November No-Spend Challenge ~ Don't let little purchases gobble gobble up your savings. - Page 10

[SweetSilver]

1/1)     Budgeted 

11/2)   No spend

11/3)  No spend

11/4)  No spend

11/5)      Almost no spend

11/6)      Groceries, a bit over budget

11/7)   Budgeted groceries, day 2

11/8)   Forgot more groceries, but budgeted.

11/9)    ....and some more groceries.  Gas.

11/10)    No spend

11/11)    No spend

11/12     Almost no spend

11/13    Budgeted groceries.  Planned trip for french fries and that ice vanilla soy.  Finished my no-spend hat!!

11/14    No spend.  Baked goodies.  

11/15    A few more budgeted groceries.  Riding lesson tuition.  Baked bread!!!

11/16    Budgeted groceries.  $11 Goodwill trip--not really worth it but could have spent way more.  Oops.  Forgot the coffee stand.    Oh well.  At    least we are sticking to our grocery list.

11/17   No spend

11/18    No spend

11/19    No spend

11/20     Groceries, a bit over budget today, considering how many days are left in the month.  Gymnastics tuition.  MIL visiting, we stopped at DQ after gym.  Not budgeted, but at $22 I'm not sweating this and I didn't count this against the food bill.  Gas.

***************************************************

Mainly posting because I'm trying out some new little dudes.  I wanted my budgeted-stick-to-the-list spending days to look as awesome as the no-spend days.  Dizzying?  Makes me feel .  And I'm doing my part to make this thread take a loooooooong time to load up!

11/21    No spend.  Staying home to bake pies and veggies for Thanksgiving.

11/22    No spend.    HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!  I might have to amend this, depending on how well I can pack food for the girls (allergies/pickiness)

Food bill about $659 for the month.  Goal is under $750.  That includes eating out, coffee, etc.  I can pull this off if I skip a big shopping trip at the Seattle co-op.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Good luck tomorrow MDCers!  I hope you have a wonderful and frugal Thanksgiving!

Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom 

01.. 

02.. 

03..  $195 Christmas presents

04.. 

05.. 

06.. 

07..    

08..  $87 Christmas cards and pictures

09..  $40 hair

10.. 

11..  $15 ski repair

12.. 

13..  $20 donuts

14.. 

15..  

16..  $57 Party food

17..  $40 Zumbathon + $9 Apple Ginger Cider

18.. 

19..  $20 Pizza Hut

20.. 

21.. $20 more pizza

22..  Happy Thanksgiving!  

23..

24..

25..

26..

27..

28..

29..

30.. 

My goal = 20 No Spend Days

My progress =  12  days so far

[honeybee80]

11/1: no spend 

11/2: no spend 

11/3: budgeted spending  Costco $130 (once a month trip), Grocery store $42, Stamps $9, Gas $33

11/4: no spend 

11/5: no spend 

11/6: no spend 

11/7: no spend 

11/8: no spend 

11/9: no spend 

11/10: budgeted spending  thrift store $13 - $3 (returned ski pants)

11/11: budgeted spending  $57 groceries, $37 gas,  $10 glass of wine (unbudgeted)

11/12: no spend 

11/13: no spend 

11/14: budgeted spending  $20 Christmas present for my parents (I'm gonna count it as budgeted, as it came out of my sinking fund)

11/15: no spend 

11/16:  $8 tequila drink (with club soda and pineapple juice--so yummy!  and so unbudgeted ;))

11/17:  $4 thrift store - did I really need the rainbow mug, vintage handkerchief, teacher magazine, and hand knit hat?  At least they were cheap ;)

11/18: budgeted spending  $45 groceries (less than I thought I would spend--yay!)

11/19: no spend 

11/20:  $15 haircut 

11/21: budgeted spending  $21 drivers license, $34 oil filter for car,  $6 tea and cocomel (coconut milk caramel--delicious!!) while waiting for oil filter change

Yeah, I'm falling apart a little bit, apparently.  I think PMS is what causes my unbudgeted spending--LOL!  I even went 'shopping' today with no purpose!  Luckily I didn't buy anything (because I have NO money to do that right now!)  I've also been contemplating if I want to use my birthday money I'm going to be getting in a couple weeks on 'stuff' or on a new tattoo ;)  I think the tattoo would cost more than what I'm getting, but it will also be a few months out, because the place I want to go is in high demand.  That means I could use some sinking fund money to cover the rest of the cost of it when the time comes.  Hmmm...this is seeming like possibly not the best idea, but I have been thinking about this tattoo for a LONG time now!  Oh, what to do, what to do?

[tealsmith83]

No spend =  

Budgeted spend = 

Unbudgeted spend =  

1.      Supper with my grandmother

2.    No spend!  Yay me!  

3.        Oh well...can't be good every day...

4.No spend!

5.       Chicken feed, stock up on gasoline while it's down to $3.17/gal.  On the upside, resisted eating out for supper!

6.No spend!    4 out of 6 so far...pretty good!

7.  Woohoo!   Tomorrow SHOULD BE a budgeted spend.  

8.    Ordered new carpet for the LR.  Big spend!  Supper at McDonald's.  Will hope for a better day tomorrow.

9.    No spend!   6 out of 9

10.     Spent today (groceries, gas, breakfast, snack money for DS for his class, etc.)  

11.    Lunch at Arby's

12.  No spend!

13.     Budgeted spend on school trip to Chicago.  Woohoo!

14.  

15.  

16.  

17.  

18.  

19.  

20.    budgeted spend - Christmas presents

21.    b-fast and lunch out while shopping for furniture

22.   Won't be going anywhere other than thanksgiving at my parents so I'm posting this ahead of time.   Happy Thanksgiving everyone!    

23.  

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

[FillingMyQuiver]

Key

  No spend/ budgeted spending

  Unbudgeted spending

  Crafted for at least 30 minutes

1.      Starting the month off right

2.     

3.   

4.    I've already spent a chunk on some Christmas presents for the ILs and DH.  I wasn't planning to spend this much, but the gifts I got are *perfect* for them and they're so incredibly generous with us, I don't feel the least bit sad or guilty about it,   Also, we're doing our big monthly grocery shop at Costco.  DH isn't coming w/ us, so hopefully I'll have an easier time sticking to the list and budget.

5.      DH had a dr appt and needed a prescription, thankfully we have a medical sink fund to cover the co-pays.

6.   

7.      I have got to stop going on zulily.  I just dropped another chunk on some probably unneeded Christmas gifts

8.   

9.    Budgeted spending today-  picked up DS2's birthday present.  Quite happy because we got it on sale AND had a gift card we were able to apply to it, so although I budgeted $100 for it, we only ended up spending OOP $75.  ALSO, I had a coupon for a $10 gift card if you spent a certain amount, so I have another $10 gc in my wallet now to apply to future gifts

10.      I knew today would be a spending day.  We bought "gifts" to fill our Operation Christmas Child boxes for church and we finished out the monthly grocery shop.  We went over the grocery budget because I let DH convince me to get lunch meat and I found a good deal on potatoes, 50lbs for $17, so I bought a sack.  Also, though I had intended on making DD1's birthday cake for tomorrow, I just don't have the time or energy, so we bought one.

11.      More Christmas gifts.  *sigh*

12.    Whew, finally.  Most of today was spent prepping for our scout pack meeting potluck.

13.    Not going anywhere today.  Hopefully I'll make some progress on homemade gifts.

14.      I altered a pair of maternity jeans today.  I hated the way they fit and I already had a pair of bootcut maternity jeans so I made them into skinny jeans to wear with my favorite knee high boots that I've been wanting to wear but couldn't b/c I had no skinny maternity jeans.  Yesterday I didn't make any progress on gifts. but today my intent is to sit and knit after dinner.

15.      I feel pretty safe giving myself a No Spend for today.  I finished a scarf last night and hopefully later today I'll finish the main body of another gift.  I'm determined to keep up the momentum I've built over the last few days.

16.    Feeling good today.  DH is working from home and it's always iffy w/ him around because he wants fast food for lunch.  Today I stuck to my guns and we ate from the pantry.  Now to figure out dinner.

17.    I knew we were going to spend money today, I'm just not sure whether to count it against me or not.  It was DS2's b-day and I needed to pick up last minute food items for his b-day dinner, cupcakes, and dessert,  We bought other groceries (all on sale and pantry stocking) and bought a bunch of can/ boxed goods to donate to the Cub Scouts outside the store collecting for the local food pantry.  All unbudgeted, but we'll use/ eat everything we bought.

18.      Ordered DD2's b-day present (she's in early January).  Totally budgeted, felt good getting it done early before the hub-bub of the Christmas season AND baby prep that will be happening late next month.

19.      I *looked* at zulily today and convinced myself that I didn't need to buy anything.  When the littlest went down for her nap, I sewed patches on a couple scout shirts (a side thing I do for the parents in our pack that *hate* to sew.  I make some change for it, and feel good about helping out), AND I sewed a new top for me.  Used up some stash fabric I've been saving and now I have a cute new top that will take me through the rest of the pregnancy and after.  DH worked from home and really wanted McD's for lunch but then recognized how we need to stick to the budget.  for small feats!!

20.    Not sure if I'm going to get to knitting tonight, hoping to, but we're prepping to go out of town to the ILs for Thanksgiving and I've got to work on packing my rugrats.

I've been trying to harness my inner "Prudent Homemaker" and am going through how I can frugally prep for this trip.  I have some pumpkin puree in the fridge I need to use up so I'm baking pumpkin bread and muffins to have for breakfast before we leave and for snacking.  I'm trying to use up the leftovers to minimize our food waste before we leave.  I'm making a list of things DH and I are going to price out on Black Friday (I know we'll spend $$ that day), like basic undershirts, jeans for DH, possibly a laser printer (we homeschool and print a lot in b/w, a laser printer will seriously save us $$).

21.      Budgeted lunch and snacks out for our trip.  Got to make quite a bit of progress knitting a gift.

22.  HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!   DH's cousin and I go to Michael's every year I visit so I know I'll be spending.  I've made a list and my goal is to *stick. to. the. list*

16 No Spend days and 15 Crafting days, I'm over half way to my goal.    Here's to finishing strong the last half of the month.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Originally Posted by honeybee80 

I've also been contemplating if I want to use my birthday money I'm going to be getting in a couple weeks on 'stuff' or on a new tattoo ;)  I think the tattoo would cost more than what I'm getting, but it will also be a few months out, because the place I want to go is in high demand.  That means I could use some sinking fund money to cover the rest of the cost of it when the time comes.  Hmmm...this is seeming like possibly not the best idea, but I have been thinking about this tattoo for a LONG time now!  Oh, what to do, what to do?

It's your birthday money.  You are giving yourself plenty of time to think about it so it is not an impulse purchase.  And it is something that means a lot to you. 

So I think you should buy it.

Plus you've been doing really well on this challenge.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Pre-emptive no-spend because I won't be on the computer once all the hub-bub starts.  We're hosting Thanksgiving here today and won't be going anywhere, so i won't be spending!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom 

01.. 

02.. 

03..  $195 Christmas presents

04.. 

05.. 

06.. 

07..    

08..  $87 Christmas cards and pictures

09..  $40 hair

10.. 

11..  $15 ski repair

12.. 

13..  $20 donuts

14.. 

15..  

16..  $57 Party food

17..  $40 Zumbathon + $9 Apple Ginger Cider

18.. 

19..  $20 Pizza Hut

20.. 

21.. $20 more pizza

22.. 

23..

24..

25..

26..

27..

28..

29..

30.. 

My goal = 20 No Spend Days

My progress =  13  days so far

[honeybee80]

11/1: no spend 

11/2: no spend 

11/3: budgeted spending  Costco $130 (once a month trip), Grocery store $42, Stamps $9, Gas $33

11/4: no spend 

11/5: no spend 

11/6: no spend 

11/7: no spend 

11/8: no spend 

11/9: no spend 

11/10: budgeted spending  thrift store $13 - $3 (returned ski pants)

11/11: budgeted spending  $57 groceries, $37 gas,  $10 glass of wine (unbudgeted)

11/12: no spend 

11/13: no spend 

11/14: budgeted spending  $20 Christmas present for my parents (I'm gonna count it as budgeted, as it came out of my sinking fund)

11/15: no spend 

11/16:  $8 tequila drink (with club soda and pineapple juice--so yummy!  and so unbudgeted ;))

11/17:  $4 thrift store - did I really need the rainbow mug, vintage handkerchief, teacher magazine, and hand knit hat?  At least they were cheap ;)

11/18: budgeted spending  $45 groceries (less than I thought I would spend--yay!)

11/19: no spend 

11/20:  $15 haircut 

11/21: budgeted spending  $21 drivers license, $34 oil filter for car,  $6 tea and cocomel (coconut milk caramel--delicious!!) while waiting for oil filter change

11/22: no spend 

Tomorrow I may need to get gas in my car since I am driving to Boulder, but I'm going to try to wait until Saturday when I need to go grocery shopping anyway.  My friend's birthday is tomorrow and I got crafty last night and made her some mini prayer flags--they turned out really cute!  I'm going to see music tomorrow night (for free again--yay!!) and I have no money to spend on drinks (and I feel like crap, so I don't think I'm even gonna want to drink), so it could very well turn out to be no spend.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Today will be tricky because I'm going to my nemesis (Costco) to get snow tires put on my car.  

while you are getting your tires put on, you cruise around in the store.

I have my eye on an enormous stuffed elephant for $11.

My 4 year old wants a stuffed elephant for Christmas.

Isn't a stuffed elephant a need?

...oh....I guess not.  

[honeybee80]

I think I'm going to be spending after all today.  I have GOT to get rid of this cough.  I'm gonna stop at this awesome apothecary in Boulder and see what they can give me.

[SweetSilver]

Yeah, I ended up spending yesterday, too, for a similar reason.  DD2 has a fever and I stopped by a store (THANK YOU for working on Thanksgiving everyone!) and stocked up on various jello products for her to keep down (she gets a sensitive tummy when she is sick).

I also did stop by the coffee stand (THANK YOU for working on Thanksgiving everyone!) because dh drank most of my coffee at home though I guess he made that cup grumblegrublegrumble---I hate sharing my coffee!  Gave the girl a $5 "THANK YOU for working on Thanksgiving!" tip.

Looks like we'll be staying home the next few days.  Didn't have to worry about spending too much in Seattle because we drove home late instead of staying over.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Originally Posted by SweetSilver 

 Gave the girl a $5 "THANK YOU for working on Thanksgiving!" tip.

Money well-spent.  That good karma will come back to you.

[honeybee80]

Well, there went $21 that was supposed to be spent on food for next week.  This makes me think that I need to give myself a little more leeway in my monthly budget.  I think I need to put $50 more into food and $50 more into miscellaneous so that I don't feel so deprived.  This is my big downfall when budgeting.  I am also entering a 'hate' phase of my love/hate relationship with Costco (and note here, this is me criticizing myself and my choices and is not a judgment on anyone else's choices!)  I prefer to buy local when I can.  I feel like Costco inhibits my ability to do that and I only go to Costco when I'm trying to save money.  I am hoping that by adding $50 to my monthly grocery budget, I can shop at my local health food store only and feel better about where my money is going and what is going into my body.  I love that at Costco I can get 2 1/2 lbs of organic coffee for $12, but I much prefer supporting local businesses that roast their own beans (plus they taste better!).  I've also been reading Nourishing Traditions and it has my brain kind of reeling about the choices I make regarding food.  SO basically that means, I'm going to need to live out of my pantry next week and when I get paid again, I'm going to put more money into my budget and focus on good meal planning using in season produce and buying local :)

[FillingMyQuiver]

Key

  No spend/ budgeted spending

  Unbudgeted spending

  Crafted for at least 30 minutes

1.      Starting the month off right

2.     

3.   

4.    I've already spent a chunk on some Christmas presents for the ILs and DH.  I wasn't planning to spend this much, but the gifts I got are *perfect* for them and they're so incredibly generous with us, I don't feel the least bit sad or guilty about it,   Also, we're doing our big monthly grocery shop at Costco.  DH isn't coming w/ us, so hopefully I'll have an easier time sticking to the list and budget.

5.      DH had a dr appt and needed a prescription, thankfully we have a medical sink fund to cover the co-pays.

6.   

7.      I have got to stop going on zulily.  I just dropped another chunk on some probably unneeded Christmas gifts

8.   

9.    Budgeted spending today-  picked up DS2's birthday present.  Quite happy because we got it on sale AND had a gift card we were able to apply to it, so although I budgeted $100 for it, we only ended up spending OOP $75.  ALSO, I had a coupon for a $10 gift card if you spent a certain amount, so I have another $10 gc in my wallet now to apply to future gifts

10.      I knew today would be a spending day.  We bought "gifts" to fill our Operation Christmas Child boxes for church and we finished out the monthly grocery shop.  We went over the grocery budget because I let DH convince me to get lunch meat and I found a good deal on potatoes, 50lbs for $17, so I bought a sack.  Also, though I had intended on making DD1's birthday cake for tomorrow, I just don't have the time or energy, so we bought one.

11.      More Christmas gifts.  *sigh*

12.    Whew, finally.  Most of today was spent prepping for our scout pack meeting potluck.

13.    Not going anywhere today.  Hopefully I'll make some progress on homemade gifts.

14.      I altered a pair of maternity jeans today.  I hated the way they fit and I already had a pair of bootcut maternity jeans so I made them into skinny jeans to wear with my favorite knee high boots that I've been wanting to wear but couldn't b/c I had no skinny maternity jeans.  Yesterday I didn't make any progress on gifts. but today my intent is to sit and knit after dinner.

15.      I feel pretty safe giving myself a No Spend for today.  I finished a scarf last night and hopefully later today I'll finish the main body of another gift.  I'm determined to keep up the momentum I've built over the last few days.

16.    Feeling good today.  DH is working from home and it's always iffy w/ him around because he wants fast food for lunch.  Today I stuck to my guns and we ate from the pantry.  Now to figure out dinner.

17.    I knew we were going to spend money today, I'm just not sure whether to count it against me or not.  It was DS2's b-day and I needed to pick up last minute food items for his b-day dinner, cupcakes, and dessert,  We bought other groceries (all on sale and pantry stocking) and bought a bunch of can/ boxed goods to donate to the Cub Scouts outside the store collecting for the local food pantry.  All unbudgeted, but we'll use/ eat everything we bought.

18.      Ordered DD2's b-day present (she's in early January).  Totally budgeted, felt good getting it done early before the hub-bub of the Christmas season AND baby prep that will be happening late next month.

19.      I *looked* at zulily today and convinced myself that I didn't need to buy anything.  When the littlest went down for her nap, I sewed patches on a couple scout shirts (a side thing I do for the parents in our pack that *hate* to sew.  I make some change for it, and feel good about helping out), AND I sewed a new top for me.  Used up some stash fabric I've been saving and now I have a cute new top that will take me through the rest of the pregnancy and after.  DH worked from home and really wanted McD's for lunch but then recognized how we need to stick to the budget.  for small feats!!

20.    Not sure if I'm going to get to knitting tonight, hoping to, but we're prepping to go out of town to the ILs for Thanksgiving and I've got to work on packing my rugrats.

I've been trying to harness my inner "Prudent Homemaker" and am going through how I can frugally prep for this trip.  I have some pumpkin puree in the fridge I need to use up so I'm baking pumpkin bread and muffins to have for breakfast before we leave and for snacking.  I'm trying to use up the leftovers to minimize our food waste before we leave.  I'm making a list of things DH and I are going to price out on Black Friday (I know we'll spend $$ that day), like basic undershirts, jeans for DH, possibly a laser printer (we homeschool and print a lot in b/w, a laser printer will seriously save us $$).

21.      Budgeted lunch and snacks out for our trip.  Got to make quite a bit of progress knitting a gift.

22.  HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!   DH's cousin and I go to Michael's every year I visit so I know I'll be spending.  I've made a list and my goal is to *stick. to. the. list*  Oh, and I got work done on some presents.

23.      DH and I went shopping.  We hadn't budgeted for it, but we knew we were going to spend anyway.

I'm proud of myself for sticking to the lists I made for shopping on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.  I got some really good deals from sales and coupons.

16 No Spend days and 17 Crafting days.    Here's to finishing strong the last half of the month.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom 

01.. 

02.. 

03..  $195 Christmas presents

04.. 

05.. 

06.. 

07..    

08..  $87 Christmas cards and pictures

09..  $40 hair

10.. 

11..  $15 ski repair

12.. 

13..  $20 donuts

14.. 

15..  

16..  $57 Party food

17..  $40 Zumbathon + $9 Apple Ginger Cider

18.. 

19..  $20 Pizza Hut

20.. 

21.. $20 more pizza

22.. 

23..  $11.83  Giant stuffed Elephant

24..

25..

26..

27..

28..

29..

30.. 

My goal = 20 No Spend Days

My progress =  13  days so far

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Originally Posted by honeybee80 

I prefer to buy local when I can.  I feel like Costco inhibits my ability to do that and I only go to Costco when I'm trying to save money.  I am hoping that by adding $50 to my monthly grocery budget, I can shop at my local health food store only and feel better about where my money is going and what is going into my body.  I love that at Costco I can get 2 1/2 lbs of organic coffee for $12, but I much prefer supporting local businesses that roast their own beans (plus they taste better!).  

You can also ask your Costco to buy local products.  Nationally Costco is pushing to do that.  Here in Vermont the Costco carries tons of local products...maple syrup, Green Mountain Coffee, Vermont beers (several brands).  If you request that Costco buy locally, and Costco DOES buy from some local vendors...you'll be helping those vendors out tremendously.  Because when Costco buys, they buy big. 

Edited by Crunchy*VT*Mom - 11/24/12 at 2:49am

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Today could be my day.  If I just make the decision not to spend and then stick to it.

We have nothing we need to buy and plenty of projects that need working on at home.

[CookiePie]

Budgeted         Not Budgeted/went over      Saved $, got freebee, paid something off, worked an extra shift           hung clothes out         

November
1.  DD2 sport workshop $62  budgeted   Working an extra shift tonight    and just  

2 *   No spend day! I resisted getting lunch out after school.  Instead I came home and made eggs & toast. I hung 2 loads of laundry   Picked up extra shift

3  * No spend day! 

4    Bought $10 of groceries, also got budgeted wood heating pellets and

5   *   No spend!   Working an extra shift

6   * Working an extra shift today

7  * No spend!  I'm working an extra shift tonight!

8. *   No spend! Worked extra shift

9.  Budgeted spending on groceries

10. Budgeted raw milk & dry goods from bulk bins

11.* No spend. Made a really frugal venison soup with soup bones veggies and barley I'm becoming so aware of how much barely worn stuff gets thrown in by line drying  

12. * No spend Deep cleaned my kitchen.  Culturing a batch of yogurt and making homemade granola

13. *   No spend

14.    Got a couple Christmas gifts out of Christmas fund, and other household needs.

15. * No spend

16.  Bought budgeted wood pellets. I called oil company today & lowered our budgeted monthly oil payment since the furnace just heats our water now.  Got paid for all those extra hours that I worked last week, I made more that I thought         

17. * No spend

18.    Bought DD the coat she wanted online 50% off!!! I went CVS-ing with my sister for some great deals.  I ended up with some Christmas gifts, a few stocking stuffers (both out of the Christmas budget) and some household stuff.  I also have extra care bucks to go back there with.  Not giving myself a sad face because the deals were amazing and I will save the next times I go there.  I haven't CVS-ed in so long so starting this up again during Christmas shopping is a good idea!

I got lots of venison from my Dad and a tons of soup bones!  I love soup!!!!

19. * No spend!     Making 2 gallons of Kombucha today and making stock   May edit if I make it to the grocery store today!

20. Went grocery shopping and with the "Prudent Homemaker" in mind I bought 3 turkeys!  And plan to go to another grocery store today and get another one!  I read that Nov-Dec is the best time to buy Turkey.  Why not stock up for the rest of the year?  We have a good sized stand up freezer in the basement that I want stocked up for the winter.  I think that even with these stock ups I will still come out under budget, as we are nearing the end of the month.  I also bought more clothes hangers, we are running out, I hang clothes on hangers to dry in the house when the weather is too bad to hang on the line outside.  But today was nice so I got to hang out on the line today

21. I went on a grocery shopping Extravaganza!  I spent $550 for the month I wanted to be closer to $450, but still not bad considering!  How on earth do you set your grocery budget anyway?   I have been tracking for the last 3 months Sept =$430, Oct= $725, Nov =$550

22.    I did a load of laundry in the am hung it out   then headed to the high school football game.  We went to our family's house for dinner, with pies in hand, we came home late, tucked the kids in bed, then got online to determine if I wanted to venture out & brave the crowds.  I decided to stay home, there was really nothing that looked good to me and last year I stayed home for BF & got lots of Cyber Mon deals!  I spend about $80 online got free shipping & 40% off for DD1. 

23. * BLACK FRIDAY NO SPEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

24.  Today I'm taking DD2 shopping and out for lunch.  We have been planning this for some time!  If I do any shopping it will be for Christmas gifts and will come from my Christmas fund! 

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Originally Posted by CookiePie 

23. * BLACK FRIDAY NO SPEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Way to go, Mama!!

[FillingMyQuiver]

Key

  No spend/ budgeted spending

  Unbudgeted spending

  Crafted for at least 30 minutes

1.      Starting the month off right

2.     

3.   

4.    I've already spent a chunk on some Christmas presents for the ILs and DH.  I wasn't planning to spend this much, but the gifts I got are *perfect* for them and they're so incredibly generous with us, I don't feel the least bit sad or guilty about it,   Also, we're doing our big monthly grocery shop at Costco.  DH isn't coming w/ us, so hopefully I'll have an easier time sticking to the list and budget.

5.      DH had a dr appt and needed a prescription, thankfully we have a medical sink fund to cover the co-pays.

6.   

7.      I have got to stop going on zulily.  I just dropped another chunk on some probably unneeded Christmas gifts

8.   

9.    Budgeted spending today-  picked up DS2's birthday present.  Quite happy because we got it on sale AND had a gift card we were able to apply to it, so although I budgeted $100 for it, we only ended up spending OOP $75.  ALSO, I had a coupon for a $10 gift card if you spent a certain amount, so I have another $10 gc in my wallet now to apply to future gifts

10.      I knew today would be a spending day.  We bought "gifts" to fill our Operation Christmas Child boxes for church and we finished out the monthly grocery shop.  We went over the grocery budget because I let DH convince me to get lunch meat and I found a good deal on potatoes, 50lbs for $17, so I bought a sack.  Also, though I had intended on making DD1's birthday cake for tomorrow, I just don't have the time or energy, so we bought one.

11.      More Christmas gifts.  *sigh*

12.    Whew, finally.  Most of today was spent prepping for our scout pack meeting potluck.

13.    Not going anywhere today.  Hopefully I'll make some progress on homemade gifts.

14.      I altered a pair of maternity jeans today.  I hated the way they fit and I already had a pair of bootcut maternity jeans so I made them into skinny jeans to wear with my favorite knee high boots that I've been wanting to wear but couldn't b/c I had no skinny maternity jeans.  Yesterday I didn't make any progress on gifts. but today my intent is to sit and knit after dinner.

15.      I feel pretty safe giving myself a No Spend for today.  I finished a scarf last night and hopefully later today I'll finish the main body of another gift.  I'm determined to keep up the momentum I've built over the last few days.

16.    Feeling good today.  DH is working from home and it's always iffy w/ him around because he wants fast food for lunch.  Today I stuck to my guns and we ate from the pantry.  Now to figure out dinner.

17.    I knew we were going to spend money today, I'm just not sure whether to count it against me or not.  It was DS2's b-day and I needed to pick up last minute food items for his b-day dinner, cupcakes, and dessert,  We bought other groceries (all on sale and pantry stocking) and bought a bunch of can/ boxed goods to donate to the Cub Scouts outside the store collecting for the local food pantry.  All unbudgeted, but we'll use/ eat everything we bought.

18.      Ordered DD2's b-day present (she's in early January).  Totally budgeted, felt good getting it done early before the hub-bub of the Christmas season AND baby prep that will be happening late next month.

19.      I *looked* at zulily today and convinced myself that I didn't need to buy anything.  When the littlest went down for her nap, I sewed patches on a couple scout shirts (a side thing I do for the parents in our pack that *hate* to sew.  I make some change for it, and feel good about helping out), AND I sewed a new top for me.  Used up some stash fabric I've been saving and now I have a cute new top that will take me through the rest of the pregnancy and after.  DH worked from home and really wanted McD's for lunch but then recognized how we need to stick to the budget.  for small feats!!

20.    Not sure if I'm going to get to knitting tonight, hoping to, but we're prepping to go out of town to the ILs for Thanksgiving and I've got to work on packing my rugrats.

I've been trying to harness my inner "Prudent Homemaker" and am going through how I can frugally prep for this trip.  I have some pumpkin puree in the fridge I need to use up so I'm baking pumpkin bread and muffins to have for breakfast before we leave and for snacking.  I'm trying to use up the leftovers to minimize our food waste before we leave.  I'm making a list of things DH and I are going to price out on Black Friday (I know we'll spend $$ that day), like basic undershirts, jeans for DH, possibly a laser printer (we homeschool and print a lot in b/w, a laser printer will seriously save us $$).

21.      Budgeted lunch and snacks out for our trip.  Got to make quite a bit of progress knitting a gift.

22.  HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!   DH's cousin and I go to Michael's every year I visit so I know I'll be spending.  I've made a list and my goal is to *stick. to. the. list*  Oh, and I got work done on some presents.

23.      DH and I went shopping.  We hadn't budgeted for it, but we knew we were going to spend anyway.

I'm proud of myself for sticking to the lists I made for shopping on Thanksgiving and Black Friday.  I got some really good deals from sales and coupons.

24.      Breakfast from the local bagel shop (budgeted), and the day spent with my younger brother and his girlfriend (we only get to see him a couple times a year).  Already got my knitting in for the day

17 No Spend days and 18 Crafting days.  So close, just 3 more days to reach my goal!!    Here's to finishing strong the last half of the month.