October No-Spend Challenge: Stop That Extra Spending from "Goblin" Up Your Savings

[Turquesa]

Sigh!  Whatever happened to Prudence (Vermont Crunchy Mom)?  She always came up with better groaner puns for these thread titles. 

Anyway, let's roll up our sleeves, hunker down, and plunge into another month of saving!!  Who's with me?

Here's the usual C&P speil:

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 October 1st. Now is a good time to start.

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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.

Edited by Turquesa - 10/1/11 at 6:26pm

[Turquesa]

a. Who you are

I'm Laura, mid-30s, married, two cherubs, and STILL no Roth IRA.     

b. Where you are going (your financial goals)

1. Pay off the house within four years.  This requires dedication.  I pay three times the monthly mortgage every month. 

2. Get comfortable enough with our budget that I can dedicate 12% of each of DH's paycheck to the soon-to-be-opened IRA.

c. How you plan to get there

1. Open the #$%$^ IRA. 

2. Grocery store trips under $150.

3. Restrict lattes out to once a week, (I committed total deprivation last month, and it backfired! )

4. Regular posting in this thread

5. 5-6 home-cooked dinners per week.

6. Line-dry clothes, weather-permitting.

KEY:

 = Budgeted Spending or No Spending

 = Blew It Today.  Dammit.

 = Home-Cooked Dinner

= Crafting for 30+ Minutes

 = This One Speaks for Itself! 

[FillingMyQuiver]

a. Who you are

Jenn, SAHM to 5 kiddos under 8, homeschooling 2 of them, trying to keep my sanity.

b. Where you are going

1. debt free
2. paying down mortgage quickly
3. saving for retirement and college

c. How you plan to get there

1. Stick to the budget
2. Limit trips to the stores
3. Cut the utility bills
4. Eating at home

We did pretty good w/ the eating at home in September. There was little eating out done. I didn't get to hang dry the laundry nearly as much as I wanted b/c of the rain all month. This month I need to buy the kids fall workboots (budgeted), we're making a day ttrip to Williamsburg (budgeted), need to make our lunch to bring w/ us), and I need to buy 2 of my kids birthday presents for November so they're here in time (budgeted). There should really be no other spending.

Goals for October

No spend/ budgeted days 0/25
30+ min crafting 0/25

Key
No spend/ budgeted
Unbudgeted/ unnecessary spending
30+ min crafting
hung dry laundry

[eirual]

I'm back in this month now that we have a steady income and no crazy life-transitions foreseen in the near future.

a. Who you are
Laurie- mom to one 5yo who's birthday's coming up. I'm working FT while DH is back in college (after trying university last year)

b. Where you are going (your financial goals)
We're debt-free, on DR step 3 > working on saving up 6 months of living expenses for our emergency fund and sinking into our Car Replacement fund since ours isn't going to last much longer without needing some major repairs....oh, and paying for college in cash....

c. How you plan to get there
Stick to our budget, live on cash, keep life simple (we've cut our living expenses in half by moving into a 1 BR apartment right next to DS's school, ditching our second car, and moving back to where our family lives and where our jobs are- no commuting....except DH who has a short drive to school now).

This is a weird week for us....I spent money today, but that will come out of this week's grocery money once we withdrawl the cash....I'll call it budgetted
 

[its_betty]

@Turquesa  Your "goblin" pun pulled me in...

a. Who you are

I'm Betty, married, mom to 12-year-old ds, self-employed graphic designer (currently earning most of our family income).

b. Where you are going (your financial goals)

Short-term: up the business emergency fund (I had to spend some when I had a few slow months of work).

Set up savings for vacation so we don't have to dip into regular savings for activities (visiting family at Thanksgiving--plane tickets already paid for, staying with relatives, need money for eating out and tickets to a NHL hockey game).

Long-term: Save house down payment. Increase retirement savings. Boost college fund for 12-year-old.

c. How you plan to get there

A little at a time!

This month:

Step 1: Set up automatic transfers for business emergency fund. (Reconsidering the automatic part--might just transfer a percentage of each check I receive.) Send my weekly "allowance" ($20) to vacation fund instead, along with some extra.

Step 2: Stick to the grocery/food budget. Plan meals ahead of time.

________

Oct 1: $2.50 coffee (raided my change jar)

Oct 2: Nothing

Oct 3: Nothing (but we did spend food money on take-out burritos--still in the budget but means better meal planning the rest of the week)

Oct 4: $2.59 Snack (I was hungry and needed to drive home from a meeting--should have brought something with me.)

Oct 5: $1.00 extra grocery just for me. Ok, a Snicker's bar. Sheesh, not in my money budget or my calorie budget.

**This is turning into a "not-no-spend-but-at-least-pay-attention-to-what-I-spend" challenge...now I see how easily I spent my $20 a week before I vowed to save it for vacation.

Oct 6: $24.00 Coffee shop ($6) while car was being repaired (by new very reasonably-priced mechanic). Car wash ($18) to celebrate that there isn't more wrong with my 13 year old car. The wash and vacuum was $11 and they charged $7 to wash the floor mats--could have skipped that. Though they are nice and clean for a change. (We live in an apartment, so no hose to wash the car at home).

Oct 7: Nothing

Oct 8: $6 Coffee and cake while grocery shopping

Oct 9: Ate dinner out (with 2 "free meal" coupons)

Oct 10: Nothing (Went to a business cocktail event and drank... water!)

Oct 11: $2.25 Brownie

Oct 12-14: On budget

Oct 15: Not budgeted but needed: coat for ds, a couple of shirts for me, pants for dh. Need to have a better savings set up for things like this.

Oct 16: On budget

Oct 17: Nothing

Oct 18: Nothing. Amazing how much better I do at not eating stuff I don't need when I also don't spend any money.

Oct 19-28: Spent less than $20 on frivolous things.

Feeling broke, though, and my car is having problems this morning. : (

Oct 29-31: Nothing.

Month review: Too hard to not spend ANYTHING frivolous: I do better with even $5 a week to blow. Main focus for Novemeber: Meal planning. Started by making a list of dinners for the week.

Edited by its_betty - 11/1/11 at 10:38am

[EmsMom]

a. Who you are

Sara, mom of two, separated, working as grad assistant for free tuition and a stipend while I finish my last year of graduate school..

b. Where you are going

1. debt free
2. down payment for a house
3. new violin and bow

c. How you plan to get there

1. Cut my grocery budget, because even though it isn't that high, I still waste some food.
2. Stop buying things!

10/1 thumb.gif Went to the farmer's market (my nemesis) but didn't spend a penny. They didn't have any nice greens or I would have got something. Last week I purchased a whole case of apples at a good discount and we still have some left anyway.
10/2
10/3 spend $60 on groceries,all on my list except for one piece of brie cheese.
10/4
10/5 Bought dinner at local joint. $20. Groceries $19. Gas $20.








Key
joy No spend
thumb.gif budgeted spend
irked.gif Unbudgeted/ unnecessary spending
Edited by EmsMom - 10/6/11 at 1:29am

[Turquesa]

@Turquesa Your "goblin" pun pulled me in...

Sadly, it occurred to me that I could do it again next month: "Don't let extra spending 'gobble gobble' up your savings."

Welcome aboard, Betty and Sara. And welcome back, Laurie. Sara, congratulations on your self-restraint at farmer's market. That's hard for me, too.

Oct 1: budgeted weekly latte (wasted no time on that one, lol!) (leftovers count as home-cooked meal!) Forgot to mention budgeted haircut @ $30.
Edited by Turquesa - 10/1/11 at 7:09pm

[Paxjourney]

Hi! I'm Pax a stay at homemaker and homeschooling mother of 2 girls ages 9 and 6 (this week).  My goal is to stay within my personal budget for the month and record what I purchase.

9/30 $31 vitamins. Choc. Chip cookies, 4 cans re fried beans, 4 cans of cream of noodle soup.

10/1 Made $24 at a joint yard sale (going into xmas fund) spent $3 on a candle holder, for MIL for xmas.

GOALS Groceries $450 (includes vitamins, tp etc)

CLOTHING $25 for girls and I

Books/Homeschooling supplies/Craft Supplies $30

Gas $200. Higher than normal but I have two 8 hour plus round trip drives to make this month.

$50 oil change, windshield wipers, etc

$75 Birthday gifts DD2.

10 no drive days

5 meal planning weeks

[Surfacing]

Hello Frugal Mamas, I have been away from MDC for a long time BUT I NEED THIS GROUP! I need to kick my financial a$$ back into shape. Off on an extra year of maternity leave from my job (unpaid) and even with savings, some extra doula income, and hubby's income, things are TOUGH. Debt is climbing.

a. Who you are

I am a mother of three - girl 6, girl 3, boy 1. I actually find one of my biggest spend challenges is my 6 year old. She is CONSTANTLY asking for this or that. CONSTANTLY. Even when I say "sorry, no" or I say, "Don't ask me again, please" she does anyway. Somethings gotta change.

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

Ahem. Manifest. My financial goals: it would be great to get another $3300 to add to our savings account, $200 for 6 y.o.s dance class, and $6800 to pay off my line of credit. Ahem.

c. How you plan to get there

1) Try to walk more and not drive the car when I can help it - walk kids to school, to dance class and home again. Some grocery shopping can be done by walking too. This takes a lot of commitment when I am sooooo tired.

2) Stop buying coffees outside of the house, make my own at home. Cut out the pre-dance class pizzas and eat at home.

3) Selling some extra stuff around the house.

4) Stop adding to our debt.

5) Increase income and savings.

I really need you gals! :) Good luck with your goals everyone!

[meandk0610]

Originally Posted by Turquesa 

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

a. my name is sarah. i'm a single mom, homeschooling my 6yo, working a part-time job to which i can take her with me.

b. i need to get my spending under budget and bring in more money.

c. i've started attending debtor's anonymous and underearners anonymous. i'm posting here. i'm tracking all spending and income. i plan to start tracking how i spend my time. i plan to apply for at least 1 babysitting job each week. i plan to try to sell some things at a local craft fair. i'm having to push myself to get the supplies together since i have trouble doing anything that might make more money. try to sell some household stuff. walk to get groceries when possible.

true no spend

10/1

10/2

[FillingMyQuiver]

Originally Posted by FillingMyQuiver 

Goals for October
No spend/ budgeted days 0/25
30+ min crafting 2/25
Key
No spend/ budgeted
Unbudgeted/ unnecessary spending
30+ min crafting
hung dry laundry

Off to a terrible start for the month...

1. Went to Target for a few pacifiers for one of my kiddos, came out spending $60 and DH got McDonald's for lunch for everyone.
2. Went to Chili's for lunch after church , bought 2 prs of jeans for DH & belts for my girls at Kohl's.

Really need to reign in the spending for the remainder of the month *sigh*

[Hollycrand]

a. Who you are

I am Holly, single mama to two girls, 5 and 8 years old.

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

Too pay off my debts (credit card especially), start saving some money, not have any bounced checks

c. How you plan to get there

Record all of my spending this month

Not spend any money on unnecessary items (especially weekday lunches which I can and will bring from home)

Keep track of my money, checks going through, etc.  Check my bank account balance everyday online to know where I stand

October 1: $50 on groceries for the week

October 2: $20 on gas

[AnkaJones]

I'm Anka, mid 30s, mother of 3 month old DS and wife to DH, just going back to work after maternity leave.

Goals: pay off student loans and be completely debt free, mainly so we have the freedom to be at home with our growing family as much as possible.  Save money so we can stay debt free and be a cash based rather than debt based family.  I grew up in a family that was very poor almost entirely because of credit card and consumer debt and irresponsible spending, and I don't want my baby to grow up the way I did.

How we're going to get there:

1.  Stop eating out three nights a week -- limit it to one meal per week, and be more intentional about it (have it be a treat and a real fun thing, rather than just 'oh, we don't have any food we want, lets go out').

2.  Start meal planing.  This month the goal isn't to cut back or anything, it's just to have a plan each week and practice sticking to the plan, shopping for the plan, etc.  Next month will be when we start to try to reduce costs.

3.  Start budgeting.  I wrote a budget for this month again not really cutting back at all, just to practice getting an idea of where our money was going.  It turns out our spending habits were so bad that it was impossible not to cut back.  For instance, we had over $100/month of recurring payments for services that we didn't even know we had!!!  cha-ching!

4. Quit impulse spending.  If it ain't on the budget, it ain't happening.

5.  Try to pick up a couple of extra shifts this month

6. start debt snowball

Key:

: budgeted/no spend

: Impulse spending

: unexpected legitimate spending

Oct 1:  $55 on groceries for the week.  DH $8 on parking (which I didn't budget for... I guess it'll come out of gas money; he had to go to work unexpectedly).

Oct 2:   No spend!

Oct 3:  No spend!

Oct 4:  No spend!  It took some resisting today, too!  With the cold weather I almost convinced myself that I needed to buy a cup of coffee.  Then I realized that I shouldn't do that, it would be wasteful... so I should buy a mug and a french press and some ground coffee.  If it wasn't for this thread, I totally would have done it, too. 

Oct 5:  No spend

Oct 6:   Started out good -- took the shuttle to the other job site to save gas, but then got invited out for lunch because I ran into someone I ordinarily wouldn't have because I was riding the shuttle.  I manged to just get something to drink, but $2.50 unbudgeted spending.

Oct 7:    Budgeted.  Bought some pantry staples and for meal plan for all of next week and most of the week after ~120 dollars (BJs and Whole Foods).  Ate at whole foods (15.73), which I'm counting as our eating out for the week.  DH is actually making the pizza for beer and pizza night from scratch!  Thank God for Cook's Illustrated.

Oct 8:   No spend.  DH had to go to unexpectedly to work again, but we all drove together to avoid the parking fee.  Made Derby Pie and had some when we got home. 

Oct 9:  I just realized why we're spending so much on groceries!  I budgeted based on what we spend on an average month... but on an average month we eat out every other night.  So even though I planned on this being a no-austerity month, I think we're going to have to cut back on grocery expenses.  No spend, though!

Edited by AnkaJones - 10/9/11 at 10:58am

[Turquesa]

My connection is super-slow tonight, so I'm not going to dilly-dally waiting for the right emoticons to show up...

Oct 2: Unbudgeted dinner out for family.  $18.00.  Crafting.  Line-drying.

Oct 3: Well-couponed dinner out tonight.  Price as yet unknown.  Crafting.  Line-drying.

[FillingMyQuiver]

Goals for October
No spend/ budgeted days 1/25
30+ min crafting 3/25
Key
No spend/ budgeted
Unbudgeted/ unnecessary spending
30+ min crafting
hung dry laundry[/quote]

1. Went to Target for a few pacifiers for one of my kiddos, came out spending $60 and DH got McDonald's for lunch for everyone.
2. Went to Chili's for lunch after church , bought 2 prs of jeans for DH & belts for my girls at Kohl's.
3.

Now I'm just waiting for the rain to go away and the to come out so I can hang dry some laundry. We turned on the heat this weekend (DH does NOT like to be cold), so my utility conservation needs to be stepped up.

[mylilmonkeys]

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.

a. I am Mylilmonkeys (MLM is fine), mom to 14yo ds, 12yo dd, 9yo ds, 7yo ds, 5yo ds, 3yo dd, 7mo twin dds, wife to DH who works full time and 3/4 time school, should be grad next summer, Lord willing.  I've been eyeing these threads for months!  My situation is rather unique.  I have no where to shop here in town and dh does all (well, most of) the grocery shopping at cheaper groceries as he works in a larger city.  I don't often spend money.  If I need something, I ask him to pick it up or I buy online, which reduces (but doesn't eliminate) impulse shopping.  But dh's income is hitting the seasonal low point and I think it is time to join here for support.  So far he is down $400 a month and there's no telling how much lower it will get.  

b. 1.  DR step 3, saving for new vehicles purchases planning to make in the spring, and 

    2.  replacing plasma TV with lower consumption LED/LCD

    3.  an embroidery machine

    4.  moving within a year or so

c.  1.  The biggest thing under my control is power use at home.  I have already started fining the kids that leave their bedroom lights on and they are becoming more observant.  Keeping the TV off.  Turning off/unplugging appliances when not in use.  Unplugging my laptop/computers when not using.  

     2.  Not buying anything online/sending dh to buy unbudgeted things

     3.  I've been selling my books to lighten moving and add to savings

Stealing Anka's key:

: budgeted/no spend

: Impulse spending

: unexpected legitimate spending

: energy consumption

10/1  Actually, this month has started out rough!  We ended up running to Walmart on Saturday so dh could make an exchange and I could pick up notions to sew my twins some jackets that they need and baby wipes.  Spent $20, so not too bad.  But the van almost didn't start, and the battery was not charging.  We barely made it the 30min drive back home. 

10/2  Called around to find an open auto parts store, and dh had to run all the way out to the city he works in (45min-1hr away), and a new alternator is $120.  I gave him our kids' school tuition money to buy it.  I didn't need to start paying tuition this month, since we just received our scholarship award.  So we haven't blown the budget yet.  We do have plenty in savings, but I don't want to use it, KWIM?

10/3  Realized I picked up the wrong zippers for babies' jackets.  Plus Walmart only had one cone of serger thread and so I needed dh to pick up 4 at JoAnn's.  I don't have that total yet.  The thread was $2 ea. so the total was probably ~$12. [Dh just walked in and he bought the wrong kind, too. LOL  Oh well, at least he got my serger thread]

          pretty good, but could have been better.  TV was left on for about 1 hr, not really being used.  Left the coffee pot on thinking I would have more, but didn't.  I do that a lot and need to just unplug it. 

Hopefully the rest of the month will go better.  I know DH and I need to budget for Halloween spending, too.

[Hollycrand]

October 3: Didn't spend ANYTHING today!!! It feels great!!

[Surfacing]

MLM - wow, hats off to your resilience (or the resilience I imagine you have with 8 kiddos!)

This thread is really inspiring. I am paying more attention to power usage, gasoline usage. So glad that the last three days there has been no unplanned spending.

[nymama531]

a. Who you are

Christine, SAHM mom to a toddler and due with #2 in december

b. Where you are going

1. debt free

2. save for a move

c. How you plan to get there

1. Stick to the budget

2. consolidate student
2. apply for food stamps and WIC
3. Cut the utility bills
4. Eating at home

Goals for October

1. Knit scarves for christmas and birthday presents

[FillingMyQuiver]

Goals for October
No spend/ budgeted days 2/25
30+ min crafting 4/25

Key
No spend/ budgeted
Unbudgeted/ unnecessary spending
30+ min crafting
hung dry laundry

1. Went to Target for a few pacifiers for one of my kiddos, came out spending $60 and DH got McDonald's for lunch for everyone.
2. Went to Chili's for lunch after church , bought 2 prs of jeans for DH & belts for my girls at Kohl's.
3.

4. ordered the kids' waterproof boots and winter church shoes.  All was budgeted, and I saved lots b/c Payless was doing their BOGO 1/2 off AND I had a 20%off coupon