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April No-Spend Challenge ~ Last day of our challenge. How did you do?

15K views 702 replies 76 participants last post by  anarchamama 
#1 ·
This thread is a support thread to help you ~not spend your money~. Everyone is welcome to join (we would love to have you) and you are welcome to start at any time. It doesn't have to be April 1st.

The plan is simple (although very tough to execute):

1. Vow not to spend any money on unnecessary purchases.

2. Come on here everyday and record your spending.

Good luck Ladies!! Let's have a strong April!!! Keep that money in your wallet.

Our no-spend threads tend to get very long...you don't need to read the entire thread (unless you want to). Just read the first few entries and jump right in. Start recording your spending today!
 
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#2 ·
Some tips...

*We all use this thread in different ways. Some of us record every penny that we spend, others only record unecessary purchases. Groceries, utilities, clothing for you and your family, transportation...these things are necessary and we EXPECT you to spend money on that. The "no-spend" in our title refers to unecessary spending...things you could do without.

*Only YOU can determine what is necessary. We are a non-judgemental group.

*Record whatever will cause YOU to spend the least. If you feel guilty about coming on here and fessing up -- then this thread is working perfectly.


*Don't get discouraged if you spend -- our goal is PROGRESS not PERFECTION. We all will spend this month...let's admit that up front...Our ideal is no-spend...but we'll be happy if you just spend less.

Please don't take an all or nothing attitude. You will see progress if you stick with us...I promise you that.

*If you have time to read everyone else's post and do personals, hurray! That helps our thread do its job...but if you don't have time, then just post your tallies. We have plenty of successful no-spenders who do only that.
 
#3 ·
You clicked on our thread and are thinking about joining for a reason...those reasons are what are going to motivate you during the tough, tempted-to-spend times this month.

Please give yourself some time to think about these questions and answer them in a way that is meaningful for you. These questions are to help you clarify why you are here and why you are doing this.

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 April. 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?
 
#4 ·
1. My name is Prudence and I am a SAHM with two daughters and another little girl on the way. Right now we are a paycheck-to-paycheck family -- I want this to stop. I want to have a savings account and a cushion of money for emergencies.

2. I do these no-spend challenges because keeping a record of what I spend makes me more conscious of where our money is going...I spend less when I write it down. I like ~thinking~ about where my money is going, rather than just watching it float away.

3. My plan: Record spending here and try to drive the car less. Gas = money. And if I'm not out driving, I'm not out shopping. If I'm not shopping, I'm not seeing things that I want...and I'm a happier, more satisfied person. There is a direct correlation between how much I drive and how much I spend.

This month I'm trying something a little new (for me)...I'm being inspired by the Dave Ramsey thread and carrying cash in my wallet to see if that helps me spend less. I'm going to put my debit card away. Hmmm...I hope this works because I would really like to see April be our most thrifty month yet.

My previous records:

May= 19
no-spend days with $265 in unecessary spending
June = 19
/$394
July = 15
/$580
August = 19
/$451
September = 22
/$103
October = 20
/$203
November = 19
/$456
December = Fell off the wagon
January = 20
/$216
February = 21
/$190
March = 24
/$189
 
#6 ·
Hmm... last month I didn't do a very good job. I felt like I wasn't reining in non-necessary purchases like eating out and ended up postponing some actually necessary purcahses because I didn't want to record them on my total or ruin a no-spend day. Which doesn't help us rein in spending at all.

SO! I need a new plan. I'm thinking that I'll track grocery expenses (we have GOT to get under the $400/month mark!) and lunches/dinners out for the month, because those are where we really need to start cutting, not the occasional $7 paperback or cup of coffee. And maybe include a list of expected expenses for the month.
 
#7 ·
One thing I have learned- I only pay for groceries with cash and I started Jan 1. It makes a huge difference in our purchases and what we need. I havent necessarily joined each and every month but I have noticed that just lurking on these threads has helped me a lot.
 
#8 ·
Hi I'm Hilary and this is my first official time to join the no-spend thread (although I lurk). My Dh's salary has been dramatically reduced due to the mortgage crisis so I am trying to be creative, especially with grocery spending.

My goal is 15 no spend days.
 
#9 ·
I'm Kerri. We're living off what money we can make each month plus savings as DH does a job here or there in his field (welding) while DH finishes welding school. We're doing the DR program and hope to be out of debt completely by May and have set aside enough money by August (working all summer) to get through December of next school year. 2 kids, both SNs. DS requires therapy 1x wk. but has 2 weeks off in the next month, and DD requires on going treatment in G-ville, 1 tank of gas away, but none is planned for April. Our budget month runs fomr the 21st-20th of each month. We're doing this in hopes of needing less and being able to save more towards our 3-6 month emergency fund and the motorhome we need when DH finishes school (since selling the house to buy it isn't happening in this market!). PLan is to stay home more, use only cash, and look for extra ways to make $$ each month (that goes to debt and not to frivilous stuff). I have recorded all my expenses for the last week and can find about 100$ of completely unnecessary stuff in there....so I want to cut it out!

PLanned non-routine spending: Motorcycle for DH, with license and tax, tag, title....2k plus 15.25, plus ??? Looking into final cost.

Goals from now to 4/20
0/21 no non-work driving days
0/18 no spend at all days
Non gas budget: 0/70
Gas budget: 0/380 (DH has to drive 120 mi/day for next 6 days and I drive a daily paper route)
1/10 loads dried on the line
4/21-4/30
0/7 non-work no drive days
0/5 no spend days
Grocery budget: 0/60
Gas budget: 0/135
 
#10 ·
I'm monkey's mom and we are self-employed. I want to make sure that we are keeping track of every penny in our home and business--my husband is a bit "care-free" with the money and tracking, but he is really on board and the past two months we've been doing this has been GREAT!

This month I am planning more of the same....just seeing how little money I can spend outside of groceries, gas, and pet stuff. I will still list those things b/c I want to make sure I'm not just getting willy-nilly with that spending.

I am allowing myself more budgeted grocery spending with an eye for long term savings or stocking up. I've been really pleased with the way I've saved with meal planning and eating up all leftovers--now it's time to get focused on buying in bulk, harvesting and using EVERYTHING from the garden, and replenishing the pantry.

Groceries $650
Gas $100

I'm looking into a pressure canner this month.
Auto insurance is due.
Tentatively planning an hour's drive to a botanical garden (this was the sort of thing I would do all the time before! Now, I'm so aware of how pricey it all is--and it pains me!
).
OH! And I've got the joint cousins b-day party coming up--three kids to give gifts to, PLUS a potential trip to Build-A-Bear (where my SILs want to hold the party).
$$$$
But, I think we're getting a tax refund this year.
And my husband is selling his motorcycle come hell or highwater.

My key:

No spend
Budget spend
Over spend
 
#11 ·
I'm joining, again. I've really struggled the last couple of months. Way too much eating out and coffees. We're trying to save everything for a downpayment on a new to us vehicle that we'll purchase in mid-late May. I'm going to try a few new things this month to try to keep everything in check. My biggest thing is that I'm going to take out all my grocery cash out on the first Friday of the month. I had gotten away from that and it was starting to show.

15 no spend days
$125 gas budget
$400 grocery budget
$50 entertainment budget
$1000 sent to savings
 
#13 ·
Hi! I'm Liz. DH and I have one DS, Greg, who is 14 months. I work part time, and am starting nursing school in the fall. DH is a teacher.

We're on board with Dave Ramsey's approach to getting rid of debt. We've always had a budget, but we've not been great about sticking with it. I'd really like to cut out take out food and going out to eat. I think those are biggest budget busters. I'd love to be able to come in at or under budget so we can contribute lots of money towards snowballing our debt.

The first part of our plan is an cash envelope system for purchases. No more credit cards! Even though we are really good about paying off our credit cards each month, I am sure we spend more when we use them. Also, DH and I are going to have a gas competition. Our goal is to drive less than 100 miles/week. Whoever drives the least will "win" the week. He's got a short commute, and I just drive around town so it should be pretty fair. Anyway, if we both drive less than 100 miles/week we'll come under in our gas budget by about $30. Finally, I love my house "projects", and am always buying stuff to start new ones. Of course...I never finish them! So to get my fill of house projects I'm going to
: finish all the one's I have here!

-- No Spend
-- Spend within Budget
-- Spend outside of Budget

My Goals: 15 No Spend Day, 15 Spend within Budget
 
#14 ·
I am here again!!
This will be my eighth month here! Although I didn't do to well last month
Spending wise. I did meet my no spend days though!

I am a SAHM to a 4 year old dd and a 2 year old ds,
We have home renovations approaching, cc debt, student debt, and car payments. Not easy with one income so I have to keep more control of our money and where it goes! I really want to see our savings account #'s go waaay up! I was able to put alittle more than i thought I was going to in our savings last month so now it needs to stay there and I hope this month I can add quite a bit more!

My goals this month are:
  • compact!
  • only 2 co-op this month!!
  • No Credit Cards!
  • Save, Save, Save!
  • declutter and simplify

April Spending Goals:
No Spend days: 25/31
No etsy/DS/ebay: 27/31
Non-necessary Spending: <200
 
#17 ·
I would like to join!
My name is Carlin, and I am currently kidless, but we're working on that!
dh and I will have paid off his line of credit by the end of next week and are going to start working on mine. We will be debt free, except for the mortgage after that!

My goals for this month include:
Start riding bike to work again (save $66.50 on the bus pass) now that it's spring.
Bring lunch from home each day!
Declutter - donate / give away or sell at least 1 box of "stuff" each week!
No credit card

I have a few garden related expenses that will be necessary this month, but hopefully the veggie garden will work out and cut our food expenses this summer!

I'm excited to try this, this month. Our incomes both went up significantly last year so we've been much less disciplined with our spending. We've done a good job paying done debt, but could be doing it faster. I think this will help us get back on track.
 
#18 ·
1. Please introduce yourself and tell us anything you think it would help us to know about yourself. I'm Miss Lotus and I'm a single mother of a busy 6-year-old. Since I had my son, despite divorce I've tried to be creative about finding ways to be there for him (part-time jobs that allow that). And I may have found another one...I saw a sign at the local pizza place that needs somebody 2 or 3 weekdays, from 11-3! It's not a big career move on my part (I used to write/edit for trade magazines), but I don't care...the hours are perfect and will put a few bucks into my pocket and I can still pick him up from school every day. So I'm going in this week to get more details!

2. Please tell us why you have decided to spend nothing (or spend significantly less) for the Month of April. Memorize these goals and recite them to yourself before all purchases. Well, I know I won't be spending nothing. But I'll have to do a lot better than this month! I have no idea how I spent so much in groceries/household stuff this month. My original goal, at the start of the year, is to pay off my credit cards. Well, this past month I actually used my credit cards
...I have an opportunity to travel, and if I bought the place tickets, I get a free place to stay, don't have to rent a car, etc...PLUS I got free tickets to a game show (and who knows...maybe I'll win! two people recently won a million dollars on this same show!)...so I needed my credit card for the tickets. But with working my extra pizza job, if it works out, I'll be able to pay that down again.

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?

Well, today I bought a ton of groceries and supplies. I plan to eat out less...except that besides my trip in April, my birthday is also this month...so plan to eat out that day for sure! So how I approach it this month is: Not "no" spending...but LESS spending! Keeping groceries to $350.
 
#19 ·
1. Namaste, I'm Summer. I'm a PT SAHM/WOHM to 2 yo DD and expecting #2 in dec '08 with DH.

2. I'm trying to create a "concrete budget" for our family. This will be a first! I also want to get rid of all my credit card debt before this baby is born. Specifically for April I want to start working Dave Ramsey's plan.

3.

  • account for all spending on here.
  • I plan to run errands on bike: cuts down on gas, cuts down on purchases as there's less space for "stuff" and I get more exercise.
  • Eat out 10 days or less this month: better nutritionally for baby, better on our budget!
 
#20 ·
1. Please introduce yourself and tell us anything you think it would help us to know about yourself.

Hi! I'm Holly, and this is my first time here. I'm a WOHM mom (teacher) with two boys, ages 12 and 17.

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

We are that paycheck to paycheck family that was one crisis away from disaster, and then we had that crisis...DS2 has some very expensive ongoing medical issues. This is on top of the mess of consumer debt we landed ourselves in, and my oldest is starting college in the fall. Yikes!

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?

Well, I can't stay at home...I drive every day. To work M-F, errands on Saturday, church on Sunday. However, I'm thinking that if I do errands on the way home from work and stay HOME on Saturday, I can take that "shopping ritual" out of my weekend.

We have some planned expenses this month for necessary home maintenance, so I won't be recording those. I do need to focus on keeping the grocery bill down, staying on top of cooking and supplies so we don't eat out, and staying organized (messy house = spending).

I'm excited to join this group!


Holly
 
#21 ·
1. Please introduce yourself and tell us anything you think it would help us to know about yourself.

Hello! I'm Malinda, SAHM to 2 full-time students (1st and 3rd grade), SAHDS (Saty-at-home-dog-sitter) to my yellow lab (Peyton) and wife to my smokin' hot police officer DH.

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

April is our quiet month. Besides being Matron of Honor for my BF (and incurring ALL of those expenses - YIKES!), we don't have many things going in April, so it'll definitely be a good test for us.

Plus, $2500 mortgage and I'm going back to school in May (although we already have that money set aside). I figure it will be good motivation to see it written down and to have others in a wonderful support system


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?

* Follow our monthly menu. I have every day assigned to a dinner, complete with side dishes, salads, breads etc. Following that cuts down on unused food items that spoil and trips to fast food and/or restaurants when we're trying to figure out, last minute, what to eat. It also saves gas on reduced trips to the grocery store.

* I'm also going to cut out my shopping trips that come around when I'm just plain bored. Instead, I intend to use my gym membership, take the dog for walks and go to the local library. I also have a few sewing projects I could finish up.

If anyone has any tips, secrets, etc. I'd love to read them


We're very good at saving money, but I have noticed the more DH makes, the more we spend. It's nothing to worry about for us, but it would be nice to know that, if something were to happen, we would be able to keep the life we have now.
 
#22 ·
Well, I'm back from my trip to Japan, and I am definitely doing the challenge in April! We had a great trip! Saw lots of sites and lots of old friends! But I felt a little odd when I got back... not doing the "Challenge" didn't feel "right". So here I am again! I really like what this challenge does for me both from a financial standpoint as well as the feeling of empowerment.

My Goals:

When I did this in Feb. I wasn't able to keep w/ my no-spend days goal because I would do silly things like leaving something off my shopping list, so I'd have to run out to the store and "ruin" a no-spend day. So I am setting a weekly goal of 2 no-spend days per week. If I mess-up one week, I can do better the next week.

2 no-spend days per week
0 credit card days
0 unbudgeted spending
Gas - $220
Groceries - $450
Household - $125
Eating Out - $85
 
#24 ·
Hello! I discussed this with my hubby, and he is reluctant, but on board. (April 21 is my birthday, and he wants to spend on me, even though we have spent a LOT on gifts for each other already this year!)

So...our goals:

1. Stick to the written budget 100% -
03/31/08 BUDGET WRITTEN - 04/01/08 Budget updated!
:
2. Cut $100 in expenses from bills (I think this will be cell phone and cable this month) -
CANCELED MY CELL PHONE CABLE TODAY!
3. Cut down on driving - only two car trips to the grocery store this month.
4. Pay off at least $1,000 in debt
5. Find a job. I am waiting to hear back on a work-from-home opportunity, but if that doesn't come through, then I will try to find something within walking distance (at a local shop), and if THAT doesn't work out, I will go back to temping. (I hate temping.)
6. On a non-financial note: finish all of my UFO's - sew up my knitting projects, finish my chicken apron, and finish my new spring skirt.
SEWED UP 8 KNITTING PROJECTS YESTERDAY AND WORKING ON CHICKEN APRON LATER TODAY.
7. On a health note: walk 3 times per week, and aim for a weight loss of 10 pounds this month. I have to lose another 53 pounds before I will feel comfortable with getting pregnant (Though, obviously from my siggy, we WANT a baby!)
 
#25 ·
1. I am Amanda and I am a SAH-homeschooling-mom to 4 kids, two boys (8 & 9) and two girls (almost 4 & 5) We are also a paycheck-to-paycheck family without savings. We are getting our house ready to put on the market in Spring 2009 so we can buy land and build relatively mortgage-free.

2. I've become uncomfortable with the fact that we have no savings, especially cash on hand, and I'm working to change that. We have some old, planned expenses to catch up on and as soon as I'm past that hurdle (which I will be this month, I think!) I'm going to put more in savings and pinch more everywhere else. Which I think will be pretty difficult because I'm pretty frugal and disciplined already, but I think there must be room for improvement. I want to make sure we have what we need, make do if we can and purchase responsibly if we can't, keep the long-term picture in mind, and be very aware of the things we DON'T need so we can avoid acquiring them. We are no longer using credit cards for anything, so I want to have a buffer built up so we can pay cash for emergency expenses instead of bringing out a CC. But it's going to take months to get that buffer built up and I'm trying not to get discouraged. I'm also planning to continue building up our food storage, so trying to shave back other grocery spending to accommodate that.

Complicating things this month is three family birthdays - my mother's 60th, my daughter's 4th, and my 35th. We do special food on birthdays (=$$) and one present; it seems simple but it still impacts the budget. For my mom I think I'm going to give her a new framed pic of the kids that I take myself. For myself, permission to buy a household item I want that will save us a lot of money in the long run (hoping to get a deal on a Squeezo through eBay, unless anyone here has one they want to PM me about?
and/or a nice pressure cooker, which I don't want to wait for because it will pay for itself), and for my DD...something small and simple, though I am not sure what yet. Maybe I can get my act together and sew a princess dress for her with material I already have (sounds hard though).

3. My paymonth goes from the 15th to the 15, so I'll probably check in here on the 15th and tell how the previous month went for me. If I can get my act together I'll do a mid-month assessment this week as well.
 
#26 ·
1. My name is Rachael and I am a WOHM/Primary Breadwinner for my husband and 11 month DS. We have an amount of debt ($5k Credit Cards $25K Student Loans) that we would like to pay off by December 2010 in order to be debt free.

2. This is month 3 of the no-spend challenge. I am trying to start my own business so I can be a WAHM by the end of this year and need to focus heavily on paying off debt. Every penny counts that I can put toward debt. My weakness is dipping into our savings (which is small since we have an emergency fund and are focusing on debt).

3. My plan: Record, Record, Record. I need to be honest with myself when I am taking money from savings for things I/We "need". I need to be honest with my friends and family and be able to offer other alternative activities so we can still spend time together.

We did major shopping Friday - Sunday, all within budget. We should be set for the first 2 weeks of April. *Deep Breaths*

February
Total overspending in February $666.45
Total no spend days - 14/29

March
Total overspending in March $478.33
Total no spend days - 20/31
 
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