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~November No-Spend Challenge~ Don't let little purchases gobble gobble up your savings! Come join us!

8K views 186 replies 27 participants last post by  nwmomof2 
#1 ·
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.
 
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#129 ·
Jenny -- what does "proud maker of red things" mean?

Elizabeth -- I'm thinking of you and that two mortgage payments in one month thing. Good luck!!! Did the check you were expecting Oct 29th come in?

I made some pretty aggressive payments this month too -- pre-paid our village taxes, an extra mortgage payment that we didn't expect (we just refinanced and thought we were getting TWO months with no payment, but not so -- money is tight tight tight for the next two weeks. I did it on purpose as a challenge to myself. If I prepay this stuff, and there is no money in the bank, I'm less tempted to spend it.

So today should be a good no-spend. I have to amend yesterday though because after I posted I bought fleece PJs at Costco. Didn't really need those, but man are they cozy.
 
#130 ·
redface.gif
Coming on to take off yesterday's no-spend...

01.. $9.98 Wendys
02.. $10.90 Subway
03.. $15 Costco Lamb Blanket
04..

05..

06.. $11 hat, $3 Starbucks
07..


08..


09..


10..


11.. $6 McDonald's
12.. $9 the makings for s'mores
13.. $5 Starbucks
14..
thumb.gif


15.. $17 fleece pjs
16..

17..

18..

19..

20..

21..

22..

23..

24..

25..

26..

27..

28..

29..

30..

My Goals:

7/20 No Spend Days

1/5 Let the Car Rest Days
 
#131 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crunchy*VT*Mom View Post

Jenny -- what does "proud maker of red things" mean?
Check my avatar.
lol.gif
Those are my red things. My brown haired husband and my brunette self unexpectedly made two redheaded children. We affectionately call them our "red things". Kinda in the vein of Dr Seuss' Thing One and Thing Two.
luxlove.gif
 
#132 ·
My Key:
Budgeted, planned spending (includes groceries, gas, other necessary or well planned items- NOT impulse items)
No Spend
No Drive
Impulse, Unnecessary Spending
Eat Out

Nov.1-

Nov.2-

Nov.3-

Nov.4-

Nov.5-7-
Budgeted for Girl Scout Hiking trip in the mountains and a night at my bff's new house stayed within budget, ate out 2x, bought gas, and souvenier's

Nov.8-
thumb.gif


Nov.9-
banana.gif


Nov.10-
angry.gif
$120 at the Vet

Nov.11-
thumb.gif
Spent a ton of money but almost all was planned/needed

Nov.12-
thumb.gif
Spent a ton of money but almost all was planned/needed

Nov.13-
thumb.gif
Spent a ton of money but almost all was planned/needed- okay so maybe not ALL of it but most, I am now done for awhile other than groceries

Nov.14- Groceries and other necessities, gas

Nov.15- NO SPEND NO DRIVE
 
#133 ·
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

9.


10.
$350 into savings

11.


12.
Christmas gifts ($35)

13.
groceries, gas, Christmas gifts && tree ornament for DD from fair trade sale ($35)

14.


15.
$55 to sign DD up for art "class" through parks & rec for next term

16.
Should be a technical "no spend" day, but I also transferred $1000 out of savings today to cover the $3600 cheque I'm going to have to write tomorrow for our new front porch. I was really hoping to not have to move stuff out of savings, but I had forgotten about another bill that we had to pay this month and about the annual furnace maintenance, DD is suddenly in need of new shoes, and - honestly - I haven't been as good as I wanted to be about keeping my spending down.
shake.gif


7/15 no-spend days
14/25 planned spending days
-$650/$700 into savings
$185/$400 holiday spending

My key:

no-spend day
budgeted/planned spending
frivolous spending
 
#134 ·
Argh! I just accidentally deleted my whole post. :( Let me try again....

It was a rainy day today and dh had a broken windshield wiper blade. I'm estimating how much that'll cost. He did get his check yesterday, thank the Gods. It was a couple of dollars more than I was estimating, so that's good. I'm hoping that he'll make enough in tips tonight to pay for the wiper blade and put gas in his truck.

As for me, I carpooled to a meeting (300 miles round trip), so saved over a tank of gas -- woohoo! I packed a drink & snack & lunch was provided, but on the way home I found $34 in my wallet (I NEVER carry cash!) and bought a soda. I'll use the rest of the money to put gas in my car and buy some supplies for dd#1's class that I committed to donate this week (before I knew all personal financial heck was about to break loose). I took an online peak at my paycheck (won't get it until Friday) and it's about $20 more than I was estimating. Yay!

DH reminded me that we need some bedding for the chicken pen. I'm going to see if I can grab some shredded paper from work to get us through the month. Otherwise tomorrow I'll be spending $5 on a bale of wood shavings that will last us 2-3 months.

15th: $45.47 (gas for me and dh)

16th: $1.50 (soda for me); $10 (wiper blade for dh's truck)

17th: no-spend

18th: no-spend

19th: phone bill, daycare, October mortgage payment

20th: no-spend

21st: no-spend

22nd: no-spend

23rd: no-spend

24th: no-spend

25th: electric bill

26th: car insurance

27th: no-spend

28th: no-spend

29th: no-spend

30th: November mortgage

Frivolous spending: $1.50

Necessary but unbudgeted spending: $10

Gas: $45.47
 
#135 ·
01.. $9.98 Wendys
02.. $10.90 Subway
03.. $15 Costco Lamb Blanket
04..

05..

06.. $11 hat, $3 Starbucks
07..


08..


09..


10..


11.. $6 McDonald's
12.. $9 the makings for s'mores
13.. $5 Starbucks
14..
thumb.gif


15.. $17 fleece pjs
16.. $13 party supplies for baby shower tomorrow

17..

18..

19..

20..

21..

22..

23..

24..

25..

26..

27..

28..

29..

30..

My Goals:

7/20 No Spend Days

1/5 Let the Car Rest Days
 
#136 ·
Originally Posted by scrapadoozer View Post

eck my avatar.
lol.gif
Those are my red things. My brown haired husband and my brunette self unexpectedly made two redheaded children. We affectionately call them our "red things". Kinda in the vein of Dr Seuss' Thing One and Thing Two.
luxlove.gif
That is cute! You have two beautiful children! I have a red-headed daughter too...with blue eyes. She was quite unexpected. All the rest of us have brown hair and brown eyes.
 
#138 ·
Just a note to Heathen Mom,

I understand what a hard time you and your husband must be going through. I just wanted to put a little shout out to let you know that in our area there is something call EFA (emergency family assistance) that can help pay rent for 1-2 months when you are in need for just a little bit of time. If you do not have the money yet and are getting even more scared, I highly suggest seeing if there is something like this in your area or calling social services and asking if there is something like this.

Good luck - sending good vibes and prayers your way
goodvibes.gif


------

Edited to Add: Just saw that your husband got his check in your more recent post. Glad to hear that. A note on wiper blades - could you use the good wiper blade in front of the driver's seat and put the less efficient one/none in the passenger spot? (Haha, can you tell we've done this before??) That way he could see when he is driving and you might not need to buy a new one just yet.
 
#139 ·
ysm, that was a GREAT suggestion! Unfortunately I didn't see it until after he'd already bought 2 new blades.
eyesroll.gif
Thankfully they were only $5 a piece and he had cash to buy them (yay, tip $). RE assistance, if I thought we'd qualify for any I wouldn't hesitate to apply, but we (I) make too much money. It's embarassing to me that we're even in this situation ... I have a great job and even with my dh's long-term unemployment we should have been ok. But I let him talk me into overextending ourselves and now we're paying the price. A good thing that I hope will come from this is that he seems to have finally woken up and seen that I wasn't just being "Debbie Downer" and trying to suck all the fun out of everything. Financial restraint is a Good Thing. I have hope that working through this crisis together will strengthen our marriage.
 
#140 ·
My Key:
Budgeted, planned spending (includes groceries, gas, other necessary or well planned items- NOT impulse items)
No Spend
No Drive
Impulse, Unnecessary Spending
Eat Out

Nov.1-

Nov.2-

Nov.3-

Nov.4-

Nov.5-7-
Budgeted for Girl Scout Hiking trip in the mountains and a night at my bff's new house stayed within budget, ate out 2x, bought gas, and souvenier's

Nov.8-
thumb.gif


Nov.9-


Nov.10-
angry.gif
$120 at the Vet

Nov.11-
thumb.gif
Spent a ton of money but almost all was planned/needed

Nov.12-
thumb.gif
Spent a ton of money but almost all was planned/needed

Nov.13-
thumb.gif
Spent a ton of money but almost all was planned/needed- okay so maybe not ALL of it but most, I am now done for awhile other than groceries

Nov.14- Groceries and other necessities, gas

Nov.15-


Nov.16-
thumb.gif
 
#141 ·
7/10 no spend days
2/10 art/work days
2/4 eating out days

$260/$400 grocery budget
$170 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.
shy.gif
$20 on a weekly yoga pass
9.
thumb.gif
plus, set up my desk, unpacked my art supplies, and did some sketching WOOHOO!
10.
irked.gif
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
eyesroll.gif
.
11.
shy.gif
$58 on groceries, $20 on boots for dd and a new pack of pacifiers.
12.
thumb.gif

13.
shy.gif
. $30 for dinner with friends
14.
thumb.gif

15.

16.
shy.gif
$20 for groceries.
irked.gif
entirely unnecessary and unhealthy (but SO delicious) $5 on chocolate croissants from our local baker.
17.
shy.gif
$20 for gas, $7 for snack at play group, $75 for yoga classes. win, i guess? i'm going to add the gas to the FUN budget since i really have no reason to be driving except to go to playgroup and see my friends this week... no necessary errands or anything.
my friend asked me to look after her son when she goes back to work! and i started work on a series of paintings.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
 
#142 ·
14.
thumb.gif
$27 groceries, $30 household (tea tree oil and a $20 community coupon book)

15.
thumb.gif
$73 groceries, $13 household (supplements and cosmetics), $9 Starbucks

16. $61 yarn and knitting needles. $20 comes out of the xmas budget (I'm knitting DH a hat for xmas). The rest was unnecessary, but will make me happy to finally knit something for myself.

17.

18.

19.

20.

thumb.gif
budgeted spending

$314/$400 groceries

$41/$50 eating out

$258/$300 household/Christmas

$250/$500 put in savings

15/30 not buying clothes days

8/15 stay out stores

4/10 no-spend days

11/20 planned/budgeted spend days
 
#143 ·
Well... I'm not doing so well on my no-spending days, but I am staying inside my work lunch budgets much better than I thought. I'm still not feeling good about our spending this month though. Even though I've not spent much outside of necessities, and we've had car repairs and paid some medical bills, we've spent $2200+ this month already. I feel sick.
greensad.gif


= no spending!
= necessary, budgeted spending
= necessary, unbudgeted spending
= unnecessary, unbudgeted spending

1-
mortgage payment, $32 for pizza to thank our niece and nephew for help with yardwork (comes out of entertainment allowance)
2-
$74.48 at Meijer for groceries (and only groceries, yay!) + $11 for apples at the market to make applesauce
3-
$45 for eye doctor, $15 for the prescription, and $5 for coffee
4-

5-
$6.50 for Chinese for lunch + $24.29 at Meijer + paid for car repairs
6-
$12 for lunch, $8 for dinner +
$3.80 for coffee
7-

8-
electric bill + paid off credit card (never carry a balance, but "launder" money through it to get freebies)
9-
student loan payment + $3 for potatoes at market + $6.50 for Chinese for lunch
10-
paid phone bill + $79.99 for groceries
11-
$17.70 at Barnes and Noble for a book and coffee for DH and me + $21.35 at Dick's Sporting Goods for gloves for work +
$55 at Carabbas for dinner and dessert (budgeted, but more expensive than I'd have liked!!)
12-
$12-ish for dinner at Culver's for niece and I
13-
$12.XX for a book at Borders + $9.XX for soup and coffee for lunch
14-
$4.80 for coffee
15-

16-
$29.55 for groceries + $4.80 coffee + $4.35 lunch
17-
18-
19-
20-
21-
22-
23-
24-
25-
26-
27-
28-
29-
30-

$222.31/$500 groceries
$450/$500 savings
$33.45/60 work lunches
3/15 no-spend days
 
#144 ·
November
1 -
irked.gif
- all day meeting = $4
caffix.gif

2 -
smile.gif

3 -
irked.gif
$2 pizza slices

4 -
irked.gif
$62 shoes for girls, $4 recipes

5 -
irked.gif
$2 Fall decoration that was on sale

6 -
irked.gif
$10 postage to return something I shouldn't have bought in the first place

7 -
smile.gif


8 -
irked.gif
$10 stuff from the dollar store

9 -
smile.gif


10 -
irked.gif
$11 Breakfast & lunch

11 -
irked.gif
$5 breakfast

12 -
irked.gif
$13 breakfast, $20 lunch

13 -
smile.gif


14 -
smile.gif


15 -
smile.gif


16 -
irked.gif
$24 lunch

17 -
smile.gif


smile.gif
7/20 = No spend days
irked.gif
$167 frivolous spending
 
#145 ·
WHY do I go to the store hungry? I know better than that! Everything I bought today was bought with "found" money, literally. There's enough left over to fill my gas tank tomorrow.

DH normally works his p/t day job Monday - Thursday and his p/t night job 4 random days/week. He asked to be put on the schedule every night until further notice at the night job. The kids will HATE this (me & dh too) but as he so plainly put it, we need to keep our house more than he needs a night off. The actual paycheck from these hours won't get here until the 1st week of December, but I'm hopeful that tips will be good.

15th: $45.47 (gas for me and dh)

16th: $1.50 (soda for me); $10 (wiper blade for dh's truck)

17th: $2.25 (drink/snack for me); $9 (bG test strips); $2.25 (craft supplies for dd#1's class)

18th: no-spend

19th: phone bill, daycare, October mortgage payment

20th: no-spend

21st: no-spend

22nd: no-spend

23rd: no-spend

24th: no-spend

25th: electric bill

26th: car insurance

27th: no-spend

28th: no-spend

29th: no-spend

30th: November mortgage

Frivolous spending: $3.75

Necessary but unbudgeted spending: $21.25

Gas: $45.47
 
#146 ·
I'm slightly over budget this week for lunches at work, but I'll make it up next week by eating at home more. My last 3 days I haven't been working close to home like I usually do, so I can't stop there for food. Also, I hate eating in my car... But it's where I'd have to eat if I didn't eat out. Ugh.

= no spending!
= necessary, budgeted spending
= necessary, unbudgeted spending
= unnecessary, unbudgeted spending

1-
mortgage payment, $32 for pizza to thank our niece and nephew for help with yardwork (comes out of entertainment allowance)
2-
$74.48 at Meijer for groceries (and only groceries, yay!) + $11 for apples at the market to make applesauce
3-
$45 for eye doctor, $15 for the prescription, and $5 for coffee
4-

5-
$6.50 for Chinese for lunch + $24.29 at Meijer + paid for car repairs
6-
$12 for lunch, $8 for dinner +
$3.80 for coffee
7-

8-
electric bill + paid off credit card (never carry a balance, but "launder" money through it to get freebies)
9-
student loan payment + $3 for potatoes at market + $6.50 for Chinese for lunch
10-
paid phone bill + $79.99 for groceries
11-
$17.70 at Barnes and Noble for a book and coffee for DH and me + $21.35 at Dick's Sporting Goods for gloves for work +
$55 at Carabbas for dinner and dessert (budgeted, but more expensive than I'd have liked!!)
12-
$12-ish for dinner at Culver's for niece and I
13-
$12.XX for a book at Borders + $9.XX for soup and coffee for lunch
14-
$4.80 for coffee
15-

16-
$29.55 for groceries + $4.80 coffee + $4.35 lunch
17-
$3.35 for lunch + 4.76 for coffee
18-
19-
20-
21-
22-
23-
24-
25-
26-
27-
28-
29-
30-

$222.31/$500 groceries
$450/$500 savings
$46.56/60 work lunches
3/15 no-spend days
 
#147 ·
14. $27 groceries, $30 household (tea tree oil and a $20 community coupon book)

15. $73 groceries, $13 household (supplements and cosmetics), $9 Starbucks

16. $61 yarn and knitting needles. $20 comes out of the xmas budget (I'm knitting DH a hat for xmas). The rest was unnecessary, but will make me happy to finally knit something for myself.

17. $3 starbucks, $11 groceries

18.

19.

20.

$325/$400 groceries

$44/$50 eating out

$258/$300 household/Christmas

$250/$500 put in savings

16/30 not buying clothes days

8/15 stay out stores

4/10 no-spend days

12/20 planned/budgeted spend days
 
#148 ·
The power company misread our meter and the bill was more than DOUBLE what it should have been! Everybody should know how to read your meter, and if your bill looks wrong, check it! They agreed that it was obvious there was a mistake and are sending someone out for a re-read tomorrow.

15th: $45.47 (gas for me and dh)

16th: $1.50 (soda for me); $10 (wiper blade for dh's truck)

17th: $2.25 (drink/snack for me); $9 (bG test strips); $2.25 (craft supplies for dd#1's class)

18th: $25 (gas for my car)

19th: phone bill, daycare, October mortgage payment

20th: no-spend

21st: no-spend

22nd: no-spend

23rd: no-spend

24th: no-spend

25th: electric bill

26th: car insurance

27th: no-spend

28th: no-spend

29th: no-spend

30th: November mortgage

Frivolous spending: $3.75

Necessary but unbudgeted spending: $21.25

Gas: $70.47
 
#149 ·
14. $27 groceries, $30 household (tea tree oil and a $20 community coupon book)

15. $73 groceries, $13 household (supplements and cosmetics), $9 Starbucks

16. $61 yarn and knitting needles. $20 comes out of the xmas budget (I'm knitting DH a hat for xmas). The rest was unnecessary, but will make me happy to finally knit something for myself.

17. $3 starbucks, $11 groceries

18. $$$ huge car repair, $18 PTA family skate night

19.

20.

$325/$400 groceries

$44/$50 eating out

$258/$300 household/Christmas

$250/$500 put in savings

17/30 not buying clothes days

9/15 stay out stores

4/10 no-spend days

13/20 planned/budgeted spend days
 
#150 ·
15th: $45.47 (gas for me and dh)

16th: $1.50 (soda for me); $10 (wiper blade for dh's truck)

17th: $2.25 (drink/snack for me); $9 (bG test strips); $2.25 (craft supplies for dd#1's class)

18th: $25 (gas for my car)

19th: $395 (2 months of phone bill); $150 (daycare)

20th: $21.41 (groceries & medicine); $12.65 (hay/bedding)

21st: no-spend

22nd: October mortgage payment

23rd: no-spend

24th: no-spend

25th: electric bill

26th: car insurance

27th: no-spend

28th: no-spend

29th: no-spend

30th: November mortgage

Frivolous spending: $3.75

Necessary but unbudgeted spending: $55.31

Gas: $70.47
 
#151 ·
I've been sick which is hard on the spirit, but GREAT for the budget.

01.. $9.98 Wendys
02.. $10.90 Subway
03.. $15 Costco Lamb Blanket
04..

05..

06.. $11 hat, $3 Starbucks
07..


08..


09..


10..


11.. $6 McDonald's
12.. $9 the makings for s'mores
13.. $5 Starbucks
14..
thumb.gif


15.. $17 fleece pjs
16.. $13 party supplies for baby shower tomorrow

17..
thumb.gif


18..
thumb.gif


19..
thumb.gif


20.. $30 on sleds because the snow is coming

21..

22..

23..

24..

25..

26..

27..

28..

29..

30..

My Goals:

10/20 No Spend Days

3/5 Let the Car Rest Days
 
#153 ·
Haven't been posting each day because the new MDC and my computer are not getting along!

My Key:
Budgeted, planned spending (includes groceries, gas, other necessary or well planned items- NOT impulse items)
No Spend
No Drive
Impulse, Unnecessary Spending
Eat Out

Nov.1-

Nov.2-

Nov.3-

Nov.4-

Nov.5-7-
Budgeted for Girl Scout Hiking trip in the mountains and a night at my bff's new house stayed within budget, ate out 2x, bought gas, and souvenier's

Nov.8-
thumb.gif


Nov.9-


Nov.10-
angry.gif
$120 at the Vet

Nov.11-
thumb.gif
Spent a ton of money but almost all was planned/needed

Nov.12-
thumb.gif
Spent a ton of money but almost all was planned/needed

Nov.13-
thumb.gif
Spent a ton of money but almost all was planned/needed- okay so maybe not ALL of it but most, I am now done for awhile other than groceries

Nov.14- Groceries and other necessities, gas

Nov.15-


Nov.16-
thumb.gif


Nov.17-


Nov.18-
thumb.gif


Nov.19-


Nov.20-
thumb.gif
 
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