Why Our Family Does a Low-Dough March (and why you should try it too!) | Can I Laugh On Your Shoulder? Podcast | EP: 341

This week’s episode will be a fun one. It’s just me this week! I have been wanting to do this episode for a while and decided now is the best time. The month of March has a special place in my heart, and I’ll explain why my family does a “low dough March.”

1:39 – What is low dough March?

• My family has done this for the past few years. We spend as little money as possible for the entire month of March.
• We cut down on anything extraneous.

2:31 – Where did this idea come from?

• We didn’t create this concept. My husband John got the idea from a podcast called “Abraham’s Wallet.”
• We picked the month of March because we don’t have much going on.

5:12 – Why do a low spend month?

• You don’t have to be married. You don’t have to have kids. Literally anybody can do a low dough month.
• The number one benefit, in my opinion, is it’s a recalibration tool to help us evaluate our spending habits.
• We do not eat out at all in the month of March unless we have a gift card. We like to stockpile gift cards and restaurant rewards points to use in March.

9:09 – Intentional grocery spending

• We spend an insane amount of groceries, but we try to reel it in during the month of March.
• We love to host people and make meals for friends, but we try to use food in our pantry and freezers.

14:24 – It’s a training tool

• Low dough March is a training and discipleship tool. We are training and learning to be better stewards of our money.
• By placing boundaries around certain places in our lives, we are training ourselves.

20:17 – Exercising your “no” muscle

• Part of this training is helping us exercise our “no” muscle.

21:57 – Teaching your kids about stewardship

• My kids are 9 and 7, and this teaches them about being a good steward of money.
• It helps our kids realize that things cost money.

23:05 – Planning for our money

• When we have a surplus of money from low dough March, we give some of that money away and plan for big projects.

FEATURED QUOTES

Low dough March is a month where we as a family spend as little money as possible. We really cut down on anything extraneous.

You don’t have to be married. You don’t have to have kids. Literally anybody can do a low dough month.

The number one benefit, in my opinion, is it’s a recalibration tool to help us evaluate our spending habits.

When you sit and you really look at where you’re spending money, it helps you hit a big reset on it.

By placing boundaries around certain places in our lives, we are training ourselves.