Introduction

Hi and Welcome to Challenge TBD.

Our goal here is to support and challenge each other and mostly have some fun. We are starting off this New Year with our “Deck The Savings Challenge”.  While this will be the main purpose of this blog, we hope to incorporate other ideas, thoughts and tips too. We will hopefully add some product reviews and saving ideas along the way as well.

My name is Jen and I am a stay-at-home mom of a four-year-old little boy with boundless energy.  I am currently going to school full-time online while I am making sure the house is running smoothly (well as smoothly as you can with a energetic 4-year old). I have been married for almost 8 years and I have a wonderful and supportive husband. I am now going to turn it over to my friend and co-blogger (is that a word?!),  Megan. We have been friends for about 20 years and we are currently living a few states apart.

 Hi Guys! My name is Megan and I am a  single Mom of two children, I have a 16-year old boy (how the heck did that happen?) and a 5-year old boy, who also has boundless energy, go figure!  I hope that Jen and I are able to offer two different perspectives to these Challenges!

So here’s the idea…..We are going to challenge ourselves to spend out of pocket no more than $50 for our entire Christmas budget.  To do this,  we will use all those fun little ways to save and earn extra money out there. These may include Swagbucks, Ebates, Selling items on eBay or Facebook group sites, rebates etc.  We are not promoting ANY of these sites and will only be recording our experiences and opinions. The basic idea came from this blog, Cha-Ching on a String Blog: How I only Spent $50 on Christmas. We are going to see if we can do it, using similar techniques but with our own rules and twists. This was our inspiration though. We are also going to detail some of our experiences and thoughts along the way, to enhance the experience or to have anyone interested who may want to try it too!  I learned of the blog post above from one of the blogs I follow, Money Saving Mom, who also offers deals, savings and other helpful tips.  

So we have spent November, (because let’s be honest December was just to crazy!) checking out different ways to earn “money” and checking out what works for us and what doesn’t. This will be an ongoing process throughout the year but we wanted somewhere to start.

Jen mentioned that she is a stay-at-home Mom with a 4-year old. She and her family live on one salary and pay for her to go to school. Not only that but she has a crazy big family! I lose track of her Aunts, Uncles, and cousins. This doesn't even factor in that both of her Parents have remarried and there is lots of family to buy Christmas present. Her husband is Italian (need I say more about the size of his family)!

I don't have nearly as big of a family to buy for but my Christmas budget still often feels like it is strangling me come December every year (I don't know why it seems like such a surprise every year even though it comes around the same time each year). Between shopping for my small family, running Holiday parties, and planning Christmas dinner, my budget is always stretched thin.

To make it interesting I am also going to add in another mini challenge for the next 9 weeks. My younger son, my Mom, and I are headed to Chile in just over two months. We are doing this so my son can meet his family from his Father's side. His Dad is paying for a lot of the expenses but I am still trying to come up with (what feels like) insane amounts of money. Jen and I have agreed for the next 9 weeks I can use my budget towards the trip.

We hope you will join us on this adventure for the next year (don't worry we are already cooking up challenges for the coming years...you aren't getting rid of us after only a year :)). We love comments and suggestions. Please join in with us for all the fun!