Would you mind sharing what bank this is? I would love to get Moneybags...er, I mean, DD10...to be more active about putting her little hoard into savings, and DH is dying to have an opportunity to teach her about compounding interest, LOL!
ETA: Never mind, I think I figured it out. It doesn't look like they do the 5% APR here, and there's a $5 monthly maintenance fee 
Well, I folded and went and had my hair cut. Dh came home early and gave me a two hour break which was really lovely of him. He has been working long, long hours lately and this was my first kid-free moment in a month. It was sweet of him. I could have done without the haircut, but he was so determined to give me a gift of time and pampering. I wish I loved the cut more, it is rather blah. It looks kind of frumpy and mom-ish. Or maybe, it is all of my grey hair that looks so frumpy! I don't notice the grey till I get a cut and then Hello!
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 -- grocery shopping
January 18 --
January 19 --
January 20 --
January 21 --
January 22 --
January 23 -- made snacks for play date
January 24 -- 23.00 haircut
January 25
My goals:
Save 50% of Jan 4th paycheck -- done!
Save 20% of Jan 18th paycheck -- nope, only made 16%
Do something frugal every day
Make every dollar matter
I am so done with this month. Bad bad bad bad bad.
Birthday shopping done. What is with the food bill this month? It looks like it's veering back into 4-digit territory by the end. And that's not counting the birthday bash.
Ugh!
Got $10 credit at the bookstore. Got away from the mechanic only spending $34. So what is up with the food spending? It's the snack-and-eat-out budget. Now I'm limiting the girls, it looks like it's the extra eating out and treats for dh and I. I wish he would stop putting his candy bars and donuts on the grocery receipts! 
ETA: and I've been baking bread, making yogurt.... I found this amazingly inexpensive organic pepperjack..... what is up???
ETAA:....aaaaaand I've been buying and eating less meat!!!! 
Grrrrrr.........
My month begins on the 15th of every month as that's pay day and we are paid monthly.
Any day where I spent on groceries and still come under my monthly allowance of $1000 is counted as a no spend day. For me, our groceries are right up there with mortgage and bills in the "essential" category.
Tuesday 15th January: $15 Flowers for neighbour, $225 Electric mincer
Wednesday 16th January: No spend
Thursday 17th January: No spend
Friday 18th January: No spend
Saturday 19th January: $33 Lego on clearance
Sunday 20th January: No spend
Monday 21st January: No spend
Tuesday 22nd January: No spend
Wednesday 23rd January: No spend
Thursday 24th January: $23.80 on burgers
Friday 25th January: No spend
Friday 25th January:
$15.00 Gas for dh's car
$428 / $1000 Grocery budget
$162.95 / $200 Gas budget
What I did today to save money:
Stayed at home
Cooked out of fridge/freezer/pantry/ate leftovers
I am so done with this month. Bad bad bad bad bad.
Birthday shopping done. What is with the food bill this month? It looks like it's veering back into 4-digit territory by the end. And that's not counting the birthday bash.
Right there with you. Our grocery budget has gone up and up in the past few months. I know why -- kids are getting bigger, I am nursing and eating like a horse, we eat every meal at home, and we have had to make some changes for my son's wheat intolerance. And it is crazy cold outside and we are all more hungry.
It is simply costing us more to eat.
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).
18. $45 spent at Five Guys for dinner. Frugal things for the day: cut more pocket inserts for DD3's diapers, finished some leftovers for lunch, DH worked from home
19. $40 spent at grocery store, not budgeted. Going to try to work on serging pocket inserts and maybe some diapers for DD3. Will get 2 loaves of bread rising before bed for lunch tomorrow and hopefully gather supplies up to make soap, deodorant, and lotion bars tomorrow, too.
20. Ugh. $15 spent at store for new cheese grater, instant read thermometer, and a candy thermometer. DD3 is sick, so I haven't gotten much sewing or fabric cutting going. I *did* manage to make deodorant and our "boo boo lotion" yesterday. Went to the hardware store for lye, but they were already closed 
21. DH spent $6 at Chik Fil A for ice cream for the boys (there was some scheduling confusion w/ scouts and it ended up being canceled. All the other parents took their kids to Chik Fil A for ice cream and playtime, DH felt like the boys would miss out if he didn't go), $18 spent at Lowe's fro more cinder blocks for our "overflow pantry" shelves that DH started setting up. Soap is made, no lotion bars though b/c I realized I think my mom has the rest of the stash I previously made, I'll get them from her so I don't waste precious supplies on excess lotion bars. Cut DS1 and DH's hair. Made dinner at home, getting ready to start 2 loaves of bread for lunch tomorrow.
22. DS2 had a follow up allergist appointment today. Breakfast was homemade muffins in the car on the way to the dr, lunch was sandwiches on homemade bread, dinner will be from the pantry and freezer. Cut the soap and set it out to cure. I'm not giving myself a Crafting Day yet, but I'm hoping to get some pocket dipe inserts done or maybe start knitting a pair of mittens for DD3.
23. I'm spending money in 30 minutes. We're getting take out. I have NO motivation to cook or even think about cooking. I'm tired, I have a headache, and I'm so incredibly cranky. I didn't get any crafting done last night, hopefully tonight I'll cast on for DD3's mittens, she desperately needs them.
24. No spending, no crafting, no baby, either.
15/ 20 No Spend Days
8/ 20 Crafting Days
DD1 has a dr appointment this morning, we'll bring snacks and water with us to hold the kids over til we can eat lunch at home. Dinner will be at home, too. DH is working from home today.
24. No spending, no crafting, no baby, either.
Come on Baby!!!!!
Would you mind sharing what bank this is? I would love to get Moneybags...er, I mean, DD10...to be more active about putting her little hoard into savings, and DH is dying to have an opportunity to teach her about compounding interest, LOL!
ETA: Never mind, I think I figured it out. It doesn't look like they do the 5% APR here, and there's a $5 monthly maintenance fee
It is not an online bank it is a local community bank, not likely to help you unless you live locally. No maintenance fees. Call around, you might find a bank in your area doing something similar!
No spending Budgeted spending 
Did something to save $ or make extra $ 
Hung clothes on the line
January
01
02 Groceries 
Bought lunch $5.31
03 Bought lunch out $5.31
04 Filled my tank with gas, paid for my DD's school sport fee, bought lunch $6.50, went out for dinner with a gift card DH won but went over by $35@
05 Exchanged a Christmas gift, for bras that I was in dire need of, found on clearance $5 each I got 4!!!! Bought Chinese $20
06
07 Bought a few things to make lunches during my lunch hour, also bought my lunch $6
08 Started reading DR, sat down to go through January spending & make some changes!
09 Bought groceries
10
11 Went to mall with my sister bought myself lunch $10
12 Bottled two dozen bottles of Kombucha & made two gallons of tea to brew more kombucha!
13 Got free tickets to local theater! Spent $14 on water & snacks
14 Picked up a few things from grocery store
15 Sending DH to the cheap grocery store today for a couple more things that will help to stretch the food that we already have!
16 Spent about $100 on Frontier Co-op, put $100 in savings account AND...PAID OFF FINAL CREDIT CARD FROM CHRISTMAS EXPENSES!!!! Yahoo!
The DR Debt Snowball method has served us well! We have had many bumps in the road and hiccups along the way, we didn't give up using CC's all together & I just started reading DR's book this month!
17
18
19 Spent more than I should have on groceries, will limit to produce, and dairy for the rest of the month! Made a gallon of homemade yogurt for $3.50
20 DH bought a subscription to Ancestry.com last year with his Christmas money, It just auto renewed! $149
21
22
23 Brought change to the coin machine at my bank $17.42! Opened kids student bank accounts with 5% interest on up to $1000!
24. I did some reading on The Prudent Homemaker's blog & website I found this blog entry especially helpful! We do eat lots of produce though. I have spent $510 on food so far this month which is great I think (for a family of 4) but that doesn't include the teas & dried herbs, spices & household soaps that I bought from Frontier. I should add the edibles into the grocery amount. I tend to buy 1 lb of the dried herbs/spices that I use regularly. I just tallied my Frontier food items at $43.00 I wanted to keep groceries around $500 for Jan. The Frontier brings the grocery tally up to $553.06 and I still have to pick up raw milk tomorrow. I struggle with the grocery budget! Last weekend we stocked up on meat & bread (great sale). We have a good amount in our freezer for the next few weeks. Since I stock up on things when the prices are cheap, those items will continue to feed us into next month for sure! So hopefully it all averages out over the course of several months. I transferred $ to savings today! I'm on track to fund a Roth IRA for myself by April 15!
January 25
I just made my Azure Standard order, and it looks better than last month. We needed everything last month, this month if everything comes in will be about $130, and that is groceries, household supplies and chicken pellets (for them to eat, not made of!) So, the 4 weeks of February will be a bit easier to hit our target. It could be our troubles this month stemmed from that huge order, because our weekly spending on food has been fairly reasonable, even with the over-spending on treats and eating out.
This month, I only have to purchase groceries for next Saturday's birthday meal. Monday is open swim. February I reserve our campsite at the beach. All other extra activities need to come out of our FUNfund. Other than that----
----no more spending.
No more spending.
No more spending.
I still need some things, but I can make due until April or May.
1/25
$3.38 on gum for the kids, which I am fine with.
frugal things: baked gluten free brownies. Took the kids to the library for free yoga and a free craft project.
= No Spend = Groceries/Gas/Ok spending 
= Unnecessary spending 
= Exercised 
= Ate all meals at home
Week 4 Jan 20-26
I made a realization this week. We're going to spend money. But my goal is to SPEND LESS. I'm trying and with being sick that really through us for a loop. But It's payday tomorrow and the amount of money left over in the account is INCREDIBLE! It will pay off another good chunk of our CC and LOC and my saving for our BEF is going awesome! So I'm actually really proud of us. Yes we could cut back more. But it's our first month and life still happens! I like my weekly totals as it's really helping me see where our money is going!
Jan 20: Stuff: $32.73 (Birthday party present and toiletries), $19.32 random stuff, $5.60 (75% off Christmas cards for next year, 30 total and that's how many I think I'll send out) Eat Out: $8.40 and $25.88 Groceries: $94.97
Jan 21: $40 Gas
Jan 22: Had to go to a Dr's Appt 2.5 hours away and so we always do our "big" shopping at the same time (ie Costco and other stores we don't have here). Eat Out: $ 14.55, $15.75 and $8.37 Stuff: $33.57, $8.40, $10.50, $155.90, $19.73 Gas: $64.03
Jan 23: Going for a no spend day today! In fact I deposited my last couple weeks of babysitting cheques and withdrew the money straight to our cash BEF.
$94.97/$200 weekly grocery budget
$280.20/$?? weekly stuff budget
$104.03/$?? weekly gas budget
$72.95/$?? weekly eating out budget (would like this to be $50 a week to start, with a goal of $100 a month but that could be unrealistic)
$27.89/$50 monthly dog budget
Jan 24: Amazing since it was payday ;) BUT they forgot 15 DOUBLE time hours on DH's paycheque so it was quite a bit less than we were expecting and it was already going to be smaller than usual. Luckily I had had *this* thread keeping me motivated before and we had saved so much money from his last paycheque that we'll be fine, but it still sucks as I had wanted to put what we had saved straight to the CC and LOC :( I did pay bills but those are the usual suspects I pay on payday and not in my no spend deelio!
Jan 25: I'll be buying groceries and I need to pay the license fee for the dog and I bought DD2 a great pair of second hand skates this morning. I'll update later when I know the totals of everything!
My Goal = 15 No-Spend days
My progress = 18 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.. $19 Music
20.. $26 stuffed elephant
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
24. No spending, no crafting, no baby, either.
I was just coming on here to stalk Jen. Anytime you don't post for 24 hours...we'll assume you are in labor.
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).
18. $45 spent at Five Guys for dinner. Frugal things for the day: cut more pocket inserts for DD3's diapers, finished some leftovers for lunch, DH worked from home
19. $40 spent at grocery store, not budgeted. Going to try to work on serging pocket inserts and maybe some diapers for DD3. Will get 2 loaves of bread rising before bed for lunch tomorrow and hopefully gather supplies up to make soap, deodorant, and lotion bars tomorrow, too.
20. Ugh. $15 spent at store for new cheese grater, instant read thermometer, and a candy thermometer. DD3 is sick, so I haven't gotten much sewing or fabric cutting going. I *did* manage to make deodorant and our "boo boo lotion" yesterday. Went to the hardware store for lye, but they were already closed
21. DH spent $6 at Chik Fil A for ice cream for the boys (there was some scheduling confusion w/ scouts and it ended up being canceled. All the other parents took their kids to Chik Fil A for ice cream and playtime, DH felt like the boys would miss out if he didn't go), $18 spent at Lowe's fro more cinder blocks for our "overflow pantry" shelves that DH started setting up. Soap is made, no lotion bars though b/c I realized I think my mom has the rest of the stash I previously made, I'll get them from her so I don't waste precious supplies on excess lotion bars. Cut DS1 and DH's hair. Made dinner at home, getting ready to start 2 loaves of bread for lunch tomorrow.
22. DS2 had a follow up allergist appointment today. Breakfast was homemade muffins in the car on the way to the dr, lunch was sandwiches on homemade bread, dinner will be from the pantry and freezer. Cut the soap and set it out to cure. I'm not giving myself a Crafting Day yet, but I'm hoping to get some pocket dipe inserts done or maybe start knitting a pair of mittens for DD3.
23. I'm spending money in 30 minutes. We're getting take out. I have NO motivation to cook or even think about cooking. I'm tired, I have a headache, and I'm so incredibly cranky. I didn't get any crafting done last night, hopefully tonight I'll cast on for DD3's mittens, she desperately needs them.
24. No spending, no crafting, no baby, either.
25. Well, DH and I caved, we got McD's for lunch on the way home from DD1's dr appointment 
The kids were begging for it and we haven't had it in over 6wks b/c of DS2's wheat allergy diagnosis. It seems he can have wheat in small doses, so we'll be extra diligent in keeping it out of the diet for the next 6wks. Woohoo, I actually got DD3's mittens cast on and the first one is halfway done!!
15/ 20 No Spend Days
9/ 20 Crafting Days
I was just coming on here to stalk Jen. Anytime you don't post for 24 hours...we'll assume you are in labor.
Don't worry, I'll be sure to update everyone
Hi Jen - Not sure where you are, but it is snowing here and I have always heard that brings babies
Today is actually my oldest son's 13th birthday (he was born in a blizzard) and I will say is that it has thrown my spending off this weekend. We are usually VERY simple with birthdays, but this is a milestone so we are taking my parents, brother and sister inlaw out for sushi tonight (a reasonable place, but it will still add up). I got him a couple of nice, but not extravagant gifts (an Under Armour sweatshirt and a Alarm Clock stereo station to plug his ITouch into), but again it added up. He is having friends over tomorrow, but they are just watching a movie we got from the library (free) and eating pizza and a couple of things I am making so that is at least reasonable.
Ahh....well...you only become a teenager once and I paid cash for everything so I am going to let it go.
Crunchy*VT*Mom - I am impressed with your streak.
Delighted Butterfly - I like the idea of adding exercising in...I have been running and I feel like I spend less on days when I run.
I've been reading and everyone seems to have done great! I am very motivated to join in on Feb 1st, which also happens to fall on payday!
1/25
$5 a prescription, $20 gas, $11.14 random food (well worth it--I bought my mom breakfast and she watched the baby for me today)
frugal things. Made a good dinner using up leftovers.
January 25
Worked. No spend.
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