Tall Order.

(graphic via Vintage Moth)

One of the first declarations of intent I made when I was fleshing out my big transformational idea (see post from earlier today) was a financial commitment, a fairly large one considering I'm starting from scratch, toward a project that is important to my family. The details of the project will become apparent in the not too distant future, there will be posts about it, I'm certain, but the ways and means aspect is what I'm focusing on for now.

Welcome to The $100/day Challenge.

Yep, you heard it here, I've put it in writing: By reducing expenses and increasing income, I'm committing to making $36,000 available for our family project. That seems ridiculous, except that I've already taken the chainsaw to some expenses, the scalpel to others, and guess what? There is much excess and waste in a home that thinks of itself as frugal. There are also lots of distractions and frivolous endeavors that are eating up time that would be better spent on income generating efforts. It's a 360 day project, it's not a lifetime, but it will change things considerably for the better, for a long time to come. A good return on investment.

(sidenote: I am intentionally avoiding using the word sacrifice where this project is concerned. While some things will be scaled back, edited, or even done without, there is nothing sacrificial, in the real sense, about what we're doing, and I take particular issue with conflating suffering with canceling cable. /judge-y rant)

So, a few disclaimers: you do not want to take your financial advice from me. You do not want to be like me. You do not want to find yourself trying to "catch up" on life at 44 years old and wondering what the hell happened to 28. Also, there are some expenses that we're whittling away at that will make you wonder things like "are you crazy, who pays for that?", and "I don't spend money on XYZ, so that doesn't apply", etc, etc. You're right, you're not me, and I'm not you. But in the little circle of friends who still communicate with me through this ether-portal, I'm not only intending to share our experience, but to learn from others. This exercise is intended to solicit input, not merely dispense advice. I am asking for your help.

So, all that rambling off my chest, here's my first several days worth of savings:

#1: Consider home schooling rather than private school.

I know, I know, glaringly obvious, but if significant financial gain is of immediate concern, and you're investing in your children's education by way of tuition, it can be a quick and fruitful way to draw down an ongoing expense. It was for us - we decided this earlier this year, as clearly regular school would have already started by now. I'll be honest - my kids weren't too happy about it, we'd started the enrollment process and after a couple of years of home school my girls were excited to try something new. My son, who attended the school last year, was particularly perturbed. But you know what, they got over it, and we're doing fine with school at home. It's one year, a school year for that matter, which is really only 180 days. It is more academically rigorous than even the private school we were considering, and we get to do some other things, besides, not being attached to a schedule (more to come as this pertains to Project 360 - as I said in the initial post, this is a lot of loose threads coming together).

I'm a committed home school advocate, and cannot see myself returning my children to public school except under the most dire of circumstances, so admittedly we're talking perspective, here. There are also families, obviously, for whom school at home cannot or will not be, period. This is not intended to be divisive, only a suggestion for exploring options, considering alternatives, in light of the big picture.

I based our savings on what we spent on my son's tuition and school related expenses from last school year, less our home school expenses (materials only, I don't make them wear uniforms), and here's how it played out:

Tuition, fees, and uniforms: $3950.00
books and materials for home school: - 1200.00
savings realized 2750.00

So, in one not so simple but worthwhile decision, we've saved nearly a months worth of $100/day. It is probably more than that in reality, as it's not likely I'll spend $1200 on school related expenses, and I only included fixed expenses in the tuition and fees - there are also fundraisers, teacher gifts, field trips, etc, that boost the actual expense of school considerably. Additionally, the home school outlay is for three children, not just one.

And that's our start, and a big push of momentum out of the gate is helpful for motivational purposes. Our take away on this one? Everything is negotiable if you're willing to use your imagination.

tally, day one $2750.00. I'll take it.