~October No Spend Challenge~ The economy declines, MDC familes SAVE!!!!!! - Page 16

[triscuitsmom]

Key
: No spending of any kind
: Budget spending
: Unnecessary/out of budget spending

Oct 1: (mostly paid bills to start the month, but I did get coffee/juice while DS and I were out that we didn't need... should've been prepared)
Oct 2: (bought Christmas present and office supplies at a great price and then a few groceries)
Oct 3: (not only no spend, but an unexpected government payment came in *yay*)
Oct 4: (I had to update this... I don't get no spend, we put 5.00 on our Tim Card for date night and bought donuts to have after our supper while we watched a movie )
Oct 5: (bought groceries to supplement what we had in our pantry and use some stuff up this week )
Oct 6: (bought apples on sale, plus paid heat and a cc payment and for my website domain name renewal)
Oct 7:
Oct 8:
Oct 9: (I went with no money and STILL spent money... $3.59 on gluten free animal crackers for DS who was melting down because I left his snack and drink at home)
Oct 10: (PayDay and pay bill day, did our big grocery shop as well :... paid some extra debt stuff too
Oct 11: (bought more office supplies... this has been a big month for me, my biggest ever so while I don't like to spend so much at the office supply store it's because of all of my sales which is definitely a great thing!)
Oct 12: (DP picked up few grocery items to complete the big shop that the other store didn't have)
Oct 13:
Oct 14:
Oct 15: (yet another 19.75 on postage supplies, plus an 11.00 stop at the thrift store... 9.00 picked me up a bag choc full of items for Holiday Helper and 2.00 picked me up used copies of "Our Bodies, Ourselves", "How to Talk so Kids will Listen, and Listen so Kids will Talk", and "Kids are Worth It"... totally worthwhile shopping trip

Goal Areas (must not go over)... I reduced/changed some of these as I reworked the budget from last month and closed it out:
$0/$100: Household flux
$104.10/$200: Groceries (Week 1: 19.22/40, Week 2: 84.88/40)
$12.89/$30: Entertainment
$0/$20: BABiC (the babywearing group I facillitate)
$0/$50: Baby Supplies (I am trying to get things we need for the baby spread out so it doesn't hit us all at once)
$10/$40: Special Occasions (buying birthday/Christmas presents)

As of today I am at $126.99/$440.00 flux dollars spent

[lactivistmama]

10/13
10/14
10/15

[liangel]

My key:

:= groceries
anything deemed necessary gas,household supplies, health and beauty aids
- anything deemed NOT necessary
- no spend at all

10/1- $50 gas, $26 Bella Band, $12.70 CVS
----- $2.16 McD's

10/2-
10/3- $26.50 dinner/movie, $6 CVS
10/4-
10/5-
10/6-
10/7-
10/8- $11.94 on Halloween headband and McDonalds. : $8.77
10/9-
10/10- $5.30 Halloween shirt
10/11-
10/12-
10/13-
10/14- $4 Jack in the Box
10/15- $45 gas, : $50, $10.22 bkfst/lunch
10/16-

[missmich]

Here's my month in review!


Day1 Rent and bus pass
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8 Electric bill: $19.24 (much less then I thought) Cell phone $63.81
Day 9 : $49 Visa early min. payment
Day 10 $5 for a doctors note that I needed to save my job with $10.01 for groceries
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14
Day 15 A pumpkin spice latte for my friend and myself,I drank his his,b/c he didn't like it. $7.90: Way to expensive! $2.85 for bagel and cream cheese
Day 16 $749.99 I was quite happy to spend it though!

I got my paycheck by direct deposit and made the following payments:

Internet/phone: $114 (but my roommate gave me $15 for this)
Master Card: $66.02 (min payment for October plus a little)
Money I owed a friend: $50

Now all my bills were paid and I'd saved enough for about 1/2 my rent share and some money for a friends birthday gift and dinner. I was expecting a check for about $100 from the government that I'd put on my MC. Well the check was not for $100,but $649.00! I almost fainted when I saw the amount!

So I cashed it and spent:

Groceries:$53.70
Master Card: $250
Visa: $200

I've now saved enough for my rent and bus pass I'll need on the 1st of November and $50 for my friends birthday (gift and dinner/movie)!

I can't wait to see my next credit cards bills!

[mamimapster]

]OCT 1No Spend/ No drive
Oct 233.02Gas (No unbudget spend)
Oct 321.66 groceries,4.50 thrift,12.59 present for dd's friend, 13.00 wool longies for dd2-oy! very spendy day
oct 4No spend/no drive
Oct 5.6.95 tester longies,4.83 Snacks Out (We were on the way to a party, I gave Dd lunch and didn't feed myself, doh!
Oct 67.19 coffee out this has to stop!!
Oct 717.50Thrift,57.72 groceries,34.13 gas
Oct 86.72 snacks out50.00 chargeback from totally messed up sale: I suspect I was ripped off
Oct 9No spend/No drive
oct 10Lunch out 35.78, groceries 23.88+39.00 sold
oct 11No spend/No drive
oct 1285.08 groceries,54.85drill
oct 1317.26-desperately needed med dipe covers for dd#2,12.97snacks@museum, 10.00 parking (will be reimbursed)
oct 14no spend+9.00
oct 15no spend
oct 166.19coffee,33.12gas
oct 1721.00 birthday present for niece,14.50 ice cream outing for same,
oct 18no spend/no drive

OCTOBER Goals;
unbudget spend days goal 15/30, 7/30
No Drive Days goal: 7/30,2/30
No frivolous spending over 100 actual: 88.03/100
Sold items -1.25/50
Thrift/diaper items: 37.26/20
Decluttering/organizing 20 min day 10/24
Grocery budget 197.34/370.00
Baked/home cooking:6/10
Study/Daven daily 9/15

August Goals
No unbudget15/30,No Drive,7/30, 102.00/100Sold items 67/50
Thrift/HB kit items: 18.70/20,Decluttering/organizing 20 min day 14/24
Grocery budget 397.72/350.00 ,Baked/bulk cooking:6/10 Study/Daven daily goal 7/15

July Goals:Awesome!:
No unbudget spend days goal 17/30 +2,No Drive Days goal:11/30+1
No frivolous spending93.56/100 7.00 under!, Grocery budget 341.73/375-30.00 UNDER

[ladyinred]

For some reason my post yesterday disappeared. Ah well. Things are going okay. My finances are going really well and Df's are starting to get minorly better though he still hate's his job and wants to quit once I get a full time teaching job or sooner if he could but I can't pay all the bills on my uncertain income. I really hope I get a full time teaching job soon.

1/10 - $12.00 Lunch $16 bus tickets : (am)
2/10 - $30.00 shampoo, conditioner, deoderant :
3/10 - :
4/10 - $5 food at farmers market
5/10 -
6/10 -
7/10 -
8/10 -
9/10 - $13.00 cab :
10/10 - $30.00 dinner with Df :
11/10 - $25.00 dinner, drinks and cab
12/10 -
13/10 - (Happy Canadian Thanksgiving)
14/10 -
15/10 -: (AM)
16/10 -:


My Key
No spend -
Unnecessary Spending -
Necessary Spending -
Taught - :
Tutored -
Income -

Goals:
- Have at least 10 substitute teaching days - 6/10
- Tutor 8 days - 3/8
- At least 20 no spend days 10/20
- Get a full time job :
- Pay off $320.00 on CC

October Budget
Income: $1900.00
To Df: $600.00/$1200.00
Savings and student loan: $60/$170.00
To CC: $120.00/$320.00
FOR ME!!!: $131.00/$270.00

[monkey's mom]

10/1:
10/2:
10/3: Groceries $23.79 Dessert stuff for Mom's Night Out
10/4: Mtg. $1
10/5:
10/6:
10/7:
10/8:
10/9: Groceries $216.09 /Dog food $91.35
10/10:
10/11:
10/12: Hubby filled my car $71/ and picked up groceries $20.46
10/13:
10/14:
10/15:
10/16:

No Spend
Budget Spend
Over Spend

Groceries $654.97*
Gas $95*
Misc. $12.72*
Pet $91.35

XMas $19.39**

*Some of this is carry-over from Sep.
**Running total until Xmas

We are sending out a $3,000+ tax payment without touching savings! : Next up is property taxes in Dec.--bring it on!

This weekend I need to buy a few clothing items at Target for a funeral. And next weekend we will be travelling to said funeral. Shouldn't break the bank, but it's still extra.

[lauratheexplorer]

1st: $7.65 on Root Beer and Onion Rings at A & W (but, it wasn't dinner, which would have been about $20!)
2nd:
3rd:
4th: Day trip to Wolfville Mostly bought produce, which I budgeted in as food, so But also got coffee and cookies $12.31 while out
5th:
6th:
7th: Week long video game rental for DH (who had two teeth removed.. oww..) and DS $11.65
8th:
9th:
10th: : Garrrggh.. Takeout pizza, $23.65!!
11th: Birthday Gift: $20 Juice @ party place b/c there was only pop (ds won't drink) $1.41--I need to keep a few juice paks in car, that's awful for juice!
12th:
13th: + Sold a box of used minidiscs via Kijiji and made $30! and someone is stopping by later on to buy an old bundle-me for $15, I ROCK!
14th: All budgeted: Gas $45, $18 Swimming fees for school, $12 School Pictures, Groceries $18.83
15th: All budgeted: Breastpads @ SDM $14.11, DS's, med $4.11, Groceries $6.11, Sold an old 2MP digicam via Kijiji for $40! (Used funds to buy ds a Halloween Costume and dinner @ McD's)

Month to date:

Groceries: $364.67/$600 Looking good! , esp. since this includes Thanksgiving (Cdn) : ! Yay!
Medical Expenses: $268.87 + $4.11 for ds's meds for tooth removal and meds for pain, antibiotics, etc. : (but it can't be helped)
Gas: $95/$150
Dining (coffee, food, etc): $51.22/$35 Blarrgrh..
Entertainment: $11.65/$50

I'm really pleased with the amt. we've made on Kjiji this month, and getting rid of the clutter. Yay!

Not too bad so far.. I'm thinking we're shifting our entertainment expenses this month over to dining instead. It's just working out that way, but we're still entertained, so it's all good!

[Scribe]

Bah.

Oct 1: $12 bar tab; $15 GW
Oct 2: $14 GW; $46 group lunch; $5 t-shirt; $21 new S'bucks card
Oct 3: $6 Taco Bell; $30 Gap Outlet (jeans and dress); $18 L'Occitane Outlet (soap and lip gloss); $15 Crate & Barrel outlet (dish towels); $68 Banana Republic outlet (shirts); $9 ice cream; $24 dinner/drinks
Oct 4: $32 REI (skirts, going to be returned); $13 lunch; $26 natural soap company
Oct 5: $12 lunch
Oct 6: $2 PO; $7 lunch; $3 snack
Oct 7: ~$15 on food at work (breakfast, lunch, and snack)
Oct 8: $19 GW; $6 McDonald's
Oct 9: $43 cash from ATM
Oct 10:
Oct 11:
Oct 12:
Oct 13: $6 lunch
Oct 14:
Oct 15: $13 PO; $49 Target (new headphones and car jack for the iPod, dish soap, hand soap, nail polish, and deodorant); $15 Goodwill (new dog beds, yay!); and $62 Jockey (new much-needed bras)
Oct 16: deposited $650 freelance check; got $100 cash for the rest of the month

September Stats: 14 no-spend days, $301 total misc. spending

[captain crunchy]

Oct 1
Oct 2 ($20 in cash budgeted for grocery store)
Oct 3
Oct 4: $60 cash budgeted for weekly grocery store (pretty good for three people eating mostly organic!!) but also .. $5 taco bell -- then, $10 at a church bazaar which was not budgeted but did go 100% to charity... ... but it wasn't budgeted or planned so...
Oct 5: We got gas on a FREE gas card from our apartment complex (incentive for moving in, they give us $50 gas card every time we pay rent for the first 6 months!) :
Oct 6: $3.58 thanks dh
Oct 7:
Oct 8: $4.08(dh) + $10 (me)
Oct 9: $55.00 for groceries, in budget and $20 from paypal funds so only $35 out of our budget
Oct 10:
Oct 11:
Oct 12:
Oct:13: $16.93 groceries + $17 in gas left over from *free* gas card : so I am not counting that.
Oct:14:
Oct 15:
Oct 16: : -- $10 copay for dh's inhaler, $10 in gas -- and got a $25 gift card for switching a prescription -- so used that $25 in conjunction with coupons and got $32 worth of household/body/vitamins for free!! (the copay is the same regardless)


The average food cost for a family of three in our age group is $414.20 monthly for the thrifty (lowest cost) plan -- we are going to try to half that -- eating a mostly organic, whole foods, from scratch and vegetarian diet. source

$164.69/212.10


Key:

No spend:
Spent money but was planned, needed, or budgeted:
Overspent or spent money that wasn't planned, needed, or budgeted:
Saved money or received unexpected money: :

[FeelingBlessed]

Know I have said it before on this very forum (okay, more than once), but NO MORE LIBRARY FINES!

Kim :

Oct. 1:
Oct. 2:
Oct. 3:
Oct. 4:
Oct. 5:
Oct. 6: $10 Hannah Montana nailpolish (thanks to DS ripping open package in the store)
Oct. 7:
Oct. 8:
Oct. 9:
Oct. 10:
Oct. 11:
Oct. 12:
Oct. 13:
Oct. 14:
Oct. 15: $8 library fines

GOALS:
* Less than $50 in frivolous spending: month to date $18
* At least 25 days (no spend or spending w/in budget): 13/31
* Pack snacks/water for outings: 14/31
* NO library fines: month to date $8
* Stay within grocery/eating out budget: $330/$500
* ORGANIZE/declutter (lack of organization = spending): 10/25
* Exercise (feeling good = decreased emotional spending): 14/25
* Meal plan created: 0.5/4 weeks
* Sell rental house by 10/31 (closing scheduled for 10/31)...

[lactivistmama]

Enjoying a few no spend days.. Tommorrow will be a spend as well as Sunday

10/13
10/14
10/15
10/16

[PhotoJournMama]

01.
02. $52.91 on a sleep sac and baby proofing supplies
03. $15.58 on 3 springform pans
04.
05.
06.
07. $5 chocolates plus $78.25 for a haircut :| oops.
08.
09. $1 drink
10. $20 food/coffee while driving
11. $3 coffee
12.
13. $3 coffee
14.
15. $4 Kitchen supplies
16.


232.80/400: Groceries
15/50: Gifts
94.45/150: Gas

[my2girlz]

10/1.
10/2. $42.47 at Home Depot, $31 for Halloween party (budgeted)
10/3. $76 groceries, $26.96 winter gear, $25.43 for party, $40 for Homecoming game
10/4. $26 Bath and Body Works (2 gifts and needed soaps), $118 at Menards (door and boards for basement)
10/5. $34.99 for clothing for girls (2 pr of pants and fall jacket)
10/6. $45 for clothing for dd1. $10 in groceries
10/7. $166 Halloween costumes ($16 over budget), $9 coffee for dh and I
10/8.
10/9.
10/10. $81 groceries, $12.99 clothing, $73.39 Halloween party stuff at Target, $196 at Party City, $51.25 gas
10/11.
10/12. $24 Halloween decor
10/13.
10/14.
10/15.
10/16. $114.30 SuperTarget (groceries), Party America $87.52, lunch $44.74, Starbucks $3.74, $20 corn maze, $22 pumpkins.
10/17.

8/10 no spending days
$281.30/$200 grocery budget
$51.25/$100 gas budget
$437.34/$300 Halloween party budget
$26/$100 winter gear
$166/$150 costume budget

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

Grace -- Are you planning on having children? Because when you do, a whole humongous WORLD of thrifting is about to open up. Not only buying for yourself, for resale, and for your grandma.

OMG did I spend on kids clothes yesterday. We needed them though (practical things like baby mittens and onesies in the next size) so I'm not counting that as uneccesary. I was not a big thrifter before I had children, but kids clothes are so CHEAP out there and they are all practically brand new.

Anyway, the fast food demon reared up and bit me today, but I'm planning to tap that thing back down pronto. This should be a good weekend. I'm alloting myself a cup of coffee at the bookstore, but other than that the wallet should be staying home.

Kim -- Take those books back!

01..
02.. , :
03.. $150 gas grill
04.. $113 fleece and new shoes and latte
05..
06..
07..
08..
09.. , :
10.. $50 babysitter and dinner
11.. $1.83 coffee
12..
13.. $120 preschool tuition, $10 girl scout fees
14..
15.. $57 Groceries that were just extras (fancy coffee, sweets)
16..
17.. $8 McDonald's

Goals:

9/20 No Spend Days
2/10 Let the Car Rest Days :

[Crunchy*VT*Mom]

I picked out a cute cute cute baby costume for Mary at the consignment store, then put it back because really I would rather spend that $10 on the credit card than a costume that she will not even know that she is in.

My DH suggested I just put the costume on her in the dressing room and take a picture, since that is really what I want the costume for...the cutie pie picture.

That made me laugh. He is such a cheapskate. He puts me to shame.

[Scribe]

Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom

Grace -- Are you planning on having children? Because when you do, a whole humongous WORLD of thrifting is about to open up. Not only buying for yourself, for resale, and for your grandma.

Heh! I know! I buy clothes for my friends' kids all the time. And I'm at that age where everyone I know is about to have or just had a baby, so I thrift gifts, too. I can't imagine buying little kids' clothes new.

[mags.bubble]

While trying to put together a budget for next month, starting looking at the whole year and began the budget for next year. Not as great as I would like, but not bad either. I am still tracking every cent and should have a better/more realistic budget in months to come.

Would have had another for today, but I am going out to dinner with friends (dh gone hunting) and will be overbudget for a sitter. The dinner is covered by my monthly allowance.

10/1 $30 impromptu cocktail hour with dh, $30 for sitter, $50 clothes
10/2
10/3
10/4 $70 Oktoberfest, $3.99 word search book for ds6, $10 fundraiser
10/5 $4.60 library fines
10/6 : $128 vet, $4 scholastic books,
10/7 : $80 dd's snowball retreat, $5 coffee for self & Dad
10/8 $1 croissant
10/9
10/10 $15.00 lunch
10/11 $21 at REI for a tshirt
10/12 $26 coffee and pastries before Sunday school
10/13 $10 for parking at MSI
10/14 $16 starbucks, :$12 charity, $7.50 overspent at grocery store, :$2 prek cooking class food, $6 scholastic books
10/15
10/16
10/17 $65 for sitter

Key:
no spend day or spent within budget only
: not budgeted but necessary $226
oops $306.09

October goals:
Track every cent spent
Spend within budget only - no nickel/diming myself
Think thrify/frugal
Learn to budget monthly for things, rather than just yearly

Ultimate goal: Stay focused on 6mo emergency fund (1/3 there)

This months planned expected expenditures (outside the basic budget):
$22.55/$25 presents for 2 kids friends bday parties
$60/$60 presents for 3 family birthdays
$45/$30 medical copay
$115/$50 sitter
$17.5/$30 halloween costumes x2
$12/$25 yarn for starting chanukah gifts
$160/$200 new belt, winterboots, slippers, socks, fleece - for me (this should get me through the winter for clothes)

[mommyto4grits]

Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
Day 4: - Grocery shopping and went a bit over budget
Day 5:
Day 6:
Day 7:- Overspent at Target, and had to by DD Shoes for Basketball
Day 8:
Day 9: Bought the baby $25 worth of toys which I had panned on Picked up curly fries from Arby's (yuck) but I was sooo craving the fries!
Day 10: Spent more than I would have liked on a homeschool field trip to the Tea Plantation, and the Library Book sale, but it was all worth it, and the books were a steal! All the girls had a great time at the tea Plantation, so worth the $20 to go.
Day 11: Oil Change, Lunch out as a family (budgeted for, do this 1x a week), Gas
Day 12: $40 at 1/2 price Library Book Sale, : $100 at Whole Foods
Day 13: : Costco- overspent a bit, Goodwill- Clothes for the girls
Day 14: Bought 2 diapers on HC- $39- Needed them, but hated to spend the $$
Day 15: Goodwill, Lunch, Frontier
Day 16: Way overspent on crafts at AC Moore, and Hancocks. Had planned to spend $50 or so, and spent $73- DH was not happy.
Day 17: :
Day 18:
Day 19:




Here is my key...
My KEY:
: = No spend
= Budgeted or necessary spending
= Un-Budgeted spending
= No drive days
= Mindful spending/purchase

MY GOALS:
1/12 No Spend Days
6/5 Eating Out Days
6 No Drive Days
$140/$500 Groceries
$70/$175 Gas
$197/$200 Costco
$200 other consumables, stocking up on sale items to build a 'stash'
Total Un-Budgeted spending $80

[liangel]

My key:

:= groceries
anything deemed necessary gas,household supplies, health and beauty aids
- anything deemed NOT necessary
- no spend at all

10/1- $50 gas, $26 Bella Band, $12.70 CVS
----- $2.16 McD's

10/2-
10/3- $26.50 dinner/movie, $6 CVS
10/4-
10/5-
10/6-
10/7-
10/8- $11.94 on Halloween headband and McDonalds. : $8.77
10/9-
10/10- $5.30 Halloween shirt
10/11-
10/12-
10/13-
10/14- $4 Jack in the Box
10/15- $45 gas, : $50, $10.22 bkfst/lunch
10/16-
10/17-