**June No- Spend Challenge** - Less than a week to go! Let's finish strong!! - Page 2

[crunchy_mama]

I'm in for June. We really need to build our checking back up or else we are going to have to dip into savings which I really don't want to do. We are going to try and actually do the envelope system for this month and keep spending to only essentials. The only birthday this month is mine so we are clear there.

- I am dropping the grocery budget to get some extra cash- will keep to $200 and another $100 will go to the chickens we are buying in July
-eating out will keep that to $50. I have been planning snacks when we go out. and have collected coupons to places we like when we do eat out
-no nonessential spending for me- I will allow a snack from the discount store every 2 weeks (less than $1)
- will give dh an allowance for the week
- we are selling stuff on ebay etc as well- however there are some things we need to buy so that is probably already spent

[CityChic]

Originally Posted by suburbmom

In terms of goals, I'm hoping to have some no spend days. Does paying bills count as no spend days? I can't remember. But I'm going to limit myself to not paying too much extraneous stuff that I don't need. We are trying to build our nest egg for the bigger house we would like to have. We have no debt and have our emergency fund set up for 6 months right now.

Welcome Carrie!! In answer to your question about bills, it is up to you. Some people distinguish between "In Budget" spending and "Out of Budget" spending during their daily tally. It is all up to you

[BMG580]

1. Please introduce yourself and tell us why you have decided to spend nothing (or spend significantly less) for the Month of June.

Hi, I am Char, I am trying to save $500 per month to dump into savings. We are blowing through too much on un-necessary things like eating out and impulse buys. I am worried about the economy and I am pretty disgusted that at our income level we don't have more money in savings. We need to get in control!

2. 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?

Fewer driving days, for sure. If I am not out I will most likely not spend the money. I need to get our grocery budget under control and I will start buying more frozen veggies and doing bulk buying of things like flour and sugar. We will no longer be buying gourmet coffee, I can't tell the difference anyway! We will also be having more vegetarian meals- they are more healthful and hopefully cheaper. I will meal plan each Saturday with my husband and we will shop together on Sunday and that will be it for the week.

3. Be specific! What are your goals? How many no spend days is right for you? Do you have a savings goal? Debt repayment goal?

We are going to try for 3 no drive days per week. I am going to shoot for 20 no spend days. We are going to save $500 this month and I will be canceling two store credit cards. I don't use them and I don't need the temptation.

[becoming]

I'm going to give this another try! We've been spending like crazy and need to stop before we get in over our heads. I'm a SAHM now, so it's more important than ever for us to save, save, save.

My goals for June:

1. 20 eat-at-home (all 3 meals) days
2. 10 no-spend days
3. $400 groceries/household spending

[Krisis]

Wow, I SO need this thread!!

My name is Kris, and I am a shopping addict

We are about to move across the country and we will be paying double rent (well, a mortgage and a rent. Anyone want to buy a house in northwest Arkansas?) so I really need to be careful with what I spend. I too am worried about our savings (we have none) and so I want to save as much as possible so I can put my mind at ease a little!

My game plan, I guess, is to try to find an apartment that's close to a bus stop and a grocery store so I can walk to get our groceries and DH can bus to work. After Wednesday I want to not eat out for the rest of the month (driving across the country on Sunday - Wednesday so we kind of have no choice.) And that one will kill me since I am a Wendy's junkie!!

I am also not going shopping alone and I am not taking any cash with me - the only shopping I am allowed to do is grocery shopping. If I want a book, I can go to the library. Grr!! I am getting tough on myself this time!!

Thanks for this thread!!

[heatherweh]

Tomorrow's the day! Day one of the challenge! Woohoo!

I need this because I STUNK it up today big time by going garage-sailing this morning. Wow, I found some good deals - $40 worth!

Ready to straighten my act out....

[MeghansDad]

Im jumpin onboard!

My main goal is to not spend and have cash to put towards paying off our credit cards since interest is just like handing money over to them. Im a SAHD of a 1 year old and 3 year old. I don't have much of a need to spend but somehow i do. . I would rather be putting that money in the kids savings accounts!

I don't really plan on giving up all spending but need to cut way back. So i am giving myself a limit of $75.00. thats $2.50 a day, including gas money. Should be easy just for the fact that you cant get much for $2.50, so i will have to plan wisely.

= Under my $2.50 / day
= over $2.50 a day
: = no drive day

see you on the other side!

[josybear]

this month i won't be home much. tomorrow i leave for a week at the farm. i'll be back on the 8th. i'll get groceries on the way out of town so i'll be spending this week, but not registering it here until next week.
a few days after i get back we're going on vacation. i have a seperate budget for that. then when i get back i hope i can get out to the farm again before the month ends... so basically i won't be on here much, but i also won't be spending much.

week 1: 70$
88$ remaining for the month

(the budget is 75$/week for food, transportation, outings, etc, 100$ a month for clothes, gifts, craft stuff, etc)

march: 48% no-spend days
april: 56% no spend days
may: 52% no-spend

[mtm]

[I'm Michelle, sahm of 3 kids, 6, 3 and 2 months. We've been doing the TMM for a while and have stalled out a bit on our budgeting so I thought this might help jumpstart us. My plan is to simply leave my wallet at home when I go out, that alone will curb the I need a coffee or look at those strawberries purchases. My goal is to put an extra 150-200 towards debt repayment this month.

[josybear]

this month i won't be home much. tomorrow i leave for a week at the farm. i'll be back on the 8th. i'll get groceries on the way out of town so i'll be spending this week, but not registering it here until next week.
a few days after i get back we're going on vacation. i have a seperate budget for that. then when i get back i hope i can get out to the farm again before the month ends... so basically i won't be on here much, but i also won't be spending much.

week 1: 70$
88$ remaining for the month

(the budget is 75$/week for food, transportation, outings, etc, 100$ a month for clothes, gifts, craft stuff, etc)

march: 48% no-spend days
april: 56% no spend days
may: 52% no-spend

[Hollysmom]

I'm in again. Every month it seems like I do okay until around the middle of the month and then fall off the wagon.

1. My name is Kristine. I am a WOHM on maternity leave for a year. I am Mom to 3 girls 5, 2 and 4 months. This is my second maternity leave in a very short time so money is tight. We also just purchased a minivan so that we could fit all our children in one vehicle In addition to wanting to spend less I also want to simplify our lives and leave a lighter footprint on the earth.

I am doing this challenge to keep track of my spending and try to cut down or even eliminate the frivolous spending I do.

2. My plan:

a) Record all spending
b) Stop buying convenience food
c) Use up the food we have in the house
d) Spend time getting rid of all the excess stuff in our lives

No spend days 0/20

Key:

No spend
budgeted/necessary spending
frivolous/unbudgeted spending

[FeelingBlessed]

1. My name is Kim; our family includes DH, DD (12/03) + DS (9/06). I just resigned from my PT finance gig, and will focus on my businesses (consulting/PR) and freelace writing. Have been with this group since June '07, and the support, accountability, and increased spending consciousness have been terrific for our bottom line. May could have been a lot better; need to seriously curb our (my) food spending in June!

2. Continue attacking the debt snowball.

3. Game plan:
* INCREASE income - continue to develop businesses + freelance writing
* SELL rental house - tenants out 6/30; hope to sell by end of Aug.
* Sell/donate unneeded items
* Work out a meal plan - really, I NEED to do this - let June be the month!
* Pack snacks + water whenever we go out
* No more late library materials! (After the late ones we currently have out...)
* ORGANIZE! Majority of overbudget/frivolous spending can be prevented with improved organization.
* Exercise: feeling good = decreased emotional spending

GOALS:
* Less than $50 in frivolous spending: month to date $0
* At least 25 days (no spend or spending w/in budget): 0/25
* Pack snacks/water for outings: 0/30
* NO library fines: month to date $0
* Stay within grocery/eating out budget: $0/$500
* ORGANIZE/declutter (lack of organization = spending): 0/25
* Exercise (feeling good = decreased emotional spending): 0/25
* Meal plan created: 0/4 weeks
* Sell rental house by 8/31 - tenants out 6/30; push hard in July...

Past Progress:
June '07: 20 days; $210.42 frivolous; $519.54 groceries; $117.55 eating out
July '07: 16 days; $325.62 frivolous; $825.40 groceries; $112.84 eating out
Aug. '07: 23 days; $144.47 frivolous; $593.09 groceries; $643.07 eating out
Sept. '07: 22 days; $128.37 frivolous; $598.19 groceries; $121.48 eating out
Oct. '07: 25 days; $139.55 frivolous; $472 groceries; $129.55 eating out
Nov. '07: 25 days; $192.50 frivolous; $608 groceries; $101 eating out
Dec. '07: 28 days; $55.20 frivolous; $503 groceries
Jan. '08: 27 days; $19.90 frivolous; $555.85 groceries/eating out
Feb. '08: 18 days; $131.80 frivolous; $668 groceries/eating out
March '08: 28 days; $19.40 frivolous; $500 groceries/eating out
April '08: 24 days; $39.16 frivolous; $768.65 groceries/eating out
May '08: 21 days; $53.41 frivolous; $920 groceries/eating out, 23 Organize/Declutter days, 26 Exercise days

[SugarGlider]

1. Please introduce yourself and tell us why you have decided to spend nothing (or spend significantly less) for the Month of June.

Hi I am Robin, PT-WOH Mom to two, ages 9 and 12. I decided I am spending far too much on conviences items that COULD be either saved or better spent on helping us fix our credit... both to help us prepare to buy our first home.

2. 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 buy fast food a LOT, plan to carry some snacks to help curb my hunger till I get home. I buy packs of ciggarettes instead of taking the time to make my own which is so much cheaper, I will need to make sure I make my ciggarettes the night before. Those are my two BIG things... I probably spend anywhere from 20-100 a week on those things depending on the week.

For instance this week we got tacos one night and pizza another night, and it totaled around 50.00 I'd like to see us eat out every other week, and keep it at 25.00 or less.

I'm on my third pack of ciggarettes bough this week... 9.00 total, when 9.00 will buy an entire week of smoking stuff to make my own ciggarettes. This should be ONE pack a week for each of us.

DH and I do not have any will power for saving and saying no to ourselves, we justify each other and we end up screwed. A small mistake in our checking cost us 120.00 this week when a simple 50-100 in the saving would have fixed it... but we cant even manage that! But we can spend 33.00 on pizza when a fantastic meal from the grocery store (that I cooked) could have saved us 20+.

3. Be specific! What are your goals? How many no spend days is right for you? Do you have a savings goal? Debt repayment goal?

So my GOAL... get 100.00 in the savings by the end of the month and Only eat out twice and only buy 4 packs of ciggarettes for each of us. Convience items are on my hit list

Other goals... Pay my student loan payment, and fix one item on our credit report or one item that will be going on our credit report.

Thank you for listening, I'll report back tomorrow evening

ETA: I just thought of another one! Buying jugs of water instead of taking them and filling them for .25 Its so much easier to just BUY jugs of water and *forget* to take jugs with us. It all adds up!

[OkiMom]

Hey everyone! Looking forward to this month and I have my hubbie on board as well..
Ive added a few goals..

May 31st: 279 for groceries (Last month but it was from this months budget)

June 1st: :

Personal spending: 0/$200
Grocery spending: $279/$400
Eat Out budget: 0/$30
Debt paid off: 0/600
Savings: 0/200

Budgeted spending
Unneeded/over budget spending
No Spending Goal: 1/20 days
: No drive day Goal 0/20
: Pack snacks/water for trips 1/30 Pack lunch for DH 0/20
Organizing days: 0/20
Exercise days: 0/25

Other Goals: Get a water filter instead of buying bottled water; Go through DD's toys and get rid/sale what she doesn't use; make a list of what we need and budget for new baby; pay off 600.00 in debt; save at least 300; Exercise daily and start getting everything organized for the move.
I think thats all! I hope this month goes well!

[jeca]

1. Okay I really bombed in may so I need to stick to it this june. Candese mostly SAHM(I work about 8 hours a week). I am pretty good with money but have vowed to have no spend days. little things add up and I am the queen of little things. We are trying to reduce our debt so we can have a great next year.

2. My plan involves leaving the house less since I need to cut down on my driving also and just say no to little trips to the store. Plan once a week run instead.

3. My main goal is to spend less of our "budgeted money" which is for small expenses like lunches, small things that come up, etc and take what's left over at the end of the pay period and use it towards an alloted purchase(Xmas gift, birthday, school supplies or clothes). I think seeing it on screen will help me with that. SO I want to see smilie faces on my screen at least 20 days out the month, maybe, possible, hopefully :

June 1: :
june 2: (: $13 thrift store, $8 slipnslide
june 3: $30 camp registration

[Om Girl]

Hi, I'm in and I will finish strong this month! I fell of the wagon the last couple of months...but I'm ready to get back on!

I'm Summer, mama to 2yo DD and another on the way expected Turkey day or so. I WOH PT and am planning on getting back to school after LO is born! I want to pay off all my debt (CC debt from my "single" days!) so that I can save for my nursing program. I also want to get DD into a PT preschool program which would be an additional expense for our family, but would allow me to work more.
I am going to spend significantly less this month by tracking all of my spending and spending only on necessary purchases. (Personally I find if I track all of my spending, I spend a LOT less)

This months "necessary purchases"

• Father's day present for my dad

I will also be starting to implement Dave Ramsey's envelope system and paying cash for everything, making extra payments toward my CC debt using the snowball method and working our budget a little tighter. I'm going to use all of our gift cards that we have instead of spending cash whenever possible (this way they also get used!).

[greenmamapagan]

OK, I really need to join this thread.
I'm Jade, I live in Sydney, Australia & am SAHM to a delightful 2 year old. DH & I both spend waaaaaaaaaaay too much on silly impulses. Mine are mostly food based. I can't seem to pass up a decent latte & of course DD & I need something to eat along with it The silly thing is that we have a coffee machine at home & our coffee is actually better.
Anyway, I think I'll start with something that might be achievable and just aim for one no-spend day a week.

[scrapadoozer]

1. Please introduce yourself and tell us why you have decided to spend nothing (or spend significantly less) for the Month of June.
Hi, I'm Jenny. Mama to one 4 year old little girl.
The main reason we need to no spend: We have a nasty car repair bill that I really want to pay off without touching our savings.

2. 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?

Stay the heck out of stores. If I'm not seeing anything for sale, I won't buy anything. Plus, with the gas prices so high we need to make a tank of gas last 10-11 days instead of our usual 7. That will force me to stay home/out of the stores. That's a positive in my book!

3. Be specific! What are your goals? How many no spend days is right for you? Do you have a savings goal? Debt repayment goal?

Goals
21 No spend days
No more than $125 spent frivolously
Pay at least $300 towards car repair bill.

[meandk0610]

i'll try to keep up this month.

i'm sarah, sahm/wahm, to dd3. we get $ aid from my inlaws each month to let us keep this house (we bought a huge house when i was still working a couple years pre-dd). i have finally gotten him to start looking at real estate books. meanwhile, i'm decluttering like a mad woman, taking about 100 books to used book store today.

plan: i stocked up food last month so food bill should be pretty small this month. making up for it is dd's birthday (turning 3). so my fist spending is...3 presents.

1 - 69.66 birthday gifts (i'm OK with this spending) - count

goals:

23
grocery 300
pets 100

progress:

1
grocery 0/300
pet 0/100

[Synchro246]

All right. I'm in. I haven't done so hot the last few times I tried, but I shouldn't let that stop me from trying agian, right?