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~~Savings at the End of the Rainbow!!~~ March No Spend/ Spend Less Challenge!! All Welcome!!

2K views 52 replies 12 participants last post by  sdelgadillo389 
#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 February 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 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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#2 ·
I'll start. . .

a. Who you are

Jenn, homeschooling mom to 6. I'm a SAHM, DH works long hours and goes to school part-time. I'm a regular on these threads, some months I'm really active, some I just check in now and again.

b. Where you are going (your financial goals)

Long term goals are to be consumer debt free (credit cards and car payment), have a 6 month emergency fund, and save enough to fund at least 2yrs of community college for each of our 6 children.

Short term goals are meeting small steps towards the long term goals.

c. How you plan to get there

~ We are in a Spending Freeze for March (it worked pretty well for January and February).

~ STAY OUT OF STORES, brick and online!! This is our biggest $$ suck. We did REALLY well the last 2 months, now we just need to keep up the momentum.

~ Cooking at home as much as possible. Eating out is our 2nd biggest budget blower
:irked
Much of it is due to poor planning on my part.

~ STICK TO THE BUDGET!!

~ I'm trying to maintain our food budget. It's been slowly creeping up.

~ BE AWARE!! We just need to be more aware of where our money is going.
 
#3 ·
Cool! May I join?

a. Who you are
Homeschooling mom to 6 and 9 year old; co-own two small businesses with DH. He is the creative side of the businesses and I handle the $. I work 2 days a week (weekends) and he "works 5," but really it ends up super late nights (he's still there now, 8pm Friday!) and sneaking in work after the kids re in bed on weekends.

b. Where you are going (your financial goals)
Short term save up for DDs upcoming birthday (she wants a small sleepover, so not too expensive) and 1 week summer camp for kids (will give me time for a more in depth work project, which is good overall, but I need the cash to pay for it first). Medium term get our household budget on track so the businesses can grow. We are on the cusp of hiring 1-2 employees this year and I'd like to make that happen ASAP so DH can be home more!

c. How you plan to get there
Bring snacks along instead of Starbucks etc. reduce meals out and more expensive groceries with easy prep meals and freezer meals more. Read things we already have instead of kindle and iTunes purchases! That's definitely our weakness. $2-$8 at a time. Urgh. Send lunch with DH.
 
#4 ·
a. Who you are: Sarah, mom to dd(8). We homeschool and I work at a local after school child care program where I can take my daughter. We're also trying to have a hobby farm.

b. Where you are going (your financial goals) and: I'm working on trying to stay current and stay within my budget. VERY bad about not following the budget! We should have some goat kids and piglets to sell this year, but there will also be vet expenses, registration, etc. so I'm not sure how much we'll actually clear.

c. How you plan to get there: My job is limited to 20 hours a week so I will be looking elsewhere to earn more money. I already track everything, but need to do a (much) better job actually staying within the budget. I need to get better at actually remembering to use envelopes. I have started rack drying as much as possible, but need to stay on top of the laundry to stay away from the dryer. I'm also going to start selling some stuff on ebay.

This month, I have to get back on track using the drying rack and have to make sure that I check the library to renew books every day (very bad about late fees!) and getting a sandwich at Subway due to falling behind on the cooking.

key:

no spend -
thumb.gif


budgeted spend -
winky.gif


over budget or not budgeted -
banghead.gif


hung clothes on rack -
:cold
(hanging laundry smiley is not working and since I'm sitting here freezing in our 68 degree house, I'll use this one)

cook at home -
:eat


ebay or blog -
geek.gif


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#5 ·
a. Who you are

Stephanie, Full time student & Single parent to DS, who is almost 4. Currently UE but looking for work.

b. Where you are going (your financial goals) and

March goal is to meal plan, find a PT job, hopefully pay off a CC so I don't have to pay the interest rate, put $$ into savings, and stick to budget. Long term goal is to have at least 6 months EF, become debt free, get a PT/FT CPT position, and follow DR plan.

c. How you plan to get there

Stick to meal plan, no unnecessary spending, find free activities to do around town, apply to all the CPT positions in my area, if I get a tax return use it to pay off that CC, if I get any extra money put it toward funding BEF.
 
#6 ·
I am thankful that our heat, hot water, and dryer are provided by our landlord as part of the rent, so we don't have to hang dry in winter, even though we do so all summer! (It is unfortunately in the basement, so 4 flights down and 4 back up, though!) DH and I have been each taking out a small amount of cash for lunches and miscellaneous stuff and saying when that runs out, it's out for the week. I will do that again this month. I'm trying to keep events/snacks costs to $20 or less for me and kids this week... Anticipating $6 for gem and fossil show with DD and friends tomorrow, and we need markers for a hs project but ours are kaput, so that's two things that will come out of that. Just realized we need to bring food to share to two events this week--Scouts and church. I think I'll make something with the kids on Sunday for those, save $ there too. Apple muffins probably. We are stocked on groceries for lots of great meals and most don't require a ton of work on my part, which is good! I have I think I'll try Sarah's daily update thing:

1:
geek.gif
:eat


2:
read.gif
bag.gif
Long day, snacks with kids on way home

3:
:eat
:thumb


4:
bag.gif
geek.gif
Today was not a good day spendig wise. DH and I are going to be in a little magazine for our industry. Cool! Got a free, tasty lunch out of it! But my mascara was dried out, since I rarely wear it, so I picked up new en route to office, and it was $$$. Oh well. Then a taxi to get back because we ran long and I was late to get to sitter. I bought the kids a few snacks after the day we've had, but that would fit into my spending budget for the week. Rats!

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My key:

No spend
:thumb


Eat at Home/Carry Snacks
:eat


Read Stuff We Already Own
read.gif


Get More Paying Work Done
geek.gif


Overspent
bag.gif
 
#7 ·
a. Who you are Homeschooling mom of two girls in the rural northwest US. Dh and I are both self employed. I do housekeeping for a small handful of clients, dh is a gardener.

b. Where you are going (your financial goals) Right now we are trying to have the year as a whole be in the black. We are spending far too much in the winter months when income is slack.

c. How you plan to get there Reduce, reduce reduce, but that's hard. I have a solid set of new clients, so this year is going to be better than last year, but can't get a feel for how next year will look. I hate self employment sometimes!

:throb
= no spend
:thumb
= planned or reasonable spending
:loveeyes
= impulse spending
:nut
= kicked-in-the-ass spending
 
#8 ·
A: Who you are: I'm Heather, a SAHM of 5.

B: Where are you going: DH and I are working on building our 6 month emergency fund (have 3 months now).

C: How do you plan to get there: The plan is to limit our spending outside of our paid in cash vacation this month.

groceries $800

gas $150

no eating out

coffee spending $20
 
#9 ·
No spend:
:joy


Budgeted spend:
:thumb


Unbudgeted spend:
duh.gif


Ate at home/Packed meals:
:eat


Made extra $$:
2cents.gif


Mar 1:
:joy
:eat


Today was a cold, wet and windy day. We attended a free activity at the library, Dr. Seuss themed. My son had fun playing games and story time. We also entered the reading reward program to get a free In-N-Out burger for every 5 books that are read, max of 3 free burgers. Which is great since we rarely eat out and my son always asks to go out to eat. I also did a little bit of homework, might do more once my son is asleep. Hope march is a great no spend month
:bgbounce
 
#10 ·
No spend:
:joy


Budgeted spend:
:thumb


Unbudgeted spend:
duh.gif


Ate at home/Packed meals:
:eat


Made extra $$:
2cents.gif


Mar 1:
:joy
:eat


Mar 2:
:joy
:eat


Another successful no spend day. Today I clipped & printed coupons. Made my shopping list for tomorrow. Also finishing up my homework assignments today.
 
#11 ·
1. $92.29 at Target ($57.68 was groceries, $13.81 was clothing, $20.80 was beauty). This should be all the groceries needed till we get back from vacation.

2. $5 volleyball tournament, $12 food at tournament, $25.xx at Caribou Coffee
:angry


groceries $57.68/$800
 
#12 ·
:throb
= no spend
:thumb
= planned or reasonable spending
:loveeyes
= impulse spending
:nut
= kicked-in-the-ass spending

1
:loveeyes
A little planned, a little impulsive. Ate out $13.00, plus snacks for a double-cookie-booth day. $5 flea market find.

2
:throb
No spend
 
#13 ·
a. Who you are

Ruth, mama to 4, wife to my hard-working husband.

b. Where you are going (your financial goals)

We are saving for a house and attempting to live on 1/2 of our take-home pay.

c. How you plan to get there

Very little spending. I cut the grocery bill down significantly last month, going to try to shave a few more dollars this month.
 
#14 ·
On to another month. We got paid Friday and I transferred money to our savings account. We have been saving a lot the past few month, but are really increasing it this month. We are going for a 50% savings goal, which will leave us with enough for food, gas, and wee bit extra.

:thumb
no spend/budgeted

nono.gif
not in the budget, stupid spending

March 1 --
:thumb
groceries

March 2 --
:thumb
another small piece for dd's science project,
nono.gif
3.99 movie,
:thumb
dh bought some liquor for his martini habit. It was expensive and I really wish he would drop this, but it is a small luxury for him. I am including it in the grocery budget which is going to make it hard to reduce that category.

March 3 --
:thumb


March 4

March 5

March 6

March 7

March 8
 
#15 ·
1. $92.29 at Target ($57.68 was groceries, $13.81 was clothing, $20.80 was beauty). This should be all the groceries needed till we get back from vacation.

2. $5 volleyball tournament, $12 food at tournament, $25.xx at Caribou Coffee
:angry


3. $38.42 Old Navy (clothes for trip)

groceries $57.68/$800
 
#16 ·
a. Who you are: Kathirynne, WOH mumma to 4 (two of whom are college-age, but still need input from their mother sometimes, even though they are "independent" now....)

b. Where you are going (your financial goals) I would like to have all the bills caught up, be in a position to pay every bill in full as it arrives in my mailbox and have an emergency fund.

c. How you plan to get there I am paid hourly, so I made a budget based on February's pay (the shortest month). My budget works on paper - I just have to be diligent in following it. Mostly this means cooking dinner at home and taking leftovers to work for lunch; ordering in and eating out are two obvious, easily-plugged leaks.

:joy
No Spend

:thumb
Budgeted

:(
Unplanned Spending

:irked
Over Budget

:eat
Home-Cooked Meals

1:
:joy
NO SPEND!

:eat


2:
:joy
NO SPEND!

:eat


3:
:joy
NO SPEND!

:eat
(I very nearly went to the store to buy sausage for the soup I was making for dinner, but then I remembered the freeze-dried sausage I had in the cupboard and used that....spending averted!)

4:
:thumb
$320 for the final payment on my son's trip to NYC in April - he and his highschool choir have been invited to sing in Carnegie Hall! (I think the money for that is well-spent; how many people from li'l ol' Montana ever get to sing in Carnegie Hall??!)

:eat


5:
:thumb
$9.10 at grocery store

:eat


6:
:joy
NO SPEND!

:eat


7:
:thumb
$108 at grocery store (for 2 weeks worth of groceries)

:thumb
$12.50 Bath & Body Works (BOGO shower gel)

:eat


8:
:joy
NO SPEND!

:eat


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:joy
NO SPEND!

:eat


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:joy
NO SPEND!

:eat


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:joy
NO SPEND!

:eat


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:joy
NO SPEND!

:eat


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:joy
NO SPEND!

:eat


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:joy
NO SPEND!

:eat


15:
:thumb
$955 (rent for April)
:irked
$155: phone/internet bill

:eat


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:joy
NO SPEND!

:eat


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:joy
NO SPEND!

:eat


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:thumb
$12.00: tithing

:eat


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:joy
NO SPEND!

:eat


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:joy
NO SPEND!

:eat


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:joy
NO SPEND!

:eat


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:joy
NO SPEND!

:eat


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:joy
NO SPEND!

:eat


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:joy
NO SPEND!

:eat


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#17 ·
I need this! Really struggling with feeling like we aren't meeting any of our goals in life and just surviving instead.

a. Who you are - I'm a sahm to 3 little boys with an unknown due in July.

b. Where you are going (your financial goals) - #1 goal is to be debt free. #2 Buy a farm

c. How you plan to get there
Try to eat out of pantry and freezer as much as possible this month.
Stop spending as much as possible.
Save $100 a month in savings till we have $1000 in an emergency fund.
Put at least $400 extra on top of regular payments towards debt.
Fix house up so we can sell it.
Get DHs car fixed so we can stop driving two gas hog vans.
 
#18 ·
1: No Spend
2: $5 on car ramp to keep toddler busy while I work on house.
3: $8.00 for Celery.
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#19 ·
No spend:
:joy


Budgeted spend:
:thumb


Unbudgeted spend:
duh.gif


Ate at home/Packed meals:
:eat


Made extra $$:
2cents.gif


Mar 1:
:joy
:eat


Mar 2:
:joy
:eat


Mar 3:
:thumb
$2.38 Redbox movies & a video game. $10.79 Bday gift, $2.92 Shirt, & $10.75 Household supplies
:eat
2cents.gif
$2 from Ibotta app & $3 from checkout51

Today my daycare provider was ill so I had my son today, which isn't bad since I don't have class today and it's just my study day. I planned a trip to target for today and hoped not to spend more then $20 since $20 is my whole household supplies budget. I managed to get 2- 172oz of All free and clear laundry detergent, 3- 19.5oz Downy Unstopables, 2- Garnier Fructis shampoo, 2- Garnier Fructis conditioners and 1- Colgate Optic white for $10.75!!! I haven't couponed in a while so I was very happy I was able to get all that for under $20. I also used cartwheel and they had a 50% off coupon for a nerf zombie gun, so I bought it for $10.79 and it will be my son's bday present in July! There was also a great deal on a ninja turtle shirt and I wanted to grab it, it's a little big but my son will grow into it. Also did a little breakfast food shopping at target, then picked up some movies and video game to rent then bought stuff for dinner tonight. So far it was a busy day shopping and now I must finish up my homework assignments.
 
#20 ·
Ugh, horrible start to the month.

1.
shake.gif
Went to IKEA. A large portion of what we spent was budgeted, but we bought other things that weren't budgeted. And we got dinner there (including dessert).

2.
shake.gif
Went to JoAnn Fabrics to pick up 2 things (that should have cost less than $10). Spent almost $40
splat.gif


3.
:nod


4.
:nod
Pre-emptive No-Spend. Not going anywhere, meals are planned.
 
#21 ·
:throb
= no spend
:thumb
= planned or reasonable spending
:loveeyes
= impulse spending
:nut
= kicked-in-the-ass spending

1
:loveeyes
A little planned, a little impulsive. Ate out $13.00, plus snacks for a double-cookie-booth day. $5 flea market find.

2
:throb
No spend

3
:loveeyes
Ate out $9. I am so done with eating out. Snacks.

4
:thumb
Some groceries and snacks.

Not a fabulous start to the month.
 
#22 ·
4:
bag.gif
geek.gif
Today was not a good day spendig wise. DH and I are going to be in a little magazine for our industry. Cool! Got a free, tasty lunch out of it! But my mascara was dried out, since I rarely wear it, so I picked up new en route to office, and it was $$$. Oh well. Then a taxi to get back because we ran long and I was late to get to sitter. I bought the kids a few snacks after the day we've had, but that would fit into my spending budget for the week. Rats! I did get some work done today though, and it was a VERY unusual day for us overall, so I think I'll cut myself some slack.
 
#23 ·
No spend:
:joy


Budgeted spend:
:thumb


Unbudgeted spend:
duh.gif


Ate at home/Packed meals:
:eat


Made extra $$:
2cents.gif


Mar 1:
:joy
:eat


Mar 2:
:joy
:eat


Mar 3:
:thumb
$2.38 Redbox movies & a video game. $10.79 Bday gift, $2.92 Shirt, & $10.75 Household supplies
:eat
2cents.gif
$2 from Ibotta app & $3 from checkout51

Mar 4:
:thumb
$10.78 Target
:eat
2cents.gif
$6 sold PC catalog

Target's cartwheel app had some amazing deals on Hasbro board games, I was only able to get 2, but it was only $10.78 for trouble and guess who! Such an amazing deal plus I used my Christmas sinking funds money to get it, so now I got my son some Christmas gifts! I sold a pack of 25 Pampered Chef catalogs to a consultant for $6, don't need them since I'm not selling it anymore. And also ate at home today and packed snacks for school. So far so good this month.
 
#24 ·
I ordered 2 new bras yesterday that I have needed for a long time. I have been planning on buying these for a while and found a good deal, so win-win. Headed out this morning to the grocery store for a few things.

:thumb
no spend/budgeted

nono.gif
not in the budget, stupid spending

March 1 --
:thumb
groceries

March 2 --
:thumb
another small piece for dd's science project,
nono.gif
3.99 movie,
:thumb
dh bought some liquor for his martini habit. It was expensive and I really wish he would drop this, but it is a small luxury for him. I am including it in the grocery budget which is going to make it hard to reduce that category.

March 3 --
:thumb


March 4 --
:thumb
2 new bras

March 5 --
:thumb
groceries

March 6

March 7

March 8
 
#25 ·
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

partytime.gif
- No Spend Day

:down
- Budgeted Spending

bag.gif
- Unnecessary Spending

gloomy.gif
- Unbudgeted but Necessary

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

March 1 --
bag.gif
Dinner out $21,
:down
groceries & gas, prescription refills

March 2 --
partytime.gif


March 3 --
partytime.gif


March 4 --
bag.gif
Dinner out $21, more pregnancy tests and
:down
some fruit

March 5 --
 
#26 ·
No spend:
:joy


Budgeted spend:
:thumb


Unbudgeted spend:
duh.gif


Ate at home/Packed meals:
:eat


Made extra $$:
2cents.gif


Mar 1:
:joy
:eat


Mar 2:
:joy
:eat


Mar 3:
:thumb
$2.38 Redbox movies & a video game. $10.79 Bday gift, $2.92 Shirt, & $10.75 Household supplies
:eat
2cents.gif
$2 from Ibotta app & $3 from checkout51

Mar 4:
:thumb
$10.78 Target
:eat
2cents.gif
$6 sold PC catalog

Mar 5:
:thumb
$14.04 Target & $40 gas, $965 CC bill
:eat
2cents.gif
$1 ibotta app, $0.75 checkout51

Today was a busy day. Ran errands today, got gas, got milk and a couple other stuff and also got 2 sweaters for my son that were on clearance at target and got candy land at 50% OFF. I also officially paid off a credit card!!! So happy about that, only 1 more credit card to go!
 
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