~November No-Spend Challenge~ Don't let little purchases gobble gobble up your savings! Come... - Page 2

[Youngfrankenstein]

[QUOTE=MrsTittlemouse;16006327] Note to self- lasagna is NOT a budget friendly dish.
Since I am just starting to budget I am adding
QUOTE]

Maybe..but that means you're making it right. I get sick and tired of articles and shows telling you how you can slash your grocery budget and they end up telling you to eat nasty food.

On Oprah once, there was a woman who fed a family of 6 on less than $5.00. She said it was really tasty....Oprah kind of gave her a funny look...how great can it be?

[diana_of_the_dunes]

Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom

Welcome Diana! sorry to hear about the declining emergency fund. Car repairs are just plain irritating. That was very kind of you to take care of your dog that way.

Is this a hobby for you? Because if you enjoy looking for bargains on ebay, and what you find are actually bargains -- then I would not be so hard on yourself.

Your children are ~always~ going to need clothes. What if you changed this habit from looking for baby clothes (which you probably have plenty of) to looking for cute size 2T 3T 4T clothes?

Then you get to continue doing what you clearly enjoy -- recognizing that for many people (and this may be you) this is a hobby -- but you are also planning ahead and dressing your children in quality clothing. Gymboree stuff doesn't go out of style quickly...those are nice clothes. In three years your baby will still be dressed nicely in the bargains you are finding today.

Plus eventually you can change your hobby from shopping for gymboree stuff on ebay to SELLING your baby stuff on ebay.

I agree about car repairs being irritating... We just had it in about 2 months ago for suspension work, and it's back in again for some more. I do trust my mechanic, but it makes me crazy that they couldn't have seen this repair coming. Oh well. Part of the fun of owning a 10 year old car, right?

The Gymboree clothes... Yeah, it's part hobby, part frugality. I have bought second-hand clothes for DS since he was born, and have only bought maybe 10 new outfits. He grew SO fast at first, and is now up to 18 and (mostly) 24 month clothes at 13 months old. I could probaby buy 2T and 3T clothes for any/all seasons, since he's really slowed down. I'm just afraid of buying stuff that he won't ever wear because it's the wrong size for the season. But for this month, at least, I'm done.

[fustian]

Who I am:
Sarah, WOHM of DD 3 and DS coming in January.

Where you are going (your financial goals):
I'd like to put away $700 / month in savings outside of retirement savings. ($300 to go for an upcoming furnace replacement and $400 in other medium term savings). Since the front porch replacement didn't happen last month (do these things ever get done on time?), I'm hoping to come up with the $3600 payment when that's finished (which *will* be this month, right?) without dipping into our savings.

Ways to meet my goals:
This month is going to be tough as I tend to try to finish 90% of my holiday shopping before December. I don't usually budget for holiday shopping, but I'm going to try this year. I'd like to keep my remaining spending under $400.

Originally Posted by nwmomof2

Also, I have had a very hard time with TRUE no spend days in months past, and I didn't give myself credit for days where I made budgeted for/planned purchases, so this month I will change that, and record the planned/budgeted spending as its own category.

I'm going to adopt this idea, if you don't mind . For me, it's just too easy to tack on unnecessary spending to a "spend" day as it's not going to count towards my no-spend day total. So, my goal this month is 15 no spend days and 25 planned/budgeted spending days.

1. gas
2. $20 gift for DD "from the new baby" for when he arrives.

0/15 no-spend days
2/25 planned spending days
$0/$700 into savings
$0/$400 holiday spending

My key:

no-spend day
budgeted/planned spending
frivolous spending

[nwmomof2]

Fustian - I don't mind at all :-). I'm sure I got the idea from someone else here!
I'm on here early today for motivation...

1. oil change, gas for car
2. not planning to spend today. May even leave wallet at home...what a concept!
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planned/budgeted spending
true no-spend
frivolous spending

Goals:
0/400 groceries (doesn't include milk delivery or prepaid CSA)
0/50 eating out (including coffee)
0/100 household
0/500 put in savings
2/30 not buying clothes days
2/15 stay out of stores days
1/10 true no-spend days
1/20 planned/budgeted spending days

[mama_y_sol]

Yesterday was a great day.

1. No-spend day.

[SilverFish]

1/10 no spend days
10 art/work days
4 eating out days

$177/$400 grocery budget
$0 FUN money

no spend day
unnecessary spending
budget spending day
art/work day

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2. , $177 groceries, $65 toiletries
3. , $50 cat food, but we walked all the way there. plus winterproofed my bedroom window.
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[diana_of_the_dunes]

Quick newbie question... We just go back and edit our posts when we spend? Or start a new post?

[Hollysmom]

I'm in again.....

a. Who you are: I'm Kristine WOHM to three daughters.

b. Where you are going (your financial goals): Simple - lots of savings - no debt

c. How you plan to get there: Tracking all spending and reporting here. Stick to keeping it simple in all things.

[Hollysmom]

November
1 - - all day meeting :yawning = $4
2 -



1/20 = No spend days
$4 frivolous spending

[mommyto4grits]

Originally Posted by diana_of_the_dunes

Quick newbie question... We just go back and edit our posts when we spend? Or start a new post?

Find your latest post, and then quote it, but remove the word quote and the symbols, and then just update with the latest info.

[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

Nov.1-
Nov.2-

[Turquesa]

Not that you need one more person nagging you, but go ahead and SPEND the gas money to get out and VOTE today!!

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Yeah so what is it they say about the best laid plans...

Not such a stellar day after all. I was driving all over town, eating fast food, and spending money.

01.. $9.98 Wendy's
02.. $10.90 Subway
03..
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My Goals:

0/20 No Spend Days
0/5 Let the Car Rest Days
0/20 Fast Food Free Days [/QUOTE][/QUOTE]

[diana_of_the_dunes]

1- mortgage payment, $32 for pizza to thank our niece and nephew for help with yardwork (comes out of entertainment allowance)
2- $74.48 at Meijer for groceries (and only groceries, yay!) + $11 for apples at the market to make applesauce
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= no spending!
= necessary, budgeted spending
= necessary, unbudgeted spending
= unnecessary, unbudgeted spending

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Originally Posted by diana_of_the_dunes

We just go back and edit our posts when we spend? Or start a new post?

Quote your post. That will start a new one. If you update your old post no one will ever see it because this thread gets verrrrrry long. It would be buried in the archives.

Originally Posted by Turquesa

Not that you need one more person nagging you, but go ahead and SPEND the gas money to get out and VOTE today!!

I walked to the polls then drove to Subway ...because the walking took so long that I didn't have time to make dinner when I got home. So my plans kind of backfired...

[MrsTittlemouse]

1.
2. $20 gas, $49.00 for an event and food that we had planned 2 months ago. I didn't like spending the money on food, but we ended up eating at a cheaper place than originally planned.
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-no spend days
-budgeted spend
-unbudgeted spend
-added to budget spend
-no drive

0/15 no spend days
0/8 no drive days
0/5 sell my stuff days
1/8 craft/enrichment activity ready after school days
1/30 tracked spending days
0 late bill days (ie- I am staying aware of things!)
130.20/$500.00 grocery budget[/QUOTE]

[mama to B]

1- Groceries - 80.18 & 100 to EF
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- Budgeted Spending
- No Spend days
- Unbudgeted spending

1/15 No Spend Days
8 Let the car rest days
0/50 Eat Out
80.18/350 Grocery Budget
100/200 Extra Savings

[nwmomof2]

1. oil change, gas for car
2. REVISION: Oops, ended up spending after all....needed to buy art supplies for co-op preschool project, ended up spending $3.15 on clearance Halloween decorations. And then stopped at grocery store for chicken breasts since I had forgotten to defrost some for dinner- $6.00.
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planned/budgeted spending
true no-spend
frivolous spending

Goals:
6/$400 groceries (doesn't include milk delivery or prepaid CSA)
0/$50 eating out (including coffee)
3/$100 household
0/$500 put in savings
2/30 not buying clothes days
1/15 stay out of stores days
0/10 true no-spend days
2/20 planned/budgeted spending days

[gratefulmomma87]

1. I am a single mom, to a toddler, doing Americorps (aka try to live on $11,000 grand a year challenge!!)

2. My main goal is to not create debt or dip into my meager savings while in Americoprs. Build up more contacts to actually get a real job next year!

3. No frivilous spending. Make toys. Freecycle. Freecycle A LOT. Sell things I don't really need. Track my spending. Maybe find a room mate.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Welcome gratefulMomma -- we appreciate your service for Americorps. I was in the Peace Corps maaaaany years ago and knew then what it was like to live on a really tight budget. It helps to put perspective on things.

Getting by on $11K a year in New Jersey is going to be challenging, but we are here to help you stay on track.