February No Spend~ Having $$ in the bank will make your HEART swell!!

[FillingMyQuiver]

I'm not good at coming up w/ witty titles- HELP!!

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 February 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 FillingMyQuiver - 2/1/12 at 10:48am

[FillingMyQuiver]

a. Who you are

I'm Jenn, SAHM to 5 under 8.

b. Where you are going (your financial goals)

Our long term goal is to be debt free and have a fully funded E-fund.  Our Suburban will be paid off end of March and our CC *should* be paid off by the end of the year.

c. How you plan to get there

STICK TO THE BUDGET!!!  DH may need a few dress shirts for work, but we have a clothing budget to apply there and we'll be visiting my ILs mid-month, so I've budgeted for that.  I hope that focusing on our spring garden and crafting from my stash, and decluttering will keep me distracted enough from spending.

STAY OUT OF STORES!!  On the weekends, DH usually gets antsy and wants to get out of the house.  Somehow we always end up at some store like Target or WalMart and spend money we really shouldn't.  We need to stay out of the stores and find some other way to fill our time.

Key

  No Spend/ Budgeted Spending

  Unplanned/ Un-budgeted Spending

[Ruthiegirl]

Hooray for February! 

a. Who you are

I am Ruth, mama to my four kiddos. 

b. Where you are going (your financial goals)

We are focused on getting our taxes paid.  We had a very strange financial year in 2011 and owe quite a bit.  While I had the money set aside, we used it last Fall to pay for a water line break in our front yard.  So, we are scrambling to gather enough cash before April 15th.  

c. How you plan to get there

Careful spending, checking my balances and spreadsheets every day, using what we have, sticking to the list when shopping, and simply saying 'no' to buying stuff.  

Feb 1 -- 

Feb 2 -- 

Feb 3

Feb 4

Savings goal  0%

[mrsmischief]

I'll join for another month of no spending. :)

a. Who you are:

I am Daisy, mama to my five year old daughter.

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

Our primary financial goal right now is assuring we have the resources for my husband to have a real choice with regards to his career when his current military enlistment contract is up, to fully fund our retirement savings, and begin more aggressive college savings for our daughter's future. This year we are focusing on saving a healthy emergency fund and continue living a life without credit/debt. We also plan to purchase an energy efficient washer and dryer this summer, take a family vacation this fall, and buy homeschool curriclum this fall, all in cash. 

c. How you plan to get there:

I wrote more about the minutiae of our plans here. 

We are downsizing to a smaller more energy efficient house very near to my husband's work this spring and will be paying for said move in cash. Our car will be paid off this spring too and my husband will soon be promoted. All of this "newly found money" will be going into savings while we continue to live on our current budget as it's proven sufficient for our needs and a few wants.

In addition to our usual expenses, this month I have budgeted for a weekend trip to a maple sugaring festival, the purchase of supplies to finish replenishing our 72 hour emergency 'go bags' and first aid kits, seeds for our garden plot, and a new set of ASUs for my husband. We also have $25 budgeted for 'fun' every weekend.

[mrsmischief]

2/1- 

2/2- 

2/3- 

2/4- 

2/5-  (budgeted spending for lunch with friends before painting class)

2/6- 

2/7- 

Savings Goal- 50%

Edited by mrsmischief - 2/7/12 at 4:57am

[FillingMyQuiver]

Key

  No Spend/ Budgeted Spending

  Unplanned/ Un-budgeted Spending

1. 

2.  preemptive

[Super Pickle]

Hi. My name is Erin. I am SAHM of 4.  I didn't do a very good job of participating regularly on the January thread because I was also trying to keep up with the decluttering thread. Hope to do better this month. 

I just want to spend less money. My quantifiable goal is to keep my monthly grocery bill under $500. 

I hope to get there by planning all our meals, and carefully considering where I do my grocery shopping..  

I would like to share a success from January. We had been in the habit of eating out or ordering out at least once a week. Last month, I cooked every meal at home except one. We ordered pizza that night, and DH went to Burger King twice, but he had coupons. Other than that, no restaurant expenses. It costs me $30 just to take the kids to Chipotle, so this is going to save us big. 

Feb 1:  No spending; cancelled security alarm system to save $35/month.  Kids begged for a treat after the library, so I made hot chocolate from scratch at home.

Feb 2: Paid for February Mothers Day Out and February piano lessons. 

Feb 3:    DH decided to order pizza--$25 including tip. But.... I made a pot of dried beans and a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies. We also received some really good coupons in the mail from the local grocery chain, and I made up my list for the week. And I resisted the pleas from my kids to go to the play cafe (only $5, but then we get tea, and it's far so we use up gas......); we went to the library instead.

Feb 4:  Bought groceries, stayed within budget. Went to a free science museum on campus; used DH's staff parking permit to park for free.

Edited by Super Pickle - 2/5/12 at 6:36am

[lucifugous]

a. Who you are

Kate, single mama to 3yo D

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

Unfortunately I just lost about a quarter of my income! We were already scraping by, enjoying only the smallest extras and going without tv/cable, car, and other things that are often considered standard or even essential. My goal for this month is to get the bills paid on time, and I guess I'll just have to work as hard as I can at securing more income.

c. How you plan to get there

Unplanned meals are our biggest weak spot these days. We do it very cheaply so usually a bite out once a week is fine but after it happened yesterday (the first) I realized we just won't be able to do that this month. I've got $150 for food for the next three weeks, so efficient planning will be essential!

I have been hoping to see a play with a friend, if enough money comes in that the bills are paid and I can still buy the ticket I will absolutely do that, it would be a very cheap ticket and it has been a year since I've been to any theatre! Other than that, all non-essentials will have to be avoided.

I believe we have what we need, definitely stocked up on paper products and have enough warm clothes, etc. The only expenses other than food, rent, and utilities should be quarters for laundry, a haircut (it has been more than 18 months!!!!!) and if I am able to find it cheaply enough, curtains and hardware! That's it!

Key

- zero spending day

- approved expense

- unplanned spending

- extra work!

1) Pizza for dinner $11.00

2) Groceries $17.98 

Edited by lucifugous - 2/3/12 at 2:32pm

[Ruthiegirl]

Pay day!  Paid the bills and socked away our savings for the pay period.  Picking up some food today as well -- basics and a couple of extras for ds's birthday.  Sticking to the list!   As long as I keep to our budget, I'll get to keep my    for the day.  

Feb 1 -- 

Feb 2 -- 

Feb 3 -- 

Feb 4 -- 

Feb 5

Feb 6

Feb 7

Feb 8

Savings goal  69%

Edited by Ruthiegirl - 2/4/12 at 6:57pm

[lucifugous]

1) Pizza for dinner $11.00

2) Groceries $17.98 two hours

3) Daycare $140 still hoping for

- zero spending day

- approved expense

- unplanned spending

- extra work!

[FillingMyQuiver]

Key

  No Spend/ Budgeted Spending

  Unplanned/ Un-budgeted Spending

1. 

2. 

3. 

We filed our taxes and I'm pretty excited since our state return will be able to go straight to our truck.  Our Suburban will be paid off by the end of February!!  On to paying off the CC, which will be done by the end of the year   I'm thrilled at the progress we're making and praying that we don't do anything to set us back.

Ruthiegirl, when do you figure your last frost date is?  I'm just a bit south of you in NoVa, and I'm trying to plan out my very first garden and seed starting.

[Ruthiegirl]

Originally Posted by FillingMyQuiver 

Ruthiegirl, when do you figure your last frost date is?  I'm just a bit south of you in NoVa, and I'm trying to plan out my very first garden and seed starting.

I think my last frost date is technically in early April, but I do lots of planting well before that -- some outdoors and I start tomatoes inside.  

 

I have used the planting guide from Southern Seed Exchange for the past few years and have had great success with it.  They really taught me to start planting much, much earlier than I had been...once I started doing that, my garden started doing much better.  

I am on on the Delmarva peninsula and use the coastal guide:

http://www.southernexposure.com/plantingdates.pdf

I have kale, spinach, and chard from last fall that are still producing and will be putting in more spinach, lots of peas, beets, carrots, and lettuce next week.  Looking forward to more garden produce.  

[Ruthiegirl]

Crumbs,  dd has a birthday party today and I did not budget for a present.  As long as we keep it cheap, I can pay cash.  I really want her to be able to go, she has had such a hard school year and this party is hosted by the one of the few girls that has been a good friend to dd.  

While dd is at the party, I am going to run to the bike repair shop and see about getting my jogging stroller fitted with new tubes and tires.  I walk every day with the baby and on my last walk, the tire finally blew out.  The jogger is ancient, but functions well.  With new tires, it will be like new!  

Going to be a tight month if I keep spending money like this.  

Feb 1 -- 

Feb 2 -- 

Feb 3 -- 

Feb 4 -- 

Feb 5 -- birthday present, tube for jogging stroller

Feb 6

Feb 7

Feb 8

Savings goal  69%

Edited by Ruthiegirl - 2/5/12 at 3:45pm

[FillingMyQuiver]

Key

  No Spend/ Budgeted Spending

  Unplanned/ Un-budgeted Spending

1. 

2. 

3. 

4.    $$ out for lunch and $$ for food for our little Super Bowl party.

5. 

[Wolfcat]

We would like to know:

a. Who you are

Sarah, full-time WOHM of two (5yo & 21mo), with a DH who is a part-time WOHD and student, and an at-home business on the side

b. Where you are going (your financial goals)

We are trying to get the bills caught up once and for all, get a savings that we can depend on, take a trip to visit DH's family (~$2.5k).

c. How you plan to get there

We continue to scrimp and save. It seems like we should have more money than we do. *sighs*

[Ruthiegirl]

Pre-emptive   for the day.  

Feb 1 -- 

Feb 2 -- 

Feb 3 -- 

Feb 4 -- 

Feb 5 -- birthday present, tube for jogging stroller 

Feb 6 -- 

Feb 7

Feb 8

Savings goal  69%

[FillingMyQuiver]

Key

  No Spend/ Budgeted Spending

  Unplanned/ Un-budgeted Spending

1. 

2. 

3. 

4.    $$ out for lunch and $$ for food for our little Super Bowl party.

5. 

6.  but   Bought t-shirts for the entire family commemorating the NY Giants Super Bowl win.  (We're BIG NY Giants fans!!)

[mrsmischief]

Originally Posted by mrsmischief 

2/1- 

2/2- 

2/3- 

2/4- 

2/5-  (budgeted spending for lunch with friends before painting class)

2/6- 

2/7- 

Savings Goal- 50%

2/8- 

2/9- $13.99 for the Kindle edition of the newly released The New Hate for my book club reading

2/10- 

2/11- 

2/12- 

2/13- 

2/14- 

Edited by mrsmischief - 2/14/12 at 5:08am

[FillingMyQuiver]

Key

  No Spend/ Budgeted Spending

  Unplanned/ Un-budgeted Spending

1. 

2. 

3. 

4.    $$ out for lunch and $$ for food for our little Super Bowl party.

5. 

6.  but   Bought t-shirts for the entire family commemorating the NY Giants Super Bowl win.  (We're BIG NY Giants fans!!)  DH spent $30 @ Lowes for a drain snake and a small sledgehammer (both needed).

7. 

[Ruthiegirl]

Doing well so far.  We have all had colds, so staying home and mending and not spending. 

I do want to buy something and am deciding if it is worth it -- our electric tea kettle has sprung a leak and I would like to replace it.  We drink a lot of tea, so it gets used many, many times a day.  Dh and I have discussed it and we can work it into the budget and pay cash.  

This is a real departure from our old spending habits.   We would have simply bought it with a credit card and not thought twice about where we would find the money.  Of course now that we live without credit, we have to be so much more careful. All that access to credit led me to think we had more money than we ever really had...yes, I was that stupid.  

Feb 1 -- 

Feb 2 -- 

Feb 3 -- 

Feb 4 -- 

Feb 5 -- birthday present, tube for jogging stroller 

Feb 6 -- 

Feb 7 -- 

Feb 8 -- 

Savings goal  69%