October No-Spend Challenge~ TRICKING the pocketbook and TREATING the savings!!

[FillingMyQuiver]

I used to frequent the No-Spend threads then took a break.  Hope no one minds if I start a thread for October!!

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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 Septmber 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.

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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.

[honeybee80]

Thanks for starting this!

I'm Ellen, single WOHM to M and J.  I am finally in a position with a regular, decent income, but I haven't been saving any money--instead, I've been using my leftover money to buy things I've been wanting for the last few years.  I'm ready to start building up my emergency fund, which means those extra purchases need to stop.  I've figured out that a month at a time is too much for me to commit to, so I'm going a week at a time.  This week (ending on Saturday), I should only need to put gas in my car, which is budgeted.  I will reassess on Sunday to figure out anything I absolutely NEED to buy next week.  When I get paid this Friday, I am paying off a debt I owe a friend of a friend for crayon-ruined laundry  and paying my other bills and then I should be on track to start saving with the following paycheck.

I'm doing great so far this month ;)

10/1:  no spend 

10/2:  no spend 

10/3:  no spend 

Edited by honeybee80 - 10/3/12 at 6:05pm

[FillingMyQuiver]

a.  I'm Jenn, homeschooling SAHM to 5 kiddos, due in January w/ #6 (our last).

b.  We're on trak to being debt free.  We've been s-l-o-w-l-y progressing on it, it seems as though each time we take 2 steps forward, we also need to take 3 steps back   But we're pressing on.

c.  We're still working on controlling our spending.  Our plan for the month:

~ STAY OUT OF STORES!!  This is our biggest $$ suck.  Our family can NOT go into a store for just 1 thing, we end up spending at least $100!!

~  Cooking at home as much as possible.  Being pregnant, I'm tired, the day gets away from me, and the next thing I know, I'm ordering take out.  It's got to STOP!!

~  Crafting.  I'm working on knocking things off my craft list for the holidays.  I've ordered most of the kiddos Christmas gifts, now I just need to take care of the homemade stuff.  My goal is to work for at least 30min daily towards a gift.

~  STICK TO THE BUDGET!!  We have a couple of budgeted items this month, mostly scouting dues and uniform costs, hubby's b-day present, and a couple dr/ dentist appts.  I'm trying to keep our grocery budget down, too.

Key:

No Spend/ Budgeted spending

  Unbudgeted Spending

Crafted for at least 30min

1. 

2. 

[sundaya]

Hiya,

I fell off the wagon in September, so I'm going to try again for October.

a. I'm Sundaya, SAHM to dd (3) and ds (14 months)

b. stalled out on BS3....we have our emergency fund fully funded, now we're trying to get sinking funds in place for home repairs, and save for the next vehicle. We've been at a standstill for the last few months, and need to stay on track, or the next vehicle will incur debt.

c. stay out of stores except on planned grocery days, one day a week. Plan better, so I'm not running out of things mid-week. All our extra seems to trickle out in $20 here, $30 there, at grocery stores.  My next planned grocery shopping day is going to be 10/4.

10/1 no spend

10/2 no spend

[honeybee80]

Originally Posted by sundaya 

All our extra seems to trickle out in $20 here, $30 there, at grocery stores.  

This is TOTALLY my downfall also!  I try to only shop on Sundays.  I think I'm going to make another goal this week to just make do with what I have--I'm not going to set foot in the store until Sunday.

[althara]

I need to do this. We are a family of three expecting a new baby in June. We have about 30K in debt that I'd like to make a decent dent in before the baby arrives. IF I stick to the budget I've created we can knock out at least 1500 per month baring a major unexpected expense. What really kills the budget is convincing ourselves that temporary wants trump the long term plan. I need to go on a no spending plan to keep things aligned with the budget.

[Basylica]

I am thinking i'll have a major splurge this month, but i'm going to account for my spending too :)

I'm Shan, mama to two boys, 8 and 5.

I went from always being super super broke and could never get more than 10 bucks into savings without something twice the price blowing up. Since my divorce things have been going uphill so quickly I feel like karma is saying "sorry for the last 30 years babe" LOL.

Oct 1 - papa murphy's pizza for dinner - $6

Oct 2 - nada

Oct 3 - nada

Planning and plotting to buy a freezer this month, so that'll probably happen plus some spendy $$ to fill it up!

and I just bought both kids new pjs and jeans for eldest for the approaching cooler weather this weekend.

On the plus side I should be getting 280 or so for travel expenses since I drove to waco twice and I get paid .55c a mile, and cost me about 60 bucks in gas. $220 Profit!

And daycare asked me to come by thurs and work on their computers again, but offered me 2w free daycare for doing so (i've spent probably 20hrs helping out in the past for free tho) so that'll be 320 bucks I don't have to spend that I normally would! yay!

[althara]

= unplanned not in budget

= in budget

= no spending at all

10/1 - $15 Groceries

10/2 - $6 pet food (bearded dragon) and $43 for clothes

10/3 - $15 for Starbucks and $11 lunch

10/4 - $11 birthday gift and $20 gas

Not doing so hot so far. The Starbucks stops and lunches are what is killing my budget.

Edited by althara - 10/4/12 at 10:45am

[Surfacing]

Hey Girls,

Not working so great this month so far --

Oct 1 and 2 - I ended up buying lunch and a snack because I needed the hot fresh food and calories. $7 x 2. Long story but after 3 days of dizziness and weakness I went to Emerg. and determined that overall I need to slow down and take better care of myself. A friend suggested that maybe in my attempts to eat more healthily I am not eating enough, or that my body doesn't like the changes. I decided to Mother my hectic overtired self by purchasing hot fresh lunches at work. I also had some extra running around in the mornings and would be late for work if I didn't park at the office $15 x 2. My energy is improving, thank goodness.

Oct 3 - today we were approved for childcare subsidy so we are saving $210/mo. above what we pay for 2 kids, and the third one is now free! To treat myself I got some fancy nails done which I NEVER do. $40 Pulling back the reins $ now though. Getting back to cycling partway to work and saving on parking and tokens.
 

[tealsmith83]

Hey, I want to join...

I am a working mom.  The good thing is, I work at a school so I have the same schedule as my son.  We already have everything paid off, but we need to get back to watching what we spend, because it's starting to get a little out of hand.  Bad thing is, next week is vacation, so I won't be able to "not spend" there.  I used to be a part of a thread like this a few years ago (different website) and really enjoyed it.  Hoping this will help things get back in control.

[FillingMyQuiver]

Key:

  No Spend/ Budgeted spending

  Unbudgeted Spending

  Crafted for at least 30min

1. 

2. 

3.   

4.   Had to bring DS2 in to the dr for a uti, appt was right at lunch time and didn't pack anything.  $25 copay, $45 for antibiotics, $30 for lunch for me and 5 kids.  expensive day

[sundaya]

10/3 no spend

10/4 grocery shopping, 226, which was 26 over budget :(

My goal is to not hit another grocery store until 10/11. Longer, if possible.

[honeybee80]

10/1:  no spend 

10/2:  no spend 

10/3:  no spend 

10/4:  no spend 

So I put no spend, but I technically bought DD a new pair of shoes today.  I can justify it, though ;)  So before I decided to do this no-spend thing, I thought it was necessary to buy my kids new wool socks from REI (like $57 worth--SO not necessary!), so I returned the socks, which came in the mail yesterday, and got DD some new practical shoes.  I had also ordered a pair of cute boots for her, but decided to return those, hence the practical shoe purchase.  She needed something she can wear with dresses, as the only other pair of shoes she has is some Merrell sneakers.  Oh, and they are part of her birthday present.  So there:  justified--I didn't actually part with any money ;)

[caiesmommy]

I want to join in!

I'm a sahm of 3. Ds(6),Dd(3) and Dd(turning 1 next month). I have a birthday party to host for dd's !st birthday next month and with Christmas coming up I really need to watch unneeded spending. Oh and then I have other DD turning 4 in January and a baby shower to throw the weekend after. The next few months on top of bills will be really hard...sigh

no spend

planned spending(groceries/gas/birthday stuff)

unplanned spending

1-

2-

3-
 

[ilovemygirl]

I'm joining in too. I really want to make this a good month! I had a couple of years I did great with this. We paid off a ton of debt but I've been out of control for about a year and can't seem to get back on track.

10/1 - 

10/2 - 

10/3 - 

10/4 - $12, sort of budgeted for coffee/dessert with a friend

[Basylica]

1st -  $6 for pizza at papa murphys

2nd - 0

3rd - 0

4th - $30  quick run to TJs for milk, eggs, butter, etc. Making snickerdoodles and double batch of fudge drops for work!

+230 = expense check for 290 for two trips to Waco, spent actual 60 in gas. Profit!

+320 = Daycare credit for working on computers, 2 weeks daycare!

List for this month :

return levis that didn't fit son (+90 bucks), return sewing machine and exchange for different model (-150 bucks)

Buy freezer! (-525), stock freezer (-ohgodIdon'twanttoguess!)

buy fabrics and such to make costumes for halloween!

Planning on working on DS2s costume this weekend as kids are with ex. He's been begging for a batman costume and since I sew their pjs I figured I can mod up pj pattern and he can be batman all year long and fight crime nightly! :)

going to need some interfacing for mask, applique, spikes on wrist cuffs, collar of cape, and ears on hood

I have black and grey interlock so I should be covered with that.

Going to force DS1 into being finn from adventure time and make him jammie costume as well. lt blue shirt, dk blue shorts (pretty sure I have interlock that'll work for those)

Need to buy white fleece for the hat. Debating about how to approach backpack and sword still.

[caiesmommy]

I'm a sahm of 3. Ds(6),Dd(3) and Dd(turning 1 next month). I have a birthday party to host for dd's !st birthday next month and with Christmas coming up I really need to watch unneeded spending. Oh and then I have other DD turning 4 in January and a baby shower to throw the weekend after. The next few months on top of bills will be really hard...sigh

no spend

planned spending(groceries/gas/birthday stuff)

unplanned spending

1-

2-

3-

4-

[sundaya]

10/5 no spend :)

[honeybee80]

10/1:  no spend 

10/2:  no spend 

10/3:  no spend 

10/4:  no spend 

10/5:  no spend 

[orangemomma]

Joining for October!

a. I am orangemomma - WOHM part-time, 40 something momma to two kiddos - a teenager and a toddler.

b. Trying DR's total money make-over, currently on pre-step 1 - trying to get current on all bills.

c. stick to my budget for the money of october. It is going to be very tight, so it might make it easier to do the "no-spend"!

10/1, 10/2, and 10/3  no spend

10/4 $10 gas for car to get me to payday. This was not budgeted - darn car seems to gobble up gas.

10/5 $3 unbudgeted on a snack out while at work.

surfacing, I hope that you are feeling better!

basylica and all you crafty types - I envy your abilities in that area - I feel like I could saveso  much if only I had some skill when it comes to that sort of thing.