Saving $$$ in 2014

So a while back I read a blog about a family of 4 that decided for a whole year they were not going to buy anything new.  Guess how much money they saved in that year?  $10,000!! So the Juhl's have jumped on board.  We have challenged our family to not buy anything new in 2014 and see how much money we can save and put towards becoming debt free.  There are some "rules" that we have set up for our family to help make it a little easier.  You can buy something if it was homemade/constructed, you can buy new supplies if you are going to hand make/construct anything, certain house project items and if Jeff or I need some specific work clothes. 

I had my first "buying" issue on January first LOL, the first day of our challenge.  I was taking down our Christmas decorations and realized that we needed another tote to store stuff in when we put it in the attic.  Soooo...instead of going out to Bi-Mart or True Value to buy a red and green tote, I went hunting around our house for a box.  Problem solved and $5.99 saved.

Madison's one question when we were discussing this family challenge was if we had to eat used food.  Good question if you ask me! :) We are allowed to buy new consumables...food, shampoo etc.  Phew :) 

I will keep everyone posted on our family challenge and what interesting things we purchase used or how we are able to work around buying something new.  

Does your families have any awesome New Years resolutions?