Oct No-Spend Challenge: End of the month is here. Hang on No-spenders Almost There! - Page 7

[michelle524]

Originally Posted by momaste

Darn, I'm already out!! The stucco is being replaced on the house and we had to get out of the house - it's loud! I took DS to exchange a pair of shoes. The new shoes cost more than the return shoes, but they were the cheapest ones in his size. I then remembered that I needed a piece for a craft project I'm making for Christmas (we're having an all-hand-made Christmas in our family!), and we were right next to the craft store. So I ended up spending just under $30 on shoes and craft stuff. : DS's sneakers wouldn't fit this morning and it's getting chilly, so the sandals will have a limited lifespan weather wise. He needed some sneakers, but I had hoped that the exhange would make it about even. The craft supplies are part of the project that I exempted on the front page, but still... *sigh* At least we didn't go out to eat on top of all that! Sheesh.

Back on the bandwagon tomorrow.

Plus - it sounds like all essential spending to me, so don't beat yourself up. And like you said - at least you didn't eat out. If that's something you ordinarily would have done, then consider yourself doing better than before!

[pixiesmommy]

Joining up!

My goals for the month are:

-Use our Border's gift cards to buy holiday gifts for family

-Make all other gifts myself (or with DD)

-Get DD started on homemade gift wrap so we don't buy any this year. IL's always give us some for free anyway (they get a promo from a company that FIL represents in his law firm.) Remember to ask them for some early so I won't be tempted to buy the first sparkly wrapping paper I see on the shelves!!

-Stay out of Walmart, Target, etc.

-Work on making DD's holiday gifts so I'm not tempted to buy them! Spending money on supplies is okay, but I should not spend more than $20 this month on this.

-Cook more. I would like to go/order out no more than 4 times this month. DD and I do fast food once a week on Wed when DH has grad school as part of our routine, which I will still do.

-Buy no extra baby items. What is on the list of needed items is okay, but no more cutie-pie "gotta have it!" things from eBay, etc.

-Actually declutter the laundry room as much as possible, and the garage. List things for sale on eBay and freecycle at least 4 big boxes of things.


Manda

[anarchamama]

My goal for this month is to stay within our budget!

1-

[michelle524]

Originally Posted by simplelah

1. I'm LaHeather, single mama of two.

2. Spending nothing this month because I can't afford not to. I am a newly single mama with a super tight budget.

3. Spend only whats necessary. Use what I have. Don't stress shop.

I really need some support ladies, this is going to be a TOUGH month for me.

Stress shopping... ugh, I know that well! You can do it, Mama, come here and post if you need us to talk you down!

[michelle524]

Originally Posted by shayinme

Oh, I forgot the other challenge i am facing, I have lost 30 lbs recently and have no clothes that fit.. so I am hoping to get some clothes but hoping that I can find some stuff secondhand, our local 2nd had places are not great so its a crapshoot.
Shay

I'm pretty sure I have some size 8s that I don't think I'm going to fit into any time soon. Also, I am not working full time anymore, so I don't need it even if it does fit. I was going to ebay it all, but if you're interested in seeing what I have, PM me. I know I have some nice suits, at least 1 never worn.

[michelle524]

I'm posting now because the day is just about over and I'm not planning to spend. DH and I have a plan for dinner, so I don't plan to switch it and get anything out. Also, I think DH is going to get bad health news tonight when he goes to the dr for his physical results and I'm preparing to make a nice, healthy salad so that he doesn't feel any worse.

Also, I found a toy in DS' closet that I thought was for 2yrs + but it's actually 6 - 36 mos which means I can give it to him for his bday/xmas and have one less thing to buy. It's almost like found money (as if he'll know, he'll only be a year old).

So, for Day 1, here are my new totals:
1/31 no spend days
1/31 let the car rest days
: $0/$300 non-essential spending

[bohemama]

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

Hi! I'm Sarah, sahm our two daughters who are 6 and 1.

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

We just found out that DH's wages are going to be garnished until we pay off an $8000 medical bill that should not be in our name. See...I was a surrogate and deliverred twin boys back in 2003. The parents of said boys never paid my ob and last September we were summoned to court (after years of my fighting with the collection agency). Seven days after we got the summons our second daughter was born. I had spoken to the collection agency right after the summons and they said they would take care of it. Well, 3 days later I had a baby and never thought about it again (a huge I know, but I can't go back now) until last Friday when we got the garnishment paperwork in the mail. We're in the process of trying to figure out how to fix this and make sure the parents of the babies pay, but at the moment we're looking at loosing 25% of DH's take home pay. Also, we'd like to buy the house we're living in instead of renting it from my parents so I'd like to save some money for that.

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?

Our game plan is to stick to the budget we devised a couple of months ago after we sold our gas guzzler (saving us a $500/mo car payment and about half of what we were spending on gas) but this time we probably won't be putting the $500 into our savings. I will also be trying to cut our grocery budget from $400 to $300 a month. Wish me luck!

I have more to add to this, but don't have the time to type it all out now. Will be back soon!

[beansmama]

My October Goals - stick to my budget to a "t".

My budget for October is as follows:

$300 - rent
$137 - medical/dental
$50.25 - car insurance
$17.29 - life insurance 1
$26.05 - life insurance 2
$200 - food
$30 - toiletres
$100 - gas
$13.99 - netflix
$50 - spending cash ($25* for me, $25 for dh)
$309.42 - next year fund
$50 - misc. savings

I would like to underspend if i can in the categories where there is wiggle room (like food and gas) and put some more into savings!

*i want to SAVE my spending cash for new clothes for myself after christmas (sales!)...so this means me not going into thrift stores, lol!

We also have 2 doctors appointments this month. I'm not sure what my co-pay is for the dentist, but dh has to pay $50. We already have that money saved in a little "medical savings" account at ING.

So anyway, if i can just stick to this, then i'll be very PROUD of myself!!!

So my "no spend days" are actually, "no spending OUTSIDE my budget"!

NO SPEND DAYS: 01/31

[BrooklynDoula]

My plan is to stick to the budget, save and pay debt with the rest!

Rent: $1661
(End of month, start rent on studio -- additional $287)
Groceries: $400
Tips at Restuarant: $50
Laundry: $20
Insurance; $80
Gas: $20
Metocard: $30
Gas and Electric: $100
Cell Phones: $130
Homeschool/ds things: $50
Internet; $50
Netflix: $18
EZpass: $10
Student Loan; $90
Min Credit Card: $100 (always good to pay more!)

This totals just over $2800 (and will be closer to $3100 next month with dh's new studio rental cost). We make about $4500-$5000 a month (variable) so we should be saving and paying down some debt with the remaining approx. $2000. Last month we paid $1000 in debt and $575 in plane tickets for x-mas and another $200 in gifts purchased early. BUt we overspent on all sorts of other things!

So, if it is on the budget and I spend it, I will still get a but otherside it is a day!

October 1:

[leomom]

Ok, I jumped in late in Sept. and stopped posting, but I did spend less b/c of the challenge...so I'm going for it again.

I want/need to spend less to pay off our debt faster so we can start saving. I also need to save to justify my trip to New York for Thanksgiving!: I've never been and I have a FREE hotel room and couldn't pass it up.

Goals:

Use my pantry and freezer to cut down on grocery bills. Only buy produce and dairy for the month. Man that is going to be hard!!!

Ebay my clutter to have spending money for my trip...without BUYING on ebay.

Spend no more than $200 eating out

Use cash for everything except gas

Plan:

Stay out of grocery store as long as possible...
Use something from pantry or freezer daily
Pay extra on cc as many times as I can
Only eat out once during week and once every other weekend


Stats:

No spend days: 0/10
No grocery store days: 1/31
Use something from pantry or freezer: 1/31
Pay extra on cc: $0
Days using only cash:1/31
Eating Out: 0/200

VT, the flannel sheets story had me rolling!

[michelle524]

I could vomit

I just added up last month's spending.

First harsh realization, our housing accounts for over 46% of our budget (in our defense, I hadn't planned on only working PT so soon...).

Second, we spent over $300 on take out/eating out last month, not counting DH's lunches at work and anything he bought with his spending money.

Third, we spent $373 on groceries. Why in the world did we need so much take out???

Ugh...

[liangel]

Oct 1- $9.51 for pity wine and some cheese snack sticks. The pity wine is because I got AF today. Not a good thing when you are trying to get pg!

[MeghansDad]

Originally Posted by gsmama2

We just found out that DH's wages are going to be garnished until we pay off an $8000 medical bill that should not be in our name. See...I was a surrogate and deliverred twin boys back in 2003. The parents of said boys never paid my ob and last September we were summoned to court (after years of my fighting with the collection agency). Seven days after we got the summons our second daughter was born. I had spoken to the collection agency right after the summons and they said they would take care of it. Well, 3 days later I had a baby and never thought about it again (a huge I know, but I can't go back now) until last Friday when we got the garnishment paperwork in the mail. We're in the process of trying to figure out how to fix this and make sure the parents of the babies pay, but at the moment we're looking at loosing 25% of DH's take home pay. Also, we'd like to buy the house we're living in instead of renting it from my parents so I'd like to save some money for that.

sorry to be off topic for a moment but..

have you looked in to filing a suit against the parants of said boys for medical bills you are now stuck with?

[Curlita]

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

I'm Erica, I live in Seattle with my husband, one son and another on the way. My husband and I both work. I did the last portion of August and the September challenge, although I dropped off for the last three or four days. We have a brand new family budget and the challenge has been great for helping me stick to it, but it still needs some work and I got discouraged at the end of the month when some of my calculations went awry (you know, like when you cheat a little on your diet and then totally throw in the towel?).

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

With a second baby on the way, we need to figure out how we are going to:
1) maintain our regular living expenses WITHOUT increasing our debt
2) keep working to get out of debt
3) fund the increased child care expenses

I have a habit of spending small chunks of money on frivolous things while believing that it doesn't really matter. I'm hoping to show myself that making good decisions on a consistent basis will amount to significant savings.

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?

--Avoid credit card spending! Anything that goes on the credit card must come off within the same month.
--Shop mindfully. Don’t buy anything that’s not on the list.
--Stay within household budget.
--Plan discretionary spending on carefully considered items and add these to the budget. The budget is a tool, not a blunt instrument.

SEPTEMBER GOALS:
*7 actual no-spend days (meaning absolutely no money going out for anything -- managed this in Sept)
*less than $75 in discretionary/preventable spending (almost twice that spent in September)
*no lattes! (didn't work)
*no unfunded credit card charges! (yay!)
*figure out how to cheaply accomodate M&M habit... yeah, that never really happened, although I definitely ate a lot of M&Ms...

So, given that, here are my...
OCTOBER GOALS
*10 actual no-spend days
*less than $100 in discretionary/preventable spending
*no more than 5 lattes
*no unfunded credit card charges
*figure out how to cheaply accomodate late afternoon need to something sweet.... or overcome the need.
*get back to the budget and make it work

[superlori]

I'm joining up.

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

I'm Lori, SAHM of Fiona (8mons) and wife to Scott.

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

My maternity pay ended several months ago, and we've been living on my last paycheck - until now. We are now completely on my dh's wages, which simply aren't enough to cover our cost of living. He is looking for another pt job, and I'm trying to start up my own business, but that won't get off the ground for several months yet. We basically need to spend nothing in order to pay our bills without resorting to more debt.

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 plan to use up all the cans and frozen food in the house, as much as possible, before buying more groceries (aside from produce/dairy/etc)
-Do grocery shopping online to save petrol and impulse buys
-Go out less/Stay in more. DD gets quite fussy if we stay in all day, so when we do go out, it will be to parks and other free places that don't make me feel obligated to buy things (like in coffee shops, etc,).
-Be more diligent with nappy washing so I don't need to buy back up disposables


The problems, however, are that it is starting to get cold and all of Fiona's clothes are summery. I wanted to make her winter coat myself, but my sewing machine doesn't work, so I need to think of something else. My dh and I have also lost a lot of weight, so a lot of our clothes don't fit. I'm happy just wearing a belt for the most part, but I have an interview (part of my home business) in London this week, and my suits don't fit anymore. Not to mention the expense of being in London for three days with a baby (thank God for breastfeeding!!) And he has been applying for jobs, so a suit that actually fits would be nice!


TALLY FOR TODAY:
Granted, I didn't see this thread til tonight, but I did buy ice cream this evening which we definitely did not need! Will have to make that last all month long.

[phathui5]

gsmama2,

Wasn't there a contract with the parents?

[pacificbliss]

Count me in

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

I'm Pacificbliss, married with a 9 month old baby boy.

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

We have a bad habit of expanding to fit our salaries and we need to be saving money. Money just gets frittered away and we don't even know where it goes.

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?

Plan meals and grocery shopping trips. Don't just stop in on the way home with DS.
Don't shop to amuse DS
No retail therapy
Eat at home

Goals:
No more than 2 meals/week in restaurants.
15 no spend days


Not off to a great start. Bought plane tickets today for my grandmother's 80th birthday party. Need puffs and cereal from babies R US. I know, food doesn't count but I will also be getting a $50 gift card for a baby shower gift.

[melissel]

Originally Posted by gsmama2

The parents of said boys never paid my ob and last September we were summoned to court (after years of my fighting with the collection agency).

That's so wrong. How awful!

[melissel]

*sigh* Yeah, not off to a great star here too. Spent $30 on groceries today because I was so busy working and packing up the stuff I sold that I forgot to get anything prepped for dinner in time. We ended up stopping at the grocery store on the way home from the post office, buying all-natural deli meats for sandwiches for dinner (plus a few things I would normally buy anyway, so that was OK). But about $15 of my spending should have been avoided, so I get a for today:

10/1 -- Spent $15

[shayinme]

First day not so great, dd needed some socks and I ended up spending $50 on a jacket for her and some other items that she needed but really weren't in the budget. : Got some good deals and again there was a need but .... tomorrow is another day.

Thinking ahead for this week, I am shooting for making Tuesday and Thursday so spend days.

Shay