Great job everyone! Some 2015 highlights:
-worked my ass off at my job, got 15% raise enabling hubby to stay home with our baby and not pay for childcare, while he does side hustles and works on adding value to our home
-had our first baby, the old fashioned way! We did a home birth with awesome nurse midwives, the whole thing including pre- and post-partum care cost $2500 (would have paid our full $5000 deductible if we did a hospital birth). More importantly, had a beautiful empowering experience, drug-free (and yes it did hurt like hell but I now know I am super woman!)
-all baby gear was basically given to us as gifts! We've spent very little on her.
-needed a suit for hubby since he was getting ordained, scored a massive sale at Joseph A. Bank and got 75% off. I mention this because it was a huge win! Got a super nice suit for $200! The sales lady said she'd never seen a deal that good there.
-cut down on food wasting in our house big time, which allowed us to buy more organic. Been shopping mostly at Costco and sales recently. Making our own baby food too of course.
-lost weight without dieting or gym by being thankful for my food and not overeating, breastfeeding (the most amazing diet ever), and going on walks here and there. Baby gets great nutrition for free while using up my fat stores. A win-win!
-working on decluttering big time after reading Marie Kondo. Loving it! Selling extra stuff.
-put in garden beds
-upped my 401k contribution, and our company started doing a better match woo!
-started cutting my own hair and hubby's hair and realized I'm super good at haircuts haha! About to try my own balayage highlights soon...
-focusing more on what truly matters to us--God, family, etc.
-learned how to make delicious food for gatherings and potlucks using cheap ingredients. Bread, eggs, popcorn, etc--people love it and I don't spend much!
-also I do use a lady cup as some mentioned above, but again, breastfeeding is also amazing in that it delays getting your cycle back, so I haven't had to deal with that all year! Woo!
-working on paying off all debt as fast as possible including the house so we can just work part time things we love (our version of FIRE--we are artists)