No Spending in July ~ Want to save money? We'll help you. Please join us at any time. - Page 6

[SusanInItaly]

Here I go...
DH just got home yesterday (he's been gone pretty much the whole month of June) so we did spend some money. Please keep in mind my prices reflect where I live, LOL. (tourist expensive area)


July 1--$16 at yummy mexican rest on the way to the beach. $15 on sundaes,etc on the way home. Total=$31
July 2--

[ErikaLeigh]

July 1 - Nothing that wasn't needed. $20 for gas

[madskye]

I'm in!


1. Please introduce yourself and tell us anything you think it would help us to know about yourself.

I'm Heather--mother to Madeline. I just left my job and now I'm doing consulting work from home, part-time.

2. Please tell us why you have decided to spend nothing (or spend significantly less) for the Month of July. Memorize these goals and recite them to yourself before all purchases.

A) This is the first month without any checks from my former employer--I want to spend as little as possible to conserve my nest egg so I can stay home.
B) I have a CC I want to pay down.
C) I want to use all the food in my pantry and freezer.


3. No spending is hard work. You need a plan. Please tell us your game plan -- how do you plan to approach no spending for a month?
A) Cook what's in my pantry and freezer.
B) Try to be as local as possible--walk places instead of ride, be close to home for coffee and snacks and not at places like the mall where there's too much to resist and too many little treats to be had. Also, if I have to carry something and push the stroller I am less likely to buy.
C)Take advantage of all the great free stuff here, like the library, and the playground, and the harbor.

Yesterday, 7/1
Spent-0

We went over the neighbors in the AM and then were home the rest of the day.

[amyamanda]

I'm here, though I won't be posting every day (far from it). I do keep a tally on my computer though, complete with smileys for the "good" days.

I spent a little more freely in June than usual, but that just means I made a few unusual but justifiable purchases instead of keeping my budget it strictly bare-bones (food, gas, bills). In June we stocked up on a lot of pantry stuff. The garden is now growing very well and I think we can cut back in July even with vacation preparations. (We are going on vacation in August; for that trip I'm planning for a couple of frivolous things but they will be strictly budgeted.)

I am considering buying a new pair of shoes if I can get a good deal on eBay. I almost never buy shoes and when I do they last me for years and years. I'm due for a new pair. The ones I want are Earth Shoes; in the store they are $120 but on eBay I can probably get them for $40 including shipping. Still haven't taken the plunge and bid, though!

The more months I do this, the easier it gets. I am not only more conscious about what I'm spending and where my money is going, but also more aware of whether or not it "feels" right to buy something and putting it back if it doesn't.

Good luck, everyone!

[minimunklemama]

JULY 1ST

[Amys1st]

So for Sunday:

Church, did my monthly collection since first of the month. Easier to write 12 checks than 52. I also added a dollar to another collection going around.

Groceries: since we have been remodeling I havent bought/used as much groceries so its was $70

Menards: DH had to make a run for the remodeling he was working on yesterday. That will be the biggest expense this month.


Today, Monday. I need to also make a Trader Joes Run. Normally I stretch these out, but with the remodel everything is up in the air. I cannot wait to get back to normal!

Other expenses this month: doing a frontier coop. I will only order what I need, not see what others are ordering and say, hey that looks good!

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Oh my word I can't believe I'm about to write this but I think I want another baby.... If so, must save, save save!!! ... Then again save for what? I have too many CD's, breast milk is free, great health ins., just need a crib to put next to our bed. Hmmm, maybe we CAN afford another baby! Can't afford a minivan but can squeeze one more car seat in our jetta... Sorry for the rant!

Valerie we are in the same spot right now! And my thoughts are the same as yours...I can't think of a single thing we will need to buy for this new baby, except we have a Honda Civic and I have to figure out a way to fit another car seat in there...okay, we'll probably have to buy a bigger car that will fit three carseats. I have enough CDs to diaper an entire daycare, we're planning to breastfeed, our insurance is strong, baby clothes are cheap (and we have a ton of them already)...I think we can do it! There is a chapter in the Tightwad Gazette about raising a baby the cheapest way possible...Amy Dacyczyn lists all the ways she was able to cut costs (CD being #1) and she only spent around $100 for her twins that first year. (she already had all the baby stuff from her first four children)

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

July 1..

Yesterday was grocery day and I bought enough groceries for the MONTH! Wow. Our bill was over $400 and it took me four hours (I did the Miserly Moms thing and went to several stores, shopping the sales)...but hopefully I won't have to go again this month.

We get all our produce fresh each week from a CSA.

I froze several gallons of milk and 6 loaves of bread.

Last month the one-shopping-trip for the month thing didn't work out all that great (we had some awful meals that last week...lots of beans and rice which is not my family's favorite) but I hope I learned and did better this time.

I just took all the cash out of my wallet (except for $1) because McDonald's was my downfall last month. We're off to the community pool to do instead of buy!

[mama kate]

7/1 - Gas for my car $32.03, gas for DH's motorcycle $12.05
Sam's 66.23 (bread freeze 1 use 1 should last all month) 3 gallons milk, 1 gal sweet tea, dish soap(should last a year!) fresh mozzerella, soda (need to kick this habit!!) strawberries, blueberries, bananas (should last 2 weeks) sea salt (should last several months) Flank steak (DH makes PF CHangs Mongolian Beef - waaay cheaper than going there!!)
$25 Harley owner's group picture done in front of the Alamo
$40 dinner out to see a friend play his first solo gig in a while.

We knew we were getting the picture done. I am behind on getting my groceries done this month but as long as we have fruit & milk we are good. We also went out to breakfast but our friends bought because we drove.

7/2 should be a good day!

[phathui5]

7/1-

I put enough in the bank this morning to pay our mortgage. Once I mail that check, we are officially BROKE until I do some more babysitting or sell some stuff.

[Petersmamma]

1. Please introduce yourself and tell us anything you think it would help us to know about yourself.

I'm Sara, mama to Peter and wife to Jerry. I'm a grad student and my dh is a disabled vet who is going to school and works every weekend as a security guard.

2. Please tell us why you have decided to spend nothing (or spend significantly less) for the Month of July. Memorize these goals and recite them to yourself before all purchases.

1. We REALLY REALLY want to get out of debt. We have paid off $4000 (approximately) since Feb, but that's not enough!

2. We just visited friends who have so many toys that their house is like a toy store. Visiting them simulataneously makes me want to simplify my life and go out and purchase a bunch of stuff. So, I'm going with the simplify route.

3. I have LOTS of big ideas to make my little house REALLY cool (bamboo floors, wood blinds, redo the deck, etc!) and if I want to do those things, I can't purchase a bunch of useless stuff that I don't really need or want.

3. No spending is hard work. You need a plan. Please tell us your game plan -- how do you plan to approach no spending for a month?

1. Stay out of stores! This makes the plan a lot easier!

2. Purchase only with cash. Watching the money leave my hands makes it more real.

3. Plan the purchases that I *need* to make this month.

[Scribe]

New month, new beginning. Here's hoping for even more progress than last month!

July 1:

[rosadesal]

july 1: $2.42 at starbucks (i work there, im 39w6d pregnant, and i needed a drink), $9 at trader joes for a few new dinner ideas (and probably $9186703498 in gas because traffic was insane), $32 at meijer for necessary things like gatorade for when we go into labor, and breakfast foods because boyfriend otherwise will not eat properly

grand total: $43ish

today i have a chiropractor appt that will be $35...oy.

:

[celestialdreamer]

July 1: $40 on groceries ($60 now remaining in weekly budget)

I need to meal plan and take stock of my pantry before I do the rest of my grocery shopping tommorrow. I did buy a tin of green tea bags which was not on my list but I'm making iced green tea with it to help curb the desire to buy drinks when I'm out.

I made a great frugal meal last night that my family loved (Sloppy Lentils). I have a good stockpile of lentils and I wanted a cheap, healthy meal my family would actually eat. I modified the recipe a tiny bit and I will definitely be making it again.

DH and I had a talk and decided to shut off our cable We've been dabbling in the idea of going completely TV free, but we aren't 100% yet. So we are going to use Netflix to be able to watch a movie, documentary or tv series (minus the commercials!) on occasion. Its only going to cost about $15 vs $50 for cable. We are trying to find a new bedtime routine for our family that doesn't involve tv (thats the only time we watch). Last night we gave the kids a bath, went for a walk, then read them books.

[celestialdreamer]

Oh I also need to ask for opinions on something. I'm doing really great on being frugal right now and sticking to a tight budget. I'd really like to start airdrying our clothes more, but we aren't allowed to have a clothesline outside. The weather has been gorgeous here and it seems silly to be using our dryer! I have a wobbly small drying rack that doesn't hold but a few items, so I was considering taking our monthly household budget and using that for a new large drying rack. This would allow us to dry an entire load (we have a huge washer) outside on the deck. My problem is this: the rack I want is $103 w/ shipping and my entire household budget for the month is only $100. I really need to buy cat litter ($10), cat food ($30) and shampoo ($6ish) also.

I thought about waiting until another month when the household budget is not used up, but that never happens. Plus, if I do start drying our clothes outside most of the time then I will save so much on our electric bill that it will really offset the cost. So what would you do? Go over a little on the budget to be able to start doing something more frugal or continue drying clothes in the dryer to stay on budget?

[frog]

I'm in!

1. Please introduce yourself and tell us anything you think it would help us to know about yourself.

I'm frog. My partner, turtle, and I live amidst five cats in a large house we bought in anticipation of having kids, which we're still waiting to do. We're going to start ttc again in the fall, after having five failed cycles and an aborted attempt to be foster parents.

2. Please tell us why you have decided to spend nothing (or spend significantly less) for the Month of July. Memorize these goals and recite them to yourself before all purchases.

We live mostly on my salary and freelance income--turtle has a part-time job doing something she loves, but it's not terribly lucrative. With babies on the way (hopefully), we need to pay off our debt and build up our savings.

1:

[Petersmamma]

Okay, I already need help. I said that I just visited friends with an insane amount of toys, right? Well, they have virtually EVERY Little People toy ever made. And my friend refuses to give/sell them to me because she is going to keep them forever :

Anyway, I just saw on Craiglist that a woman is selling a crapload of Little People toys for $50 for the lot. Eek! I love these toys since they promote more imaginative play. I am SO torn....I want to get them for ds (who honestly doesn't care) but he already has a bunch of toys and I don't want him to be over-stimulated because he has too many toys. Plus, small house=not very much storage!

Help!

[Petersmamma]

Originally Posted by celestialdreamer

July 1: $40 on groceries ($60 now remaining in weekly budget)

I need to meal plan and take stock of my pantry before I do the rest of my grocery shopping tommorrow. I did buy a tin of green tea bags which was not on my list but I'm making iced green tea with it to help curb the desire to buy drinks when I'm out.

I made a great frugal meal last night that my family loved (Sloppy Lentils). I have a good stockpile of lentils and I wanted a cheap, healthy meal my family would actually eat. I modified the recipe a tiny bit and I will definitely be making it again.

DH and I had a talk and decided to shut off our cable We've been dabbling in the idea of going completely TV free, but we aren't 100% yet. So we are going to use Netflix to be able to watch a movie, documentary or tv series (minus the commercials!) on occasion. Its only going to cost about $15 vs $50 for cable. We are trying to find a new bedtime routine for our family that doesn't involve tv (thats the only time we watch). Last night we gave the kids a bath, went for a walk, then read them books.

Ooh! Can you share the sloppy lentils recipe? I actually plan to make some sort of sloppy joe later this week, and was going to be looking for a lentil version!

Oh, and we don't have cable....we do get a few channels with rabbit ears (ds is watching Sesame Street right now as I *should* be in the shower). And we don't have Netflix.....you know what we do? We get movies from the library for FREE! Our county library is quite extensive, and we go online, request movies (we have to wait a long time for popular movies, but I don't care) and then when they are in go in an pick them up. Ds gets to watch Diego and Backyardigans for free, and I get to see what he likes (I will sometimes buy a DVD of the shows he really likes) and we get to watch movies for free, as well!

We have also started getting CDs from the library (just got best of REM, Dave Matthews, Jack Johnson, and Macy Gray's new cd) and then I import them onto the computer and put 'em on my iPod! It's awesome, free, and probably not entirely legal, but not entirely illegal, either! (and if it is, let me know and I'll edit so "The Man" can't catch me! )

[Metta&Karuna]

Originally Posted by celestialdreamer

Oh I also need to ask for opinions on something. I'm doing really great on being frugal right now and sticking to a tight budget. I'd really like to start airdrying our clothes more, but we aren't allowed to have a clothesline outside. The weather has been gorgeous here and it seems silly to be using our dryer! I have a wobbly small drying rack that doesn't hold but a few items, so I was considering taking our monthly household budget and using that for a new large drying rack. This would allow us to dry an entire load (we have a huge washer) outside on the deck. My problem is this: the rack I want is $103 w/ shipping and my entire household budget for the month is only $100. I really need to buy cat litter ($10), cat food ($30) and shampoo ($6ish) also.

I thought about waiting until another month when the household budget is not used up, but that never happens. Plus, if I do start drying our clothes outside most of the time then I will save so much on our electric bill that it will really offset the cost. So what would you do? Go over a little on the budget to be able to start doing something more frugal or continue drying clothes in the dryer to stay on budget?

I think this may be a false dichotomy. You may really want to consider making the deck-drying option a priority but opening your mind to cheaper ways to go, at least while money is still so tight. $100 is a lot to pay, even though it would eventually pay itself back from saved electricity costs.

I got a retractable clothes line from freecycle (and they are not too expensive anyway), and also from freecycle a standing wood drying rack to add to my other drying rack. I can put more than one load on these, especially if I do it strategically, taking off the more quickly drying items and spreading out the others more. This system actually works so well for me that I rarely take the time to dry outside anymore!

If your aim is to be as frugal as possible, I think you can do a lot better than buying the $100+ system. Just my 2-cents.

I know these are very individual choices. Best of luck finding a solution that really works for your family, whatever that turns out to be!

[Metta&Karuna]

Originally Posted by Petersmamma

Eek! I love these toys since they promote more imaginative play.

If it's imaginative play you seek to foster, there are many more free/found solution than there are bought.

Originally Posted by Petersmamma

I am SO torn....I want to get them for ds (who honestly doesn't care) but he already has a bunch of toys and I don't want him to be over-stimulated because he has too many toys. Plus, small house=not very much storage!

Help!

1-He doesn't care
2-the over-stimulation factor
3-the storage factor

Heed your own words! Be strong! And say off Craiglist!