~January No-Spend Challenge~ Let's start 2010 out with a bang! Everyone is welcome to join at any... - Page 4

[liangel]

My key:

= groceries

= necessities like gas and stuff for baby.

=No money left my pocket

=Oops! Spent money.


1/1=
1/2= $8.00 Movies
1/3=

[scrapadoozer]

01/01
01/02 $6.20 Dunkin Donuts, $8.82 swap shipping
01/03

2/20 no-spend days
$15.02 frivolous spending
$0.00 put in savings account

[lucifugous]

major mama: what have you tried? Have you consulted these charts? Children are commonly sensitive to enzymes, which are still in free & clear type detergents.

Well, so far so good here! Grocery spending was imperfect. When we were planning it became obvious that separating our groceries is not going to be easy. My mom and I shopped separately and simultaneously and she got her "extras" but nothing for any meals (she had two planned but some of the ingredients weren't looking good), so I guess it all falls on me again? In the past I ran out my link card about 2/3 of the way thru the month and then she would pay for the rest. Now I have to stay within that budget (which is supposed to be for myself & D) but it sure seems like I still have to feed everyone else too! Hmmmm... not sure what to do about that. I need to be able to have leftovers that don't disappear on us :/ Then, it was hectic at the checkout and I forgot to hand over coupons worth $3 I think they might adjust it for me if I go back tomorrow, tho.

Goals and Amounts for January
29 days with no unnecessary spending: 3/29
Half the month with no spend days: 3/31
No eating out that I pay for all month: 3/31
5 items decluttered /day plus /item in: 108/210
Eat well within food budget: $65/$280
Set expenses estimated: /$400
Track travel expenses: $0
Unnecessary spending: $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: 3/31
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:
Jan 2: Cheese and bread we needed because our ride to the grocery store got cancelled.
Jan 3: Finally got the grocery store and did a HUGE shop. Shouldn't need a whole lot for the rest of the month

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): $5.00
Groceries: $232.59
Unplanned/Uneccessary spending: $0.00

[*green*faery*]

I'm excited to join in and I'm hoping to actually save for the first time ever in 2010!!

a. I’m Erin. SAHM to two little boys ages 4 and 19mo and wife to a hard working dh

b. This year we will finally be out of CC debt and for the first time ever start to save! We want to have a no-spend year (basically) and stay on a tight budget. I am hoping to save enough to start a much needed remodel on our bathroom (we have 2 half baths!!) in 2011!!!

c. We have set a goal for this year to only spend money on necessities, and anything 'extra' (like gifts, shoes, etc) has to be from money not from our regular income (so I will sale on ebay, craigslist & maybe get a few babysitting jobs) I will try to buy anything we ‘need’ used or make it (lots of yarn and fabric around here). Cutting our grocery budget is our main area to save, I’m hoping my goals are realistic!! I am meal planning, writing out all grocery list and marking off things when it goes too high! Trying to drive less, and I think the biggest, most important and challenging thing is to be prepared, organize, and plan ahead, because when I don’t it cost $$!!!

No Spend
neccessary spending
No drive
uneccessary spending

1
2 groceries (my dh picked up, $33, not our usual grocery day)
3 needed some lanolin!! ($10)
4
5neccessary (grocery day)
6neccessary (Farmers Market)
7neccessary (more groceries because my dh forgot a few)
8 didn't plan day well and ate fast food!
9 whoops more groceries
10

Groceries/food $320/500
(I should note that this total is acually for dec24-jan21 because we budget based on when we get paychecks)
Savings 380/1000

Dh works at a grocery store..good to get 10% discount, bad because he 'picks up a few more things' a lot!

On a good note, I got a baby sitting job starting next week which will bring in $320 a month! If all goes well that will go into savings!

[CariOfOz]

Goals for the Month of January
1. 25days of no spending (not counting rent, groceries & required bills.. I mean misc spending)3/31
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: and (milk, bread.. planned. lightbulb replacement $10 unplanned)
3. Didn't even leave home today
4. 19.00 diesel.. dh started back to work today

[maggiemae]

Do you all count what your partner spends or are you just tracking your own spending?


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

Jan 1
Jan 2
Jan 3 groceries
Jan 4 gas

[sweetjasmine]

Originally Posted by lucifugous

Then, it was hectic at the checkout and I forgot to hand over coupons worth $3 I think they might adjust it for me if I go back tomorrow, tho.

I've done this a couple of times. It irritates me because I pay for groceries with my debit card but then when I forget to hand over the coupons (which were actually in my purse both times) it means I have to go to customer service and they redeem them for me in cash. But psychologically I would rather see the discounted amount in my checkbook. But that's just me, maybe I'm weird that way.

a. Who you are - I'm Aileen, wife to hubby, stepmom to five kids, two youngest stay with us part time; I have one daughter and a 4 year old grandson, 9 month old granddaughter and another one on the way!!

b. Where you are going (your financial goals) - get medical bills paid off this year, cc paid off, car loan paid off hopefully this year, too. Also, build up the 3-6 month living expenses.

c. How you plan to get there - continue keeping grocery bill and non-essential spending down. Extra paycheck we have coming this month will go toward the medical bills.

necessary spend
no spend
unnecessary spend

January
1.
2. groceries 80, gas 19 (yay, i didn't go ANYWHERE else to spend money!!)
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

[_ktg_]

I fell off the wagon completely in December (both in posting here & spending!)
but I am back!!
a. Who you are I'm Kate, WOHM to a couple of boys and my partner DH is a SAHD.

b. Where you are going (your financial goals): We have 24k in debt, between student loans for DH and our credit cards. We are working a loose version of DR (principles) and getting it down a bit at a time. This month is crucial for DH & I and we're going to try to literally not touch our personal cash this month. We're also finally putting away our 1 CC and debit card to really not touch our $$ at all! I would love to have the goal to put an extra $200 to our CC payment each month to start to get rid of this horrid loan (highest payment, lowest balance).

c. How you plan to get there: We are committing to not spending this month, except for I have a yoga class ($30) and DH has activities with the kiddos. We're limiting eating out (especially DH and the kids) and then trying to pick the healthy alternatives (only cousins or subway are ok on our list now). I'm only going to track myself as it gets crazy to track both DH & I in one list. I am also putting a reminder in my work calendar to post here daily. More accountability is the kick in the pants I need to blast this debt! blam-o!

ktg's January 2010 goals:
Eat out (dinner or lunch): 0 days
Groceries: $500
Extra for CC: $200
No Spend days: 20

Key:
No Spending:
Budgeted Spending:
Unnecessary Spending
Emergency/Unnecessary Spending:
Exercise:

1- (Happy New Year!)
2- $376 costco
3- $94 Target
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[_ktg_]

Originally Posted by maggiemae

Do you all count what your partner spends or are you just tracking your own spending?

I tried with DH & the kiddos (he's a SAHD) and I got overwhelmed, or forgot to ask or he didn't know what he bought in the day.

Its easier now with cash because when its gone, its gone. period.

[EnglishRose]

(Coming out of lurkdom and inactivity due to lack of internet service! )

a. Who you are: I am Elizabeth, mumma to 9 great children (his, mine and ours! My brother says we're the Brady bunch and a half!)

My husband has a Master's degree in Finance, and just started teaching (as of this Fall) some classes at the university. Before that, he had been the in-house accountant at a real estate firm that failed when the "housing bubble" burst. I was able to get a job with the school district as a lunch lady..., but things were reallllly tight.

Then, we had our 9th baby , and I had to quit my job. Then things were extreeeeemly tight.

My husband and I both have Student Loan debt, but we managed to not create any more debt for ourselves by living very frugally on our savings, our garden and our food storage, rather than using credit cards.


b. Where you are going (your financial goals) Now that we have more of an income than just my husband's unemployment and my part-time salary, I want to get back on track. I want to restock my year's supply of food, toiletries, et cetera, and build up a savings account balance of at least $25,000. By the end of 2010.


c. How you plan to get there Mostly by not spending. I had sort of a mini "falling off the wagon" moment at the GoodWill this week end. I took some things to donate, and thought I'd peek inside to see if they had any footie pajamas that would fit my 9-year-old daughter (apparently, all the cool grade 3-ers are wearing footie pajamas...) They did have 2 pairs in really good condition, so I bought them.

But (and here's where I fell off the wagon) I also bought 4 pairs of jeans, some shirts, a pair of brand-new bedroom slippers, some capris for summer, a pair of brand new tennis shoes, 2 sets of long-john pajamas, 2 fleece bath robes, 9 brand new cotton vests (I think you call them "undershirts"), 2 pairs of cotton leggings, a package of socks and 3 hoodies (one of them a Hollister) for the tribe.

In my own defense, I must say that I spent $71.03 for all my GoodWill purchases, and got some really nice clothes for my children....

I think if I come here every day, it will keep me accountable, and I'll be less likely to fall off the wagon again.

[splath]

I'm in. My goal is to spend no out of pocket on new clothes for myself, dh or dd or household things (so only thrift shopping, and only if *needed* not just wanted). We have a list of "needs" we're saving for, and I'm saving Amazon GCs through a swagbucks account for my "needs" (a pressure canner, camera lens and a cookbook I've been wanting).
I'd also like to do well with menu planning and cooking from the pantry/freezer this month, so I'd like to pare down our grocery shopping.

So far so good for this month, although I really wanted to go window shopping yesterday, I stopped myself, as I always end up buying "something."

[workjw]

- no spend
- budgeted spending
- non-budget items

Jan 1 -
Jan 2 - grocery
Jan 3 - $15.20 on lunch out with the fam
Jan 4 -

On a positive note, I do have all my meals planned out for the next week, and I stayed under budget by cleaning out the freezer.

[Kiernan]

So far (almost four whole days!), so good!

My key:
No spend:
Planned spend:
Unplanned spend:
Credit card use:

1/1:
1/2: $2.99 movie rental
1/3:
1/4:

Wednesday will be the test ... it's my day off, and I have to stock up on groceries, gas, and some household items. All planned spending, I just need to not be tempted by anything extra.

[minsca]

I've always wanted to join, but haven't. Hoping that joining will keep me accountable and able to stay on budget.

a. Who you are

Pam - SAHM of 3

b. Where you are going (your financial goals)
Spent way too much in Dec and used up any savings I had built up since Sept. So I now have $379.19 left to use for food and gas this month. Since I don't want to start using the cc now that it's paid off my goal is to only spend what money I have left in the bank this month. And then next month start saving again.
Bills are all paid for the month so its just food and gas that we "need".

c. How you plan to get there
Keeping within my budget, and writing down every last penny we spend and what we spend it on.

Goals for the Month of January
1. 5 Planned spending days 0/5
2. Unplanned spending days: 0/0
3. Exercise days 0/20

Key:
- No Spend
- Planned Spend
- Unplanned Spend
- Exercise

1
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3
4
5 $15 on food but it was with $130 that I "found" (finally did our last payment to dell last month)
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[scrapadoozer]

01/01
01/02 $6.20 Dunkin Donuts, $8.82 swap shipping
01/03
01/04

3/20 no-spend days
$15.02 frivolous spending
$0.00 put in savings account

[Smithie]

More awesome news. My property taxes of $1200 are due. I knew this, but had been living in a state of blissful denial as I made up my 2010 budget.

Budget for January 2010: $5177
Actually spent in January 2010: $167.28

[dentmom]

I'm not quite so organized, but the only spending so far has been postage for stuff I traded for the new baby! Yay!

[HappyLittleHouse]

Please write an introductory message when you decide to join our thread. We would like to know:

a. Who you are
I'm a SAHM with a 4 yo boy and 16 mo girl.

b. Where you are going (your financial goals) and
My 2010 goal is to save 25% of our income, $6,000.

c. How you plan to get there
I'm blogging about it. Lots of saving, cutting costs, and finding creative ways to earn more money so we can end up ahead.

***

1. $1,000 - rent
2. $0
3. $1 - newspaper
4. $76 - car insurance; $79.03 - groceries (food stamps)

[lucifugous]

Kate, unemployed single mama to D

Goals and Amounts for January
29 days with no unnecessary spending: 4/29
Half the month with no spend days: 3/31
No eating out that I pay for all month: 4/31
5 items decluttered /day plus /item in: 113/220
Eat well within food budget: $65/$280
Set expenses estimated: /$400
Track travel expenses: $0
Unnecessary spending: $0[/QUOTE]

1-
2-
3-bought groceries , used close to 1/4 of monthly budget
4- returned a couple Christmas gifts, now have $37 store credit at JCPenney's
5-
6-
7-
8-
9-