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February No-Spend Challenge -- How did you do? What will you do differently next month? What... - Page 12

post #221 of 1040
2/3/08 at 2:29pm
2/1: $1 at the library book sale (found a book I am selling on Amazon!)
2/2: spent nothing

...Yesterday I went nowhere and spent a lot of time decluttering...it feels good! and today I'm bringing a bunch of stuff to Goodwill. I also need to hunt for two large baskets with lids (I sold my big ugly dresser on Craigslist last week, and I think that instead of buying a new dresser to replace it, I'm going to put stuff into the baskets. And that means.....going to Target. I am willing myself to get the baskets and GO...hopefully I can report back later that I resisted temptation to get anything else!
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post #222 of 1040
2/3/08 at 2:48pm
2/1 - $7 on nessecary grocery items
2/2 - ok this came out of our house budget but I suppose I better count it! - $2500 for all appliances for new house.
$61 for A WHOLE WEEKS WORTH OF GROCERIES!!!!!! I am so proud of myself! I made a triple batch of pancakes today to store in the freezer for breakfasts, I am making bread for the week...so we don't have to purchase it...and I am also baking cookies today for snack in our lunches this week! I was SUPER impressed with myself about the groceries! Sorry for blabbing!

2/3 - will be a no spend day
post #223 of 1040
2/3/08 at 4:06pm
1st $186 food; ate out w/ DSD $30
2nd $36 thrift store; $1.73 coffee
3rd :

Goals:
Food: $186/$550
Eating out: $30
Gas: $0/$200
Diapers: $0/$60
Trip to NYC for interview: $0/$50
Misc.: $38/$40

Total Spent this Month: $216/$900

True No-Spend: : Spending Within Budget: Over Budget:


1/20 No Spend Days!!!
post #224 of 1040
2/3/08 at 5:03pm
" $61 for A WHOLE WEEKS WORTH OF GROCERIES!!!!!! I am so proud of myself! I made a triple batch of pancakes today to store in the freezer for breakfasts, I am making bread for the week...so we don't have to purchase it...and I am also baking cookies today for snack in our lunches this week! I was SUPER impressed with myself about the groceries! Sorry for blabbing!"

Hey Holidaymama, that sounds brilliant! I wish I could get the week's groceries down to $61 - how many of there are you in your family? Will you be eating a lot out of the freezer this week?

Here's my month so far:
1: no spend for me, 40c for dh drinks at work
2: no spend for either of us
3: no spend for either of us

Made bread for packed lunches tomorrow which prevented a trip to the store, which would probably have involved buying other things too! So that was a good move...
post #225 of 1040
2/3/08 at 5:10pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
$61 for A WHOLE WEEKS WORTH OF GROCERIES
Wow! That is impressive. It was grocery store day for me today too, but alas we spent well over $150. And that is just for one week. I made the mistake of going into Costco hungry and came out with a case of mangos and a bag of avocados...actually there were chocolate covered raisins in there too, but DH made me put them back.

Miss Lotus -- Report back and let me know how the baskets in the closet thing is going. I'm thinking of doing that with my girls' room instead of replacing their dresser. (The dresser is going to the new baby)
post #226 of 1040
2/3/08 at 5:12pm
Thread Starter 
Goals:
22 No-Spend Days: 3/22
10 Let the Car Rest Days: 1/10
29 Fast-Food-Free Days: 3/29

01..
02..
03..

Spent money today, but all of it was on food for the family.
post #227 of 1040
2/3/08 at 5:16pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by famousmockngbrd View Post
2/1 - $13 on beer.
2/2 - $13 on lunch out with the kids, $35 on dinner out

: I'm not off to a very good start.
That's okay. You are recording...that is a start. And you can see where some of your money is going...that is awareness. Now you can start deciding how to go at this and how to handle these situations in the future.

Maybe budget for these expenses?

Or, if you want to eliminate them, how can you change your habits so you are not tempted to spend in this way again?

This is a starting point for you. You are doing fine.
post #228 of 1040
2/3/08 at 5:22pm
2/1
2/2 $65.89 groceries : $26.34 new iron

Had to buy a new iron because DH broke ours while taking it apart to clean it. : We have to iron a lot, so invested in this one rather than the $7 one. Went grocery shopping and stayed near budget. Next week should be less.

True No Spend
Budgeted Spending
: Unbudgeted Necessary Spending
Unbudgeted Unnecessary Spending


Monthly "No" Goals

1/25 No-Spend Days (anything other than bills, groceries, or gas)
0/16 No-Drive Days (me only, M-F, not counting Wed. night church)
2/28 No-Eating-Out Days
2/29 No-Credit Days


Monthly Spending goals

$65.89/$230 groceries
$0/$50 gas
$26.34/$20 misc.
$0/$4500 Tax Refund to EF & CC bills (haven't received yet)
post #229 of 1040
2/3/08 at 5:27pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
In Vermont it was MUCH easier to spend nothing! Especially in the Winter!
Welcome Irene! Yes, I am new to Vermont and I am finding this to be true as well.

The woman who wrote "Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping" (we mention her a lot in this thread) lived in Vermont part of the year and she mentioned that it was easier here too.

Because there just isn't that much to buy

I still manage to fritter away money.

We moved here from Manhattan and it was ALL to easy to spend money there.
post #230 of 1040
2/3/08 at 5:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by holidaymama View Post
$61 for A WHOLE WEEKS WORTH OF GROCERIES!!!!!! I am so proud of myself! I made a triple batch of pancakes today to store in the freezer for breakfasts, I am making bread for the week...so we don't have to purchase it...and I am also baking cookies today for snack in our lunches this week! I was SUPER impressed with myself about the groceries! Sorry for blabbing!
That is awesome! I tend to start out with good intentions, but sometimes I get too tired/depressed and don't always bake/cook everything from scratch like I want to.
post #231 of 1040
2/3/08 at 6:52pm
2/1~$11 in clothing (much needed undergarments for girls), $20 for bday gift, $44 in groceries (budgeted), $51 in budgeted haircuts for dh and ds.
2/2~$47.22 for household items (Sears and Lowes)
2/3~

no spending 1/10
grocery spending $44/$250
clothing spending $11/$100
household $47.22/0
haircuts $51/$45
gas spending 0/$125
eating out 0/2
bday gift spending $20/$35
gas fill ups 0/$125
post #232 of 1040
2/3/08 at 7:52pm
1 - , drove
2 - 83.11 groceries, drove
3 - , no driving

plan:
no-spend days 20/28
no-drive days 10/28
hang/rack dry laundry
try to keep tv off as much as possible
use coupons & sales

actual:
no-spend days 1/20
no-drive days 1/10

sarah
post #233 of 1040
2/3/08 at 8:21pm
1-
2-$75 groceries; $14.90 maternity jumper
3- lunch out with hubby; not necessary, but it was in the buget and he's been wanting Scholtzky's for weeks ...

Goals:
--Groceries: $400
--Laundry: $15
--Personal spending: $50
--Eating out: No more than once per week
--Savings: $700
--No book shopping this month!
post #234 of 1040
2/3/08 at 8:41pm
2/1: Gas/oil change $75
2/2:
2/3:


No spend
Budget spend
Oh, lord, what'd I do?
post #235 of 1040
2/3/08 at 8:44pm
Well I am depressed. I have to go to Big Box Store tomorrow because no other store anywhere near us sells those prepaid phones we need. Blech. I am making DH go with me though. But I was so proud of myself, I hadn't been to Big Box Store in forever!

Here is my list. I do not count grocery spending or regular household bills like rent/electric/etc though. Just so you know, I don't want anyone to think I am starving my husband


February:
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
13th
14th
15th
16th
17th
18th
19th
20th
21st
22nd
23rd
24th
25th
26th
27th
28th
29th

Financial Goals:
1. No eating out!
2. No Big Box Stores for me!
3. No online shopping!
4. Try to eat out of the pantry and only supplement from the store when needed!
5. Live off of DH's income only!

Other Goals:
Exercise Days: 20 1/20
Let the Computer Rest Days 10

Jaime's Key:
No Spend Days:
Spend Days
Needed, yet totally unplanned for, spending
post #236 of 1040
2/3/08 at 8:58pm
No spend, no drive, 60 minutes on the treadmill

February 1- stayed within budget: $38.35 for pizza, paid bills
February 2- stayed within budget: $110.02 household/misc., $297.39 groceries
February 3-

My goals for February:
Track Grocery Spending: $297.39/$550
Track eating out/take out/entertainment spending: $38.35/$150
Track my gasoline spending: $0/$180
Track household/ misc. spending: $110.02/$200
Track frivolous spending: $0/$0
True no-spend: 1/18 days
No frivolous spending: 3/29 days
No credit card use: 3/31 days
Stay within 15 miles of home: 2/22 days
No-drive: 1/12 days
Exercise: 60/1000 minutes on the treadmill
post #237 of 1040
2/3/08 at 9:26pm
So that stuff about having gone overboard on swaps...? I wasn't kidding. Spent almost $40 on swap shipping today. Gah. On the bright side, though, made a bit from Amazon.

Tomorrow I get started on no-spend days!

Joint spending:
2/1: $1402 mortgage--budgeted
2/2: $185 Costco (food stock-up, much needed towels, & membership fee)--budgeted
2/3: $15 movies, $30 dinner--budgeted

Personal spending:
2/1: $2,000 monthly contribution to joint, $63 on swap food; $25 charitable giving--all budgeted; $3 cash on soda
2/2: $37 on swap food--budgeted, but I'm going to go over, since that's my whole budget and I haven't shipped anything yet; $35 credit card payment
2/3: $38 swap shipping (over budget), $5 other shipping (in budget), $8 from Amazon.com

$0/$100 misc. spending
$138/$100 swap/postage spending
0/14 no spend days
0/2 thrift shopping trips
0/5 lunches/coffees
$35/$700 credit card pay-down
3/29 no credit card days


Joint goal for Feb: just one--STAY ON BUDGET!

Personal goals for Feb:
-stay on budget (including no more than $100 misc spending, $100 swap spending/postage)
-no credit card spending
-at least 14 no spend days
-no more than 2 thrift shopping trips
-no more than 5 lunches and/or coffees at work
-pay at least $700 on credit card

January:
No-spend days: 12/31
Lunches/coffees purchased: 6
Off-budget spending: -$400
Credit card payments: $793
post #238 of 1040
2/3/08 at 9:31pm
Feb 1: I spent nothing but dh bought food at the co-op ($34), $2 Metrocard (dh)
Feb 2: Farmer's Market $15, $7.50 (dh went to a performance), $10 for dh metrocard
Feb 3: yeah!

49/550 food
0/100 kids
0/200 misc (basically everything but food)
7.50/50 fun (dh needs this or he won't stick to it)
12/50 Metro/Gas
0/40 Laundry
0/1200 CC debt (largest payment yet)
1/10

= no-spend days (not even bills, nothing)
= spending within budget
I blew it!
post #239 of 1040
2/3/08 at 10:29pm
Feb 2: $4 bus fare. $5 magazine.
Feb 3:
$7 on coffee shop with dh and dd. Already I can see this is where most of my excess money goes! $8.50 groceries (doing REALLY well there. I'm also doing the February pantry challenge). $5 church.
post #240 of 1040
2/3/08 at 11:10pm
I almost bought some books online today... But I resisted. Not only did I want a no-spend, but I don't know how much our water bill will be... We have *ANOTHER!* leak... This is the THIRD one in a week! : : :!

Anyway...
Key:
no spend at all
budgeted
unbudgeted but necessary
: unbudgeted and unnecessary

Goals:
0/9 spend days
3/20 no-spend
0/0 trips and $0/0 groceries until Feb 13
0/4 trips and $0/200 groceries for Feb 13-Mar 13
0/3 trips and $0/10 farmer's market
$0/30 eating out (or cooking valentine's dinner)
$? safety gate for DS
$0/10 household supplies
$0/20 clothes
$0/12.48 gift-making supplies, DH and DS valentines, chocolate
$0/43.51 DS bday in March
$0/0 unbudgeted spending

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