NoSpend January -- Ringing in the New Year with money in the bank - Page 11

[Ruthiegirl]

Crumbs.  Our van needs some work.  $175 so far and more to come.  Dh ordered the parts and we will pay to have them installed in a week or two.  Looks like it will run about $550 total.  The money is going on a credit card for now.  We need to pay our taxes and are building our cash right now.  Once we pay the taxes, we will pay off the van repair.  Bummer.  

Now we really need to keep our expenses low!  

The rest of the day is no spend.  I have soup simmering for dinner, making pizza for the kids (Friday night treat).  We have money set aside to buy the boys new shoes and will do that this weekend.  They both wear through their shoes at an alarming rate.  I do have a $25 gift certificate to help offset the costs.  

Jan 1 -- 

Jan 2 -- 

Jan 3 -- 40.00 cash for hospital stay/food, 15.22 flowers, 13.12 cell phone minutes

Jan 4 -- 

Jan 5 -- 

Jan 6 -- 

Jan 7 -- 28.61 birthday gift

Jan 8 -- 

Jan 9 -- 60.00 nursing bras

Jan 10 -- 

Jan 11 -- 14.90 library fines   

Jan 12 -- 

Jan 13 -- 

Jan 14 -- 

Jan 15 -- 

Jan 16 -- 23.07 Amazon

Jan 17 --   + seed order for 2012 garden

Jan 18 -- 

Jan 19 -- 

Jan 20 -- 175.00 parts to fix van

Jan 21 -- 

Jan 22

January savings goal is at 126% 

Edited by Ruthiegirl - 1/22/12 at 6:05am

[FillingMyQuiver]

Key

No Spend/ Budgeted spending

Unplanned/ unbudgeted spending

30min spent decluttering

1.  We're at my ILs until tomorrow, DH and I ran to Target for MIL for popcorn, I picked up stockings and eye makeup for DH's formal office party on Saturday, all of it was put on a GC I got for Christmas, so no $$ out of pocket.  I REEEALLY wanted to buy some other stuff that we REEEEALLY didn't need, but I resisted

2.  Trip home today.  We budgeted a set amount for this trip to the ILs, and for one of the first times, we actually stayed completely in budget!!  I'm hoping that this will set the precedent for the rest of the year, that we can set a budget and stay within it.  No extra spending, no impulse shopping, complete CONTROL!!  Tomorrow I begin decluttering for the 2012 in 2012 Decluttering Challenge.

3.    DH stopped for a haircut on the way home from work b/c I haven't had a free moment to cut his hair.  There's room in the budget for it, but it wasn't really budgeted for.

4.    Had a play date with friends today so no money spent.

5.    DH picked up part of DD2's b-day present, cupcakes, and her choice of dinner for tonight (elbow pasta w/ sauce.  Oh the joys of being 3!!)  Also purchased a used copy of DH's textbook for his class.  All spending today was budgeted.  We reviewed the budget and found we came in under budget on quite a few line items and were able to put some extra towards paying off our truck   Really hoping the momentum we feel this month will carry through the rest of the year

6.   

7.   

8.      $62 spent at Chili's for an unplanned lunch out after church w/ my brother, SIL, and nieces, though it was $$ well spent b/c I don't get to spend much time w/ that part of my family.  Undecorated our Christmas decor today and got rid of quite a few things I didn't use or want anymore.

9.      $24 spent at McD's for lunch.  2 of my kids had dr appts today and I didn't plan very well and had to grab lunch on the go.  I did however resist stopping for Starbucks on the way back and just waited to make coffee at home.

10.  and LOTS of

11. 

12. 

13.  (but it's really not) $160 at Southern Exposure Seed Exchange for seeds/ bulbs for this year's garden.  It wasn't budgeted, but we got a partial insurance reimbursement (for my homebirth ).  We didn't think we'd be getting the reimbursement, so we didn't have it allocated to anything.  A portion went to seeds, a portion will go to DH's new computer monitor he's saving up for, and the rest will go towards our truck, bringing us a few more months closer to paying it off!!  Oh, and

14.    Did our once-a-month bulk shop at Costco today and regular food shopping.  Stuck to the list, didn't go to any other stores, and stayed completely within budget.

15.    Stayed home and made a special day of watching the football playoff game.    We also looked over our master budget and if we stay completely on task, we will pay off our Suburban in March, a full 19 months early

16.    While out, DH bought lunchmeat, rolls, and chips for lunch.  I thought the total would come in under $30, but he spent over $50.  On the upside, there was a whole lot of

17. 

18.    Had to send DH out for Children's Motrin and saltines for DD1, who wasn't feeling well.  While at the store, he picked up beer for himself.

19.    Got our Amazon Trade-in credit for DH's old textbooks.

20.    Putting this here preemptively.  I have to pickup our weekly milk and egg order and that should be all we need to spend today.

[AnkaJones]

1/17: budgeted spending -- hair clippers (we're going to start cutting hair at home), minimal groceries

1/18: No spend.  Hair clippers used for first haircut on DH.  Not the best haircut ever given, but reasonably okay.  Phew.  It didn't help that I couldn't stop giggling the whole time!

1/19: No spend.

1/20:  Budgeted spending.  On a tip I went to one of the local ethnic stores... holy smokes, even the non-ethnic stuff (like flour) is less than half what I pay at the market!  And right nearby was this guy in a truck selling produce for 1/5 of what they sell it for in the grocery store.  Total damage for this week's groceries: $4.50.  No, not a typo.  Less than ten bucks.  Only think I wasn't able to get there was some fish for DH.

Anka

 

[_ktg_]

Originally Posted by _ktg_ 

Jan 1 - 

Jan 2 - Groceries/household goodies (326/500) 

Jan 3 -  (and it was my first day back to work after vacation!!)

Jan 4 - 

Jan 5 -  (Spent $10/$40 on some kombacha - but I get to reuse the bottles for my own brews this month)

Jan 6 -  (spent $10/30 on Taco Bell Dinner since DH was going to D&D night)

Jan 7 -  for DS & a friend birthday party (we split it with another family to keep the costs down since they are so close together)

Jan 8 -  ($11 groceries)

Jan 9 -

Jan 10 -

Jan 11 -  ($1.12/20) popcorn break today at work & $4.50 for the grocery store

Jan 12 -  

Jan 13 - ($9.50/19) cafe lunch meeting

Jan 14 -  ($21/$130 for groceries at Farmer's Market)

Jan 15 -

Jan 16 - 

Jan 17-   $4.51 for a meeting at a local cafe right at dinner time

Jan 18 - 

Jan 19 -  $8.50 in library fines which I was hoping to pay off next month, but alas!

Jan 20 -  ($1.87/4) coffee break 

 

[sk8boarder15]

I'm loving stalking this thread! But I'm gonna jump in for the last week of the month! I think I can actually keep up for a week. 

a. Who you are:

Mom to a busy 16month old boy and 5 dogs (our second biggest expense after the house). Dog rescue is my passion.... My Husband's passions are music and tea and we are trying to save every penny in savings to move to Portland and open a tea shop. 

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

Going to Portland! ;) Our goal is simply to NOT go OVER budget and eat into savings (which we do to some extent every month). We need every penny of it to help pay for a new house and to start a business. Then eventually adopt. :) Our goal is to use our savings to start a business that will hopefully make enough to keep us comfortable. 

c. How you plan to get there: 

A lot less spending!!!! Our big problems are eating out, and buying random stuff when we only really need a few things. My goal right now is to stay out of restaurants as much as possible and to stay far away from Target (I can go way crazy there). We are keeping track of every dollar we spend and helping to keep each other on task. This next week is actually going to be very very hard as we are getting the house painted and I will be trying to keep DS out of the house as much as possible. I'm sure restaurants are inevitable, but I will try to pack a lunch and go to my parents or In-laws house instead of kids play places. Also we have amazon prime and plan to make good use of it for the few things we do need like lotion for DS. Then I'm not going into target and picking up 5 other things! :p Besides the money allocated and budgeted for painting already I'm going to post every dollar spent on here! 

[sk8boarder15]

Its really encouraging to see how well other real families are doing. :) 

[sk8boarder15]

One things I wonder is how do you guys keep your grocery bills so low? I like to feed organic as much as possible, especially meats (DH doesn't consider something meal with out meat : / ) and its really pricey! A few breasts of organic chicken can cost $20! The farmers market is closed for the year and Whole Foods is an hour away. Thier produce prices are more, but thier meat prices are much lower. So I'm stuck buying the very limited selection of organic/grass fed/wild caought at our local store that is very expensive. 

[AnkaJones]

Hi Sk8boarder,

Basically, our general approach to groceries has followed a few phases.

Pre-phase I: buy whatever you want whenever you want.  Correlated with this was eating out a lot because "we just don't have anything to eat" [of course, always with a full fridge].  Feeding into this was the fact that I couldn't cook and DH is a high end cooker (think berenese sauce on steak, etc.... oh shoot, we don't have fresh taragon... we gotta go out!). 

Phase I: meal plan.  Don't try to economise, don't try to cut back.  The key here is getting buy in from your family, and people aren't going to buy in if they think you're gonna be serving up chopped liver and corn gruel every day.  Budget whetever you spent in the prior month on food and feel free to use it.  If you're anything like us, you'll be shocked by how much you save just by not throwing away half your food, and not eating out because you have a plan for every night.

Phase II: Add a couple of "cheap" meals every week.  The first dinner I made cheap was Saturday breakfast at night.  Everyone likes it, and breakfast food is really cheap.  Tonight is cornmeal mash (literally salt, cornmeal, and water) with maple syrup and some eggs.  Tuesday is soup day with homemade bread.

Phase III: this is where you're gilding the lilly, so pick and choose what works for you.  Most of your savings will have been in the prior two.

-- find the cheap food near you.  It might be an ethic store for spices or flour.  It might be the back of someone's truck for produce.  Maybe there's a "salvage grocery" somewhere near you, where they sell dated or dented products.  You might travel to Wholefoods if that's your thing, but once a month when you know they have a special on the meat you like and buy a lot of it for the freezer, which is another advantage of meal planning!

-- stretch meat.  If you're freezing meat, cut it into smaller pieces that you'll use before freezing.  Never is there a big hunk of meat served in this house -- we just can't afford it.  We treat it like the treat it is.  If we are having a steak, it's 4-6 oz and served with lots of sides.

-- call farms in season and ask how they handle their seconds.  You might be able to get 25lbs of tomatos for instance for a shockingly low price, then can it if you do that, or freeze it.

-- consider a CSA for meat, produce, eggs.  In some areas this can be a real cost-saver if you really want natural, grass fed, etc., although it usually won't be a savings over the cheapest stuff you find at the cheapest grocery you find it at.

-- could you bake your own bread?  The more 'from scratch' you do, the cheaper and more natural things can be.

Best,

Anka

[nwmomof2]

Week 3

Yippee, I feel like I'm finishing the week strong. I can't remember the last time I had 4 no-spend days in one week. It helped that we had a big snowstorm and were home for most of the week!

1/15 $8 snacks out

1/16  No spend! Lots of snow here. Went skiing and brought our own food/drinks.

1/17 Costco groceries, Co-op groceries, front brake pads for car at car dealer. Expensive day.

1/18  No spend! Snow day here, lots of sledding, cocoa and cookies.

1/19  No spend! Another snow day with board games, more sledding and happy hour at neighbor's house. 

1/20  Gas for car, a few groceries

1/21  Another ski day, brought food with us. No spend!

[Paigekitten]

1/3 $0.27 grocery budget, $20 check for DD3's bi rth certificate 1/4 $30 to replace our flat tire, $2 on a tip for going out for our anniversary (dinner was on a $10 gift card), $2.41 postage (PBS book), $30 phone 1/5 $5.47 for part of a meal we took to a friend, $37.16 car insurance 

I'vebeen outoftown and haven'tspent anything but dh has spend $20 on pet food and dishwasher detergent, 1100 on thehouse payment, 60 for two months of internet, and 30 on health insurance.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Apparently drinking and fast food are my weaknesses....  

So my goal for this next week =  NO MORE DRIVE-THRUS.

Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom 

01.. 

02..  $14 Pizza Hut

03.. 

04.. 

05..   $50 Tequila (the big bottle)

06.. 

07..  $25 dinner out with friends

08.. 

09..  $15 Triple Sec

10.. 

11..  $5 McDonald's

12.. 

13.. 

14.. 

15.. 

16..  $6 wetbag from WAHM, $15 Pizza Hut, $6 ice skating, $30 date night

17.. 

18..  $5 McDonald's

19.. 

20..  $10 Wendy's

21.. 

22..

23..

24..

25..

26..

27..

28..

29..

30..

31..

[mrsmischief]

Week 4: 

1/22- $18.30 for five deep d-e-e-p clearance board games for gifts next Christmas

1/23- $0

1/24- $0

1/25-

1/26- 

1/27-

1/28-

1/29-

1/30-

1/31-

Edited by mrsmischief - 1/24/12 at 11:58am

[Ruthiegirl]

Jan 1 -- 

Jan 2 -- 

Jan 3 -- 40.00 cash for hospital stay/food, 15.22 flowers, 13.12 cell phone minutes

Jan 4 -- 

Jan 5 -- 

Jan 6 -- 

Jan 7 -- 28.61 birthday gift

Jan 8 -- 

Jan 9 -- 60.00 nursing bras

Jan 10 -- 

Jan 11 -- 14.90 library fines   

Jan 12 -- 

Jan 13 -- 

Jan 14 -- 

Jan 15 -- 

Jan 16 -- 23.07 Amazon

Jan 17 --   + seed order for 2012 garden

Jan 18 -- 

Jan 19 -- 

Jan 20 -- 175.00 parts to fix van

Jan 21 -- 

Jan 22 -- 

January savings goal is at 126% 

[FillingMyQuiver]

Key

No Spend/ Budgeted spending

Unplanned/ unbudgeted spending

30min spent decluttering

1.  We're at my ILs until tomorrow, DH and I ran to Target for MIL for popcorn, I picked up stockings and eye makeup for DH's formal office party on Saturday, all of it was put on a GC I got for Christmas, so no $$ out of pocket.  I REEEALLY wanted to buy some other stuff that we REEEEALLY didn't need, but I resisted

2.  Trip home today.  We budgeted a set amount for this trip to the ILs, and for one of the first times, we actually stayed completely in budget!!  I'm hoping that this will set the precedent for the rest of the year, that we can set a budget and stay within it.  No extra spending, no impulse shopping, complete CONTROL!!  Tomorrow I begin decluttering for the 2012 in 2012 Decluttering Challenge.

3.    DH stopped for a haircut on the way home from work b/c I haven't had a free moment to cut his hair.  There's room in the budget for it, but it wasn't really budgeted for.

4.    Had a play date with friends today so no money spent.

5.    DH picked up part of DD2's b-day present, cupcakes, and her choice of dinner for tonight (elbow pasta w/ sauce.  Oh the joys of being 3!!)  Also purchased a used copy of DH's textbook for his class.  All spending today was budgeted.  We reviewed the budget and found we came in under budget on quite a few line items and were able to put some extra towards paying off our truck   Really hoping the momentum we feel this month will carry through the rest of the year

6.   

7.   

8.      $62 spent at Chili's for an unplanned lunch out after church w/ my brother, SIL, and nieces, though it was $$ well spent b/c I don't get to spend much time w/ that part of my family.  Undecorated our Christmas decor today and got rid of quite a few things I didn't use or want anymore.

9.      $24 spent at McD's for lunch.  2 of my kids had dr appts today and I didn't plan very well and had to grab lunch on the go.  I did however resist stopping for Starbucks on the way back and just waited to make coffee at home.

10.  and LOTS of

11. 

12. 

13.  (but it's really not) $160 at Southern Exposure Seed Exchange for seeds/ bulbs for this year's garden.  It wasn't budgeted, but we got a partial insurance reimbursement (for my homebirth ).  We didn't think we'd be getting the reimbursement, so we didn't have it allocated to anything.  A portion went to seeds, a portion will go to DH's new computer monitor he's saving up for, and the rest will go towards our truck, bringing us a few more months closer to paying it off!!  Oh, and

14.    Did our once-a-month bulk shop at Costco today and regular food shopping.  Stuck to the list, didn't go to any other stores, and stayed completely within budget.

15.    Stayed home and made a special day of watching the football playoff game.    We also looked over our master budget and if we stay completely on task, we will pay off our Suburban in March, a full 19 months early

16.    While out, DH bought lunchmeat, rolls, and chips for lunch.  I thought the total would come in under $30, but he spent over $50.  On the upside, there was a whole lot of

17. 

18.    Had to send DH out for Children's Motrin and saltines for DD1, who wasn't feeling well.  While at the store, he picked up beer for himself.

19.    Got our Amazon Trade-in credit for DH's old textbooks.

20.    I have to pickup our weekly milk and egg order and that should be all we need to spend today.

21.    $17 @ McD's for kids' lunch, $20 @ Panera, lunch for DH and I.

22.    budgeted $12 for bread and cheese for dinner.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

I'm now making random goals for myself to motivate me to keep my wallet in my pocket...so now my goal is to have 20 no-spend days this month.  Just six more days!!

 

Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom 

01.. 

02..  $14 Pizza Hut

03.. 

04.. 

05..   $50 Tequila (the big bottle)

06.. 

07..  $25 dinner out with friends

08.. 

09..  $15 Triple Sec

10.. 

11..  $5 McDonald's

12.. 

13.. 

14.. 

15.. 

16..  $15 Pizza Hut, $6 ice skating, $30 date night

17.. 

18..  $5 McDonald's

19.. 

20..  $10 Wendy's

21.. 

22.. 

23..

24..

25..

26..

27..

28..

29..

30..

31..

[nwmomof2]

Week 4

1/22 Groceries, hair stuff, a new kids' lunch box, large mixing bowl and brand new leather purse at thrift store, DH bought new jacket and winter boots - online sale.

1/23 

1/24 

1/25 

1/26 

1/27  

1/28 

[sk8boarder15]

Jan 21 -  - No spending!

Jan 22 -  - Only budgeted spending! Though we still spent $300 on groceries and household items....I did meal plan for the entire week, and stocked up on a few things that were on great sales like, almond milk, toliet paper (I do buy the good stuff),  and vinegar. I'm probably set on vinegar till we move! 

Jan 23 - So far no spending!!!  

[AnkaJones]

1/17: budgeted spending -- hair clippers (we're going to start cutting hair at home), minimal groceries

1/18: No spend.  Hair clippers used for first haircut on DH.  Not the best haircut ever given, but reasonably okay.  Phew.  It didn't help that I couldn't stop giggling the whole time!

1/19: No spend.

1/20:  Budgeted spending.  On a tip I went to one of the local ethnic stores... holy smokes, even the non-ethnic stuff (like flour) is less than half what I pay at the market!  And right nearby was this guy in a truck selling produce for 1/5 of what they sell it for in the grocery store.  Total damage for this week's groceries: $4.50.  No, not a typo.  Less than ten bucks.  Only think I wasn't able to get there was some fish for DH.

1/21: Budgeted small spending

1/22: No spend.  Worked OT last night.

1/23: Making a barter of one of my craigslist postings for canning jars... I dunno if that counts as a spend.

Anka

[Ruthiegirl]

Jan 1 -- 

Jan 2 -- 

Jan 3 -- 40.00 cash for hospital stay/food, 15.22 flowers, 13.12 cell phone minutes

Jan 4 -- 

Jan 5 -- 

Jan 6 -- 

Jan 7 -- 28.61 birthday gift

Jan 8 -- 

Jan 9 -- 60.00 nursing bras

Jan 10 -- 

Jan 11 -- 14.90 library fines   

Jan 12 -- 

Jan 13 -- 

Jan 14 -- 

Jan 15 -- 

Jan 16 -- 23.07 Amazon

Jan 17 --   + seed order for 2012 garden

Jan 18 -- 

Jan 19 -- 

Jan 20 -- 175.00 parts to fix van

Jan 21 -- 

Jan 22 -- 

Jan 23 -- 

January savings goal is at 126% 

 

 

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Double post