Suze Orman Challenges Over

I finished my 3 Suze Orman challenges.

I took one week in February and I didn't spend any money. No eating out for lunch or dinner. No random trips to the grocery store. And I wasn't tempted in that week to spend either. I estimated I saved $50-$100 by not spending for a week.

I took the month of March and I didn't spend money going out to eat. I did have a few friends treat me to a birthday meal here and there to compensate. I was tempted to eat out, especially when I was tired and didn't want to cook. But I didn't give in to temptation. I estimated that I would have saved $300-$500 by not eating out for a month. I say would have saved because I spent what I would have saved on groceries. When your home isn't stocked with food it actually takes about 2 months to realize a saving on the eating out vs cooking at home expense. And eating out is one of my largest expenses second only to travel.

I took the month of April and tried to not use any of my credit cards. This was a tough challenge and I failed. I used my credit card to pay for some future trips. On the positive, at least those trips will be paid off by the time I take them because I'm paying on them now.

The challenge is over and I estimate I saved $500-$800. I'll be honest. It doesn't FEEL like I saved that much money. But that's because I spent the money elsewhere. The extra money went in to my savings and towards paying down credit card debt. So although the money is not in my hands it was used wisely.