father & husband (it is a daily challenge). So what is your challenge for yourself for the next 31 Days?

Do you want some suggestions, these are some of the small one month challenges I have done:

A Healthier you:

Walk 3 miles everyday (Rain or Shine)?
Do 20 Pushups 2x a day everyday?
No Sweets for the next 31 days?

Healthier You by way of a happier wife:
Rub your wifes feet everyday?
Bring her Tea every morning?
Do a "little" something for her everyday (leave a note, bring her some chocolate, pick fresh flowers)

[rockriver]

we have retired..
you've heard the phrase.. "we are on a fixed income and so we can't......"
well that's us..
learning about the garden, and putting hoe in the ground.

inflation and increased cost of goods, food, utilities, fuel will eat our lunch..
so
we are shopping more careful than ever, but shopping.
it's clear prices of what we need are going up.
so we are spending now, to save later.
clothes, fuel, food. buying now, is buying it on sale.
jrh had sleeping bag sale... time to get one.
spending for fertilizer, seed, fuel, tiller, tractor, fruit trees to provide food for later.

it is time to save.. but time to be spending too.
..
rr

[Not_Yet_Prepped]

it is time to save.. but time to be spending too.

Yep! We were (still are) spending money on things we did not need (like eating out) and were "saving" money by not buying things like additional XYZ... But I realized its not about saving money its about spending wisely.

Kind of like buying "futures" buy now or pay more later...

[creman]

Awesome... Congrats...

When my wife got pregnant it motivated me to get off my @$$ ... I want to be an "Active" father and better father & husband (it is a daily challenge). So what is your challenge for yourself for the next 31 Days?

Do you want some suggestions, these are some of the small one month challenges I have done:

A Healthier you:

Walk 3 miles everyday (Rain or Shine)?
Do 20 Pushups 2x a day everyday?
No Sweets for the next 31 days?

Healthier You by way of a happier wife:
Rub your wifes feet everyday?
Bring her Tea every morning?
Do a "little" something for her everyday (leave a note, bring her some chocolate, pick fresh flowers)

HAHA, the wife gets plenty of petting. She's spoiled and I like it that way :).

I'm currently running 1.5 miles and then walking half a mile cooldown each day. Working on bringing the time down instead of distance right now, but eventually want to work up to a 5K. Taking my time though and actually enjoying it unlike when I would just try to push myself all the time. It's become a fun thing to do instead of a "I have to beat my time!"

I've changed my state of mind over the past year. I don't have a "31 day" regement because even if I make the 31 days, once they are gone I find it hard to continue the habbit. The wife and I have just been making life changes slowly and it's really been working well for us. Running, I don't drink but 1 coke a week now (this could go to a month I suppose), I practice shooting at least once a month now (which I'm about to hit the min. of my ammo stockpile and will need to slow this down), I have picked up more chores since the wife is pregnant.

Things I would like to improve on are doing the dishes more, continue to improve my cardio, better friendships. I have maybe 5 real friends, lots of "friends" but not any I would trust with my life, and that is something I need to better. It's hard for me because most people I meet are through the church, and I end up taking a shepherding type role instead of a true friendship. I know it's part of the life for a pastor, but it is a challenge none the less. I also need to work on my food stores. I went through some things yesterday and realized that it wasn't as complete as I had thought due to damaged food/dates/bugs. Also need to store some different items for the baby now.

Not really a 31 day challenge, but a priority list for me.
1: God's work (realize I did not say ministry here, there is a difference). Continue to put God as my priority and do whatever I need to. This may include any of the other priorities
2: wife/baby. Make sure they know they are loved, emotionally taken care of, and provided for. May include other priorities below
3: foodstores. I need to get back on top of this and make sure it's ready. I think 31 days will be a good time frame for this.
4: friendship. Make at least 1 real friend in 31 days.