February No-Spend Challenge

[Smithie]

This post copied from Crunchy*VT*Mom with permission

This is a support thread to help you ~not spend your money~.

Everyone is welcome to join and you can start tracking your spending at any time. It doesn't have to be January 1st.

The plan is simple (although tough to execute):

1. Vow not to spend any money on unnecessary purchases.

2. Come on here everyday and record your spending.

We all record our spending in different ways. There are no rules. You record and update however you would like -- pick a way that will help you spend the least amount of money.

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

a. Who you are

b. Where you are going (your financial goals) and

c. How you plan to get there

Good luck MDCers!! Keep that money in your wallet.

[Smithie]

A. Hi! I'm Smithie, homeschooling SAHM to 3 kiddos

B. We have lots of big financial plans/dreams for 2010 (adoption, pay down mortgage, institute automated savings plan, save for Disneyworld).

C. Well, the fundamental premise is to finish in the black every month even after the the mortgage pay-down, and to save in some months for the adoption-related and vacation expenses. My stretch goal for February, a month where we have no huge bills coming in, is to save $1000 beyond our standard $200 savings and $700 mortgage pay-down.


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[scrapadoozer]

I need to be in this month. BBL with my info.

[KnittingKara]

a) I'm Kara and I haven't done one of these since the middle of last year

b) our goal is to pay down at least 1/3 of our total debt this year (more if possible!) and to be putting at least 25% of our income just toward debt ... which means we're living on less. We did pretty well in January until last weekend when I went a little crazy with the groceries (cleaning out our pantry and replacing the junk with REAL food ... but it probably didn't have to happen at all once, ywkim?) And I spent some money on Valentine's stuff when we had decided to go homemade this year I NEED to get us back on track this month - the WHOLE month

c) we've been using cash envelopes, creating a budget each month, and trying to institute a 24 hour "wait" rule before making purchases ... I'd like to throw in as many NO SPEND days each month as possible as another tool to help us reach our 2010 goals.

Looking forward to spending (or NOT spending) the month of February with all of you

[Smocked]

I'm in!

I'm Smocked and my goals are to be able to do cosmetic fixing in the house. I plan to get there by staying on track like we have been and living the same lifestyle we were living before we had the income that we have now

[Hollysmom]

a. Kristine WOHM to 3 girls

b. Last year wasn't the best for us financially so my goal this year is to learn to spend less and save more.

c. Really focus on not spending unnecessarily and getting our grocery bills down.

[lach]

I'm in! I failed last month, horribly. So I'm going to try again.

[bellabear]

a. Who you are: Michelle SAHM to one dd
b. Where you are going (your financial goals): Finally realized the huge debt I have created and am ready to get serious and pay it off, then start saving for the future. Plan is to save 6 month's living expenses, then on to debt.
c. How you plan to get there: No unnecessary spending, keep track of budget, meal planning.
2nd month on budget

Key:
- no spend
- necessary/budgeted spend
- unnecessary spend

Feb.
1. ( dh forgot lunch)
2.
3. tp and coffee at costco( dh coffee at work)
4. -groceries...needed some fruits
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6. -groceries for week
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8. -groceries (forgot eggs) supplies for dc
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13. -groceries for the week
14. pineapples for cake, dd supplies
15. books for dd
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[columbusmomma]

I'm back in!! Goal this month is to spend $100 less on food/grocery items. This will be a challenge!

= necessary expense
= no spending
= unnecssary spending

total food expense from january spending: $748.65

[Ruthiegirl]

a. Who you are

Ruth, student mom to three little people


b. Where you are going (your financial goals)


Knocking out $3,000 of credit card debt. Looking to work off $1000 of that debt this month.

c. How you plan to get there


Groceries, gas, utilities -- everything is budgeted. Assuming I stick to the budget, I will be able to make my $1000 goal.




Feb 1 -- .38 lollies for the kids
Feb 2 --
Feb 3 --
Feb 4 --


Goals:

0/1000.00 debt payment

[lakeruby]

I'm totally IN!

a. I'm not a mama yet but I hope to be soon...and that brings me to part b!
b. My financial goals include saving up $10K to prepare for having a baby (midwife expenses and maternity leave). I also want to pay down my student loan (possibly pay it off this year, depending on my tax return!) and keep paying $50 extra each month on my mortgage.
c. I plan to reach my financial goals by spending less money. I realized recently that I spend too much money... Etsy is one of my weaknesses, and I also spend too much on food. I am meal planning now, and I think that is helping, and I'm also tracking my expenses, so I can see where all my money is going. I hope to establish a proper budget at some point soon...Oh, and I am leaving my credit card at home now!

= no spending
= necessary spending
= unnecessary spending

1-
2- (oops! I used some money in my paypal account, though, so not out of pocket....still bad, though)
3- = paid mortgage and car insurance. But I also did some research on cheaper options for my car insurance, and I think I can cut my costs by $400/year by switching companies!
4- had to buy my lunch today because i was at a conference $4.50
5-
6- - groceries
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8- -- traded our hen eggs for fresh bread!
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[Biscuits & Gravy]

I am going to join this thread for the first time and see where it takes me.

a. Who you are: I am a SAHM to 2 boys. I worked until DS2 was born, so we took a cut to our income.

b. Where you are going (your financial goals): Right now my goal is to come up with an extra $200 a month. If I can start doing that we can move out of our townhome when the lease is up this summer and find a single family home with a yard. Our dog and kids need a yard. An extra $200 a month will open up more possibilities for rentals.

c. How you plan to get there: My plan is to figure out where I spend money unnecessarily and cut it out. If I can't find the money this way I will need to find a way to bring in some income.

= no spending
= necessary spending
= unnecessary spending
= unexpected but necessary spending

1-
2-
3- $30 copay and $65 medication for sick DS $36 gas, $40 BJs, $40 Earthfare (groceries, coffee, grocery staples)
4- $60 grocery store (weekly meal plan shopping) $30 copay for DS's follow up
5- $65 dryer repair
6- $30 groceries
7- Made $47 selling kid stuff to consignment
8-
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10- $23 Target
11- $16 amazon, valentine gifts for DSs
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13- $74 weekly grocery shopping
14- $20 grocery store for "sick" food
15- $38 Target
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[lil_earthmomma]

Hi I'm a student and mama to two boys (23 months old and 16 mo), I'm going to give this a go, as my spending seems to be a little wild these days (wild for me, that is!) and we don't have money for frivolous purchases. We're on an envelope system, and for the first time ran out of money before the month was done. Time to buckle down and reacquaint myself with self disciplined spending I guess.

As well, I have started watching some children and really want that money to go into savings rather than just becoming "extra" or play money.

Key:

no spend
budgeted spend
unneccesary spend
money into savings account

1. Groceries. We spent quite a bit of our monthly grocery money though, so now we have to be careful!
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[Turquesa]

a. Who you are

Hello. My name is Turquesa, and I'm a latte-holic. At least 2 per day while out and around the town. They cost the same as a full gallon of organic milk.

Sharing in this madness is my almost-3 year old DD, infant DS, and eternally patient DH.

b. Where you are going (your financial goals)

We're putting money aside for a new shed, a deck renovation, and....more pitter-patters of little feet.

c. How you plan to get there

Realistically. The latte habit will require a gradual weaning. This month:

1. Bake and pack snacks for toddler.
2. Lattes out 3x per week.
3. No more newstand magazines. No more books. Period.
4. > $150.00 on groceries per trip.

I miss doing this. So good to be back on board! Key:

= No spending
= Budgeted spending
= Non-budgeted spending
= Cooked or served leftovers
Here goes...

Feb 1: Latte and two scones. DD only ate 2 bites of hers. $8.00 ETA: It was payday today, and I just transferred a sizable amount into the savings account to ensure that I behave myself!

[caiesmommy]

I'm in this month! I haven't done one in quite awhile and REALLY need the push!

a. Who you are-Mama to 2 lo's. Work VERY part-time. Dh works full time+musican things on the side

b. Where you are going (your financial goals)-See where we are wasting money/use it in better ways

c. How you plan to get there-Cutting down on eating out/little store purchases

-No spend
-Budgeted spending
-Non budgeted spending

1.

[PNWmama]

I'm motivated this month and am joining!!!
a. Who you are
I'm Emilie, SAHM to 3 year old DS and 10 month old DD. My DH is a full time state employee. He doesn't make a ton and is having to take unpaid furlough days now because our state is strapped for cash

b. Where you are going (your financial goals)
We need to rebuild our emergency fund. It all got spent last year on medical expenses.

c. How you plan to get there

Make a budget and stick to it (made it out tonight!), use a cash envelope system so I don't go over budget. I put $200 towards our $1000 emergency fund today and hope to replenish it with our tax returns soon. After that I'll be putting $200 a month towards our grassfed beef and pork share fund. Once that is taken care of $200 a month will go towards extra emergency savings.

February:
key:
= budgeted spending
= unnecessary spending

1 -

[ALittleBitCrunchy]

Hello! I'm great at starting these but I get lost after a few updates because I can never keep track of my last post. Here's hoping that I do better this time

a. Who you are
I'm Stacy. *waves*

b. Where you are going (your financial goals)
Our plan is to be debt-free (except for the house) by the end of the year

c. How you plan to get there
We're dedicated and putting money away every chance we get!

[Smocked]

key:
no spend
budgeted spending
unnecessary spending

1.

[Terrilein]

a. I'm a mom to one with another on the way.

b. We are trying to make certain that we spend less than DP earns. He'd been very careless with his spending habits, but still managed to put away quite a bit into savings and into retirement. But it barely left anything left at the end of the month if he had a slow month at work. He always had extra cash when single, but now with a patchwork family, he's just now realized he needs to cut back in some areas and cut out absurd expenses.

c. How you plan to get there
Canceling everything that can be cancelled, budgeting, meal planning.

1. 39,49 € for groceries and drugstore items - approx. 12 € too much at the drugstore due to BS for carneval.
2. 0,00 €

[FillingMyQuiver]

I'm going to give this a try this month.

a. I'm Jenn, SAHM to 4 under 6.

b. We're looking to have our $14000 in cc debt paid off by the end of this year and then want to move onto our Suburban (still owe about $10000 on that). We've been debt free before, but 1.5yrs ago, DS2 was hospitalized for 2wks and we foolishly put the med bills on our cc We also bought our first home 2yrs ago, and the cc balance has just been creeping upward. DH and I sat down and outlined our financial goals and are now intent on meeting them. We also have a few home projects we want to tackle, and want to cash flow them instead of using that dreaded cc.

c. STAY OUT OF THE STORES!!! This is our big one. I've started meal planning again to combat our eating out habit, but we need to just stay out of the stores so we don't buy random cr@p. We use the cash envelope system, but have a tendency to just take out the cc if we go over budget. Not anymore. We HAVE to stick w/in our budget.

key:
no spend
budgeted spending
unnecessary/ non-budgeted spending

1.