Well, I suppose Month 8 was technically “complete” like 13 days ago seeings as how this is the 13th of September and all but hey, here it is. Ripe for your viewing pleasure.
In August, I saved $387.35 (the Spending Diet remains far harder than the Spending Fast. In my opinion I suggest going for the gold, cutting through the B.S., getting through the tough transition/getting used to it part, reaping more benefits, and getting out of debt faster by cutting off your excess spending cold-turkey and just do the Spending Fast already. The Spending Diet allows discretionary spending which for me, was easier to cut out completely while I was changing my thoughts around money. I suggest using the Spending Diet method after the Spending Fast to gradually ease back into normal spending habits at the completion of the Spending Fast but that's just what has worked for me).
Which brought my grand total of savings to $25,543.86. Which is kind of completely nuts. Remember, this money was saved by working my average paying day job as a clerk for the state, by spending on “Needs” only, by reducing the amount I spend on “Needs” even more, by creating additional income by thinking of creative ways to utilize my talents and skillz (yes, a Z- you know I had to), by selling all the junk and crap I no longer use, need and/or want, by starting the momentum of getting debt paid off, by writing about all of it to keep myself accountable, lots of other stuff that you can read about in the archives of the blog, but probably most importantly I finally learned how to tell myself “No”… and my word, that took long enough to get.
I didn't do anything magical to get out of debt that you can't do too. I'm going to write a post soon about all the reasons I hear about why people say they can't do it too and I'll tell you why they-you can. It's gonna be juicy so stay tuned.
If you're curious about the complete break-down on my savings and the respective monthly disbursements that have happened from Day 1 of the Spending Fast throughout 2010 and into 2011 through this years Spending Diet (which goes up to this very day) then you can see it all on the Total Savings page.