This is a support thread to help you ~not spend your money~.
Everyone is welcome to join and you can start tracking your spending at any time. It doesn't have to be November 1st. Now is a good time to start.
The plan is simple (although tough to execute):
1. Vow not to spend any money on unnecessary purchases.
2. Come on here everyday and record your spending.
We all record our spending in different ways. There are no rules. You record and update however you would like -- pick a way that will help you spend the least amount of money.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please write an introductory message when you decide to join our thread. We would like to know:
a. Who you are
b. Where you are going (your financial goals) and
c. How you plan to get there
Good luck MDCers!! Keep that money in your wallet.
)
Nov 2=$0.00
Nov 3=$0.00
Nov 4=$12.50, $185.45 -Son's lunch check, groceries
Nov 5=$8.00- Family Night fee
Nov 6=$0.00
Nov 7=$6.69, $49.32- Starbucks, Target
Nov 8=$12.50- son's lunch check
$10 lunch out, $23 play tickets, $100 DD1 Girl Scout troop fee (for entire year) Stayed out of the stores!
5.
$15 craft supplies (household), $107 groceries, $9 birthday gift (household)
6. Well, not entirely planned but considered in budget - I spent $114 Christmas presents at church bazaar, $1 cookies, $3 coffee
7. No spend
8.
$25 groceries
9.
10.
planned/budgeted spending
true no-spend
frivolous spending
Goals:
138/$400 groceries (doesn't include milk delivery or prepaid CSA)
14/$50 eating out (including coffee)
27/$100 household
114/$200 Christmas (just added this category)
0/$500 put in savings
8/30 not buying clothes days
5/15 stay out of stores days
2/10 true no-spend days
6/20 planned/budgeted spending days
I am not doing well on the no-spend front this month, and I am heading towards going over budget for holiday shopping as well
. I always feel as if I haven't spent/given *enough* to my friends and family at Christmas. I have special problems with my MIL who has no other family and thus I feel as if we have to give her gifts to make up for her lack of other presents. (It probably doesn't help that I just plain don't like my MIL and thus feel guilty in regards to her already). Sigh. I hate holiday shopping.
1.
gas
2.
$20 gift for DD "from the new baby" for when he arrives.
3.
4.
5.
6.
groceries, paint for spare room, Christmas cards,
$1 for library fines
.
7.
gas
8.
shelving for the new kid's room, Christmas gifts ($65), lunch out with DH, DD & step-MIL $40
3/15 no-spend days
7/25 planned spending days
$0/$700 into savings
$115/$400 holiday spending
Originally Posted by fustian
I am not doing well on the no-spend front this month, and I am heading towards going over budget for holiday shopping as well
. I always feel as if I haven't spent/given *enough* to my friends and family at Christmas. I have special problems with my MIL who has no other family and thus I feel as if we have to give her gifts to make up for her lack of other presents. (It probably doesn't help that I just plain don't like my MIL and thus feel guilty in regards to her already). Sigh. I hate holiday shopping.
s
I'm sorry that the holidays are so stressful for you. I don't know how much spare time you have with a new baby on the way, but could you maybe make some gifts for people? I started giving home-canned food (jam, apple butter, applesauce, pasta sauce, etc) as gifts to my aunts and uncles and some of my friends. I just bought some inexpensive baskets at Hobby Lobby to put the items in, and within a month I have the baskets and jars back (and requests for refills!).
Originally Posted by fustian
I am not doing well on the no-spend front this month, and I am heading towards going over budget for holiday shopping as well
. I always feel as if I haven't spent/given *enough* to my friends and family at Christmas. Sigh. I hate holiday shopping.
Quote:
Originally Posted by diana_of_the_dunes
I'm a big fan of consumable gifts. I'd miuch rather receive some thing I can use up instead of have laying around the house collecting dust.
Me too. Very big fan of consumable presents. Or flowers that are beautiful for a few days, then head to the compost pile to enrich the soil later.
$8.80 at the post office, needed stamps for pen pal letters for the kids!
5.
$24.27 at the grocery store
6.
7.
8.
Just being aware that I don't want to spend has made this so much easier. I second guess everything now, soooooo much stuff never makes it to the checkout!
4/10 no spend days
1/10 art/work days
4 eating out days
$182/$400 grocery budget
$20 FUN money
no spend day
unnecessary spending
budget spending day
art/work day
1.
2.
, $177 groceries, $65 toiletries
3.
, $50 cat food
4.
... getting an insurance-covered massage today! woohoo!
5.
6.
$688 on winter tires!!
. we did obviously budget it, but it was still a shock to the system. now i REALLY have to stick to our budget this month, since that ate up pretty much any wiggle-room we normally have
7.
slightly unnecessary grocery spend of $5 for dessert
8.
$20 on a weekly yoga pass
9.
plus, set up my desk, unpacked my art supplies, and did some sketching WOOHOO!
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
$10 lunch out, $23 play tickets, $100 DD1 Girl Scout troop fee (for entire year) Stayed out of the stores!
5.
$15 craft supplies (household), $107 groceries, $9 birthday gift (household)
6. Well, not entirely planned but considered in budget - I spent $114 Christmas presents at church bazaar, $1 cookies, $3 coffee
7. No spend
8.
$25 groceries
9.
$6 donuts/coffee out w/DD1, $34 desperately needed new bra for me - I suppose this breaks my not buying clothes day count, but I don't care!
10.
$20 fleece sheets, $68 groceries, $3 Costco hotdogs - so much for staying away from Costco today. I couldn't bear the thought of going tomorrow with both kids, since they will be off from school. So I went today. And stuck to my list.
planned spending
no-spend
frivolous spending
Goals:
214/$400 groceries (not incl. milk delivery or prepaid CSA)
23/$50 eating out (incl. coffee/treats)
81/$100 household
114/$200 Christmas (just added this category)
0/$500 put in savings
9/30 not buying clothes days
5/15 stay out of stores days
2/10 no-spend days
8/20 planned/budgeted spending days
I'm sorry that the holidays are so stressful for you. I don't know how much spare time you have with a new baby on the way, but could you maybe make some gifts for people? I started giving home-canned food (jam, apple butter, applesauce, pasta sauce, etc) as gifts to my aunts and uncles and some of my friends. I just bought some inexpensive baskets at Hobby Lobby to put the items in, and within a month I have the baskets and jars back (and requests for refills!).
I'm a big fan of consumable gifts. I'd miuch rather receive some thing I can use up instead of have laying around the house collecting dust...
I, too, love consumable gifts (or "experience" type gifts: museum memberships and the like). My MIL is the queen of cheap tchotchke gifts and I've been working on cutting down on the number of them that she "blesses" our house with.
My husband is a super cook, and we usually do give out some consumable gifts each year. We've done homemade chocolates for the past several years, and this year he's making up some of his homemade bacon for gifts as well. I sew and knit, and I often put together some handmade christmas ornaments, hand knit mittens, or the like to act as present toppers.
However, I always feel like these are gifts I should give "on top of" the usual bought presents. DH's truffles are to die for, and apparently his bacon is too (I wouldn't know, as I'm a vegetarian), but I would feel very guilty if I were to give these to people without something purchased to go along with them. I'm not sure why that is, exactly. Part of it may be due to the fact that we are financially better off than almost everyone in our circle (with the exception of my parents).
We give my mother a consumable gift each year (we have flowers delivered to her once a month for the year) which she loves. And that feels fine to me, because it costs me an ungodly sum of money to do it. If I were to give her cut flowers from my garden once a month for a year, I'd feel very guilty about it.
Does anyone else struggle with this? How do you find peace with the fact that you have spent or given "enough"?
Hi- do I ever need this thread. I am trying to cut back on my spending. I have never been a shopper but I am realizing that I spend more than I thought.
I am Beth- WOHM to two boys 6.5 and 22 months.
My goal is to get rid of our debt. I am tired of paying the debt, interest and trying to juggle everything to make sure it is paid. I want to have the money put away so that if I want to go on vacation or make a big purchase the money is already there. I also realize that I need to have security of money in the bank.
4/10 no spend days
1/10 art/work days
1/4 eating out days
$240/$400 grocery budget
$35 FUN money
no spend day
unnecessary spending
budget spending day
art/work day
1.
2.
, $177 groceries, $65 toiletries
3.
, $50 cat food
4.
... getting an insurance-covered massage today! woohoo!
5.
6.
$688 on winter tires!!
. we did obviously budget it, but it was still a shock to the system. now i REALLY have to stick to our budget this month, since that ate up pretty much any wiggle-room we normally have
7.
slightly unnecessary grocery spend of $5 for dessert
8.
$20 on a weekly yoga pass
9.
plus, set up my desk, unpacked my art supplies, and did some sketching WOOHOO!
10.
yesterday was a tough one. my dd needed some new winter clothes, but i went shopping with a friend. bad idea, mixing shopping with socializing... spent $56 on clothing, $15 on assorted snacks, parking and other little things. i may return the one full price item i bought... an adorable sweater dress. not the most sensible purchase for a crawler
.
11.
$58 on groceries, $20 on boots for dd and a new pack of pacifiers.
12.
Home with 1 sick and 1 well kid. No chance to spend.
planned spending
no-spend
frivolous spending
Goals:
214/$400 groceries (not incl. milk delivery or prepaid CSA)
23/$50 eating out (incl. coffee/treats)
81/$100 household
114/$200 Christmas (just added this category)
0/$500 put in savings
10/30 not buying clothes days
6/15 stay out of stores days
3/10 no-spend days
8/20 planned/budgeted spending days
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