Sounds like an interesting experiment, Christina! Also, a challenging one.

We spend a lot of money on things we hope will save us time, many of which will only force us to work even more just to make up for the money we spent. Not the best trade.

I can't say I'm up for such a commitment, but I do keep detailed track of our expenses and revise it often.

Two things that help my family a lot are: 1.always shop with a list, only buying what's on that list and 2.never go shopping when we're hungry/grumpy.

If I'm hungry or stressed, it's so much easier to fall into the trap of buying things for comfort.

Anyways, I look forward to seeing how this experiment works out for you.