No Spending in July ~ Want to save money? We'll help you. Please join us at any time. - Page 11

[angelcollector1]

I wasn't so good today
I stopped at McD's for a quickie breakfast this morning on my way to work.. GRRR!!! I thought about how I would have to post here too but went anyway. Where is my willpower?!
$3.10

Also took my son for a haircut and a movie today... which was a planned expense.. his birthday is Thursday and he knows he's not getting a gift. He's old enough to realize that's the reality of life at this point, considering I've had my cable, internet and home phone service cancelled because of the expense.

[scrapadoozer]

July 1
July 2
July 3: $20 in assorted stuff (pillow form, comforter, convenience stuff for inlaw visit, stuff to decorate dd's room)

I am not happy with today. I could've done better but I did got totally off the wagon either. Here's to a better day tomorrow!

[SusanInItaly]

My bad habits continue!!!

July 1-$31 (mexican rest, ice creams)
July 2-$40 ($12 lunch, the rest on new flip flops for DD, gift for BF, gift for toy closet) I am in dire need of a major grocery shop
July 3-$7 at Wendy's. I did spend $18 at Walmart and all but $2 was budgeted. Those were 2 boxes of goldfish that were making my children happy in an otherwise packed Walmart. (and yes, I loathe WM but I need personal products and grocery stores are WAY overpriced in that dept!)

I put off going to the grocery store until DH comes home (hopefully tonight). I just don't have the patience to take them both to the store and stay exactly in my budget. (I can't go more than $10 over because I am shopping on cash only, so I have to really add up what I'm putting in my cart.)

Of course NOT going to the store is costing me money because in my weak moments while we are out, I am hitting the dreaded drive-thru.

I'm cooking out the pantry again tonight. Last night was mac & cheese and soup.

[SusanInItaly]

Oh and kudos to those of you staying on track!!! I am reading all the posts (or trying to)!

[Beachlivnmom]

July 1
July 2
July 3
Packing snacks and drinks is so helpful. I've been packing for dh to take on the boat also so no runnung out to Mcd's for him.

Tommorrow is ds b-day and the fireworks cost $ so we will spend but hopefull that will be it for the month

Brooktosea remember the games at Jessica's babyshower? the name the baby animals, you can also give everyone a diaperpin to wear and when someone says the word baby the person who catches them gets the pin. the one with the most pins wins.

I have found cooks.com helpful in using stuff from the pantry. just type the ingrediant you want to use and you get recipes.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Madskye -- Go back and read your original goals and reasons for joining this challenge. Then decide if you would rather reach those goals, or go to the pool for the rest of the summer. You could go next summer, when finances are better. Granted, your daughter likes the pool better than the beach, but could she stand the beach for just a few more weeks...especially if it means you could spend that money to meet your goals?

Moms who are new to the challenge this month -- FIDO. Forget about It and Drive On...that should be your motto. If you slip up and spend $3, you spent it. Don't beat yourself up over that.

Vow to do better tomorrow. Don't let a little spending those first few days get you down...you need stamina to make it through the month. July is a loooong month.

Of course the first few days will be the hardest. Now is when you make your mistakes. Learn from them, and re-commit yourself to no-spending.

Not spending money is a SKILL. It really is. You have to practice and get better at it.

So let's forget about those early mistakes and keep practicing! You will get it. And you will find that it DOES get easier the more you hang tight to that wallet.

And for those of you who made it for the first three days without letting a dime slip away from you -- GO MDCers!!! Go!!!

[nadia105]

Pretty good day today, $36 spent on Shaklee products for the house, necessary.

July 1:
July 2:
July 3:

Tomorrow should be a good day too. I need to get milk and pick up fruit and meat from the CSA farm.

Soon we will actually have to start cooking forourselves again -- we have been getting by on food brought by friends, family, and some members of my moms group since my littlest ds was born. We have a lot of things on hand, so I think this will be a fairly low food budget month .

[Mom2Joseph]

PetersMama: My Dh will forgo meat if mac n cheese is involved! But, it won't last for long. My DS could live on fresh tomatoes and beans and cornbread....he could care less about meat, except for an ocassional hot dog.

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes - I am blessed!

That's it. Holding tight to our money because I just got the fall/winter catalogue for LL Bean and I always get the kids winter PJ"s and jackets as soon as the catalogue comes out.

07/01 - s
07/02 - s
07/03 - s ($31.00 at the grocery store but that was budgeted!)

And speaking of groceries....when I really look in my pantry and freezer, I am astonished at just how much food we really have. Seriously, I'm embarassed that we spend so much on food. My goal for the rest of the month is to only buy milk, creamer, eggs and fruit. (I have tried and tried, but I cannot give up my coffee creamer). That's it. I'm serious! That is really it. I will keep you posted as to my success but I am dead serious. You have my word.

Well ladies, I started this post at 8am this morning and here it is 8:51pm....takes forever to write a blessed post! I'll catch up later. Hope you all had a great day!

[Mom2Joseph]

OH and CrunchyVT - are you staying away from all the cd's??? If you are, then I am VERY proud of you! That really is a tough one because you can justify it all day long, but the truth is, eventually, you really have more than enough. I finally (DH is so happy about that!) broke my CD buying habit when I sorted ALL my cd's one day. Well over 8 dozen. You read that right, 8 dozen for one baby and a toddler who is potty trained? ! ? ! Dh took my picture and the cd's covered our huge couch and 3 laundry baskets... it was a wake up call that enough was enough.

My real problem now is that I refuse to sell them and DH wants me too.... *sigh* just can't let them go.

Hold tight sister!!! You can do it!

[Om Girl]

July 1-$20.00 fast snacks
July 2-$1.59 Coca Cola (must STOP drinking soda)
July 3-$2.55 Soda and chips for DP

[JamieBrewHa]

July 2 - $0
July 3 - groceries bought but neccesary - otherwise $0 spent! And DH ate breakfast at home and ate the lunch I made for him - which was HUGE cause he always eats out when he's driving to meetings on Tuesdays!!

WAHOO!

I am so glad I could join you girls!

[Matt's Mom in MT]

July 1 - $2.25 snowcone, $1.49 mashed potatoes and gravy from KFC
Total: $3.74
July 2 - $4.18 Wendys
July 3 -

[milosmomma]

7/1- $22 for Chinese Takeout
7/2-
7/3-

Today was overcast and cool (well, cool for Atl) so Amelia & I went for a long walk (I'm training for the 3-Day Walk in October). Then we went to the market and bought milk (only!). The rest of the day was just cleaning and doing things around the house. Then my neighbor watched Amelia when I left for work (we're depending on the kindness of friends until Jason works out a permanent work schedule). Not too bad!

BTW, Prudence- you rock! :

[FamilyFriendlyLife]

July 1: $20 b-day gift, $35.76 gas
July 2:
July 3: $246.72 groceries (hopefully we can just pick-up produce/dairy for the rest of July), $29.99 new cell for DH, $4.60 postage, <$20.00> returned clothing

JULY TOTALS TO DATE:
"Good" (i.e. within budget + anticipated): Not tracking here (tracked in M/S Money); it's all good!
"Okay" (not in budget, but pretty necessary): $34.59
"Bad" (not in budget, not necessary): $0
"Fantastic" (items returned/sold): <$20.00>

Kim

[mackysmama]

July 1 - $78.35 at Whole Foods ($5.95 for gift, $6.20 for my lunch ); $19.95 on birthday gift, $30 on car gas (need to ask my partner for the total)
July 2 - $5.56 for dinner groceries (budgeted, special trip to the middle eastern deli)
July 3 - $25 for a pre-paid photos at snapfish (I haven't printed photos since February!) I'm giving this a because it was an expense I was expecting and planned for.

Total: Unneccessary spending: $6.20
Budgeted spending: $152.66

[josephine_e]

July 2 : $38.77 groceries (i resisted items that weren't on the list!!); $10 dh's lunch @ mall
July 3 : $20 groceries and kitchen supplies (we badly needed cups, bowls, paper towels, etc. grandmother IL split the cost for these since we're at her house right now, so the total was actually $40...); $3 @ dollar store for 3 kids books. not exactly NECESSARY, but ds doesn't have many books and he's really starting to take interest soooo ....

not sure how dh did today. he just got home from work .. but i sent his dinner with him to work and he promised to eat it all before thinking about buying food.

this is great! it's so much easier to think about not spending money when i can come on here and read all of your posts and realize that i'm not alone!!

[TRIBE]

July 1- $47 @ Amazon :
July 2-

July 3- $79.92 budgeted overdraft fee from yrs ago that just popped up on my credit report
$10 budgeted for stop at Starbucks since we were out doing most of the day (1 lg iced coffee, 2 juices)
$89.21 budgeted groceries, could/would have been lower but I had to buy some things to restock friends items ($13.60) and 2 capri suns so the kids have something to drink at the park ($3.00) popsicles so not to succumb to crazy over priced icecream man ($2.70) & items to take/make for friends cook out tomorrow ($14.80) so what I should have spent would have been $55.10 $34.11 as a necessary evil
$35 budgeted CSA weekly expense
Grand total: $214.13

ouch that really hurts seeing that. Next weeks groceries should be much lower as I won't be restocking items I feel are unnecessary (like paper towels, frozen corn dogs, and cottenelle moist wipes).

[phathui5]

7/1-
7/2-
7/3-

Spent $10 to put gas in the van on the way to the Science Center because it wouldn't have made it there otherwise. Parked for free (didn't even feed a meter) because friend's husband works with the garage people.

Resisted Taco Bell again. I crave Taco Bell. It's not good. I want to go there NOW, but I'm not.

[MamaHen2J&J]

1. Please introduce yourself and tell us anything you think it would help us to know about yourself.
Hi! I'm Lea sahm to three girls, 3,2 and 1!
I live in beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii! I'm officially joining you mama's although I've not spent a dime so far! Don't laugh! Thats HUGE for me!!

2. Please tell us why you have decided to spend nothing for the Month of July.
I've decided to spend nothing because I'm tired of looking at my checking account and wondering where it all went! I should have plenty of opportunities to save more! We are planning a trip home in January... Which means Hawaii to California, California to Ohio, Ohio to California and back to Hawaii! Thats a lot of moola!

3. Please tell us your game plan -- what are your goals and how do you plan to approach no spending for a month?
I plan to steer clear of all my addictions... I don't spend a lot at once, I spend a little here and there! I've got plenty in stock, I need NOTHING! Well... for me grocery food doesn't count! :P I also have a serious Mc Donalds addiction... :AHEM: Please don't throw rocks!

Anyways, thanks for letting me jump in! This is A GREAT idea! Can't wait to get to know you all!!

[mamimapster]

Originally Posted by frog

That's the hardest one for us. We've moved to taking cash only when we thrift.

LOL! I justify it because I am very good at taking thrift items, fixing what I can't use and selling-it is very time consuming though.I can spend up to 2-3 hours in a thrift (there are good ones here) sorting, choosing and spending and then posting to e-bay, shipping etc. P.s. frog- I love your running "tally of evil" and I think I'm going to duplicate it:

3 july-The good- walked w/ kids to pool instead of driving,brought snacks so no spending out during the day-one of my biggest drains!
Bugeted spending 72.00 groceries- I managed to really stock up on everything, except kosher meat. I went to trader joes and it was ALLL GONE-TJ's is one of the few places I can get it, we have a chicken for Shabbos, but I wanted to stock up for the month. unbugeted spending 3.81-snack when working at night (on tuesdays I work job#1 from 8am-6pm, and then job#2 7pm-11pm)
tally of evil: 9.68