~December No-Spend Challenge~ End o' the month. How did you do? What will you do differently... - Page 14

[scrapadoozer]

12/01:
12/02:
12/03:
12/04:
12/05:
12/06: $3 Post Office, $4 wrapping paper I didn't really need.
12/07:
12/08:
12/09:
12/10:
12/11:
12/12: $10.50 extra portrait sheets.

10/20 no-spend days.
$17.50 unnecessarily spent.
$200/$300 saved for the midwife.

[FeelingBlessed]

Got way behind entering receipts, thus fell behind updating posts, hence this marathon attempt to update (in a hopefully basically accurate fashion). Hope December is going frugally for all of you; looking forward to reading updates!

Kim :

Dec. 1:
Dec. 2:
Dec. 3:
Dec. 4:
Dec. 5:
Dec. 6:
Dec. 7:
Dec. 8:
Dec. 9:
Dec. 10:
Dec. 11:
Dec. 12:

DECEMBER GOALS:
* Less than $50 in frivolous spending: $0/$50
* At least 25 days (no spend or spending w/in budget): 12/25
* NO library fines: month to date $0
* Stay within grocery/eating out budget: $263.05/$600
* ORGANIZE/declutter (lack of organization = spending): 10/25
* Exercise (feeling good = decreased emotional spending): 5/25
* Meal plan created (I REALLY want to develop the habit of meal planning!):
11/30-12/6: started...maybe 1/2 complete
12/7-12/13:
12/14-12/20:
12/21-12/27:
12/28-1/3:

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Ooooh...today is going to be tough.

We're going to Costco for food. Costco is always a dangerous place for me. Lots of landmines there.

We're hiring a babysitter for a party tonight, which means today won't be a no-spend day and once it is a spendy day I feel like the shackles are off and I spend spend spend.

I'm going to the bookstore in the afternoon and I usually get coffee there. But that is a trivial expense so I'm not too worried about that. It is the shopping ~sprees~ that do me in.

I have some mini-goals for today:

1. Go to Costco and only come out of there with food
2. Do something free this morning
3. Only buy coffee (not a latte, not a frappucino) at bookstore
4. Go for a long run (that makes me too tired to shop...running is my alternative to shopping activity)

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

01..
02..
03..
04.. , :
05.. $200 gymnastics and preschool
06.. $36 Christmas ornaments, $13 Christmas candy
07.. $45 Tree and candy and hot cocoa and chicken
08..
09.. , :
10..
11.. , :
12.. , :
13.. $35 babysitter, $2 coffee
14..
15.. Payday and Credit Card Payment Day

My Goals for this month:
9/20 No Spend Days
4/4 Let the Car Rest :
$25/$985 Paid to Credit Card

$332 in uneccessary spending

[Brisen]

Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom

Right now I'm battling with the "Have I bought Enough?" demon.

Me, too. Our kids get quite a bit from family, so I really try to go light on the Christmas presents. I buy on behalf of both of my sets of grandparents, so that gives me a chance to do some Christmas shopping. From us, the kids are each getting a book and a stocking this year. I did the shopping for the stockings yesterday, and I still feel like I overdid it, though a lot of what I got are things that I get them anyway -- notebooks, pens & pencils, colouring books, toothbrushes, travel toothpaste (they love these ), and some treats. I probably spent $10 on each stocking, but with three kids, that adds up. I felt, I don't know, like I wasn't doing my part by getting the kids not much at Christmas, but really, they will enjoy the gifts from others more if they aren't so overwhelmed.

1: :
2: $19 convenience groceries I had dh pick up when he took ds to cubs... I'm sick with mastitis at the moment and I needed some easy food for the kids.
3: :
4: :
5: $450 groceries, household items, bit of clothing, and stuff for St. Nick's Day.
6: :
7:
8: :
9: :
10: :
11: :
12: $46 stocking stuffers & household stuff at dollar store; $172 groceries; $15 treat-type stuff we didn't need

no spend:
necessary spend:
unnecessary spend: :
no drive: :

Household spending: $668/$600
No-spend days: 9/18

I'm already over my goal for household spending this month. I'll need to get more milk, eggs, and butter before the month ends, and I was planning on making maple roasted nuts to give to family at Christmas, but those are fairly pricey to make. I might go with gingersnap cookies instead, which I have most of the stuff on hand for already.

[MeadowSong_]

:Puke Blech, I really kicked the bucket yesterday. We spent way too much money and looking at it all written out on my budget sheet, is really sickening. I told my husband last night, I need to go shopping ALONE. Between him and the kids, we spend so much more money when we all go together. But hopefully my husband is well stocked up on food for his job. He travels a lot, so it's not doable for him to eat leftovers ever day because he's not here.

I am also DONE getting gifts, done. I need a few gift cards for adult gifts (brothers and IN-Laws). Maybe a few stocking stuffers, but I am done. Woo Hoo!



December Goals

$187.64/300 ~ Gifts
$189.76/400 ~ Groceries/Personal Items/Household Items
$57.24/60 ~ Eating Out
$21.70 ~ Unplanned Spending
$64.84 ~ DH Work Expenses (food and items)
7/18 ~ No Spend Day


No Spend
Planned Spending
Unplanned Spending

1
2
3
4
5 $17.26/Eating Out, $11.33/Gifts, $468.14/Health Insurance, $275/Credit Card, $30/Savings
6
7 $37.43/Gifts, $94.83/Grocery & Household, $17.26/Donations, $17.78/Eating Out, 1.18 gum, haha
8
9 $8.46/Sprite and a candy bar, C'MON!! , $60/School Lunches
10
11 118.89/Gifts
12 19.99/Gifts, $115/Husbands Speeding Ticket, $9.17/Household, $64.84/Food & Supplies for DH while on the road, $11.74/Unplanned Spending (gum and pop for DH), $18.67/Baking Items for Holiday Gifts and Parties, $22.18/Eating Out, $68.48/Groceries
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
$1465.46 Total Spent

[Amys1st]

On Thursday with both kids out of the house, I did the Santa inventory. Add that to what my parents bought, these kids are going to do just fine that morning. I didnt spend much on the holiday.

We will get $100 each from the ILs for xmas. The girls will go into their savings and ours will go to our beef side in the new year. Add that to my parents' bday check, that will help pay for that.

I am :about the $500 deductable because it came at a time we put new brakes and tires on my car. So that extra 2K we shelled out ate up my normal spending money plus anything extra we could put towards helping another family or a FIN here on MDC. Oh well, as DH and I thought- we have it very good compared to several people we know just within our town. But that happens and we call it the "thats life" factor. We still have plenty of food to eat, a warm home, and each other plus we have a xmas for our family.

[schreiberwriter]

Better late than never! This week I lost my job and don't have severance. It'll take awhile for unemployment to kick in. My husband had cut his hours WAY back so he could care for our children and now has to try to get them bumped WAY up. Wish us luck!

a. Who you are:

I'm a working mother to two children (see below in my signature) with a flexible, supportive husband.

b. Where you are going (your financial goals)

I have a lot to figure out financially and cut out of the budget. So, not spending will be my big focus and could use accountability. Any unnecessary spending will cut into our ability to pay bills and feed us.

c. How you plan to get there

Spend only cash on non-bills and eliminate impulse spending. Document non-bill spending here.

[justamama]

Dec 10:
Dec 11: $0.85 on pretzels at work
Dec 12: ($15 on food and medicine; all necessary)
Dec 13: (heading to work all night, putting this in to help me keep it no spend. I don't want to come back and edit!)

[CrunchyMom05]

I never thought about it much, but I drive a lot! I'm not scheduled to work until January so I wonder how many days I can go without driving? Don't plan to go anywhere tomorrow unless I get called to work because we are suppose to have a blizzard starting tonight.

Dec 1:
Dec 2: $490.00 vehicle payment $0.75 pop
Dec 3:
Dec 4:
Dec 5: $20.01 gas $2.98 Christmas cards for my sister
Dec 6: $30.00 gas
Dec 7:
Dec 8:
Dec 9:
Dec 10:
Dec 11: $13.00 gas $12.00
Dec 12: $25.00 boots $5.00 slippers & tights for DD $4.50 Eating out
Dec 13:
Dec 14: :

Key
No spend day
: No drive day
Necessary spending
Unplanned spending

[Patrick's mummy]

Dec 1st:£77.34 groceries. All still sick :
Dec 2nd: £6.50 groceries that DH insisited on to facilitate his recovery (no one ever recovered from flu without melon right?!)
Dec 3rd: £7.50 groceries, this time DH went and got them himself! £70 car tax, £1.14 postage.
Dec 4th: No spending at all. All still sick. School closed due to snow. :
Dec 5th: £49.40 groceries and household goods (inc some small Christmas gifts), that should last til 12/12 hopefully.
Dec 6th: £101.64 on Christmas gifts at Amazon.co.uk - that is it now, finished, apart from printing a few photos for frames we have bought as gifts for people. £4.23 on wooden play food for DS2's Christmas box - (was actually £12.50 but I used a gift card for the rest.) 80p parking. £48 petrol - a full tank.
Dec 7th: Oh man, DH spent again! £7.55 on various things he think will help his cold go away. Geez, did a cold ever go without lozenges, energy drinks, cakes?!
Dec 8th: £2 DS1's school Christmas play tickets, £3.50 DS2 playgroup (budgetted.) £1.40 treats for kids after school - I caved in
Dec 9th: No spend!
Dec 10th: No spend! Feeling pretty proud of this one as I've had a crap day!:
Dec 11th: £76.48 groceries. £0.58 on Kinder egg for DS1 after his school play. £5.05 at pharmacy on various pills for DH who then went and spent £9.07 on various other treats to make himself better
Dec 12th: £3.50 playgroup (budgetted)
Dec 13th: £1.70 parking.

So far so good with having guests this weekend. We will be out for lunch tomorrow but am hoping to make that my only spending - around £30. I plan to just be drinking tap water and have made DH swear he will not order dessert as that opens the floodgates for 2 kid desserts too. May make a cake tonight to tempt them back here with!


[/QUOTE]

[guestmama9910]

A. My name is Anna, I'm a housewife with a work-at-home husband and a little girl. We try to keep our weekly gas, groceries, incidentals, and entertainment budget under $200, which seems quite a lot (keep in mind we do live in one of the highest cost of living areas in the country), but we're consistently failing to do even that. Unless things get very dire, I won't cut out local, pastured and organic meat, eggs, and dairy. I absolutely won't cut out organic produce and dry goods, knock on wood! The things I'd really rather not do without are little gifts on a regular basis to my family (these are usually "fancy" fresh foods, like a pomegranate in season), my once-a-month comic book and almost-every-other-week book or DVD order (one book or DVD at a time), and our cheap breakfast at the local diner where we get most of our local news every Friday market day.

B. Our financial goals are simply to live within our means. We have a tiny down payment, and it would be nice to someday have a decent sized down payment, but I'd be content with a nice rent controlled apartment in our town if that came our way.

C. Our plan is to stick to our $200/week budget and save for "big" purchases like the new pillow my husband needs by taking a little out of each week and sticking it into an envelop until we can afford it out of that envelop. We have holiday orders coming in at the shop that total a $100 or more, and we won't stick the shop owner with them, but we're going start in serious earnest after they've arrived (probably next Wednesday). I'm going to avoid the crafts store and the discount store like the plague, as they are my two big vices, limiting my shopping to main street where I can't get in too much trouble. And I'm putting my foot down: no more obligatory bottled drink and snack every time we visit the co-op! If we want to nosh on something, we can eat one of the pieces of fruit we bought for the week.

* * * * *
If I may confess my fiscal sins now, we blew it today. We went to a "farm market" (really a produce market with a few vendors inside that caters to the immigrant community), our "red meat" farm, and a Penna Dutch farmer's market today. At each stop we made unnecessary purchases, on top of the few holiday food items I was picking up: an imported hazelnut wafer snack for my husband and a box of shortbreads at the farm market, a bundle of greens from the tree salesman at the farm, a soft pretzel and two stuffed pretzels for lunch at the Penna Dutch, all told $23 or so. And it was, all except the greens to fashion the only holiday decoration we're going to have, junk. Worse, we forgot cat litter, which we'd better get soon or the cat's going to get ornery, so we'll be out and liable to spend more than we need to tomorrow. Ugh!
--
AnnaArcturus

[scrapadoozer]

12/01:
12/02:
12/03:
12/04:
12/05:
12/06: $3 Post Office, $4 wrapping paper I didn't really need.
12/07:
12/08:
12/09:
12/10:
12/11:
12/12: $10.50 extra portrait sheets.
12/13:

11/20 no-spend days.
$17.50 unnecessarily spent.
$200/$300 saved for the midwife.

[Amanda Williams]

1st: $25 in gas, on credit card, not included in my $500 cash budget
2nd: No spend
3rd: No spend
4th: No spend
5th:$69 on groceries.
6th: No spend
7th: $18 on groceries
8th: No spend, we tithed actually, but I'm not counting checks we write on here.
9th: $9 on Taco Bell for lunch, budgeted for
10th: $14 on groceries
11th: No spend
12th: $66 on groceries, $3 overdue fines at library, $12, impulse buy, puzzles for DD :
13th: No spend


Tallies:

$25 in Gas, I think this might last for three weeks! Yippee, we have been home A LOT!
$167 in Groceries
$9 in Fast Food
$3 Library fines
$12 in toys

Feel like I'm doing great so far, but this is strictly because it is absolutely necessary!

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Preemptive today. We are not going anywhere but church and I'm not taking my wallet with me so I can't spend.

I don't want to come on here and edit that thumb!

We are 24 hours away from paying off that credit card...(you know, that is so much less satisfying than ~buying~ something. If I was about to make a $900 purchase I would be thrilled. But credit card payment...well, a little anticlimactic. So I have to keep playing it up in my mind.)

01..
02..
03..
04.. , :
05.. $200 gymnastics and preschool
06.. $36 Christmas ornaments, $13 Christmas candy
07.. $45 Tree and candy and hot cocoa and chicken
08..
09.. , :
10..
11.. , :
12.. , :
13.. $40 babysitter, $2 coffee
14..
15.. Payday and Credit Card Payment Day

My Goals for this month:
10/20 No Spend Days
4/4 Let the Car Rest :
$25/$985 Paid to Credit Card

[Logan's Mom]

12/1 - $20.95 DS haircut + $8** in gas + $30 lunch
12/2 - No Spend
12/3 - $2 coffee
12/4 - $4 subway + $30 xmas gifts + $25 clothing + 78 groceries
12/5 - $7 McDs
12/6 - $99 Groceries
12/7 - $55 xmas tree
12/8 - $8.75 postage for xmas gifts + $17 CVS
12/9 - $10 gas + $50 prescriptions + $6 clothing + $8 groceries
12/10 - $2 coffee
12/11 - $4 McDs + $25 lunch + $5 gas
12/12 - $9 JC Penny + $50 Aveda + $32 Amazon (xmas)
12/13 - no spend
12/14 - $152 Walmart + $32 Sears + $57 Amazon (xmas) + $71 groceries + $15 CVS + $12 Gas


No Spend Days = 2/10
No Drive Days = 8
Grocery budget = $288/450
Gas = $35/60
Dining out = $55/60
Christmas budget = $325/450
Entertainment budget = $45
Unnecessary spending = $19/50
Personal Grooming = $21/30
Clothing $31/100
Prescriptions $50 (3 month supply - gotta love generics!)

[Patrick's mummy]

Dec 1st:£77.34 groceries. All still sick :
Dec 2nd: £6.50 groceries that DH insisited on to facilitate his recovery (no one ever recovered from flu without melon right?!)
Dec 3rd: £7.50 groceries, this time DH went and got them himself! £70 car tax, £1.14 postage.
Dec 4th: No spending at all. All still sick. School closed due to snow. :
Dec 5th: £49.40 groceries and household goods (inc some small Christmas gifts), that should last til 12/12 hopefully.
Dec 6th: £101.64 on Christmas gifts at Amazon.co.uk - that is it now, finished, apart from printing a few photos for frames we have bought as gifts for people. £4.23 on wooden play food for DS2's Christmas box - (was actually £12.50 but I used a gift card for the rest.) 80p parking. £48 petrol - a full tank.
Dec 7th: Oh man, DH spent again! £7.55 on various things he think will help his cold go away. Geez, did a cold ever go without lozenges, energy drinks, cakes?!
Dec 8th: £2 DS1's school Christmas play tickets, £3.50 DS2 playgroup (budgetted.) £1.40 treats for kids after school - I caved in
Dec 9th: No spend!
Dec 10th: No spend! Feeling pretty proud of this one as I've had a crap day!:
Dec 11th: £76.48 groceries. £0.58 on Kinder egg for DS1 after his school play. £5.05 at pharmacy on various pills for DH who then went and spent £9.07 on various other treats to make himself better
Dec 12th: £3.50 playgroup (budgetted)
Dec 13th: £1.70 parking.
Dec 14th: £40 meal with guest. (The restaurant we were supposed to be going to was closed so we ended up somewhere more expensive plus DH ordered a dessert: ) £8 groceries (mostly Xmas deals.)

So next week I'm aiming for no real grocery spending except milk/bread/produce etc. Our Christmas gifts are bought. Just need to post some cards and gifts, which will be pricey but necessary.

[Amys1st]

Did a xmas party last night at a friend's house. $40 for a baby sitter (I give $10 an hour). Yesterday while picking up the xmas cards from walgreens, I got 2 $5 off coupons. So today, DD1 wanted to go buy something there with her allowance she saw in the ads. So we walked over (its at the end of our block) it was $6.99 plus the $5 off coupon. So she ended up giving $2.40 or something. She took back her change and brought it home for her piggy bank. (or as dd2 says- money pig). I needed scotch tape. I also bought the girls a large package of construstion paper that was $5. So with my $5 off coupon, it was $1.40 for the tape.

[Amanda Williams]

1st: $25 in gas, on credit card, not included in my $500 cash budget
2nd: No spend
3rd: No spend
4th: No spend
5th:$69 on groceries.
6th: No spend
7th: $18 on groceries
8th: No spend, we tithed actually, but I'm not counting checks we write on here.
9th: $9 on Taco Bell for lunch, budgeted for
10th: $14 on groceries
11th: No spend
12th: $66 on groceries, $3 overdue fines at library, $12, impulse buy, puzzles for DD
13th: No spend
14th: $60 on groceries,$11 on lunch, $26 on gifts , $20 in gas


Tallies:

$45 in Gas
$227 in Groceries
$20 in Fast Food
$3 Library fines
$38 in gifts

[scrapadoozer]

12/01:
12/02:
12/03:
12/04:
12/05:
12/06: $3 Post Office, $4 wrapping paper I didn't really need.
12/07:
12/08:
12/09:
12/10:
12/11:
12/12: $10.50 extra portrait sheets.
12/13:
12/14: $5 Doughnuts.

11/20 no-spend days.
$22.50 unnecessarily spent.
$200/$300 saved for the midwife.