~August No-Spend Challenge~ We are tracking our spending and trying to save money! Come join us... - Page 4

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

WARNING -- I'm going to be all over this thread and all over this forum this month. You are going to be wishing I wasn't around so much.

I'm trying to really re-think my buying habits this month.

My DH just got a nice raise (which is a blessing and a miracle in this economy and I'm very appreciative of that) and we are already well on our way to spendy spend spending that money...I've been pricing furniture, we bought a pool, we bought summer passes to things that we don't normally buy, I've enrolled the girls in extracurricular activities for the fall that we can't usually afford...STOP!!! What is going on?!?

I need to be saving that money, not spending it as fast as I can get my little hands on it.

I need to turn my head away from what my neighbors are buying and instead focus on what will bring me lasting security and peace.

That is hard for me to do -- so I'm re-reading the Tightwad Gazette (she's inspirational to me) and Dave Ramsey and Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping -- and trying to turn my attention again towards saving money instead of spending.

[rob'shappywife]

We only have one car and my husband works nights till 11:30am. So I don't have car to run to stores like I did before when I would drop him off at his old job and I feel guilty shopping when he is home. So you think that would stop my spending... welcome to my online shopping addiction. If ever there was anything created by the devil it is online shopping. You save so much that you end up spending more...ugh. Well my addiction is cloth diapers right now. I buy what I need, what I like and somethings that will probably never see my babies bottom! Help

Budgeted Spending:
Frivolous Spending: - the devil made me do it
No Spend:

8/1:: $20 at yard sale(DD winter coat and tights, 2 jeans and shorts for DH, 2 birthday gifts, dog crate, 2 glass dishes with lids for freezer) $13 Lunch, $22 friend came home from Iraq we all went out to eat. Days not usually like that... glad I found this post now I have to be responsible=)
8/2:: $14 cloth diapers; $4.75 filtered water

[boatrat]

Hi everyone, I'm glad to be on this thread this month! We're in the middle of a huge landscaping project that we are paying with in cash as we go. Hopefully we're near the end of the big expenditures for that, but something always comes up. Also, we are paying for DS's Montessori tuition up-front for the year. That check was painful to write, but now it's time to build back up our EF, pay off my car, then start on the mortage.

VTMom, I'm re-reading the Tightwad Gazette, too!

No spend
Budgeted spending:
Blew it:

8/1 (groceries)
8/2
8/3

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

01.. $1 Beanie Baby Toy at a yard sale
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Goals:
2/20 No Spend Days
$102/$600 Grocery Budget

[scrapadoozer]

08/01: $5 Dunkin' Donuts, $2 snowshoes for dd @ a yard sale.
08/02:
08/03:
08/04:

3/20 No-spend days
$7/$100 Frivolous spending
0/6 Diapers made from my stash of fabrics

[Peppermint Poppies]

Aug 1 $9 on coffees before we realised that it was August, our no-spend month
Aug 2 :
Aug 3 Toilet blocked - we had to buy a plunger and cleaning supplies
Aug 4
Aug 5
Aug 6
Aug 7

1/31 No spend
0/31 Budgetted spend
2/31 Frivolous spending
1/31 : No car
0/31 : Expenses tracked in Quicken

Still haven't gotten Quicken up and running. Hopefully today if the kids nap at the same time. I had plenty of time to do it yesterday but wasted it surfing MDC :

[Pumpkin_Pie]

My key:
No-spend day:
Planned spending (bills, gas for car, etc):
Unplanned spending:

So far: 2 1

1. $16 drive in movie and snacks.
2.
3. $1.35 coffee, $8.46 Christmas gift
4.
5.
6.
7.

[Ruthiegirl]

Aug1 --
Aug 2 -- new toilet 168.00
Aug 3 -- 18.59 lunch with mom
Aug 4


Goals:

Pay off credit card 0/2000
Groceries 126.90/600.00
No sloppy spending!

[Amanda Williams]

Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom

Hmmmm...could those $35 ribeye steaks from Costco sitting in the freezer right now be part of it? Bought TWICE this month. That's $70 right there.

Hmm....It is back to tuna fish for this family.

I need to go find that $2 meal thread and read through it again for inspiration.

Wow, I hear ya on this one! Why do we do these things....?

[Amanda Williams]

I'll post my intro tomorrow, gotta get my feet up, 38 weeks pregnant.

August 1st-3rd: clothes, shoes for kids, $74, food groceries $63, makeup $27 (only buy this twice a year)
4th: $29 baby gift for brother

[highlandmum]

:: budgetted spend
:: no spend day!
::: overspent, or non budgetted spend
::: no driving day


8/1::
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8/31::

[chicaalegre]

I'd love to join. My name is Gretchen and I have a 2.5 year old and a baby due in late September. My husband and I are expecting to close on a house at the end of this month and so we're coming up on a couple of challenging months, both financially as well as emotionally. We have about $4k in credit card debt (though some of it was spent on an upgraded professional digital camera that dh will use for a few photography jobs coming up).

I'm pretty frugal but we spend a lot of money on food and occasionally on dates. DH really loves to go to the thrift store and buy "new" clothes--we're trying to break him of this habit because he really ends up spending a lot (more than $200 one month, on totally unnecessary thrift store purchases).

We need to save in preparation for the couple of months that I will not be working after the baby comes. Our bills will also be higher at the same time, because our new mortgage/household expenses will be higher than our living expenses are now. After that, we need to pay off this credit card debt because 2 of the three credit cards have a really high interest rate and it is just A WASTE of money.

Long term goal is of course to be debt free aside from our mortgage, and to have a budget that includes savings (for our kids, for us, for our family).

No money spent: :
Necessary/planned spending: : (groceries, rent, bills, etc.)
Unnecessary spending: (such as eating out or a thrift store splurge)
Exercise:

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2. : (groceries, $40 doula bag stuff that I should have planned ahead for or found around the house)
3. :
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[xekomaya]

Hi!

I joined a few threads last year that really really saved us and the next few months we're really going to need to hang on to our dollars so I'm comin' back.

I'm XM, mama to one ds, 15 months and TTC#2. DH just got a new job, and we're moving from NJ to Alaska! I'm oscillating between overjoyed and utterly terrified, with some guilt and sadness thrown in for good measure. It's hard to take DS away from a huge loving family and -6- great-grandparents. But, we kind of hate NJ, love Alaska, and really just want to give it a shot.. soo.. A cross country+ move is taxing on the budget so this month we're going to:
a.) not eat out.
b.) use up all the food in the pantry cindy's porch style
c.) hold off buying everything possible until we get to AK, which is Sept 15ish for DH, Oct. 25ish for me & ds

1:
2:
2:

Oh yeah, and I'm not buying any pregnancy tests or OPK's, AT ALL! Every time I'm about to click that nice little "buy" button on Amazon, I'm going to come here and post and I'm hoping you will kindly talk me out of it.

[Ruthiegirl]

Aug1 --
Aug 2 -- new toilet 168.00
Aug 3 -- 18.59 lunch with mom
Aug 4 --


Goals:

Pay off credit card 0/2000
Groceries 126.90/600.00
No sloppy spending!

[HydeParkB]

1 - GARAGE SALE: $50 dresser, $3 cards, twine, toy; $39 Pet food
2 - $2 entertainment, $38 pet store
3 - No spend (Sent out cds with prepaid paypal postage)
4 - No spend (If I can avoid the gas station tonight)

[Peppermint Poppies]

Ugh. We are not having a good month so far. Bad things keep happening that require spending money.

Aug 1 $9 on coffees before we realised that it was August, our no-spend month
Aug 2 :
Aug 3 Toilet blocked - we had to buy a plunger and cleaning supplies
Aug 4 : DH sprained his ankle - he had to buy bandages and voltaren
Aug 5
Aug 6
Aug 7

1/31 No spend
0/31 Budgetted spending
3/31 Frivolous / unplanned spending
2/31 : No car
0/31 : Expenses tracked in Quicken

[rob'shappywife]

budgeted Spending:
Frivolous Spending: - the devil made me do it
No Spend::

8/1:: $20 at yard sale(DD winter coat and tights, 2 jeans and shorts for DH, 2 birthday gifts, dog crate, 2 glass dishes with lids for freezer) $13 Lunch, $22 friend came home from Iraq we all went out to eat. Days not usually like that... glad I found this post now I have to be responsible=)
8/2:: $14 cloth diapers; $4.75 filtered water
8/3:
8/4 found blueberries at a great price bought 48 pt. $48.00

[Pumpkin_Pie]

Ok, so I am not exactly off to the best start here.... Grrrr.....

My key:
No-spend day:
Planned spending (bills, gas for car, etc):
Unplanned spending:
Total frivolous spending $29.56

So far: 3 1

1. $16 drive in movie and snacks.
2.
3. $1.35 coffee, $8.46 Christmas gift
4. $3.75 new pj's for DS on clearance at Old Navy
5.
6.
7.

[milosmomma]

Hey again! This time I starting at the beginning of the month!!!

I'm Jessica, WOHM of 2. DP & I are both employed, but we've got a bunch of debt. Just working on eliminating it. The kids are starting Pre-K/daycare next month (change in my work sched) and we're going to have that added expense. We're also trying to bounce back a bit from a family emergency with DP's family that involved us spending/lending a lot of money out for various reasons.

We are going to be FIRM with our $20/week incidental budget. This will be harder for DP than for me, but I'll try to encourage him. We'll see how it goes. I've already taken a lot of steps to cut our energy costs & we've changed auto insurance to cut cost. Now it's just a matter of our daily spending....

8/1 $11 birthday gift for friend
8/2
8/3 $9 lunch at McD's :
8/4 $5 lunch at work because I forgot mine :

[FeelingBlessed]

Last few days have been fairly good; need to add up food $ spent and track closely this month! Tomorrow is a nutty, busy, long day, so need to figure out what I am going to eat at the office and what DH + kiddos will be eating to avoid impulse eating out.

Kim :

Aug. 1: $79 at Goodwill (2 dresses, 2 shirts for DH, + about 15 exceptionally cool floor puzzles/wooden toys/board games/art stuff for kiddos)
Aug. 2:
Aug. 3:
Aug. 4:

= no spend/spending w/in budget
Goal: 3/27