~January No-Spend Challenge~ Let's start 2010 out with a bang! Everyone is welcome to join at... - Page 2

[kings5queens4]

=no spending outside of budget
= spent when I shouldn't have


01- $11.99 I woke up to an email from ebay this morning telling me I won an auction for a diaper that I had bid on last week. Ack. So much for my no spending day start to a new year!
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[dentmom]

Just a thought, but I think we could be very helpful to one another here. For example a lot of posters want to eat out less; we hardly ever go out, I make so much at home. On the other hand, I want to be more crafty and repurpose items and many on here are very good at that.

[liangel]

Happy New Year everyone! I used to post on this thread, but then had my baby last MArch and kind of got busy. I would like to get back in the "No Spend" Saddle so here I am.

Intro: My name is Tiffany and I am married with a 9 month old baby boy, Nicholas. Nicholas is such a love and a joy.

My goals are to pay off my CC that I used to Fertility treatments (we are OOP). Also to not spend so willy nilly. I would spend money out of boredom when I'm home. I would take DS to the park and on the way stop at Sonic for a drink for me. MUST. STOP. THAT.

[liangel]

My key:

= groceries

= necessities like gas and stuff for baby.

=No money left my pocket

=Oops! Spent money.


1/1=

[MonkeyPrincess]

No Spend =
Approved Spending =
Unapproved Spending =
Ate at Home =
No Car Day =

1.

So far, off to a good start!

[Livi's Mama]

a. I'm Dawn, a wohm to 3 little ones. DH is mostly SAHD who works a couple evenings a week.

b. My 2010 goal is to pay off our van by the end of the year. We're 11 months into a 6-year loan & it's driving me nuts to have debt. Paying that off in one year will be an enormous challenge, and one that DH hasn't actually climbed on board with yet.

c. Since I do most of the financial planning anyway, I'm going to move everything I can toward the debt, like 401k, cut my own spending and do what I can to get DH on board (and pray pray pray!) I am also going to draw some sort of visual aid to track the debt payoff. Like draw a picture of a van on a grid, one square for every $100, and color in the squares as they get paid off. I think that will be a big help. I also need to be diligent about meal planning, as eating out is often a big pitfall in our budget. I'm also going to regularly listen to replays of the radio show on crown.org. I just discovered them & they are what inspired me to take this leap & I'm sure will help me stay on track.

I haven't developed specific goals for January yet. I'll work on that tonight after the kidlets are asleep.

1. $0

[triscuitsmom]

Goals for the Month of January
1. Half the month with no spend days: 0/15
2. Unplanned spending 5 or fewer days: 0/5
3. No eating out that we pay for all month: 1/31
4. Bring in extra money from my business: 0%
5. 185 items decluttered: 0/185
6. 13 days with exercise in them: 1/13

Key:
- No Spend
- Planned Spend
- Unplanned Spend
- All meals eaten at home
- Exercise

Jan 1: Last night (but it was on my Jan budget so it's going under today) I bought some food staples (cheese, bread) plus a snack to share for NYE as well as two phone cards for the month Made a game out of exercising with my three year old. It was fun!

Running Totals:
Budget set spending (tithe, rent, utilities, internet/cell, insurance, bank service fees, debt repayment, hosting fees, RESP): $22.60
Budget discretionary spending (everything else on our budget): $0.00
Groceries: $17.65
Unplanned/Uneccessary spending: $0.00

[claybear]

= necessary spending or no spending
= could have done without


01- $2, food
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[scrapadoozer]

A: I'm Jenny, homeschooling SAHM to my 6 year old dd and just plain old SAHM to my 8 month old ds.

B: Now that all of our debts besides our mortgage & vehicle are paid, I would like to start putting money back in savings.

C: The usual. Eat at home. Don't shop. Declutter instead of acquire. Get back into my sewing. Stay off websites that try to sell me things.

01/01

1/20 No-spend days
$0 Frivolous spending

[Hollysmom]

Late signing up this month.

A: I'm Kristine WOHM to three girls.

B: Do a better job of budgeting and start saving more money.

C: Stop eating out for lunch at work. Hopefully lose weight as well as save money as a result.

January 1 -

[major_mama11]

Who you are- Kirstin, mostly sahm to two kids.

Where you are going- Short term goals for this month are to avoid dipping into savings, to make more money than I spend this month, so that dh won't have to pay for any of the daily stuff out of his accounts like he had to last month. Slightly longer term- save up the money needed to go to an out-of-state workshop in March without dipping into savings (this would require me making about $1000 extra in the next two months, to cover the workshop costs and the hotel costs for me, dh, and the kids). Hopefully, I can talk my workplace into covering at least part of the cost of the workshop- that would be spectacular.

How you plan to get there- this might mean making myself say yes when they try to call me in on unexpectedly busy nights at work this month. Also, I want to be more realistic about my spending categories when I make up my January budget (ie, allow myself a certain amount of approved "blow money", rather than kicking myself every time I spend anything at all on myself).

Related plans that will help me stay within budget:

-Continue to declutter my house, so that I have the mental and physical space for being more creative with what I actually have, rather than the knee-jerk reaction I tend to have of trying to buy myself out of every problem.
- Go to library more- free dvds and books and kid activities!
- Stay off the internet and try to live in the real world as much as possible!
- Be organized about planning ahead for "unexpected expenses" that I can see coming a mile away if I actually stop to think ahead.
- Start couponing, deliberately shopping sales again and cooking from the pantry! And don't let dh buy groceries, because holy crap, he spends twice what I do (as evidenced by our $700 in groceries this past month, when it's normally less than $400)! :

Really, really, really need to crack down on unplanned spending, as DH and I both have jobs that are somewhat seasonal, and both of us have been working a lot less than usual.

[major_mama11]

Forgot to mention, I FINALLY am getting back to cash envelope system. As in, I went to the bank the other day to get real, actual cash out, for real (I've been using debit card lately and it's not a good thing since I tend to spend more that way).



And here's my quick budget plan for the month:

Groceries/ household: 0 / $200 (keeping it low this month as our pantry is VERY well stocked!)
Kid and baby stuff: 0 / $20
Homeschool: 0 / $20
Blow money for self: 0 / $30
Gasoline: 0 / $100
Gifts: 0 / $10
Medical copays: $100 at dentist?

Total budgeted for January= $480
Total spent for January = $0

Goals:
No spend days 1 / 15
Declutter 0 / 5
Exercise 0 / 10
: Meal Plan! 0 / 4 weeks

Extra money set aside for March CLC course: $0 / $1000

1/1-

[Janey31]

Nearly the end of day two here, and I am not at all interested in spending. I don't plan on going to the shops until next Thursday, for a *small* grocery shop. Before that I need to pay electricity, but that's it.

I finished inputting December's budget last night and then planned for this month. There are a few major expenses this month, but I have goals for the month.

I am also going back to the cash system for groceries - I plan to take out my grocery and family member's allowances each week, then leave the debit card at home so I can't overspend.

So far:
Key: No spending at all ; Only necessary spending: ; Unplanned, unecessary spending:
1/ -
2/ - Allowance payout

[CariOfOz]

Originally Posted by CariOfOz

This is my first time giving this a try, so wish me luck!

Goals for the Month of January
1. 25days of no spending (not counting rent, groceries & required bills.. I mean misc spending)2/31
2. Unplanned spending 5 or fewer days: 0/5
3. Eat out as little as possible (we do friday fish & chips, so aiming for ONLY that: 0/31
4. 15 days with exercise in them: 0/15

Key:
- No Spend
- Planned Spend
- Unplanned Spend
- All meals eaten at home
- Exercise

Running Totals: Just keeping running totals on things that get out of hand for us... which is groceries, and misc unplanned spending! Dh has his van in to be serviced this coming weekend, which we hadn't budgeted for but is still required, so in here it goes.

Groceries: $16.00
Unplanned/Uneccessary spending: $10.78

Jan 1:

2. (milk, bread.. planned. lightbulb replacement $10 unplanned)
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[justamama]

Jan. 1- $4.28 on dog bones and baby asprin for sick dog, $23.56 on Godfather's.




No-Spend: 0/25
No-Drive: 0/20

KEY:
No-Spend:
No-Driving:
Sold something on Craigslist:

[workjw]

I've been lurking for a long time, and figure why not come out of hiding for the new year! So here goes....

a. Who you are - Wen, SAHM/WAHM of 2 (ages 6 and 2) - I farm at home in the summer, stay at home in the winter.

b. Where you are going (your financial goals) - Ultimately to get out of debt. Short term, I want to make it through the month with only 2 meals eating out, and 13 no spend days.

c. How do you plan to get there - one baby step at a time. My main to goals are meal planning and posting my spending. I'm hoping that if nothing else, having to post my results will wake me up, so my biggest goal is just to post everyday to this thread, even if I don't do well.

My key:
- no spend
- budgeted spending
- non-budget items

Jan 1 -

At least I can say I started the year out right!

[kings5queens4]

=no spending outside of budget
= spent when I shouldn't have


01- $11.99 I woke up to an email from ebay this morning telling me I won an auction for a diaper that I had bid on last week. Ack. So much for my no spending day start to a new year!
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[JayGee]

1 ~ $10, DH had to have ice cream , so I got 3/$10 at Kroger

[Kiernan]

I'm in! I need some accountability in the New Year...

Who you are: Kiernan, single mom of 3-year old DS. Coming off an awful year in which my ex passed away, so I'm a completely solo parent now.

Where are you going (financial goals): I want to live more calmly and simply in 2010. I also want to get rid of a second job that I took on when my ex lost his income last year. It should be possible now that I receive Social Security for my son, but I also need to cut down on unnecessary spending.

How do you plan to get there: No more credit cards! I'm awful with my credit card; I just put everything on it and pay no attention to how much I've already spent during the month. I don't want to use it at all in January except for things that are pre-billed (cable, Netflix etc). I'm going to take a certain amount of cash out each week, and just not buy anything when it's gone.

I also need to be more mindful about spending - for example, I thought yesterday was a no-spend day, but then I remembered I rented a $2.99 movie on cable for DS, which was completely unnecessary since there were many free things he would have been happy to watch. And I was thinking today would be a no-spend day since we're going to my parents - but I have to remember to avoid the toll road, which is easier but costs us $5 each trip. All those little things add up!

So far this year:

1/1: No spend
1/2: $2.99 movie rental

[meandk0610]

1 -
2 -


total
2
grocery 0/110