August No-Spend Challenge -- Congratulations no-spenders!!!! You made it to the end! - Page 5

[MaddieMay]

Originally Posted by CityChic

No spending this month is going to be hard ... its like a diet, the beginning is always hard but the end result is worth it.

So I need/or would like to do the following with my spending allowance. Any ideas on how to save?

~Friend is having a Birthday Cookout. I don't HAVE to take something but would like to take him something, he's a great friend. Any suggestions?

~Friend (more of an acquaintance) just had a baby girl. Would like to get a small gift. Ideas?

For the birthday cookout, maybe a bottle of wine, small bag of gourmet coffee, or some other little fancy edible treat?

For the baby, would a freezer meal be appropriate? (That is if you cook!) Otherwise, I know a package of diapers and/or wipes are always appreciated if they use sposies.

[mama kate]

I'm going with the approach of decluttering/simplifying to help this month - DD got waaaay too many new toys at her b-day - pro lots of new toys for her new age - con - lots of new toys - so we are sorting through toys & clothes & getting rid of baby toys and things never used/worn. I'm feeling cluttered in the house so hopefully this will help deter shopping.
so far so good today - I actually have someone coming to buy a toy from me today!

[nessam]

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

I'm Vanessa, mama to one baby boy.

2. Please tell us why you have decided to spend nothing (or spend significantly less) for the Month of August.

I will be returning to work PT in less than a month. DH will be cutting his hours down, so our income will stay the same. (Oh how I wish that we had saved money last yr when we had 2 incomes!) We both like to spend (travel, concerts, eating out, clothes). We have made some progress in curbing spending this yr, but it's not enough. Though we have a good income, we have too many expenses! (mortgage, 2 car payments, 2 student loans, insurance, etc.) We want to save for a down payment for a house in town, retirement, and college for DS.

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?

Eat at home -- limit eating out (including lunches) to once a week.
Limit grocery spending to $100/wk.
Limit trips to town (for myself) to 3x/wk.
Stay out of retail stores/internet shopping sites!!!!!!!! NO MORE NEW CLOTHES! (I just spent $85 on 4 new items that I had been eying for weeks)
No shoes!!! (I've done great with this all yr -- with only 1 [impulse, impractical, but very pretty] purchase in 2007)
Library vs. purchasing books.

[3sunz&I]

I am going to join this month! I am having it really tight right now. I am a single mom to 3 boys (ages 14, 13 and 11). My oldest son was in an accident in January (hospitalized until March). He has been in and out of the hospital every month since March for surgeries. I was fired from my job. I do received unemployment, but it's not alot. It takes 3 of my 4 unemployment checks each month to make my house payment. I do receive $600 a month in child support. Right now, my electric bill is high because I got behind on it, so they took the balance due (around $500) and broke it down into 4 payments that are added onto my regular monthly bill...

I plan on not eating out this month. (will have to eat out a few meals next week while DS is back in the hospital)
I plan on combining errands so 1 trip out can take care of things for a few days. Save gas.
I will only buy my other 2 children the bare minimum that they will need to return to school in 2 weeks.
I will only buy food that is on sale this month.
I will make a list to grocery shop and stick to it.
I will keep electric use to a bare minimum. (especially since the bill is already more for the next 4 months)
I will (and have been already) drastically cut back on the amount of soda that I drink.
I will also cut back on the amount of cigarettes that I smoke. ( i know, please no flaming. I had quit for 5 months, but when my DS was in an accident, I started back. I will try to quit another month that I am not so stressed out!)

I will be checking in frequently to read what everyone else is doing to save $ and hopefully get some new ideas for myself! Thanks for the support thread, mamas! This is great.

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

August 1..

My goals:
1. No diaper shopping 1/31 days
2. No McDonalds 1/31 days
3. Beat June's no-spend days 1/19 days

Home for the rest of the day and I'm logging off after I post this, so no diaper-swappin'

It feels really nice to see that little blue thumb-guy again after last month's spending splurge.

[SusanInItaly]

August 1: Brought snacks for the kids for our drive home after school. Spend $8 on gas but that's a "need".


copying CVTM, lol. Nearly ALL the extra money I spent last month (which was several times a week) was at McD's, even if it was just for a Coke or apples,etc.

No McD's 1/31

[FiddleMama]

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

I'm Tara. I'm a SAHM to 19 month old Liam and another son who will be here sometime this month. I teach fiddle lessons out of my home for income but I will be taking most of August and September off for maternity leave. My husband's income is our primary income stream but we do rely on mine to smooth out rough spots so we're in trouble for the next couple of months.

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

We're trying hard to limit all kinds of waste in our lives and that definitely includes wasting money. We want to have more significant savings funds for our sons and also to have a travel fund so that we can start traveling with the boys when they're a bit bigger.

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?

~We are going shopping on Saturday to Kohl's because there's a HUGE sale and I have an additional 15% everything coupon. Yossi needs shorts and jeans and I need a few items to get me through that post-pregnancy time (totally opposite season than with my first son). That will be our last clothing purchase for a good long while.

~meal planning and weekly grocery shopping

~record everything in our budget spreadsheet

~take the time to plan ahead so that I'm not spending money on convenience items

[CityChic]

August 1 ~

-Completed a diaper purchase I agreed to at the end of July (budgeted so we are ok!)

Things I am itching to buy/do -

-Breastmilk Freezer Trays (I could use ziplock bags from home for now)

-Photo Album/Printed Pictures for a gift (I could use an album I have at home and print from our computer, it just wouldn't be as nice.)

-Send a package of baby clothes to a friend (her baby is due any day, but did not budget for shipping).

[my2girlz]

August 1st:

Usually on Wednesday's the kids and I go through the drive thru because we have gymnastics from 9:30-11 and 10:30-12. I wanted to start the month out right so I packed lunches for them to eat after class. I did buy myself a pop for $1.25 while we were there, but I thought that was better than the $15 I would have spent on food.

The rest of the day is spent at home.

[rosie_plus_one]

Day 1 looks good for me. Set up the coffee machine last night so I woke up to the aroma of hot fresh coffee (Really need to make that a habit!) and went to speech class with Camden without stopping for snacks.

I was planning on cutting up my three credit cards last night but I'm waffling! I need to get a little bit of work done on my old car to put it up for sale and the only way I can really afford it is to put it on credit and then pay it back when the car sells. WWYD?? I really need to get this car sold so I can put my emergency fund back into the bank (pulled it out to buy the new truck for DP).

[maggiemae]

Going to Target after work to return/exchange some things. Wish me luck~Target is my weakness. I must repeat to myself "I don't really need it. I don't really need it."

[frog]

Originally Posted by maggiemae

Going to Target after work to return/exchange some things. Wish me luck~Target is my weakness. I must repeat to myself "I don't really need it. I don't really need it."

Can you leave all/most of your credit cards and whatever locked in your car?

[Mom2Joseph]

I'm in!

1. Valerie married to DH and momma to DS 3 and DD 1. DH works long hard hours and I get a little crazy at home with the kiddies, but i've recently stopped some bad habits, replaced with good ones, and things are getting easier.

2. We need to put some serious money in savings. EVERYTHING here is breaking, our car, pool pump, garage door, stove...etc. And our home owners ins. is going through the roof (FL). Need to get some extra money into savings NOW.

(oh and remember that limo ride earlier in July....well, we may, umm, be, well, you know....so if that is the case we will really need our money!!)
3. The Plan:

-cancelled our lawn service today
-cancelled our pool serivce today
-signed up for Angel food ministries (this may not work, but we are going to try it)
-getting info about vonage to reduce phone bill
-line dry
-cd, mama cloth, fam. cloth
-drive less, save gas
-holy moly watch that food bill. Eat out of the pantry and only buy fruits, veggies and milk.
-sell all that stuff (including cd's) that I have been meaning too for forever.
-stop buying expensive gifts.
-stop drinking soda... ice tea and water only


Already, I'm making progress over last month!

Aug. 1st:

[snowbunny]

Okay, so as I explained in a previous post, my husband has itchy hands and spends out on a lot of impulse buys. Even though we discussed a no-spend August, he stopped by the thrift store and picked up a shirt and two plastic toys for $5. Now $5 isn't that much, relatively speaking, but now we're $5 down. DS doesn't need new toys (trust me ...) and I feel like we've already failed the no-spend August that we'd agreed too.

ARRGH. Help mamas, help.

[rebeccalizzie]

Well, the best laid plans and all that. I forgot I had a $10 off a $10 purchase at JC Penney that was only good today. So I went and got DD a shirt. BUT I didn't get anything else! The shirt was on sale $13 so I spent $3.18 including tax and it's cute--long sleeved pink and white with Hello Kitty on it. I hope she likes it, she's away at camp or I would have taken her with me.

As for Target...when I have to go return stuff I try to have blinders on--I go straight to the returns desk, return my item, and immediately leave. Without looking at ANYTHING. It works sometimes

[CeciMami]

So far it's been a good day, the only frivolous spending was Costco muffins, which came out of DH's allowance, since it's rainy and grey here on our anniversary!

We also decided officially that gas will no longer go on the Amex, it will now be taken directly out with the Debit card. We'll hopefully be on track enough to start using the debit card for groceries instead of the MC...we'll see! I'm excited though...I think this thread will help keep me honest!

[MaddieMay]

August 1

Well, darn. I went to Costco today with a list. Did I stick to that list? Nope! My list was: organic beef, chicken, bottled water, photos, and fruit. This is what I got:

Organic beef
Bottled water
Photos
Salsa (we did need, I just forgot to add to list)
Dog bed ($20.00)
Pop (60 cents)

The dog bed wasn't absolutely necessary, but they had a style I loved and our dog will need another one soon. Besides, our dog's birthday is next week and I'm reasoning with myself that it will be his birthday present. I even hid it in the closet until then. I called DH before I made the purchase and he said to go for it, that it was a legitimate purchase. I think that will have to be my new plan when shopping alone.

The pop was totally unneccessary. I mean, I'm not supposed to even have corn syrup! What was I thinking? I'm now paying for it because my stomach hurts. Guess that will teach me a lesson. Next time, I'm going to bring some water with me, leave it in the car, buzz quickly through the store, check out, and hydrate again when I reach the car.

I did successfully avoid going to Kohl's, BB&B, and an office furniture store on my way home.

[mommy2abigail]

Can I play?! My name is Natalia, I am a SAHM to a 2 yo dd. I am a compulsive shopper, I know this. My weakness? Stuff for dd. I can't help it. Clothes, toys, art materials, anything. We are pregnant, so we really need to buckle down and save more. Some things that I will spend on that I consider necessities are groceries, gas, and the pool (only $1.50 when we go, so not too bad). Hopefully I wont spend more than that. On Sunday's after church we usually go out to lunch with family who comes to visit, so that will be our only meal out for the week.
So today: $46.99 on gas and gatorade at the gas station. We totally could have gone without gatorade had I packed us some water, but I forgot.

[mommy2abigail]

O/T, Costco has organic beef??? Wow, I never knew. Of course we dont have a Costco card, but still.

[mamimapster]

Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom

1. Please introduce yourself and tell us anything you think it would help us to know about yourself.
2. Please tell us why you have decided to spend nothing (or spend significantly less) for the Month of August. Memorize these goals and recite them to yourself before all purchases.
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?

I am mapster, Dp to Steph and mami to 4 1/2 yr. old Dd, I will find out friday if our second round of IVF took: I am a nanny (dd comes with me to work) and I work part time for a small newspaper, Dp works for a University and we are totally living paycheck to paycheck. I'm also going back to school part-time in the fall.


1. I make more ove the summer, but we have not caught up at ALL, and I am livid with myself.Last month showed me just how much money I blow by taking all the kids out to lunch or on pricey outings so much (I am well paid, but not reimbursed for lunches out or outings with the kids). I am vowing not to spend so much money going out this month, and instead pack lunches more often, and not succumb to the ice cream suggestions of the kiddies!
I also need to continue paying down our CC. Right now my credit score is too low for us to be able to refinance out house-if we could refi we would save about 100-150 a month in interest charges. I am also really tired ofwalking around on subfloor and we need to get a new floor!

1. put away Cc so I'm not tempted to use.
2.Get and stick to grocery budget(we were 35.00 over last month)-eat from pantry with clearance stuff I found at store before we left
.3.Stop eating meat on days other than shabbos (majority veg diet).
4. No buying on e-bay selling only!!
5. Ditto trading post
6. record all purchases here and in palm pilot