~May No-Spend Challenge~ We're tracking our spending and trying hard to spend less. Come Join us! - Page 2

[Smithie]

I am Lydia, proud wife to a very hard-working WAHD and PT contributor to the business we started last September. We are living a fabulous nice-house big-yard suburban lifestyle with our two-and-counting kids here in Upstate SC - but the catch is, we need to do it on 2 minimum-wage salaries plus our rental income from the house we couldn't sell back in Microsoftland. On paper, we are running a slight deficit right now. (I am a Quicken addict and tweak the annual budget constantly, filling in estimated amounts with actual amounts spent each month and bumping categories up or down as I get more information.)

I have been hesitant to put my whole budget out there for all the world to see, but I think it may be time to do just that so there isn't such a disconnect from my MDC spending record and what actually goes out the door every month. WTH, it's not like we are buying illicit substances or getting paid by the Mob! (I think the Mob would pay a lot better )

I am embarrassed that other mamas can do so much more with so much less total monthly income. But it doesn't seem like there is a huge amount of judgment in this ongoing thread, and if the rest of the F&F readers barge in to tell me I'm a hopeless yuppie and should just give up, I will just have to ignore them and keep on keepin' on.

So, my budget in Quicken after the latest round of tweaks is $4808 coming in the door (post-tax, post medical FSA, post 401(k) contribution), $5,158 going out. I am not a mathematical genius, but that seems like a problem to me! Cuts must be made! Money must be saved to pay my MIL the interest on the loan she gave us to buy the house we live in now!

Expense categories:

Gas: 60
Cash: 200
Celebrations (kids' birthdays!): 300
Babysitter: 50
Clothing: 50
Preschool Tuition: 294 (FSA ran out for this fiscal year)
Entertainment: 50 (pretty sure we'll spend this, lots of good movies coming out!)
Groceries: 300
Eating Out: 100
Gifts: 75
Grooming: 50 (might avoid this, MIL gave me gift cert as shower present)
Holding Costs on house in Seattle: 700
Cleaner: 300 (No, I can't give this up! Not in the baby month! Noooooo!)
Garden: 50
Yard Guy: 70 (Me: are you planning to mow the lawn any time in 2009? DH: no.)
Other household: 500 (normally some considerable wiggle room here, but I hired a mama I know to paint a huge mural in the kids' room, because I am effing crazy, but my God it is gorgeous and just what they dreamed of. She finishes tomorrow! New bedding for kids' room and guest room is something that is just very likely to happen as my nesting kicks in...)
Insurance: 120
Tax: 475 set aside to pay state property taxes due in December
Cable: 98 (DirecTV contract nightmare, stuck with it until December)
Garbage: 53
Gas and Electric: 220
Internet and Phone: 89
Water: 43
Principal Payment on Seattle house: 250
Car Loan: 661.21

Total: /4808
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Goals:

Get this household in the green for May! Get set up to spend 4k per month starting in June, so that the money may be saved up to pay MIL in December. (Note: I do HAVE the money, set aside in ING earning interest, but I do not want to have to use that money! I want to truly live on what we're making this year!)

[kreyno4]

Originally Posted by Miasmamma

I am going to guess that this is not a necessity. I would really like it though. I make our bread and would love to make it quicker and simpler. I already checked and my library does not have a copy.

You can get the full recipe and several variations here as well as on their blog

Not as good as the complete book, but it worked for me for about 3 months while I was on the waiting list to get the book from my library! Does your library do interlibrary loan with other systems?

[kreyno4]

Originally Posted by Smithie

I am embarrassed that other mamas can do so much more with so much less total monthly income. But it doesn't seem like there is a huge amount of judgment in this ongoing thread, and if the rest of the F&F readers barge in to tell me I'm a hopeless yuppie and should just give up, I will just have to ignore them and keep on keepin' on.

No judgement here! That's why I this thread.

Although to be fair, I think some people post their budgets asking for a critique.... or at least they think they want a critique until they actually hear it, lol!

[kreyno4]

I'm Kathleen and I am a SAHM to 2 girls. This is my 3rd month doing the challenge and it has been very helpful and eye-opening to me.

My goals... and I do have new ones this month!

1. Set a budget for alcohol and stick to it. I don't think it is bad to spend on alcohol, but dh would gladly come home with a full price six-pack from the corner store every couple of days. We need to set some limits without being restrictive to the point of deprivation/rebellion!

2. Use cash for everything, make sure dh keeps a reasonable amount of cash on him so he doesn't put things on cards. Wow, I am sure a controlling wife

3. At least 1 week where we don't do a big grocery shop. Preferably 2. This happened accidentally last month and seems to be the best way for us to save on food and household items.

Good luck to us all!

[Om Girl]

My name is Summer and I'm going to pay off all my debt. I am going to create a budget and stick to it this month. I will log in everyday and record my spending.
: NO Spend days!

[Honey693]

I'm Crystal a SAHM to a 6 month old.
We're trying to replace the money we'll need for a new roof so I need to kick up saving a notch. These are my goals for this month.

Plan meals based on pantry and food sales
Only buy on sale items/milk, fruits and veggies
One coffee out a week 1/5
Three days or less eating out with DH 0/3
Figure out cell phone/phone/internet
New clothes for me under $30 - 3
Keep misc baby stuff (including disposables, new cloth stuff, steam bags) to under $110 if we need a baby gate, under $65 if we need diaper sprayer, $50 if we don't - 45+13


No spend -
Budgeted spend -
Unbudgeted spend -


May
1 - 3 - skirt/10 coffee for three of us/7 - lunch
2 -
3 -
4 - 3.50 - coffee/90 - target (camera/coffee filters)/60 - wal-mart (prescription/soap/lotion/food)/25 - gas
5 - diaper sprayer - 45/swim cover - 13
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[triscuitsmom]

OK... I am jumping back on the bandwagon after a loong break. I meant to come back last month but then the baby was hospitalized with pneumonia and suspected meningitis (it turned out to be another viral infection). Here's hoping that this month we will be healthy in body, mind, and finances

a. Who you are
I am Alison, partner to J, and Mama to two boys, our 2.5 year old T and our three month old L. I own my own business and James is on parental leave and we are both in school full time.

b. Where you are going (your financial goals)
We are Dave Ramsey followers and are currently in the process of paying off all of our debt. We are due to get two large lump sum payments in the next two months that will help with that I'm also trying to get healthier at the same time our finances come together in a better way.

c. How you plan to get there
We have a brand new budget with even more things trimmed out of it and we are starting to use it this month. Our goals are to stick to the budget and get moving more and hopefully have fun doing it

This Month:
1. 15 No Spend days
2. No more than five unplanned spending days
3. Exercise 20 days
4. Get rid of 300 items around the house

[Smithie]

"Although to be fair, I think some people post their budgets asking for a critique.... or at least they think they want a critique until they actually hear it, lol!"

Oh, totally. I actually love budget/spending habit critique (giving and getting), as long as it doesn't come with a heaping helping of resentment. We're all developed-world citizens with Internet access, so we are all very privileged in the grand scheme of things, so I don't appreciate being made to feel like Cruella de Ville when talking numbers, ykwim?

But like I said, this thread totally does not seem to be about that. I am very optimistic about this month - daily tracking has become such a habit, and being able to track ALL my spending here will be a great relief!

BTW, I'm not setting any other goals like homeschooling or exercise, because let's get real, this is Baby Month. Adding another to the family is my lifestyle goal!

[turalis]

Set up a budget, use the cash and envelope system, and record everything here. This will be my fourth month and now a morning doesn't feel complete if I haven't logged on to record my spending.

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

Grocery weeks: (I'll add later when I have my calendar)

5/1 -

[granola_mom]

a. I'm Chloe, SAHM of one. I took the april no spend challenge and it was the first time in a looong time that I've actually had money left over at the end of the month, let alone didn't run out before the end of it

b. I want to learn to be good with money and live on less. I currently have no personal debt, but had about 10k on savings which I quickly whittled down to 4k when we hit some financial changes. I want to eventually build my savings back up and have enough in my sink funds for irregular expenses so I stay out of debt! I feel much less anxious when I am secure financially.

c. Budgeting, and living frugally. Writing down every penny I spend seems to help, and posting it here in the no spend challenge. I'm thinking of giving the envelope system a try although I'm not convinced it will work for me. I had no problem using debit last month, and I'm wary about having a bunch of change in envelopes. Plus, I'm trying to save as much as I can so if I have any money left over at the end of the month over what I planned, I put that to savings too.

May goals:

20 No spend days
10 No drive days
Cut grocery bill by $100 from last month
$400 to savings (fingers crossed!)

Budget:
$500 groceries
$100 home/garden
$50 alcohol
$100 gas/transportation
$100 entertainment/hobbies/spending

No spend or only necessary, budgetted spending like groceries, day care, rent, gas, etc.
Budgeted personal expenses only, hobbies, entertainment, etc.
Frivolous spend!- includes going over budget for things like groceries or gas.
Avoided urge to spend! (such as really wanted to go to book store but went to library instead, or other such action) or decluttered/purged in some way.

[Miasmamma]

Originally Posted by kreyno4

You can get the full recipe and several variations here as well as on their blog

Not as good as the complete book, but it worked for me for about 3 months while I was on the waiting list to get the book from my library! Does your library do interlibrary loan with other systems?

They do. I am going today to ask them if they can get it for me. I was just surprised that they didn't have it already. They have a great selection and I thought that something like that would fit right in. Thanks for the links! I also have a 40% coupon for Border's, but it will be my luck that it's in-store items only and the book is only on-line! I'll stick with the library I think.

Oh, and I have to update for yesterday...

4/30: $4.27 to Kroger's, b/c I forgot to make bread and it was 8:30 at night!

[dfunk98]

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

My goals are to start my "debit card free" weeks again. 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.

This month is not starting off well and we are headed for a vacation on Tuesday. I'm not going to track my spending for the 6 days we're away, bc we have been saving especially for this trip and I don't want to look back on the costs and feel guilty about it. That just means I need to be more fastidious in having no-spend/spend-less days the remainder of the month.
Also, DH has agreed to go on a budget, also, after I noticed he spent $80/week on food while at work!! We are each giving ourselves $40/week + gas (about $30 each, so $70 total). If he eats through (literally!!) that $40 before the end of the workweek, he needs to bring lunch for the rest of the week. Of course, he should be bringing lunch everyday, but argues that he doesn't like eating the same thing (ie. sandwiches) everyday.
We were also bringing something in (pizza, chinese, etc.) once a week and have since decided that we can only do that 2x/month or only if we have enough $$ leftover from our $40/week. We'll see how that goes. I really want to do some serious belt-tightening around here. I want to pay off both of our credit cards and start saving more for our new car, that i will hopefully be getting in September.

5/1- $120 on vacation stuff
5/2-

Goal
No spend 0/14/30 days
Groceries/Household $0/$400
Savings $0/$100
Credit Cards $0/$300

[beansmama]

Originally Posted by Miasmamma

I am going to guess that this is not a necessity. I would really like it though. I make our bread and would love to make it quicker and simpler. I already checked and my library does not have a copy.

hehe! I've been wanting that too!

[tricia80]

Tricia's Totals:

Goals:

Have a $1000 EF
Pay off consolidation loan by Jan 2010
Exercise More
Eat Out Less/Pack Lunches More

Types of Spending:

: Unbudgeted/Unnecessary Spending
Budgeted Spending (groceries, gas, rent, hydro, babysitting etc)
No Spending

Totals:

Groceries: 8.12/120
Budgeted Bills: 12.25/1631.10
Gas: /120
Unecessary Spending:
Unbudgeted Expenses:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
5/1 - 8.12 (groceries), 12.25 (cat food)

[scrapadoozer]

a. Jenny, SAHM to a 5 year old dd and an 11 day old ds.

b. The current goal is trying to pay off dh's pellet stove. $700 more to go.

c. Having the baby is curbing spending considerably at the moment. Maybe he's my secret weapon for the next month!

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

and an 11 day old ds

It is so sweet when you can count their age in days. :

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

I spent money on not-so-healthy food at the grocery store today, but I'm letting that slide this time. Any food at a grocery store is fair game -- it's fast food and restaurant food I'm trying to curb.

01.. , SOS
02..
03..
04..
05..
06..
07..
08..
09..
10..

My Goals:

1/20 No Spend Days
0/5 Let the car rest days :
1/31 Stay Out of the Stores SOS*

* I'm a recreational shopper and this month I'm trying to find other things to do besides shop. If I can go 31 days without setting foot in Walmart, any store at the mall, Target, Lowes, etc. I think it will help my budget tremendously. It will force me to find other things to do with my free time.

[ColoradoMama]

I always forget about this thread! So, my goal is to remember. I just finished paying bills and making out a budget for the month. Dh was laid off in January, started a new job in March, but just started getting paid from that job two weeks ago. So, finances have been weird for a while. They're still a little weird since he's doing contract work. It drives the control freak in me nuts because I don't know exactly what his paycheck will be every time. I do know that it will cover the bills though, so that's nice. I'm not necessarily trying to do "no-spend" so much as no outside of budget spending! I have a certain amount of cash that I take out every payday for all the incidentals (haircuts, field trips, etc.), and as long as I don't go over the amount taken out - I don't mind a few extras. Our problems always show up when we use our debit card! My goal is to not use the debit card for anything except fuel. I'm due to have a baby anytime in the next three weeks, so that'll make it easier not to leave the house and spend money! Another goal is to have our van paid off by the end of June.

[Smithie]

May 1: $2 pizza day at preschool, $295 preschool tuition, $300 mural in kids' bedroom

Expense categories:

Gas: 0/60
Cash: 0/200
Celebrations (kids' birthdays!): 0/300
Babysitter: 0/50
Clothing: 0/50
Preschool Tuition: 295/295
Entertainment: 0/50
Groceries: 0/300
Eating Out: 2/100
Gifts: 0/75
Grooming: 0/50
Holding Costs on house in Seattle: 704
Cleaner: 0/300
Garden: 0/50
Yard Guy: 0/70
Other household: 300/500
Insurance: 103.30/120
Tax: 0/475 set aside to pay state property taxes due in December
Cable: 0/98
Garbage: 0/53
Gas and Electric: 0/220
Internet and Phone: 0/89
Water: 0/43
Principal Payment on Seattle house: 0/250
Car Loan: 0/661.21

Total: 597/4808 (this is the total amount of take-home $$$ for this month)
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Goals:

Get this household in the green for May!

[SugarAndSun]

Originally Posted by Miasmamma

I am going to guess that this is not a necessity. I would really like it though. I make our bread and would love to make it quicker and simpler. I already checked and my library does not have a copy.

I have this book and am selling my house and need to get rid of stuff. PM me if you want to buy it. I also have a pizza, which is recommended in the book.

**************************************

I am in this month. We are selling our house and want to travel a bit. To do so we have to be frugal. April was a wash... so here begin May!

1st: : No spend!