October No-Spend Challenge: Stop That Extra Spending from "Goblin" Up Your Savings - Page 2

[Koalamom]

a. Who you are
Koalamom, mom to 2 young kiddos, and a bunch of chickens.

b. Where you are going (your financial goals)
To get out of debt
Save for house and car repairs
Save for heating fuel for house

c. How you plan to get there
Track planning here
Don't spend more than food stamp money
Hang clothes out to dry on warm days (running out of these)
Sell cloth diaper stash

[mylilmonkeys]

Thanks, Surfacing!

Today is better:

10/4  Only watched TV 1.5hr earlier and turned it off after.  Kids will be watching another 1 hr here after chores are completed and then the power strip will be shut off.  Coffee pot was turned off after I used it.  I used my laptop a little earlier and remembered to unplug when I was done (my battery is dead, so it has to be plugged in to use it.)  Boys received fine for lights on this AM. 

[Koalamom]

Monkey, I love how you are trying to lessen power consumption!

[Paigekitten]

I don't spend a lot, but every little bit counts, so I'll join. : )

a. Who you are

I'm Kathryn, mama to Libby, and Julianna, and expecting our third girl in about a month.

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

My immediate financial goals are to catch up on the month to month basics, and rebuild a $1000 emergency fund.  I really really want to pay off all our debt, especially the house.

c. How you plan to get there

Not spend money.   Seriously.  I'm kind of a tightwad.  I like freecycle and craigslist, I'm trying to garden and produce as much of our food as possible, even though I'm not good at it, but DH actually likes to have fun and get things for his girls, so we balance each other out a little.

 Spent nothing

 Budgeted spending

 Unbudgeted spending

Oct. 1 

Oct 2 

Oct 3  Dh put gas in the car.  This actually came out of an ebay sale he made, and not out of our budget.

Oct 4 

[Turquesa]

A hearty welcome to the newbies!  I love, love, LOVE seeing these threads get populated.

Oct 4:  No spending today.  Too cold and wet for line-drying.

[mylilmonkeys]

Originally Posted by Koalamom 

Monkey, I love how you are trying to lessen power consumption!

You know, I didn't really consider our power consumption at all, until someone mentioned how much power things still suck even when they are off.  I'm not really much into green for the sake of green (as awful as that probably sounds) but I'll do about anything to save some money and certainly don't want to be wasteful.  So we tried an experiment.  I set up our entertainment center so that one power strip could be shut off without also shutting off the phone/router/clock.  My dh does the door locking and stuff at night as he's usually the last one up and I asked him to add shutting that strip off to the routine.  We saved like $50 a month just doing that.  I was shocked!  So now I'm turning into the power nazi. LOL  It was pretty much impossible during the summer with eight kids home all day (and friends), but now that the boys are back in school, and the house has to be kept quiet for dd to do her virtual school, it's been pretty easy to keep the TV off and the power strip shut off for a majority of the time during the day.  We also have been dealing with weeks of technical problems, with two of her power adapters dying and one of mine in that space of time!  It made me realize how much I keep my computer on when I don't really need to.  Also, I have instituted 6:30pm as TV off time, because I'm the only parent home most nights and it helps so much to get everyone ready and in bed on time.  We do our family devotional and then stagger bedtimes until 9pm.  Occasionally, I will reward one of my oldest kids with a 30min game time after all the littles are in bed, but that is rare.  I'm actually enjoying the quiet!

[Koalamom]

Originally Posted by mylilmonkeys 

 We saved like $50 a month just doing that.  I was shocked!  So now I'm turning into the power nazi. LOL  

Whoot Whoot, that is a huge savings. I am so switching more stuff off and unplugging everything!

[Paigekitten]

Yeah, we have all our electronics on power strips too, partly because I can hear them buzzing at night if they are on. Our big energy hog is our electric water heater. : (

[becoming]

So glad to see this thread back! I looked for it last month & couldn't find it!

a. Who you are
I'm Lindsay. I'm a 28-year-old WAHM to three babies who have turned into kids somehow! I have two sons, ages almost 10 and just turned 4, and a daughter who is almost 6. We live in Louisiana.

b. Where you are going (your financial goals)
We would like to get an ATV, a credit card, and our pontoon boat paid off by December of 2012. We have a long way to go. It's going to be difficult.

c. How you plan to get there
Not spending all our money! haha. Saving, saving, saving, and not making stupid impulse purchases, which I am the Queen of doing! Eating at home more. Finding cheaper things to do with friends.

[becoming]

October 5 - $10.79 lunch @ Chick-Fil-A

[becoming]

triple post :/

[FillingMyQuiver]

Goals for October

No spend/ budgeted days 3/25

30+ min crafting 5/25

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

5.

[Paigekitten]

 Spent nothing

 Budgeted spending

 Unbudgeted spending

Oct. 1 

Oct 2 

Oct 3  Dh put gas in the car.  This actually came out of an ebay sale he made, and not out of our budget.

Oct 4 

Oct 5   although my auto insurance should have come out of the account today, it'll probably hit the bank tomorrow

[blissful_maia]

Hi mamas! I would love to join this thread!

a. Who you are

My name's Sabrina, I'm a registered midwife mama to three gorgeous children (son age 2, and daughters age 5 and 7). We are a single income family while my husband is pursuing a Masters in Education (which of course costs money) and what once seemed like a reasonable income has been stretched pretty thin. We need to be more conscious if we're not going to live from month to month and are going to be able to actually accomplish our goals!

b. Where you are going (your financial goals) 

1) Finish paying down credit cards (have paid 3000 of 7800 thus far) and not continue to charge on them.

2) Save emergency fund of $2000 (my personal comfort level until we have credit line paid off).

3) Pay taxes in full in April (I'm self-employed) and have them saved for each year to avoid interest and penalties. 

4) Pay off car in 3 years or less instead of 5 (we have always had paid-off cars but recently had to finance a used vehicle when we didn't have the cash when our van finally died and I can't stand the payment!).

5) Pay off student line of credit (large amount and fairly high interest IMO at 6.5%).

6) Save up to pay cash for home addition within 5 years (sunroom, two beds, one bath and new siding on the whole house... oh my!).

c. How you plan to get there

1) Detailed budget each month (I get paid monthly, on the 1st) with cash "envelopes" for food, gas and miscellaneous. I have serious debit card issues!

2) Decrease food budget as much as possible. My son and I are strict gluten and dairy free, and the whole family eats primarily whole, unprocessed and local foods so meal planning, bulk shopping and home cooking are key.

3) Make as many homemade Christmas gifts as possible, which will save money and be fun to do with the kids! Also stay within budget for all holiday-related spending (stockings, tree/decor, extra food). I get so carried away every year...

4) Sell things of value that are currently being stored in our basement. Such a waste! Also, make a few pieces of children's clothing to sell on consignment at two local shops for extra/spending money (have materials already).

I'll start tracking tomorrow! :)

[Turquesa]

Originally Posted by Turquesa 

A hearty welcome to the newbies!  I love, love, LOVE seeing these threads get populated.

Oct 4:  No spending today.  Too cold and wet for line-drying.

Oct: 5: $10.00 over on grocery store budget.

Oct 6: Sorta went overboard today.  Unbudgeted but necessary raincoat for DD, budgeted lunch with DH, non-budgeted lattes out afterward.

[mylilmonkeys]

: budgeted/no spend

: Impulse spending

: unexpected legitimate spending

: energy consumption

10/6  Didn't have to fine the boys this AM!  Progress.  Did have to fine DD, though.  We had guests yesterday so had the TV running more than usual with showing them clips of oldest DS's football games, and DH's school projects (he's a media major).  BUT, I got the utility bill, which is combined water and electric and it is down $66 since last month, and I was not being as vigilant as I am now.  Most of that was electric savings, with a little water savings (less toilet flushings, perhaps?).  I'm hoping we can continue leaving the heat off for awhile and see similar savings next month. 

[Surfacing]

MLM when you say you fine your boys, how muchÉ And do they actually pay itÉ (Sorry my question mark is not working, its making a É)

Iève been doing so well all week, driving less, not buying coffees out, not spending money. And then today I did our Thanksgiving shopping and went to the liquor store. WWWeeeeelllllll letès just say I have a hard time putting out a spread thatès not all that. I overspent by $100 (it was all the booze which I am planning to save some of for Christmas anyways) - but if I do a lot of walking next week, I wonèt have to fill up the gasoline, so there will be a savings of $90 there and it will balance out. KwimÉ

I also moved all our savings to our chequing account so I can transfer it to pay off our line of credit. That means though I will have to take $1000émo. from our LOC to pay for life while I am off an extra year from my FT job. I have doula jobs on the side and am working to try to develop my business. Sigh.

I have to do a bunch of selling on craigslist or kijiji or ebay. Not much experience with that though and quite frankly, itès time consuming to research prices,photograph, write the copy, etc. If dh or the kids see me doing it and they ask what Ièm doing, then itès a chorus of NOOOOO DONT SELL THAT!!! Well they like to spend but the money has to come from somewhere. Dd1 and I are going to a couple of (shudder) market research things to make a few extra bucks. That will pay for most of her dance class.

Good luck to all of you as you work on your goals. Sending steadfast vibes and hurrah for the victories this week! :thumb

[mylilmonkeys]

Originally Posted by Surfacing 

MLM when you say you fine your boys, how muchÉ And do they actually pay itÉ 

I fine them each a nickel every time I see it on.  If I know who was actually last in the room, then I will fine only that person, but that only happened once.  They have a chore list that they can use to earn pocket money and jobs earn anywhere from a nickel to a dollar, so if they don't have money for the fine immediately, then I have them match socks or something.  The fine is due immediately and I haven't had any trouble collecting.

[FillingMyQuiver]

Goals for October

No spend/ budgeted days 4/25

30+ min crafting 5/25

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

5.

6.

[meandk0610]

true no spend

planned spending

unplanned, bad! spending

called into UA/DA phone meeting

10/1  

10/2  

10/3  

10/4  

10/5 bought christmas presents that i had not planned on buying right then just because it was convenient (though i guess i could say that i don't have to make another trip), i bought them using savings instead of budgeted gift money, 

10/6  

10/7     i also called consumer credit counselling services to set up an appointment to figure out if i either need to file bankruptcy or if they can set up a repayment plan for my 2 credit cards. i have been unable to pay them since last summer.