~April No-Spend Challenge~ We're tracking our spending and buying only the necessities. Come... - Page 4

[mamayarn]

Okay, okay, enough with the eating out!

3/26 :
3/27 eating out $11.50, fabric $8.53, savings $0.97
3/28 groceries $18.58
3/29 :
3/30 :
3/31 :
4/1 eating out $17.26
4/2
4/3
4/4
4/5
4/6
4/7
4/8

The spending I track is all spending other than bills, including gas and food for our family of 3+.

Goals:
3/26 - 4/8 Total non-bill spending ($56.84/$220.00)

Running Tally:
Use reusable bags for all shopping trips (2/2)
No spend days x 4
No drive days (my car) : x 4

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

01..
02.. , :
03..
04..
05..
06..
07..
08..
09..
10..
11..
12..
13..
14..
15.. Payday!

~~~~~~~~
My goals:

2/20 No Spend Days
1/5 Let the Car Rest Days :

[Purple*Lotus]

Pardon any typos. I am doing some one handed typing for a while until the left arm heals.

Jaime Totals:
Groceries: 0/$150
Household Expenses: 0/$75

My Grid:
= no spend days
= bills, bills, bills, but nothing unbudgeted
= spend day

April 1st
It was also a double no drive day since we are both homebound after the surgery. Gasoline saved :
April 2nd
And another double no drive day :
April 3rd
April 4th
April 5th
April 6th
April 7th
April 8th
April 9th
April 10th
April 11th
April 12th
April 13th
April 14th
April 15th
April 16th
April 17th
April 18th
April 19th
April 20th
April 21st
April 22nd
April 23rd
April 24th
April 25th
April 26th
April 27th
April 28th
April 29th
April 30th

I hope everyone is doing well

[FeelingBlessed]

Definitely liking April so far. Certainly does not hurt that it is a gorgeous, sunny day, and we spotted crocuses blooming in the library's gardens.

Kim :

April 1:
April 2:

APRIL GOALS:
* Move toward achieving work goals: 1/24
* Less than $25 in frivolous spending: month to date $0
* At least 24 days (no spend or spending w/in budget): 2/24
* NO library fines: month to date $0 / NO parking tickets: $0
* Stay within grocery/eating out budget: $233.03/$500
* ORGANIZE/declutter (lack of organization = spending): 2/24
* Exercise (feeling good = decreased emotional spending): 2/30
* Meal plan created: 1/4 weeks - wahoo!

[dsaucone]

1
2
3 : DH Pay
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 : DH Pay

Goals/Totals/Key

No Unnecessary/Unbudgeted Spending 2

Unneeded $0

: $300 left in the budget.

$0 Savings

[lil_earthmomma]

OMG I just realized that we spend over $60/month on MILK! We are going through a 4 L jug of milk every 2/3 days! A jug costs $5.50.

I am panicking a bit. I really want to stay on track, but how can I when we are going to have to just our milk consumption down to a third of the usual!!! Drink more water I guess!

But I really love milk.

[Miasmamma]

I'm not sure I have any goals yet other than to track my spending and see what I can save!

4/1:
4/2: $13 at Walgreens for toileties; $63 at Costco for a few food items and gas for the week

[Purple*Lotus]

Originally Posted by lil_earthmomma

OMG I just realized that we spend over $60/month on MILK! We are going through a 4 L jug of milk every 2/3 days! A jug costs $5.50.

I am panicking a bit. I really want to stay on track, but how can I when we are going to have to just our milk consumption down to a third of the usual!!! Drink more water I guess!

But I really love milk.

do you have a deep freeze? you can buy it on sale and freeze it. that is what we did when i ran the women's shelter, it helped keep costs low and we went through a ton of milk there too.

[PassionateWriter]

lil_earthmomma, i realized last month that we were drinking 3 gallons of milk a week at $6 a gallon (we drink raw)...i saved $48 a month by going down to 2 gallons a week. I think that is plenty. We are big milk drinkers but I think 2 gallons a week is enough for us...we drink it during dinner and breakfast. I basically eliminated the lunch milk and random glasses of chocolate milk. I have frozen before, but i didnt like the way it tasted later.

1:::
2 $100 Toys R Us for new Wii Games and Skate Boards. Its DS2's birthday and thats what he wanted. :
3
4
5


Goals
:1/20 No Spend Days
1/20 Decluttering/Organizing Days/30 minutes (NOT cleaning)
:0/5 Library Days w/ boys
: 0/4 books
:0/20 knit at least 15 minutes
:2/28 eat at home
0/10 add things to CL
0/5 update blogs (months behind)
:1/10 Let the Car Rest Days
1/30 Exercise at least 30 minutes[/QUOTE]

[vannienicole]

April 1:
April 2:
April 3:
April 4:
April 5:
April 6:
April 7:
April 8:
April 9:

No spend days: 0/0
No eating out 0/0

Still going good....and have ~$390 in FS left!

[serenekitten]

a. Who you are: SereneKitten

b. Where you are going (your financial goals): Right now, I'm just trying to keep some money in the bank for emergencies before/after the baby is born. Long term, I have a college bill to pay off, a student loan (currently in deferment), and need a car and place to live. It killed me to take out that college loan, and I just want to get back in the black.

c. How you plan to get there: Well, I can't work right now. I'm hoping to at least get a seasonal job after the baby is born (*keeps fingers crossed*). I might have to get state aid, which is humiliating but necessary. So... I'm going to try to keep unnecessary spending down where I can, but I also just plain need to see where the money goes!

~*~

4/01: ---
4/02: $20 on gas; $19.37 on baby clothes (); $5.65 on TacoBell
4/03: $5.95 on postage for a friend's present; $5 key sec. deposit
4/04: ---
4/05: ---
4/06: $2.68 on fast food at Target.
4/07: ---
4/08: ---
4/09:
4/10:
...

~*~

No Spend Days: 5

Gasoline: $20
Fast Food: $8.33
Sort of Necessary: $10.95
Unnecessary: $19.37

[dfunk98]

Not so great start...

My Key-
No Spend
Necessary/Planned Spending
Unnecessary Spending
Sunday

I've given up my debit card for Lent, so on Sundays I get my "essentials" for the week, fill up my gas tank and take $40 out of the bank. That's it for the week.
Also, I have come to the conclusion that it's nearly IMPOSSIBLE for me to only spend $350 on groceries and household items, but I will try again this month. If I still am unsuccessful, I will then need to reevaluate that amount.
Now I have only $13 left until Sunday. Tomorrow is no spend-for sure!!

4/1- $17 on groceries, $10 on haircolor (ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!!)
4/2- $15 copay for visit to ped's office (wrote a check)


Goal
No spend 0/14/30 days (up 2 more from last month!!)
Groceries/Household $17/$350
Saved for trip to CO $0/$50

[KnittingKara]

Okay, I've used up my other budget categories, or else I had no funding in them for this month, so I'll take them off the list.

My Budget (not including bills & debt repayment)
Grocery/Household = $51.42/$190
Clothing = Earned $4.30


3/31 - Pay Dayplanned spending$29.16
4/1 -
4/2 - $25.23 (Easter fixin's)
4/3 -
4/4

I sent hubby to the store yesterday for our Easter ham (77cents a lb. at Marsh, for you local Indy gals) and he came back w/ everything on the list BUT the ham

Originally Posted by PassionateWriter

lil_earthmomma, i realized last month that we were drinking 3 gallons of milk a week at $6 a gallon (we drink raw)...i saved $48 a month by going down to 2 gallons a week. I think that is plenty. We are big milk drinkers but I think 2 gallons a week is enough for us...we drink it during dinner and breakfast.

This is a great idea! We burn through the milk here, too. We have it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and sometimes I let the kids have it with their morning & afternoon snacks, too. But, you are right - dinner & breakfast is plenty. I'm going to try your "two a week" rule around here

[scrapadoozer]

Well, I had a rough start to the month! : In happier news, DH's student loan is finally PAID OFF! Woo-hoo!

04/01: $17 Thrifting.
04/02:

1/20 No spend days.
$17/$100 Unnecessarily spent.
$0/$400 Paid on the pellet stove.

[OkiMom]

I don't think I have done this since my 2nd daughter was born and we are trying to save up money so Im going to start tracking again.
a. Who you are- Im Heather, SAHM to two girls, Elyse whos 2 and Alexandra whos 4 months old. We live in Okinawa, Japan where my husband has been stationed for 2 years almost. We have another year here and then we get to go back to the states.

b. Where you are going (your financial goals) We have a few big bills coming up- we have to pay road tax (kind of like registration back in the states) and JCI (its an inspection) our car. Road tax is around 200 and JCI will be anywhere from 500-buying a new car. We also are moving back to the states next April-July (we don't know exactly when) so we need to save money up for when we get back (cars, apartment, hotel costs etc)

c. How you plan to get there- Im taking over the finances this month since DH is having problems keeping up with them. Im going to probably do the envelop system (not sure, have to get support from DH for this). I really need to keep track of my food spending since I have been really bad about eating out. The baby isn't sleeping well (she sleeps in 20-60 minute stretches all day and night and then up for an hour or more) and my toddler is being a 2 year old so by dinner time Im exhausted. Im going to get some easy meals on hand again and start using my crockpot more.

Im starting to keep track tomorrow.
eta: I forgot to put my goals so I keep myself accountable.
0/250- Food budget
0/120- Household budget (we need to get bookcases since our books are still in boxes since we moved two years ago, its getting annoying having to go through a box every day to find the book Im looking for)
0\100- Personal spending- I need to start working on sewing a new wardrobe since mine is either too big, too small or maternity (which is both too big and kind of embarrassing to still have in my wardrobe)
0-5000 Yen- In town activities

[PassionateWriter]

anyone keep a close eye on gas prices? i try to fill up my car each time (cuts down on my "spend days" and comes to filling the tank approximately 2x a month). however, i filled up last week at 2.35 a gallon and now the gas prices are 2.15 a gallon (i drive a diesel SUV which gets about 35 mpg if i drive it right...so this is fuel efficiency, even if my gas is more expensive).

just thought i would share. i am used to watching gas prices, but this is a difference in only a few days. even though i have 1/2 a tank, i think ill fill up again today due to price.

[Hollysmom]

Well the only unbudgeted thing I had yesterday was the Starbucks, but in my defense I walked at least 4 miles round trip to get energy efficient lightbulbs on sale for $1 each.

April 1 -
April 2 - : $115.56 :, $3.94 Starbucks, $32.42 clothes for dd1

: & household items $115.56/$600
Unbudgeted/Unnecessary Spending:
Budgeted/Necessary Spending: $32.42
No Spend Days: 1/15
:At least 30 minutes exercise: 1/30
Spending $ - $3.94/$50
Gas: $100

[turalis]

Plan: record everything here (did Feb & March and it made a huge difference in my spending) and use the envelope system.

Grocery weeks:
March 29 - April 4: 97.00/100
April 5 - April 11: 10/100
April 12 - April 18: 0/100
April 19 - April 25: 0/100
April 26 - May 2: 0/100

Type of spending
= budgeted spending
= not budgeted spending
= no spend

What the $ was spent on
: = $ spent on groceries
or : = $ spent on baby or cat
= $ spent on me

4/1 - on : 10.00 for next week's fruit & veggie delivery
4/2 -
4/3 -

[Amanda Williams]

April 1st and 2nd: No spend :

[Ruthiegirl]

Apr 1 --
Apr 2 --
Apr 3 --
Apr 4 --
Apr 5 --
Apr 6 --
Apr 7 --

No spend --
Budget spending --

5.00/450.00 groceries