~October No Spend Challenge~ The economy declines, MDC familes SAVE!!!!!! - Page 4

[becoming]

10/1 - $71.62 (party), $20.85 (gifts), $10.69 (household)

Goals:
0/10 no-spend days
1/20 eat-at-home days
$71.62/$200 party
$10.69/$500 groceries/household

[psychethemuse]

Hi, I'm Christina, a SAHM to Lyra (10 months) and military spouse. My husband and I still haven't quite gotten over being a dual income no kid family, and have occasionally been spending money as though I still worked full time. We're getting better but have decided to cut out all unnecessary spending for a month and see where it takes us. Here's what we plan to do:

1. Cut down on food costs:
Plan meals out every week and decrease grocery shopping trips to once a week. We currently subscribe to a CSA (community supported agriculture) program and so for $20 a week we get a huge box of vegetables. Cooking so many vegetables certainly decreases the amount of meat we need to buy. This month I want to try to use what we have in the pantry (tons of dried beans and grains) and also deplete our supply of frozen soup (our freezer is running out of space). We've decided to budget two meals out.

2. Use what we have in general (i.e. make Halloween costumes out of fabric/garments we already have) and make use of Freecycle when we do need something (or Ebay when it comes to clothes for the babe).

3. Spend time this month sorting through our closets and clearing out what we no longer have any use for (gah...there are some boxes we still haven't unpacked). Purging ought to lessen our desire for accumulating more stuff. Also, we want to plan and begin working on homemade gifts for people for Christmas.

10/1- budgeted spending for Christmas train tickets
10/2- $30 for gas (needed) $22 at beverley's for diaper making and present supplies (not quite so needed)
10/3- no spend
10/4- $20 at pumpkin patch (planned) $30 eating out
10/5- $15 at farmer's market (planned)

[sbrinton]

My goal this month was to stick to the budget while redecorating the nursery and preparing for our baby, Zephan. Today I cleaned out some closets and found lots of things that are still in great shape to sell on Craiglist. Hopefully I'll make between $150-200, enough so that I can decorate the nursery without spending any extra money!

[Fuamami]

Off to a lousy start

Well, I didn't get off on a very good foot, but I'm certainly going to have to shape up because dh's boss told him today he was going to piece price, instead of the salary he had been on. I don't think it's possible for him to replace his income even if he works 60 hours a week, plus he's been doing huge custom jobs for the past two years and is going to be slow on production work, and being fast is how you make money on piece price. So I'm probably going to be looking for something full time soon. Soo, sooo sad. I really don't want to send my kids to daycare.

Anyway, I spent:

$17.67 at Taco Bell because I slept in and had no time to make lunches and this is the day we're in town all day. The kids were starved! They ate all their food and half of mine, too!

$14.86 to send the cutest hand-me-downs I could cull from ds2's clothes to my newly adopted nephew :

: $2.02 to send a Golden Book to a friend's kids because she sent around one of those very irritating chain letters expecting everyone to send a book, and then also sent around an email reminding everyone to participate.

: $8.98 on lipstick and eyebrow pencil. I had a coupon for buy one get one free Cover Girl at Long's and needed new mascara and eyebrow pencil. Well, as I was walking in, I noticed that the coupon was for lipstick only, which I didn't need, but bought anyway.

Tomorrow I'm staying home and will do better!

[Logan's Mom]

10/1 - $1.41 for a candy bar - stuck in a hotel -- HIGHWAY ROBBERY! :

[coccinelle]

First Day

So far so good.

10/1:
43.77 gas
planned Goodwill trip for fall/winter clothes, 25.58 for me, 3.96 for DD
resisted temptation at Goodwill!

And now my first challenge: we had a notice on our step this evening about emergency roadwork--no access from 7 am to 6 pm through the 15th. So we'll have to leave for work early and stay out way later than usual. This is usually one of my weak spots--not carrying enough snacks around and then buying ridiculously expensive food/drink on the go. So tomorrow: a bag of energy bars, a bottle of water, wipes, to stay in the car. Each morning I've got to remember to bring some fruit out with me.

[justamama]

1st: $9 on food while at work.


Goals:
Only necessary driving: 1/26
No Spend Days: 0/25
Total Grocery Bills: $0/$200

[mama2simon]

Good start here - my main goal this month is just to figure out how much we are spending. I took some time this morning to go back over last month (created a spread sheet) and start tracking this month. I need to know where it is all going .

10/1 : (no spending)

[Canadian_Eco_Ma]

I am off to a great start here...

October 1st - No spend

And I stayed home , so I didnt use any gas...woot!!

I also finished one of the Chirstmas gifts I am making and I told my parents that I wasnt buying my siblings gifts this year but that we could have a great meal together instead. wohooo...

I am loving this!!

[Brisen]

I still have to sit down and make a plan for the month. I figure if I just don't spend anything until then, I'll be off to a good start... though I did get groceries yesterday.

10/1: $54 groceries (no frivolous stuff! yay!)
10/2: :
10/3: $40 LTS (mostly crafting supplies for Christmas gifts); : $83.58 grocery store (only a few groceries, mostly bridal shower gift & stuff to keep the kids happy with a new sitter tonight); $40 sitter
10/4: :
10/5: :
10/6: $200 for Christmas gifts (some of this we will get back, as grandparents send money for Christmas); $195 at the grocery store; $16 at the orchard for a bunch of pie pumpkins; $23 diaper covers.

TTD: 651.58

no spend
: no drive
budgeted spending
: overspending

We're staying home today! I have lots of food that needs to be stored for the winter (mostly apples and pumpkins), a yard to rake, and we have a bunch of library books. We have to go out on Wed for lego club; I might pick up milk if we need it by then, and I'll pick up some rolled oats and baking soda as we are eating lots of oatmeal lately.

[LindyLou]

Today started off bad (gas) I will be extra careful for the rest of the week.

1st
2nd 2.00 school lunch for Lily
9.00 Grocery store - 2 donuts, teabags, juice and Cream of Wheat
66.00 Gas

[Scribe]

Oct 1: $12 drinks

[Om Girl]

1. Please introduce yourself and tell us why you have decided to spend nothing (or spend significantly less) for the Month of October.
Hi mamas! My name is Summer and I'm back after an extended absence. I've had a horrid time lately trying to not spend money. Things have been very trying lately...kid, home, money, etc. I'm vowing to spend nothing on non-essentials for the month so we can pay our midwife for our home-birth, purchase our birth kit, keep on top of our bills while I'm on maternity leave and start saving for our winter/spring schooling expenses.

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?

• shop only with lists
• Grocery shop 1x/month (except a bi-monthly fruit/veggie run)
• limit car/gas useage
• run errands in the am/home in the afternoon

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?

• home-made dinner nightly (cook 5/7 days)
• make multiple $25.00 payments to CC when I "find $"
• spend $ only on bills and necessary items (home-birth/baby)
  
• 20/31 no-spend days

10/01- $20.00 (frivolous spending)
10/02- (only budgeted spending)

[my2girlz]

10/1.
10/2. $42.47 at Home Depot, $31 for Halloween party (budgeted)

1/10 no spending days
0/$200 grocery budget
0/$100 gas budget
$31/$300 Halloween party budget

[Purple*Lotus]

Hi all I am jumping in again.

I am sort of cheating though because I am still out of work, so we have no extra money to spend

We still have $800 in our EF and $40 left over at the end of the month out of DH's checks to buy gas and groceries with. So I am really concentrating on spending as little as possible on food and not driving anywhere that I don't need to go.

I am glad to be back in

1st:
2nd:

Key:
No Spend=
Regular bill paying=
Groceries: :

[Miasmamma]

10/1:

10/2: $45 at HFS
$10 at Panera for brunch

[papermoon]

1/10 £46.05 (groceries) £7.49 (comic, choc + small pressie)
2/10



My key is
No Spending
Planned Spending
Unplanned Spending

[MonkeyPrincess]

Updating my little key:
- stayed within my personal goals
- fell short
: - failed miserably

Okay, so far:
10/1 $8 (apples for breakfast tomorrow and lentils for dinner tonight)
10/2 : $14 in gas (which is okay), $3.75 on juice and a pretzel (I had to, though...I was going to a birth and I was hungry ), $50 for dinner out, because I was gone all day and didn't get dinner started early enough to make it worth it.

Dh's direct depost went through, finally! So tonight, I will be paying my bills electronically. Tomorrow I will fill my gas tank, and one of my goals is to become more prepared so I don't stop for snacks/meals out.

[unlegal]

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

Hi guys! I've never participated in a no spend challenge, but I'm excited to do so. I'm working less (by choice), and want to make sure I have money when I need it, instead of fretting and waiting on my paycheck.

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'm going to be anal about the meal planning and money spent on food. No eating out, and I'm going to splurge on coffee twice this month. No more! Saving $25 this month for Christmas. And thinking long and hard about where my money is going to.

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:

15 no spending days.
15 no driving days
$250 on groceries
$50 savings
2 coffee stops

---

10/1: $17.03 Groceries which included $6.99 pack of vacuum cleaner bags


So, far then:

0/15 no driving
0/15 no spending
$10.04/$250 groceries
0/2 yummy coffees

[coccinelle]

Allright, 2 days down! I'm posting early to make sure I don't go back out and spend any money.

Here's my key:
no spending
planned spending
:no driving beyond commute
:unnecessary spending

10/1: 43.77 gas, 29.54 planned Goodwill trip for fall clothes
10/2: :

___________
1/10 no spend days
1/5 no extra drive days