One of the biggest reasons for creating MommyLuvs2save was to create a community of moms and dads who want to help their family save money when buying essentials in order to free up money for debt repayment.  My own family has paid off over $115,500 in consumer debt including credit cards, student loan debt and 2 vehicles.  I am a teacher at heart. I want to use the skills that I have learned to help YOU ditch debt.  I want to encourage each of you in your efforts so that one day you can feel the freedom of being debt free.  I’m not quite there yet either (we still have a mortgage) so I need encouragement as well     

It can be very difficult to pay down debt. There are many temptations to spend money. We live in a culture that encourages debt and spending. In addition, expenses come up and there never seems to be any extra money for paying down debt.  I want to urge each of you to participate in a challenge.  Just leave a comment about one positive step you’ve taken for your family each day.  Did you eat in instead of going out? Did you save money at the grocery store? Did you pay extra on your credit card? Leave a comment below and we will cheer one another on every day and every step of the way.  

The challenge is to leave a comment about what YOU have done to work on getting debt free each day.  One  winner will be chosen to win a $50 Amazon gift card at the end of each month.  To participate in the challenge you must comment on at least 10 posts during the month.  

* I will also be sharing my progress from the day prior.  

My Progress:  I had a pretty good day yesterday.  I didn’t spend any money yesterday.  Breakfast and lunch were made at home, but went to a restaurant to celebrate my nephew’s 7th birthday.  My nephew is extremely special to me.  He was diagnosed with Autism a few years back, but it is amazing how much progress he has made in the past year or so.  Tonight at dinner he walked around asking everyone what kind of ice cream they wanted.  He also gave me 3 hugs and said hi to the girls.  It’s the little things.  My dad treated all of us to dinner.  It was so nice.

My mother and I surprised my older brother and his family with the news that we have decided to give them money to go to Disney World in October.  My brother works so hard and is the provider for the entire family.  He often works until 1 am and gets up in the morning to do many of the household tasks.  He is an LPN in a nursing home and it is HARD work.  He is so gentle and genuine with his patients.  He is also trying to go to school to get his RN in his spare time (and there really is no spare time).  I know there are barely 2 nickels left at the end of the month let alone enough to go to Disney. My parents and my hubby and I have set aside enough money for the airfare, hotel, park tickets, food etc… for a 4 day vacation for my bro, his wife and 3 kids.  My brother cried when we told him after he tried to say he couldn’t let us do it.  He said he didn’t think he’d ever be able to take his kids.  I can’t wait to see the pics.  It’s a few months away so they can have fun looking forward to it.

I guess I can’t say it was a NO spend day then, can I ?? Oh well, there are so many people (family and friends) that I’d love to help.  I’m such a tenderheart I knew I had to put the extra $ on the mortgage  quick before I gave it all away.  I did put this money away though because I did want to help my brother  and I’m glad we did.  I’ve told you all before that I truly feel that there’s a BIG difference between being frugal and being cheap.  You can still be generous.  As a matter of fact you can use your frugality to fund your generosity.  Ya know what I mean ??

Now it’s time to get back to our regularly scheduled programming of getting totally debt FREE…

What did you do ?   I hope you had a blessed day.  Leave a comment   You could be the May winner.  Wow !  You could make 2012 your year !