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April No-Spend Challenge ~ We're in the home stretch... - Page 13

post #241 of 378
4/13/10 at 11:02am
Key:
- No Spend
- Planned Spend
- Savings (couponing)
- Unplanned Spend
- All meals eaten at home or shared with friends/family but didn't cost us anything
- Ate outside of the house (unplanned)
-Exercise Day
-No Driving
- Used cloth diapers
- hang clothes on line
- Decluttered stuff out of the house
- took Iron supplement & Vitamins
- DS sleeping in his room

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12 planned eat out for DH’s Birthday…we went to Chick fil-a! The high price celebrations of the unemployed..


Kym

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post #242 of 378
4/13/10 at 1:15pm
1-
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
6 -
7 -
8 -
9 - - took car in for oil change and had engine flushed. $50 more than expected. BUT groceries came in under budget. So not too bad.
10 -
11 -
12 -
post #243 of 378
4/13/10 at 3:10pm
Who you are:
Kate, WOHM to 2 boys and DH my super SAHP. We are spenders not very good savers. Impulse buying and fast food are our weaknesses.

Key:
= No Spend
= Budgeted Spending
= unplanned spending
= unplanned emergency spending
= days biked to work

April

1-
2- $114.00 goodwill for clothes for boys. lunch out
3 - $20 new pass for the local dump
4 - $20 for easter goodies
5 -
6 -
7 -
8 -
9 -
10 - $27 for rent of a chainsaw
11 - birthday spending at REI & Target for bike gear
12 -
13-

Goals:
Eat out (dinner or lunch):1/2
Groceries: $000/$500
Extra for CC: 0/$200
No Spend days: 8/20
post #244 of 378
4/13/10 at 6:59pm
no spend day =
no drive day =
budgeted spending =
unbudgeted spending =

1=missing ingredients for dinner caused a grocery run
2=
3=
4=
5=
6= fell sick again and bought lunch and dinner instead of cooking
7= snack for church meeting
8= took the car into the shop for what I thought would be a simple leaky hose but it turned out to be a major issue
9= ended up having to spend the night in the city while they figured out if they could get my car fixed quickly or not, had a free place to stay but had to buy lunch
10=, things have gotten a bit out of hand...
11= FINALLY!
12=
13= , took the kids for food after swimming lessons
14= took the dog to the vet
post #245 of 378
4/13/10 at 8:18pm
Thread Starter 
Weekends derail me.

Weekends are only 8 days...I'm going to keep focusing on the other 22 days of the month.

01.. sos
02.. sos
03.. --- $14 snacks out with my daughter, Latte from starbucks
04.. sos
05.. sos
06.. sos $10.55 McDonald's
07.. sos
08.. sos
09.. sos
10.. --- $28 Fancy shoes for my daughter
11.. --- $4 snacks
12.. sos
13.. sos $50 LLBean backpack and two lunchboxes
14..
15..

Goals for April

1. 10/30 Stay Out of Stores (sos)
2. 8/20 No Spend Days
post #246 of 378
4/13/10 at 8:22pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ambersrose View Post
took the kids for food after swimming lessons.
Kids are always starving after swimming. I spent $6 on bagels today for my crowd after we went hiking. But I think I'm not going to count that against me because I think of food as necessary. I know, I know...I could have spent less on something from home. But I'm still letting it slide. Hungry children can be very persuasive.
post #247 of 378
4/13/10 at 8:25pm
Goals for the Month of April
1. No unplanned spending: 13/30
2. No eating out that isn't already planned for: 12/28
3. Bring in extra money from my business: 0%
4. 450 items decluttered: 26/450
5. 13 days with exercise in them: 7/13

Key:
- No Spend or only planned spending
- Unplanned Spend
- All meals eaten at home or shared with friends/family but didn't cost us anything
- Planned eating out
- Ate outside of the house (unplanned)
- Decluttered stuff out of the house
- Exercise

Apr 11:
Apr 12:
Apr 12: (didn't get to the gym today so instead I did pilates for the first time... holy cow I can feel it ) x 4
post #248 of 378
4/13/10 at 8:32pm
Key:
no spend/ budgeted spending
unnecessary/ unbudgeted spending
hung laundry to dry

Goals for April
no spend days 9/20
eating out 1/3
hung laundry to dry 3/10


1.
2. ordered our homeschool curriculum for next year. I'm putting this here preemptively to encourage me to NOT SPEND when I go out later
3. $50 bread, eggs for dying, and the last of the Easter baskets things at WalMart
4.
5.
6. ordered the last of the things I need for DS1's dinosaur party, was able to stay under budget AND found an online coupon code to save on shipping, also ordered our sunblock/ bug spray for the year~ unprepared for how DS1's soccer practice being at 5:30pm would affect us and got McD's for dinner.
7.
8. ordered our math curriculum for next year, excited to get started planning next year's schooling
9. $15 on quick grocery trip
10. $$ at Costco, major grocery shop, overspent a bit on some snacks
11. $$ at party store. I only needed 1 thing, invitations, but of course the WHOLE family was w/ me, and DH saw a bunch of stuff he thought would be *great* for DS1's party : So we spent more than I planned on things I don't think we really needed
12.
13.

I'm pretty proud of myself. Soccer practice was today and I made sandwiches before we left. Packed a bag w/ them and some juice boxes and everyone ate on the way to practice. Didn't have to stop for dinner Now they're snacking on some banana and relaxing instead of shoveling fast food in their mouths.
post #249 of 378
4/13/10 at 10:20pm
04/01
04/02
04/03
04/04
04/05
04/06
04/07
04/08
04/09
04/10 Icing spatula, hole punch & cotton candy $6.47
04/11
04/12
04/13

$6.47 Frivolously spent
12/20 No-spend days
13/30 Not buying clothes for my kids days
$59.54/$100 Son's birthday (this is for everything, including gifts & food. I can do this!)
6/10 Loads of laundry hung out to dry
$154.38/$500.00 Groceries
post #250 of 378
4/13/10 at 11:29pm
Key:
- no spend day
- made a credit card payment
- allowed meal out/take out
- meal out/take out outside of planned $ and # of meals
- earned money/gift card from completing a survey

1st-
2nd- , -$8320 towards credit cards
3rd- -$13.10 Wendy's, spent $55 on birthday gifts
4th-
5th- -$5 gift card to CVS from surveys -$25 mexican takeout
6th-
7th-
8th- -$25 on pizza, spent $1.99 on a show from itunes
9th- , -check for $5.80 from surveys
10th-
11th- bought necessary household items (paper products, cleaning supplies)
12th-
13th--$17 on dinner - gyros - forgot to use a coupon

Totals for the month:
8/17 no spend days
$8320/$8800 credit card payments
4/6 meals out/take out
$80.10/$100 money spent on meals out/take out
$10.80/$10 money/gift cards earned from surveys
post #251 of 378
4/14/10 at 8:30am
Monthly Goals:
- rebuild Emergency Fund (had to dip into partially in March)
- get Debt Snowball Rolling again
- as many NO Spend days as possible
- Less than $500 Grocery budget this month. As of 4/13 $192.55

No Spend:
Planned Spend:
Unplanned Spend:

4/1:
4/2:
4/3:
4/4: got Starbucks $7.65
4/5:
4/6: [organic food box delivery day $101]
4/7:
4/8:
4/9:
4/10: (a few household items)
4/11:
4/12:
4/13: [food delivery day $73.90]
4/14:
4/15: [Tax Day and Pay Day]
4/16:
4/17:
post #252 of 378
4/14/10 at 9:17am
My key:
No Spend
No Driving
Budgeted Spending/Necessities/Thought Over Purchase
Unnecessary Spending
: Exercise Day

April 1st- :
April 2nd- so not thrilled I spent money today, but dd did truly need some clothes, got great deals and stayed within a reasonable amount
April 3rd- was a bit of and
April 4th-
April 5th-7th- ON VACATION, x3
April 8th-
April 9th- $270 Vet bill for sick dog otherwise
April 10th- Ate Dinner Out
April 11th- if I don't buy more groceries for the next 10 days like planned Spent a ton at the grocery store, but shopped for more days than usual
April 12th-
April 13th- Not budgeted for but spend money at Dave Ramsey Live last night on the kids kit, and a few other things. We will use them and I am so excited after last night so I am giving yesterday a
post #253 of 378
4/14/10 at 1:15pm
1-
2 -
3 -
4 -
5 -
6 -
7 -
8 -
9 - - took car in for oil change and had engine flushed. $50 more than expected. BUT groceries came in under budget. So not too bad.
10 -
11 -
12 -
13 - - had to go to the grocery store for just a couple of things, still well within weekly food budget.

Haven't bought lunch or breakfast because of failure to pack all month! It CAN be done! Who knew?!?!
post #254 of 378
4/14/10 at 3:26pm
Thread Starter 
Oooh...I wanted to stop at McDonald's for lunch today. But then I thought of ya'll and I didn't want to put that on here. So I'm clean today.

01.. sos
02.. sos
03.. --- $14 snacks out with my daughter, Latte from starbucks
04.. sos
05.. sos
06.. sos $10.55 McDonald's
07.. sos
08.. sos
09.. sos
10.. --- $28 Fancy shoes for my daughter
11.. --- $4 snacks
12.. sos
13.. sos $50 LLBean backpack and two lunchboxes
14.. sos
15..

Goals for April

1. 11/30 Stay Out of Stores (sos)
2. 9/20 No Spend Days
post #255 of 378
4/14/10 at 7:00pm
My key:
No Spend
No Driving
Budgeted Spending/Necessities/Thought Over Purchase
Unnecessary Spending
: Exercise Day

April 1st- :
April 2nd- so not thrilled I spent money today, but dd did truly need some clothes, got great deals and stayed within a reasonable amount
April 3rd- was a bit of and
April 4th-
April 5th-7th- ON VACATION, x3
April 8th-
April 9th- $270 Vet bill for sick dog otherwise
April 10th- Ate Dinner Out
April 11th- if I don't buy more groceries for the next 10 days like planned Spent a ton at the grocery store, but shopped for more days than usual
April 12th-
April 13th- Not budgeted for but spend money at Dave Ramsey Live last night on the kids kit, and a few other things. We will use them and I am so excited after last night so I am giving yesterday a
April 14th-
post #256 of 378
4/15/10 at 12:04am
Just a little update here. I haven't been keeping up here, but I found a notebook (stuffed in my book shelf rather than buying one ) and have been using that to write down every single little thing that I spend money on. I have found it actually a bit easier to keep track, and also a little less intimidating than writing it all out here. I just sort of feel a little funny putting financial info out here, so am doing it in my book. It is such an eye opener, and I think I am going to try to keep it up for a few months at least to try to see trends and also just to keep myself accountable.

Thanks mamas!
post #257 of 378
4/15/10 at 12:36am
[QUOTE=FillingMyQuiver;15295435]Key:
no spend/ budgeted spending
unnecessary/ unbudgeted spending
hung laundry to dry

Goals for April
no spend days 11/20
eating out 1/3
hung laundry to dry 4/10


1.
2. ordered our homeschool curriculum for next year. I'm putting this here preemptively to encourage me to NOT SPEND when I go out later
3. $50 bread, eggs for dying, and the last of the Easter baskets things at WalMart
4.
5.
6. ordered the last of the things I need for DS1's dinosaur party, was able to stay under budget AND found an online coupon code to save on shipping, also ordered our sunblock/ bug spray for the year~ unprepared for how DS1's soccer practice being at 5:30pm would affect us and got McD's for dinner.
7.
8. ordered our math curriculum for next year, excited to get started planning next year's schooling
9. $15 on quick grocery trip
10. $$ at Costco, major grocery shop, overspent a bit on some snacks
11. $$ at party store. I only needed 1 thing, invitations, but of course the WHOLE family was w/ me, and DH saw a bunch of stuff he thought would be *great* for DS1's party : So we spent more than I planned on things I don't think we really needed
12.
13.
14.
post #258 of 378
4/15/10 at 7:41am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pumpkin_Pie View Post
have been using that to write down every single little thing that I spend money on.
That's what I do too, Kim. I have a little composition notebook (tiny) that fits in my wallet and I keep it next to the money. So everytime I take out money -- there is the book.
post #259 of 378
4/15/10 at 7:42am
Thread Starter 
My bookclub is meeting at a restaurant tonight so I'll be spending money. But I'm still going to work on staying out of stores today.


01.. sos
02.. sos
03.. --- $14 snacks out with my daughter, Latte from starbucks
04.. sos
05.. sos
06.. sos $10.55 McDonald's
07.. sos
08.. sos
09.. sos
10.. --- $28 Fancy shoes for my daughter
11.. --- $4 snacks
12.. sos
13.. sos $50 LLBean backpack and two lunchboxes
14.. sos
15.. sos $$$$ dinner out with my bookies

Goals for April

1. 12/30 Stay Out of Stores (sos)
2. 9/20 No Spend Days
post #260 of 378
4/15/10 at 9:44am
1:
2:
3: (lunch out: a whopping $45!)
4:
5: ($33 on "stuff"- caulking, door stops, helmet for DS)
6:*
7:
8:
9:*
10:
11:*
12: ($7.05 on treats and silicone caulking)
13: ($3.00 tea and cookies on the road)
14:

Un-budgetted spending: $88.08
*spent $1-3 of "budget leftovers"

I've never tracked all this floating away money so carefully. It's crazy how it all adds up!
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Mothering › Mothering Discussion Forums › Natural Family Living › The Mindful Home › Frugality & Finances › April No-Spend Challenge ~ We're in the home stretch...