No Spend?

[krisnic]

Are people still doing these challenges? I saw one with like 3 responses for May. I used to participate and really liked it! I need it now, is anyone interested in doing it with me?

[micah_mae_]

I would! I love challenges.

[BaileyB]

Describe it for me? I may do it!

[krisnic]

It's where you try to go as many days as possible without spending outside of your budget!

[zebra15]

I need to get back in the habit of controlling spending.  We were on vacation/road trip for most of May. June is turning into a nightmare as I'm still looking for a job.  Hopefully July will be better.  I need to save $$ to I have funds for an apartment and furniture.

[phathui5]

I need to do it. We've been having a hard time sticking to our budget, which is bad since we don't have any wiggle room right now.

[A&A]

Long ago, these threads were most interesting when we discussed our efforts to not spend (in sentences and paragraphs), rather than what it later disintegrated into, which was people just posting the days of the month and what they spent that day.

[BaileyB]

Originally Posted by hath5 

I need to do it. We've been having a hard time sticking to our budget, which is bad since we don't have any wiggle room right now.

I second this.The wiggle room in my budget=dipping into my savings account, which only gets $50 contributed to it each month and we are going to have to spend everything in that account to pay for my car repair

I am 3 days past getting our paychecks and have less than $35 left to get us through til the 29th or 1st (whenever our checks come in the mail). Luckily I just bought and ass load of groceries and have been cooking like a mad woman yesterday and today to have meals in the freezer so we don't eat through everything in 1 week like we usually do.

[artekah]

My DH and I are doing this right now. We do it every now and then when we feel like things are getting out of control. We're not terribly strict...like we are still allowed to drive somewhere we don't "need" to go, or we will stock up on a food for the pantry because it's cheaper that way in the long run. But overall it really does make us conscious of every dollar and I think it helps a lot.

We started on June 14 so we have to go until at least July 15. We're doing fine so far. My most painful moment so far was I saw a potted plant on Craigslist that was perfect--I've been looking for a while, and couldn't buy it. Man I wanted that plant! But there will be other plants and other months.

It's also little things, like instead of buying my DS the cool spin toothbrush I want to buy him, we'll have to make do with the boring one we got for free at the dentist. And no new bibs for DD and no new t-shirts for me. Life would be easier if we bought those things but we don't "need" them right now.

[phathui5]

On Day 2 here. We managed not to spend our own money yeterday (mil gave us money to go out for our anniversary), so I'm not counting that.

[BaileyB]

We were completely out of money after about 2:00 today BUT I decided to return an educational video I bought for DD since she has done nothing but whine about it for the last few times she has watched it. Now we will have another $40 for next week which is good since I have hardly any gas in my vehicle.

[justmama]

This is what we need this month.  Due to lots of factors, we are down to our last $10 in the bank acct and it's pretty frustrating.  I had to borrow money from a relative this month to make rent which I haven't done in YEARS and I was so embarrassed.  It wasn't due to poor planning or money management but it's still embarrassing that a 31 year old woman can't provide for her kids.  *sigh*  So that leaves us strapped for next month catching up too and then there will be school expenses for 2 out of the 3 children to purchase so.......there's no end in sight for the financial crunch.  

No Spend Triumphs lately(because I need a positive spin on this):

-spent extensive time online researching how to fix my massive overpopulation of earwigs that has decimated my garden TWICE now.  Last night the 3 pronged homemade no-spend option kept them safe and I did a little happy dance at 7:30am in my driveway as I surveyed the results!   I won't have to resort to buying an organic pesticide now.

-Even though the 4 of us have had severe colds and have been going through wipes at a phenomenal rate, I haven't resorted to buying tissues to keep up or even using the dryer to dry our wipes.

-We've survived the extreme heat wave in the Northeast without A/C and 2 out of 3 fans broken.  I'm proud of myself that I stayed strong and didn't cave and buy another fan.

-In a few moments we are headed out foraging for black raspberries which are just starting to ripen here.  We have a few local spots we know of that we visit every year.  It's not enough to can or make jam but it's enough to top pancakes or just snack on  for a day or two and it's something the kids love.  Free food is always good.  

-My oldest daughter and I have been really patient waiting for our book requests to come in from the library to read on our Nooks instead of purchasing books to read.  And our diligence has been rewarded because we walked into the YMCA this week to a book "fair" of sorts.  My kids were allowed to pick 3 books each from over 1500 books that were gathered in the community and donated.  So 3 books for my oldest to read until her requests from the library become available.  No spending on reading material right now!

So the plan is to just stay away from stores.  Make do with what you have and be creative(ie, my homemade earwig traps) to avoid spending money.  It's so easy to feel really poor and depressed when you literally cannot spend anything(instead of having the money but trying not to spend) but I'm trying to keep busy with little summer activities like the library and the beach and foraging to keep spirits up.

[zebra15]

I'm not spending.  I'm not sure if this whole 'relocation' thing is going to work out so I need to save every last penny incase I need to go back across the country. UGH.

I'm a 38 yr old woman.  I should be able to be happy. - No to mention, be able to pay some bills!

[krisnic]

Quote:

Long ago, these threads were most interesting when we discussed our efforts to not spend (in sentences and paragraphs), rather than what it later disintegrated into, which was people just posting the days of the month and what they spent that day.

I agree! I found them to be boring when that started happening. 

I think I will start with sharing why I want to do this. DH and I have separate accounts and contribute to bills based on what percent of our income relates to our overall expenses. Really, I just pay for my own gas, groceries and contribute the most to our son's college account (he's 16 and in college currently, so we are paying for his classes as he takes them). I work part time since we adopted our son (October 2011) because he's partially homeschooled. 

I get paid every 2 weeks, and I re-analyze my budget when I get paid. For this paycheck, which happened on Friday - I had:

$140 for gas (hopefully not the norm, we have a new vehicle and it's supposed to get better gas mileage)

$50 for groceries

$32 for student loan

$40 towards phone insurance

$7 for haircut for son

$25 for fun

$175 to CC - HOWEVER, the car place didn't register my car like they were supposed to, so now $100 of this will have to go for that.

Also, my son pays for gas when he uses my car, so he owed me $19

TOTAL: $489.00 - every penny budgeted for.

My son and I had counseling today and to kill time we walked around the mall. He found a rack of clearance shirts for $5 a piece and wanted me to buy him one, but I didn't do it. Normally I would have since it was only $5, but I very much want to stick to my budget, which doesn't account for that. Plus, I didn't like the shirt and it had an inappropriate word on it, so it made the decision easier. lol

[A&A]

I'm going to return a dress and bracelet I bought because it was a frivolous purchase.  I returned some shoes today.  

[krisnic]

I bought the first 2 books of the 50 Shades trilogy, but hated the first one, so I returned the second one. I bought them with a gift card and had a little bit on my debit card, but they let me refund it completely to my debit card! Score!

Also - my registration was $14 cheaper than I thought.

I have not exceeded any budgets and I am feeling very very happy about it!

[EmsMom]

Need to have no spend months until I get a job!  Today is my last day of work.  I still owe my attorney money, I need a new crown on my tooth and I need to file for my divorce.  Doing well this month.  We have rented a couple of red box movies, but that is about it.  I have a list of free things I like to do on my computer and since they are all pretty much my favorite things to do, I should be content without spending, right?  Well, not quite!  Plan is to use my list of free things to do, utilize the library heavily for free books, movies, magazines and sometimes even some free music.  We will hit all of the free summer concerts all over, cook cheap food at home.  I even found some more stores that give great discounts on produce.  Last week I saw someone pulling cauliflower off the rack at Shoprite and I asked if they were going to discount it, and they marked two heads at 79 cents and I took it.  Absolutely fine cauliflower, too.  Yesterday I even bought day old bread and bagels.  But sometimes, I still want to buy something new!!  It is silly, because I really do have everything I need...

[micah_mae_]

Originally Posted by EmsMom 

Need to have no spend months until I get a job!  Today is my last day of work.  I still owe my attorney money, I need a new crown on my tooth and I need to file for my divorce.  Doing well this month.  We have rented a couple of red box movies, but that is about it.  I have a list of free things I like to do on my computer and since they are all pretty much my favorite things to do, I should be content without spending, right?  Well, not quite!  Plan is to use my list of free things to do, utilize the library heavily for free books, movies, magazines and sometimes even some free music.  We will hit all of the free summer concerts all over, cook cheap food at home.  I even found some more stores that give great discounts on produce.  Last week I saw someone pulling cauliflower off the rack at Shoprite and I asked if they were going to discount it, and they marked two heads at 79 cents and I took it.  Absolutely fine cauliflower, too.  Yesterday I even bought day old bread and bagels.  But sometimes, I still want to buy something new!!  It is silly, because I really do have everything I need...

I feel you. I'm a spender and I hate it. It's like an addiction. Need to do better.

[krisnic]

I sold my Espresso machine today! I'm quite excited about that, even though it's only $20. 

[A&A]

Originally Posted by krisnic 

I sold my Espresso machine today! I'm quite excited about that, even though it's only $20. 

That's great! We've been spending too much on eating out lately. Sometimes in the lazy, hot days of summer, going to a restaurant seems easier than going to the grocery store and cooking something. But I need to cut back.