~ October No-Spend Challenge ~ The treat is having money in the bank. The trick is keeping it... - Page 11

[mamadelbosque]

Hi there, I'm jumping in here kinda late, but DH & I have agreed recently that we need to *STOP SPENDING MONEY* Period. We just bought a new (to us!) jeep wrangler and for the first time, ever in our lives, owe money (well, I have a cc that currently has around $900 on it that needs paying off, but I've basicly always paid my cc off up till now..) - $11,000 to exact. :aah And we just found out that my car needs a new timing belt (honda civic - so n, not optional And thats going to be like $700. And our car insurance is coming up in dec, and that'll be like $800. And the jeeps going to need new tires here sometime shortly (hopefully we can make them last till at least xmas...). And just... yeah. And, my DH is in college full-time and only working pt, and I haven't worked in four years (!!). So... yeah, we're tight on cash. So, I'm trying to avoid going anywhere unless absolutely neccasary, and thereby saving $$...

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Welcome Emily! We're glad to have you aboard. Sorry to hear about all the sudden car expenses though.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

01..
02.. $5 starbucks
03.. $5 starbucks
04.. $7 McDonald's
05.. $1 coffee
06.. $406 shoes for myself and DD, Christmas presents
07.. , finally! a day without grabbing coffee out
08.. ,
09.. ,
10.. $52 vera bradley bag and teapot lamp, $5 starbucks
11.. ,
12.. , ,
13.. $27 Christmas gifts,
14.. ,
15.. ,
16.. $85 Gap for some kick-booty jeans and workout clothes
17.. $5.39 Starbucks
18.. $5 candy at the grocery store
19.. , ,
20.. ,
21..
22..
23..
24..
25..
26..
27..
28..
29..
30..
31..

My Goals:

10/15 No Spend Days
2/3 Let the Car Rest Days
10/25 Fast Food Free Days

[nadia105]

4:
5: $34 pizza
6:
7:
8: $5 lunch
9: $8 fancy coffees, $12 dinner
10:
11: Gap trip of shame $250, $18 lunch
12:
13:
14:
15:
16: $30 pizza
17:
18: $9 coffees
19: $12 lunch
20: $4 ice cream

132/$200 eating out

[Turquesa]

Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom

Turquesa -- I'm sorry to hear that.

Oh, in the long run it will be for the better. That wouldn't have been planned anyway.

I'm just wondering HTH a false positive is possible! I had that negative blood test, and now AF is here (definitely not a miscarriage!). Strange...

[scrapadoozer]

10/01
10/02
10/03
10/04 $15 Handsome duds for DS.
10/05 $12.15 Clearance clothes for me at Old Navy
10/06
10/07
10/08
10/09
10/10
10/11
10/12
10/13: Anniversary spending does not count.
10/14
10/15
10/16
10/17 $42.84 Clothes for DS
10/18
10/19
10/20

16/20 No-spend days
16/31 Not buying clothes days
$69.99 Frivolously spent

[mommyto4grits]

My Key:
Budgeted, planned spending (includes groceries, gas, other necessary or well planned items- NOT impulse items)
No Spend
No Drive
Impulse, Unnecessary Spending
Eat Out

Oct.1- Groceries, consumables, and gas
Oct.2- rest of grocery shopping DH and I had a date night, I think dinner was overpriced, but it was good. And DH got steak, which I never make.
Oct.3-
Oct.4-
Oct.5-- Gymnastics and Art classes for the month for dd
Oct.6- haircut for dd but it was a missions dinner at church so I am giving it a
Oct.7- Feels like I spent a small fortune, $300 total on Costco (includes our $50 renewal), CVS, Target, and 2 Grocery Stores. I used coupons and took advantage of sales. Was out of Zyrtec, dog food, and some other big $$ items. Hopefully I can stay out of the stores for anything other than some produce and milk for 2 weeks!

Oct.8- Went to a local library book sale, spent waay more than I wanted, but we homeschool and will use everything and it was a good deal so I need to give myself a break! Picked up Chinese for me, DH and the girls are out for the evening so I splurged.
Oct.9-
Oct.10-
Oct.11- did spend $221 on car repairs, but I am calling it a no spend day because I didn't go into one store, shop online, etc.
Oct.12- Only because my best friend who is moving in a week asked us to join her family at Chick Fil A for kids eat free night. So I'm not thrilled we ate out, but I'm letting it go..
Oct.13-
Oct.14- had a wonderful dinner with friends we treated my bff to dinner out since she is moving
Oct.15-
Oct.16-
Oct.17-
Oct.18- bought snacks for the road for a trip we are now not taking. They will get eaten regardless, but still would have rather waited to buy them. Bought other items, and had a night out with our homeschool group, paid for dinner for myself
Oct.19-
Oct.20-

[SilverFish]

9/15 no spend days
1/8 art/work days
4/4 eat-out days
unnecessary/unbudgeted spending

$400/$400 groceries
$240/$300 discretionary spending

1. groceries
2.
3.
4. library fines.
5. applied for two part-time jobs, and made my (hopefully) last ever diaper order today for $98.
6. $10 for movie and snack at moms and babies movie day, plus nearly half a tank of gas to drive across the city and back.
7. !
8. ... went shopping for thanksgiving dinner supplies, and i didn't even get dessert yet.
9.
10. nanny took us clothes shopping!
11.
12.
13. $10 for city fees and a coffee
14. $30 at the fabric store for gifts
15. $10 at harveys on the road to my parents
16. $10 starbucks!! and $15 for dinner with an old friend
17.
18.
19. ... not really though. i spent $77 on a pair of boots today. it wasn't exactly in the budget, but considering i have one pair of close-toed shoes that actually fit, it was kind of a good thing i found such a nice pair.
20. had a lunch and snack packed for my train trip today, but the train was delayed by over two hours and it just wasn't enough food to tide me over while trying to entertain an 8 month old for 7 hours! so there went about $10 on overpriced snacks.
21.
22.
23. $117 on groceries... shouldn't be a problem to make them last until november, so i met one of my goals this month!! $10 on seconds diaper covers.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

while trying to entertain an 8 month old for 7 hours

wow. That WOULD be tough. Traveling can be frustrating.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

I have no plans to leave my house today with the exception of teaching a class at the gym. But there is nothing to buy there, so I should be safe.

The kids are out of school today and we are going to spend it raking leaves and cleaning out the garage.

01..
02.. $5 starbucks
03.. $5 starbucks
04.. $7 McDonald's
05.. $1 coffee
06.. $406 shoes for myself and DD, Christmas presents
07.. , finally! a day without grabbing coffee out
08.. ,
09.. ,
10.. $52 vera bradley bag and teapot lamp, $5 starbucks
11.. ,
12.. , ,
13.. $27 Christmas gifts,
14.. ,
15.. ,
16.. $85 Gap for some kick-booty jeans and workout clothes
17.. $5.39 Starbucks
18.. $5 candy at the grocery store
19.. , ,
20.. ,
21.. ,
22..
23..
24..
25..
26..
27..
28..
29..
30..
31..

My Goals:

11/15 No Spend Days
2/3 Let the Car Rest Days
11/25 Fast Food Free Days

[applecider]

1. $17 tea/snacks
2. $20 groceries, $70 supplements, $28 gift
3. $30 car breaks, $9 took myself out to lunch!
4.
5.
6. $150 groceries EEEK!! Guess that's what happens when you scrimp for a month, had to stock up on some basics.
7.
8. pizza out, snacks at store $
9. out with DP but didn't spend much, one drink each, then ice cream
10. out with DP $$
11. Corn maze and pumpkin patch, out to lunch $$$$$
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17. $$$$$$ Costco, Groceries etc.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.

FYI - On another note, I changed my username. I was cody'smomma.

[fustian]

1.
2. Groceries, gas, and $200 at the gardening centre on supplies.
3. and one more bag of clutter out the door!
4. Vaccinations for the dogs $200.
5.
6. garden supplies (and that should be it!) didn't pass up a sale on cloth diapers for the new LO. Granted, I needed some new cloth wipes, and they were on sale. But I did not need the on sale AIOs .
7.
8.
9. groceries & gas almost $20 on craft supplies for DD.
10.
11.
12.
13. dog food and dog bed for our arthritic dog. This wasn't budgeted, but the vet said we should get him a really soft bed as it would help with his joints. Pay day == $200 auto deposited into savings.
14. $9 lunch at Wendy's. My treat for doing the three our GTT, which - according to the lab today - I shouldn't have had to do at all, since for my one hour they gave me the 75g glucose drink, not the 50g glucose drink, which may have explained why my results were 7 points too high .
15. $45 on clothes for DD from lands end overstocks AND $40 dinner out with DH. Sigh.
16. groceries and gently used snow jacket & pants for DD from MEC online swap
17. gas and two more bags of clutter out the door.
18. (kind of ... I did take DD to a toy shop so she could spend the $20 she'd been given as a gift - but that wasn't *our* money)
19. Total splurge on myself to the tune of $70 on books I wasn't able to get at the local library
20.
21. (Thinking positive here. There's no reason for us to spend money today!)

I may get to my goal after all. Although, this weekend is the annual antiquarian book fair in our city. Which is *not* a good thing for my budget. I'm torn on what to do about it, since it's a tradition that I go with my parents (we're all book collectors) and my ability to resist a nice edition of something is low.

11/15 no spend days
$200/$400 added to savings
4/5 bags of clutter gone

Legend:
No spend
Only planned/budgeted spending
Unnecessary / unplanned spending

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

antiquarian

I've never heard that term before. Does it mean someone who collects antique books?

[scrapadoozer]

10/01
10/02
10/03
10/04 $15 Handsome duds for DS.
10/05 $12.15 Clearance clothes for me at Old Navy
10/06
10/07
10/08
10/09
10/10
10/11
10/12
10/13: Anniversary spending does not count.
10/14
10/15
10/16
10/17 $42.84 Clothes for DS
10/18
10/19
10/20
10/21

17/20 No-spend days
17/31 Not buying clothes days
$69.99 Frivolously spent

[fustian]

Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom

I've never heard that term before. Does it mean someone who collects antique books?

Generally, it's supposed to mean rare/old "antique" books. Although, in terms of book fairs it tends to mean any used book fair that's mostly "rarer" books (some antique, some modern firsts, some just nice editions of books).

I'm a sucker for nice editions of books that I love. I buy my share of first editions, but I'm generally looking for good copies of books that I've only been able to track down in paperback new. Then there's the odd little books that are out of print. It's always exciting to find something by one of your favourite authors that you've never seen before.

It's a silly way to spend money, really, since I'm unlikely to sit down and read most of the books that I buy in the next little while. But, for some reason, I take great comfort in my library. Probably because it reminds me of happy times in my childhood.

[blake201]

I'm late to this, but would like to join--I can add my historical info from Mint.com!

a. Who you are: I'm a full-time working mom to a 4-month old baby girl. Hubby lost his job and just has a temp job right now, so most of our income and all of our healthcare, etc, is through my job. My mother watches the baby during the day.

b. Where you are going (your financial goals) and
* I want to cut our spending by at least 30% so that I can take a 20% paycut and ask to work only 4 days per week (just enough to keep health benefits).
* I'd like to cut our spending even MORE to save up for a downpayment on an apartment (we rent right now).
* And even MORE to pay off our student loan debt (we are debt-free now except for the student loans).

c. How you plan to get there
Been working on this for a while--my husband and I have already paid off $13,000 in credit card bills and $20,000 in student loans over the last few years. We'll be super-frugal for a while--all homemade lunches and dinners, no buying random stuff, no using credit cards, canceling our cable TV, etc--and then we fall off the wagon and start buying random little things left and right, and then bigger things... And then there's an unexpected emergency or medical bill... and when I was pregnant and post-partum I was too tired and ill to cook, etc. And suddenly we're spending nearly every penny we earn (though at least never MORE than we earn like before). Anyway, the plan is:

* Put the credit cards away. Just don't carry them.
* Agree with my husband before making any debit card purchases.
* Pack lunch and make dinner everyday (my mom helps with this). Use more food from the pantry instead of going crazy with grocery shopping each week.
* Get all books from the library (I'm a crazed bookworm and our apartment is OVERFLOWING with over 1500 books in 850 square feet).
* Finally, every time I'm about to buy anything, I think about how I cry when I have to leave my daughter to go to work in the morning. Every $ I spend is one more bit of my time I have to spend away from her, because that means I have to work to earn it.

[Turquesa]

= No spend or budgeted spending
= Unnecessary/unbudgeted spending
= No-drive day
= Had tea today
= Hung clothes on the line.

1. Ran errands. Forgot to pack snacks. Crashed with hunger and went to TCBY. Ugh! What a start. But . . .
2. $20.00 wine for party, $16.00 haircut for DH
3.
4.
5. $33.00 gas, 50 cents thrift store toy for DD
6. $4.92 at TCBY (unnecessary), $18.00 to replace items that dog broke (long story), and necessary, CHEAP groceries at $98.00.
7. Budgeted lunch at 10.49.
8. 31.00 dog food, paid 2 utility bills
9. $5.40 latte and snack at coffee shop. Why oh why do all of my meetings have to take place in these pricey establishments? I really need to start hosting them in my house...
10. $7.00 yarn to knit DD's Christmas present "
11. $10.00 on excesses at the zoo (feeding goats, carousel rides, wagon rental). We have a year-long pass, so I talk myself into using it into getting my money's worth. Then we get screwed on all of the extras they throw at you when you get there. $2.50 chai tea at another coffee shop meeting.
12. Knitting needles to make Christmas present, $9.00, groceries for $104.00.
13. 5.00 ice cream (unbudgeted), $6.00 bouncy castle admission (budgeted)
14. $20.00 Halloween costumes (DD's was firsthand, but I can reuse the shirt and tights, budgeted lunch at $10.00
15. No-spend payday.
16. Out to dinner with DH, $40.00. I won't be too hard on myself though because A) Childcare was free (my friends and I swap off), B) this was our first date since...since........ and C) I had to get out of the house to tell him that, um, (!!!)
17. $84.00 in groceries!!!!!
18. $55.00 craft supplies for Christmas gifts. So much for the frugality of making presents. I really hope this stuff "pays for itself" some day.
19. $20.00 used jammies for DS, used sweater for DD.
20. $6.00 more crap for Christmas gifts.
21.
22. Don't ask $6.50 dribbled in unbudgeted spending.
23. because I forgot to pack snacks when I ran errands--$5.88 at espresso drive-thru. 35.00 in Christmas gifts, $115 in groceries.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.

[Turquesa]

Originally Posted by blake201

* Finally, every time I'm about to buy anything, I think about how I cry when I have to leave my daughter to go to work in the morning. Every $ I spend is one more bit of my time I have to spend away from her, because that means I have to work to earn it.

That's sad, but really sweet. I think that is a good attitude to take: This purchase will cost 2 hours worth of bull$#%$% that I put up with at work (or even if you like your job, two hours away from your DD). Sometimes it actually is worth it....but it's pretty rare IME!

ETA: Welcome aboard, by the way. You WILL see results here. Even during a bad month, I'm a lot better off with this thread than without it.

[nwmomof2]

Haven't been here in a while. Getting a bit burned out on recording my spending, but I'll try to finish the month out... I know I don't have everything here, but this is what I have...

23. In the past 5 days... $75 groceries, $180 household (Halloween, b'day presents, crafting stuff for kids, new bread maker) $35 running shoes for DD7, $59 eating out.

24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.

Goals:
$411/$500 groceries
$80/$50 eating out
1/1 Costco trip
No Target trips this month
$500/$500 added to savings

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

01..
02.. $5 starbucks
03.. $5 starbucks
04.. $7 McDonald's
05.. $1 coffee
06.. $406 shoes for myself and DD, Christmas presents
07.. , finally! a day without grabbing coffee out
08.. ,
09.. ,
10.. $52 vera bradley bag and teapot lamp, $5 starbucks
11.. ,
12.. , ,
13.. $27 Christmas gifts,
14.. ,
15.. ,
16.. $85 Gap for some kick-booty jeans and workout clothes
17.. $5.39 Starbucks
18.. $5 candy at the grocery store
19.. , ,
20.. ,
21.. ,
22.. $6 McDonald's (just for the kids, not me)
23.. $3 Starbucks (just for me, not the kids...haha!)
24..
25..
26..
27..
28..
29..
30..
31..

My Goals:

11/15 No Spend Days
2/3 Let the Car Rest Days
11/25 Fast Food Free Days