January No Spend Challenge~ Ringing in the New Year with $$ in our Pockets!!! - Page 16

[SweetSilver]

/ = Excellent

 /  = Not so good

 / = Very, very bad

12.31    Errand day.  Groceries/ eat out= $55/ $18/ $28    Forgot to record library fines--  22 DOLLARS!

1.1    No spend.  Staying home.  Nothing's open.  But I'm taking it anyway.

1.2   Happy Veggie for now, because we kept snack and treat purchases to a minimum.  Azure Standard order.  Co-op stop.  

1.3      Stop at Burgerville for dd2--she ate 5 fries, I ate a burger and fries.  Oh well.  DH took dd1 out for a taco.  $20

1.4    Just groceries, but not sure how I'm doing so far.  

1.5   No spend.  Stayed home.

1.6    Took away my reward for a no-spend because 1/2 of a stewed chicken was wasted, entirely avoidable.  

1.7  Hopefully the start to a better week.  Making bread; made my pot of smoky-bacon-y soupy beans.

1.8  Even though this was a big spend day, I'm giving myself this Happy Carrot because I stuck to the lists, and the girls stuck to their weekly treat allowance.  Only one entirely unplanned but not unwelcome purchase-- a new sudoku book for the girls to share, $6.

1.9    Basic groceries, but they keep coming.  Not sure how I'm doing yet.

1.10    Couple of forgotten groceries.  Thrift store $30.  Wool socks $16.  New battery for an old digital camera.    Dairy Queen, $13, because I messed up and we drove 40 minutes to what I thought was an open swim at the Y.  

1.11    Last of the forgotten groceries.  Totaled $203 for the week.  Not bad.  Could have been waaaaay better.  Added another $7 to the FUNfund again.  DD1 is really excited--we have saved $24 in 3 weeks.

1.12    No spend

1.13  

1.14      Haven't been very good packing snacks and lunches.  Hrumph!  Minor stops for groceries, household stuff like laundry soap and hair ties. Stopped at DQ for their fries, and I was hungry enough to order a meal myself.  Finally finished the 2nd pair of mittens from yarn in my yarn drawer.  

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

1.15  Forgot dd1's leotard for gym, bought her another.  Told her it was part birthday present so she doesn't get any ideas.....  Did well at grocery shopping, keeping the total to $62.  I could live with my monthly food bill if I didn't keep making mistakes that add up.  Christmas lamps for the living room.  Outspent what dh had in mind, but having lived with thrift store lamps and hand-me downs, I was ready for something more permanent.  Buying the leo hurt more than buying the lamps!  Birthday shopping for dd1's 8th bday.

Basic groceries= $520.50

Snacks and treats and eating out= $127.50

Groceries for homemade treats and celebrations= $35.25

=$683.25/ $920 for 5 weeks ending Sunday, 2.3

[micah_mae_]

Oh no. My 2 yo broke our PS3. I don't care but my DH is going to be mad. He doesn't think he can go to sleep without playing at least an hour of NHL13. Sorry to tell him that we can't afford to replace it.

[mamatohannah]

Who I am: Working mom of a 2-year-old daughter, fiance currently staying home with our daughter.  He just graduated from grad school and is looking for work. 

Where I'm going: Credit card debt free by July 1, 2013, with several thousand dollars saved.  No more stupid spending!

How I'm going to get there: I am getting really aggressive about paying off debt.  I have been in total denial about how bad my high interest credit cards really are.  I accrued that debt as a result of staying home with my daughter most of her first year, and wouldn't take it back for anything, but it's time to free us from that burden!  We currently live with my in-laws, so I'm freed up to pay about $1700/month toward my $7000 debt.  I expect several thousand dollars in the form of my tax refund, which I will save.  The other challenge is sticking with my budget.  I am constantly looking for new ways to keep money in my pocket, which is why I'm here! 

Just starting to track my spending this week.  I plan to update each week; I imagine that having to admit my spending habits publicly will help reign me in on the "little things" which are the bane of my financial existence. 

Budgeted:

Unbudgeted:

No spend:

Jan. 13 - $70 groceries

Jan. 14 -

Jan. 15 -

Jan. 16 -

Jan. 17 - $8 girl scout cookies (part of budgeted "fun money" - and I'm supporting a student!)

Jan. 18 - $2.70 library fines (out of "fun money" and sooo much cheaper than buying those books at $20 each)

Jan. 19 - $20 much needed breakfast out with a friend and our kids; $80 groceries

Jan. 20 - $60 dinner out (but we had such a great time!) $5 at Starbucks

Jan. 21 -

Jan. 22 -

Jan. 23 - $70 for the water cooler at work (my coworkers will reimburse me) $600 (OUCH!!!) to pay off back parking tickets from a much more irresponsible chapter in my life.  PAID IN FULL!!  Really proud of myself for finally facing the music on this.  $155 credit card payment (I paid an extra $920 to this credit card a few weeks ago, part of my aggressive get out of debt plan.) 

Jan. 24 - $5 breakfast, $15 donuts to celebrate a students birthday, $35 gas

Jan. 25 -

Jan. 26 - $20 parking/lunch&cupcakes after (free) storytime at my favorite book store. 

Jan. 27 - 

GOAL: 5 no spend days in a row!

Edited by mamatohannah - 1/27/13 at 6:25pm

[melissel]

I didn't spent a lot out of pocket today, but I still get a grumpy face. I spent $6 on library fines (dratted overdue DVD), so that was bad, but mainly I'm not thrilled that we had dinner out even though we used gift cards given to us for Christmas. I'd rather we'd saved that treat for when we really need it, and for the special "Paneraschooling" breakfasts I surprise the girls with from time to time. We still have $62 left over though, so we'll conserve the rest. On the upside, I managed to get two fairly expensive all-natural hair products (that actually work for my curls!), a roll of wrapping paper, a bow, and two candy bars for $7 out of pocket thanks to efficient coupon use and a Living Social deal. And that $7 falls under our personal care and gifts/parties budget categories, so it's budgeted spending. 

Key: 

No frivolous/unbudgeted spending: 

Unbudgeted spending: 

Ate at home all day: 

12/30: 

12/31: 

1/1:  

1/2:  

1/3:  $15 at Starbucks

1/4:   $9 in library fines 

1/5:  

1/6:  

1/7:   $60 on clothes, $15 on sneakers, and $20 on desk organizer

1/8:  $40 on desk organizing supplies, $15 on pizza for dinner

1/9:   $42 on black loafers, $2 library fine

1/10:  $25 on lunch out

1/11:  $25 on bagels and lunch, $25 on pizza for 6

1/12:  $23 on Moe's for dinner

1/13:  

1/14:  

1/15:  

1/16:  $6 library fines, $38 dinner at Panera

1/17:

1/18:

1/19:

1/20:

[LoveOurBabies]

Originally Posted by micah_mae_ 

Oh no. My 2 yo broke our PS3. I don't care but my DH is going to be mad. He doesn't think he can go to sleep without playing at least an hour of NHL13. Sorry to tell him that we can't afford to replace it.

My DS also broke a part of my laptop screen late last week (and something internal). Can't afford to replace it and it's causing connection and disconnection problems constantly with the internet.. Such a pain!

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

It's 6:38 AM in Vermont and I've already spent money today.   ..... 

I bought some Buddhism Book for Mothers of school age children that my friends recommended on facebook.  Sarah Napthali is the author.  Have any of you read it?

I'm on day FOUR of staying hom with sick kids...day FOUR!!!!!!  So I need some new reading material.  I'll be back on the no-spend bandwagon tomorrow when all my kids are well and back where they are supposed to be. 

Disruptions in our routine are LETHAL to my budget.

Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom 

My Goal = 15  No-Spend days

My progress = 13 No-spend day so far

01..  $258 cross-country ski club for the kids

02.. 

03.. 

04.. 

05..  $40.09  Date Night

06.. 

07.. 

08.. 

09.. 

10.. 

11.. 

12.. 

13.. 

14.. 

15.. 

16..  $6 McDonald's

17..  $8 Buddhism book for Mothers

18..

19..

20..

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Originally Posted by melissel 

and for the special "Paneraschooling" breakfasts I surprise the girls with from time to time.

What a great idea!!!  I want you to homeschool ME!

[LoveOurBabies]

I'm so sorry to hear about all the unwell kids! It breaks your heart when the little ones are unwell, especially babies. Hope all the LO's will be on the mend soon.

Ruthiegirl -- Good luck with the house offer! for you xx

Thursday 17th January:

$10.99 - Sweet treats from grocery budget (allowed myself $20 out of the $1000 grocery budget)

$5.41 - Usual groceries

$47.37 - Gas for DH's car

$71.71 / $1000 Grocery budget

$47.37 / $200 Gas budget

What I did today to save money:

Stayed at home, planned lunch and dinner in advance, (mostly) with what we had on hand. Have beans soaking for tomorrow's dinner.

Figured out what I was going to give dd for her upcoming birthday! It's coming out of our cupboard, so no further $ will be spent. I forgot I had already purchased some wooden play cupcakes, sweets & ice creams in November, that dd dearly wanted. They are unopened and are sitting in the cupboard for when the play room will be set up. The play room is still a few months away, so I thought I'd take them out and give them to her on her birthday instead.

Made the decision to go back to cloth diapers for ds when we are at home and disposables for when we go out. We used to cloth diaper and EC when dd1 was born, when we had dd2 it went out the window.. and we carried on with disposables for child 3 and 4.. I'm happy with my decision to go back to cloth, but it's going to cost about $30 for some basic flats (I still have my original prefolds)!

[LoveOurBabies]

Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom 

It's 6:38 AM in Vermont and I've already spent money today.   ..... 

I bought some Buddhism Book for Mothers of school age children that my friends recommended on facebook.  Sarah Napthali is the author.  Have any of you read it?

I'm on day FOUR of staying hom with sick kids...day FOUR!!!!!!  So I need some new reading material.  I'll be back on the no-spend bandwagon tomorrow when all my kids are well and back where they are supposed to be. 

Disruptions in our routine are LETHAL to my budget.

$8 for some stress relief is nothing mama!! I go stir crazy when they all get sick too. Hope your kids get well soon xx

[birdie.lee]

.

Edited by birdie.lee - 5/13/13 at 12:05pm

[Ruthiegirl]

Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom 

It's 6:38 AM in Vermont and I've already spent money today.   ..... 

I bought some Buddhism Book for Mothers of school age children that my friends recommended on facebook.  Sarah Napthali is the author.  Have any of you read it?

I'm on day FOUR of staying hom with sick kids...day FOUR!!!!!!  So I need some new reading material.  I'll be back on the no-spend bandwagon tomorrow when all my kids are well and back where they are supposed to be. 

Disruptions in our routine are LETHAL to my budget.

Here here!   No more sick kids.   We are on day 4 as well....congestion and fevers and coughs be gone! 

Edited by Ruthiegirl - 1/17/13 at 6:31am

[Ruthiegirl]

Originally Posted by LoveOurBabies 

Ruthiegirl -- Good luck with the house offer! for you xx

Thank you!  

We met with our agent yesterday and signed papers.  The offer is good, not great.  He needs a longer time frame that we do and we are still negotiating the price.  But we are one step closer.  So, good news for now and we'll see where this goes.  

[meandk0610]

Originally Posted by meandk0610 

key:

no spend -      

budgeted spend -        

over budget or not budgeted -    

hung clothes on line -

used the fireplace at least part of the day -

new smiley - library fines -

1/1:  

1/2:  

1/3:  

1/4:   really woke up too late to do a good fire, though. I'm not sure it will be down to embers in time to close the flue before we go to work. So far, so good but I realized today that I need to buy my high-potency vitamins for my adrenal fatigue and I only have $10 for supplements this month due to school having been closed. Maybe I'll see what kind of multivitamin I can get for that at Costco and live with that until I save up money for the Dr. Rind or Dr. Wilson stuff.

1/5: not home

1/6: not home

1/7:

1/8:

1/9:

1/10:

1/11:

1/12:

1/13: 

1/14:

1/15:

1/16: i used the dryer on one load of clothes to catch up a little. no late fee on the electric bill but OVER $11 IN LIBRARY FINES!!! we were there on 1/14 and librarian said we had stuff due on 1/15, did i want to renew. i said i would do it at home the next day. i go online 1/15 in the evening to renew and find out that we had stuff due on 1/14 THAT SHE DIDN'T MENTION and that put us over the renewal limit on BOTH accounts. so i had some things that were 2 days late and some things that were 1 day late. DVDs are still charged at $1 A DAY here so that's where they got us. i paid $4 to be able to check out some things on 1 account but will have to pay $8 to get the other account open to use again.

1/17:  

[Ruthiegirl]

We are supposed to get snow tonight, so I did the grocery shopping today.  Lots and lots of staples.  We had eaten the pantry bare. 

  No spend

  Budgeted spend

   Unbudgeted Spend

  Do something frugal at home

January 1 --     lowered temperature on hot water heater

January 2 --    $10.50 food at airport    soaked beans for dh and kids

January 3 -- 

January 4 -- 

January 5 --   

January 6 --   $3 tea at airport

January 7 --   well baby check up    soaking more beans for meals, lowered heat 2 degrees

January 8 --     delayed our grocery shopping for another day

January 9 --     delayed our grocery shopping for yet another day

January 10 --   grocery shopping 

January 11 --     shut down the heat due to warm temps

January 12 --     dh repaired kitchen faucet

January 13 -- 

January 14 --  $20 shoes, $20 birthday present, $30 haircuts

January 15 --   

January 16 -- 

January 17 --   Groceries

January 18  PAYDAY

My goals:

Save 50% of Jan 4th paycheck -- done!

Save 20% of Jan 18th paycheck

Do something frugal every day

Make every dollar matter

[micah_mae_]

Originally Posted by LoveOurBabies 

My DS also broke a part of my laptop screen late last week (and something internal). Can't afford to replace it and it's causing connection and disconnection problems constantly with the internet.. Such a pain!

Maybe that's why people say kids are so expensive!

Luckily DH didn't freak out like I thought he would (he has anger/depression issues). He took it apart, found out it was that the 2 yo put 4-5 dvds in there at one time. He got them out and is trying to put it back together. I'm enjoying the peace and quiet in the meantime. 

A laptop is way more important than a PS3 though, I would be upset in your shoes. I hope you can get it fixed/replaced soon, I know what a pain it is to not have a cpu! (One day my kids knocked my laptop off the table, breaking the harddrive and also messed up the charging port on my phone..good lord).

[FillingMyQuiver]

Key

  No Spend/ Budgeted Spending

  Unbudgeted/ Unnecessary Spending

  Crafted for at least 30 minutres

1.    Not exactly how I wanted to start the year/ month, but all well.  Another $200 spent at Home Depot for more shelving for my kids' rooms, $40 spent at the grocery store while we continue to wrap our head around the food allergies.

2. 

3. 

4. 

5.    $$ bought DDs's birthday cake and ice cream for DS2.  Blew up the birth pool, gathered birth supplies, & put crib together.

6.    $75 at Home Depot.  Shelves are working out so well in the kids' rooms, DH and I decided to put some in our room.  Making split pea soup for after birth from a ham bone my mom saved.

7.      Frugal accomplishments for today:  started cutting out cloth wipes to sew for new baby, packed all our snacks and brought our water bottles to the 3hr meeting today that I had to take the kids w/ me to, cooked dinner at home even though I was exhausted after my meeting, including greens from our garden we have in a low tunnel, pulled out next size up clothes from storage for DD2 and DD3 (still need to go through DD3's drawers to pull out too small clothing, hopefully tomorrow)

8.    $17 spent at grocery store for milk, pasta, and a jar of sauce (not frugal, I usually make my own sauce, but hey, we didn't eat out ).  Frugal accomplishments for today:  went through DD3's clothes, separated all of the clothes I've pulled from the drawers the last few weeks and started a donation bag, raked half my front yard and moved the leaves into the garden beds, dug a trench and buried 5 gallons of kitchen scraps in one of the beds, brought our change to the coinstar machine and got an amazon gift card.

9.    $6 on an amazon grocery order for soy free chocolate chips, sorghum flour, and chia seeds.  Frugal accomplishments for today: used amazon gift card from yesterday for majority of amazon order, cut DS2's hair, ate all meals and snacks out of the pantry/ freezer

10.     Planned food shopping list for Saturday, cut cloth wipes from upcycled flannel sheet and towels, DH picked up our bulk foods co-op order last night so I was able to make a loaf of gluten-free bread  for lunch and muffins for breakfast, also eating dinner at home, started taxes, opened windows in house to get some fresh air in (we're in a warm streak), took the end of the loaf of bread I made and set it aside to make gluten free bread crumbs

11.    DH made a pretty big purchase today.  We put it on our CC and will pay it off next month b/c it was a last minute, completely unbudgeted purchase.  Also bought some groceries.  Frugal accomplishments for today: wintersowed 5 containers (3 onions and 2 broccoli) using seed starting soil from last year and jugs I've been saving.

12.   Did our big, once-a-month grocery shop.  Apparently I wasn't paying as close attention when I made my list b/c I ended up buying quite a bit of duplicates of things we didn't really need, though they can go in the stockpile now.  We overspent our food budget by about $90, but I'm not sure how much of that is food cost increases, allergen free ingredients that are slightly more expensive, or a just a general need to increase the food budget that I don't want to come to terms with, .

13.   Had to pick up mailing labels for a project for DD1's troop.  It wasn't in the budget, but I told my co-leader I'd take care of it.

14.   Pack meeting pot luck at scouts, except it was "Bring your fave pizza from your fave pizza place" night.  Ugh, we can't have pizza now because of DS2's allergies, so I packed sandwiches on homemade gluten-free bread and made gluten free rice krispie treats for dessert.  Picked up 50lbs of potatoes on the way home ($17).

15.   Set aside pieces from yesterday's bread loaves to use for breadcrumbs, finished cutting out rest of the upcycled baby wipes (over 6 dozen total, we totally need them, the wipes I'm using now are falling apart & some are approaching 8yrs old) hopefully I'll get them serged up tonight, made sure the hose/ siphon for the birth pool was clean, also started a crockpot full of chicken stock from 2 frozen carcasses

16.     Not going anywhere, no money should be spent.  We haven't seen the sun in about a week, we've had 3 days of rain, and we're all going stir crazy in this house.  Finished the 6 dozen cloth wipes, went through the wipe stash and pulled out the unusable ones, cut out the pieces to sew 2 wool pilot caps for the babe on the way

17.     Didn't leave the house, "they" were calling for snow (we've gotten none).  All meals eaten at home, DH worked from home so no gas usage, started sewing the wool pilot caps, started cutting some pocket inserts for DD3's Fuzzi Bunz (the ones we're using are falling apart).

13/ 20 No Spend Days

5/ 20 Crafting Days

[micah_mae_]

Key:

No Spend/Paying Bills 

Budgeted Spend 

Unbudgeted Spend 

Did Something Frugal at Home 

**16/25 No Spend/Budgeted Spend Days**

**$480/$480 Grocery/Med Budget**

December 28:  Paid rent, electric, water, adt, credit card and van payment for $1,232. But our van payment is now current so we're current on all bills! 

December 29:  We'll be spending the day with the inlaws. 

December 30:  Budgeted spend on pizza, we got home from out of town at dinner time and I needed to buy groceries! We also got some snacks for the road but my dad had given us "coke money" for the trip (I had gone to the store for him and he told me to keep the change).

December 31:  Ah groceries. I spent $150 almost even on food, herbs, meds and wipies. My DH will be going to the other store here in a bit to get our milk and produce. My unbudgeted spend was a pair of sweat pants on sale for the little one who didn't have any (and it's cold enough he needs warm pants around the house). They were $4. I also got 3 packs of toss and go sippy cups for $6.

January 1:  Well I was going to send DH to the post office but it's closed, so no spend!

January 2:  Found out that when my dentist talked me into a "deep clean" it turned me into a periodontal patient and my insurance doesn't cover all periodontal cleanings so I have to go every 3 months to be tortured and can't stop being a periodontal patient until I "get better". Sigh. $30 copay for that today. $9 for stamps. $22 for paper kitchen items (plates/bowls/etc) and tissues because I'm trying to get over the flu and can't keep up with the house. Sigh.

January 3:   I'm still getting over the flu and now DH has gastroenteritis (Lord help us) so another day inside until we have speech therapy at 1:30. We only have $50 left and I'm not touching it! Next pay period will be more challenging because I'll have more $$ available which makes it harder not to spend it! For my frugal thing done at home I made a quadruple batch of steel cut oats for breakfast and divided it into qt sized jars for quick breakfasts later this week. :)

January 4:  Alright..*shame* I'll put the worst things first: Movie for the boys $10, donuts for breakfast $7 and workbooks from targets dollar section because we haven't been able to afford our home school curriculum yet $4. I also got floss (the string kind since the stick kind I've been using apparently don't work well) $3 and instant potatoes $4. Now to go hide in shame.

January 5:  My oldest is autistic and tends to obsess over things. Lately it's been Christmas lights. Tonight is the last night that we have a local light display, it's 5.5 miles of lights. We have been at least 5 times since Thanksgiving. So I took the boys tonight and I don't feel bad. :) $10 So usually we eat oatmeal 3-4 times a week and sweeten it with maple syrup. Well real maple syrup is expensive, so today I cooked 3/4 c frozen berries with 1/4 c water and 2 T maple syrup. Blended it all together and voila, healthier "pink" oatmeal even yummier and cheaper. 

January 6:  Staying home today..marriage drama, 30 weeks pregnant, a 2 yo and a 4 yo..I'm worn out. :(

January 7:  Today is my birthday and I'm feeling kind of down so I've decided that I want to go to starbucks later and get a tall drink and wander Target by myself for some peace. :) And my mom just told me she wants to send me an "e-gift card" so I don't have to buy it myself so yay! A no spend day! The e-giftcard thing is cool, you can email someone a giftcard and they just print it off and use it like a regular gift card!

January 8:  Not much to tell! 

January 9:  Staying home today, it's cold and rainy. I think I'll make a big batch of breakfast food later.

January 10:  Got some birthday money and got a couple things for myself and the boys but since it's not budgeted I'm not counting it. We also got enough for a year membership to the childrens museum so I'll be buying that on Monday!

January 11:  Doing these next few days in advance, we'll be staying home except for church on Sunday and nothing to buy there!

January 12:  A friend gave me her extra bountiful basket! I'm trying to keep my kids out of it so I can make strawberry/carrot muffins for snack. :)

January 13: 

January 14:  PAYDAY We are so spending money but it'll be budgeted..$465 on bills (cell/internet, insurance, adt), $250 on the gas card, $23 to the army for an overpay, $30 on haircuts for the kids, $45 on diapers, $55 on cloth pull ups, $80 for a years worth of laundry soap, $20 for school stuff, $70 savings for Christmas, $185 in our savings jar and $21 in the kids savings jar. Phew. I also have to go grocery shopping but I'll do that later this week. Speaking of which, I've increased our food budget so we can buy some meat in bulk.

January 15: I'm gonna take a spend day today. I have to get a new tea kettle. We drink hot beverages a lot. I drink hot lemon water in the mornings and hot chocolate at night (I get munchies and hot chocolate is so much cheaper than buying snack food!), DH makes instant coffee probably daily. I've been using a small pan but it's always dirty from cooking and I may sound lazy but when I want hot water I just want hot water, lol. I will go and just get that and also get our gas money on a gift card. I'm also irritated because I accidentally put twice the amount I was supposed to in our Xmas fund and it's ING so I can't transfer half of it back out until the 22nd. We're supposed to be going to the childrens museum in Austin but I don't know if the money will be there yet now thanks to my irresponsibility. Sigh. **Add to this DH just told me I had to order him a new birth certificate or he can lose his security clearance so that's $30. Dang it.* So now I'm not paying a couple things until that one payment to ING comes back in a week. Gah.

January 16:  No more spending until I can fix the ING money issue, not even budgeted! Although I just remembered that I took out $100 to get the van fixed (we already bought the part) so I may just put that back in the bank until the other issue gets fixed then take the van in. The van can certainly wait, it's not emergent.  .

January 17:  About $5 for onions, garlic and ziplock bags for meat mixes.

January 18:

January 19:

January 20:

January 21: 

January 22:

January 23: 

January 24:

January 25: 

January 26:

January 27:

January 28:

January 29:

January 30:

[melissel]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom 

It's 6:38 AM in Vermont and I've already spent money today.   .....  

I bought some Buddhism Book for Mothers of school age children that my friends recommended on facebook.  Sarah Napthali is the author.  Have any of you read it?

I'm on day FOUR of staying hom with sick kids...day FOUR!!!!!!  So I need some new reading material.  I'll be back on the no-spend bandwagon tomorrow when all my kids are well and back where they are supposed to be. 

Disruptions in our routine are LETHAL to my budget.

Poor kids, and poor mama  Four days trapped in the house is a long time!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom 

What a great idea!!!  I want you to homeschool ME!

EVERYONE says that when I talk about Paneraschooling! 

[melissel]

Argh! I was doing so well there for awhile. Today was not a bad day, especially considering that I managed to NOT get dinner out in spite of the late time at which we got home from our day's activities (made pasta and meat sauce instead). But I still spent $4 on a gardening book that I'm tired of getting out every few months from the library, and I spent $7 on a between-activity lunch that I didn't think we'd need since both activities involved food. Unfortunately, the kids ran around so much in the morning that they didn't eat enough to get them to the afternoon food, and we ended up at McD's. I also spent $20 at the grocery store, but that was budgeted for.

I'm glad I got the gardening book, but not so glad about the McD's. Tomorrow will be a better day though--already packed lunch for co-op and have a get-together tomorrow night, so no spending there. Whew!

Key: 

No frivolous/unbudgeted spending: 

Unbudgeted spending: 

Ate at home all day: 

12/30: 

12/31: 

1/1:  

1/2:  

1/3:  $15 at Starbucks

1/4:   $9 in library fines 

1/5:  

1/6:  

1/7:   $60 on clothes, $15 on sneakers, and $20 on desk organizer

1/8:  $40 on desk organizing supplies, $15 on pizza for dinner

1/9:   $42 on black loafers, $2 library fine

1/10:  $25 on lunch out

1/11:  $25 on bagels and lunch, $25 on pizza for 6

1/12:  $23 on Moe's for dinner

1/13:  

1/14:  

1/15:  

1/16:  $6 library fines, $38 dinner at Panera

1/17:  $4 on gardening book, $7 on a quick lunch for starving kids

1/18:

1/19:

1/20:

[JunebugsMom]

1/17

 $5.05 for fast food breakfast.  Clingy sick baby makes it impossible for me to sit down and eat anything.

frugal things:

I spent the baby's entire nap clipping coupons, organizing coupons, and making a big grocery list.

DS had a growth spurt and now he has lots of nice pants that fit except for being too short.  I am working on taking out the hem and resewing a much smaller hem!

I took the kids to free yoga at the library and I remembered to bring granola bars for when they are "starving" between school and yoga.