JULY NO BUY!

[jm0925]

I am having a very spendy month. Work is very stressful now with my two major grants closing and two more starting. I have given myself permission to buy things I usually bring from home, like treats, lunch, coffee, and other sources of sanity. August won't be much better, with work still going 100 miles an hour and a vacation and our annual state fair trips. In the meantime, I hold the no buy idea in the back of my head. A small return to spending for comfort doesn't mean I have thrown frugality out the window!

I have seen one theme rising up over and over as I play this money game. I spend money to compensate for lack of attention. Too stressed to play with my kid, buy her a new dress. Too busy to sit on the park bench and read a chapter, buy myself a cup of coffee. Too turned around to think about what my husband would like for his birthday, upgrade a piece of technology. This fall I am going to recommit myself to finding a better balance. Until then, I am SPENDING ON SUMMER FUN WITHOUT GUILT! Ice cream cone anyone?

You said it right when you described the things you are spending money on as your "sources of sanity". You are talking little things like treats and coffee. I'm like that too. When I'm stressed, stopping by Starbucks or getting some chocolate helps me relax and de-stress a little bit. You are not spending crazy money just because. My spending this month is down. I know I'm not going to make my goal and that's okay. At least this challenge has helped me think harder about what I'm spending my money on before I spend it. I think that's the better way to look at these No Buy Challenges. Its all about improving spending habits.

 

[Debbie]

I'm counting it as a no buy since I wouldn't have even considered it if I hadn't needed to finally use that gift card.

That is my take on gift cards, too. It isn't costing me money, therefore No Buy!

So late in the game on this since I just recently started checking out the budget board, but I'm going to start and will definitely be following along in August! Last couple days were SO expensive.
Hoping to keep the next couple days as no buy since I will need to take my cat to the vet later this week and also have a student loan payment coming up!

Congratulations on the new job!

You said it right when you described the things you are spending money on as your "sources of sanity". You are talking little things like treats and coffee. I'm like that too. When I'm stressed, stopping by Starbucks or getting some chocolate helps me relax and de-stress a little bit. You are not spending crazy money just because. My spending this month is down. I know I'm not going to make my goal and that's okay. At least this challenge has helped me think harder about what I'm spending my money on before I spend it. I think that's the better way to look at these No Buy Challenges. Its all about improving spending habits.

 

[toystoryduo]

1st: Fast food- $6
2nd: Dinner- $37
3nd: Groceries-$150
4th: Donuts- $6; Tickets: $158
5th: Dinner- $40 (Took the kids to a local food/sports place to watch the Women's World Cup Soccer Finals. What a GREAT game! USA! USA! USA!)
6th- Lunch- $9
7th- Notebook/Snacks/Ice-$4
8th- NO BUY #1
9th- NO BUY #2
10th- NO BUY #3
11th- NO BUY #4
12th- Car Part for Repair + Oil Change- $375
13th- Lunch- $25
14th- Snack Run- $16
15th- Walmart- $16
16th- No Buy #5
17th- No Buy #6
18th- Dinner $30
19th- No Buy #7
20th- Breakfast $10; Snack $5; Dinner: $32
21st- No Buy # 8

No Buys: 8/10

 

[Debbie]

My goal.....to limit my OWN spending for 15 days, with a total household no spend of 8 days.
July 1 $0 1/8 1/15
July 2 $50
July 3 $55 2/15
July 4 $75
July 5 $50 3/15
July 6 $0 2/8 4/15
July 7 $5
July 8 $42
July 9 $0 3/8 5/15
July 10 $0 4/8 6/15
July 11 $140
July 12 $78
July 13 $0 5/8 7/15
July 14 $51 8/15
July 15 $75
July 16 $20
July 17 $245 9/15
July 18 $0 6/8 10/15
July 19 $33 DH's weekly trip to grocery after Church 11/15
July 20 $0 7/8 11/15
July 21 Ooooooh! The spending caught up with us! First, DH broke a tooth and he put the first of many appointments on the card. THEN the company that put on our eavetroughs last month called to collect. Since we'd blown it for the day, I got son/daughter-in-law's gift together. Total spend today $2020 (luckily everything was planned for)

 

[tink9702]

July 21 Ooooooh! The spending caught up with us! First, DH broke a tooth and he put the first of many appointments on the card. THEN the company that put on our eavetroughs last month called to collect. Since we'd blown it for the day, I got son/daughter-in-laws gift together. Total spend today $2020 (luckily everything was planned for)

oh that hurts even when it's in the budget!!!

 

[toystoryduo]

1st: Fast food- $6
2nd: Dinner- $37
3nd: Groceries-$150
4th: Donuts- $6; Tickets: $158
5th: Dinner- $40 (Took the kids to a local food/sports place to watch the Women's World Cup Soccer Finals. What a GREAT game! USA! USA! USA!)
6th- Lunch- $9
7th- Notebook/Snacks/Ice-$4
8th- NO BUY #1
9th- NO BUY #2
10th- NO BUY #3
11th- NO BUY #4
12th- Car Part for Repair + Oil Change- $375
13th- Lunch- $25
14th- Snack Run- $16
15th- Walmart- $16
16th- No Buy #5
17th- No Buy #6
18th- Dinner $30
19th- No Buy #7
20th- Breakfast $10; Snack $5; Dinner: $32
21st- No Buy # 8
22nd- No Buy #9

No Buys: 9/10

 

[EpiStitch]

I haven't been keeping up with this well, but I'll try to update at least once a week.

July:
1-No Buy #1
2-so close, but the bus was delayed and I would've been late for my workout class so I had to catch a cab
3-groceries
4-No Buy #2
5-bought dinner after watching the World Cup Final
6-No Buy #3
7-No Buy #4
8-No Buy #5
9-bought lunch at work, at least it was only $6
10-groceries
11-needed new workout clothes
12-gas (not a frequent expense for me)
13-coffee/groceries
14-dinner out
15-No Buy #6
16-happy hour
17-No Buy #7
18-had to buy sunscreen because I walked out without any despite having 3 at home.......grr
19-groceries
20-No Buy #8
21-forgot to bring my lunch so had to make a Walmart run
22-No Buy #9


9/15 Days So Far......if I really focus, I can get close still

 

[jm0925]

Well the months almost over. I won't make my goal of 15 days especially with my weekend getaway we are taking. Let's see if I can get to 10 instead. How is everyone else doing?

 

[DisneyMandC]

17: spend $275 (professional licensure dues)
18: spend $316 I rarely go shopping and am getting ready to begin a new job where I will need to wear suits everyday... of which I have two. So I had to actually go buy some professional clothes.
19: No buy
20: No buy
21: No buy
22: spend $163.35. I had to fill my car up and buy feed for my horses, but I did get $30 off $150 worth of feed!
23: No buy
24: spend $57.74. I had to go to the grocery store and, unfortunately, get fast food for lunch. I accidentally left my lunch in my hot car from 8 AM until I was able to get out of court at 11 AM, and didn't want to chance it. I saved $25 with coupons and sales on groceries though!

 

[EpiStitch]

I haven't been keeping up with this well, but I'll try to update at least once a week.

July:
1-No Buy #1
2-so close, but the bus was delayed and I would've been late for my workout class so I had to catch a cab
3-groceries
4-No Buy #2
5-bought dinner after watching the World Cup Final
6-No Buy #3
7-No Buy #4
8-No Buy #5
9-bought lunch at work, at least it was only $6
10-groceries
11-needed new workout clothes
12-gas (not a frequent expense for me)
13-coffee/groceries
14-dinner out
15-No Buy #6
16-happy hour
17-No Buy #7
18-had to buy sunscreen because I walked out without any despite having 3 at home.......grr
19-groceries
20-No Buy #8
21-forgot to bring my lunch so had to make a Walmart run
22-No Buy #9
23-No Buy #10, I went to the office happy hour and only drank water and didn't buy dinner on the way home
24-No Buy #11
25-groceries and a going away party tonight

11/15 Days So Far......if I really focus, I can get close, but I doubt 4 of 6 days is happening

 

[Debbie]

My goal.....to limit my OWN spending for 15 days, with a total household no spend of 8 days.
July 1 $0 1/8 1/15
July 2 $50
July 3 $55 2/15
July 4 $75
July 5 $50 3/15
July 6 $0 2/8 4/15
July 7 $5
July 8 $42
July 9 $0 3/8 5/15
July 10 $0 4/8 6/15
July 11 $140
July 12 $78
July 13 $0 5/8 7/15
July 14 $51 8/15
July 15 $75
July 16 $20
July 17 $245 9/15
July 18 $0 6/8 10/15
July 19 $33 11/15
July 20 $0 7/8
July 21 $2020
July 22 And the spending continues. I had a call from Westjet with a MAJOR change to our flight in November. Major is right....there IS no flight out of our local airport due to the new winter/seasonal schedule for our outbound flight. Ended up cancelling the flight, rebooking the inbound with WJ and booking the outbound with AC. All total....another $500 for their change in schedule. grrrrrrr. Add to the pool repair, and the total spend for the day was another $565.
July 23 $0 8/8 12/15 So, despite the heavy spending this week (and it will continue next, due to activities planned with DD), we made my conservative goal for not buying groceries every day. Still working on not spending for myself.
July 24 $101 groceries for a family get-together Sunday...we're celebrating DD's visit home after 2 years.
July 25 $35 for airport parking and breakfast on the road home.

 

[wlake]

17: spend $275 (professional licensure dues)
18: spend $316 I rarely go shopping and am getting ready to begin a new job where I will need to wear suits everyday... of which I have two. So I had to actually go buy some professional clothes.

Congratulations on the new job!

July 21 $2020
July 22 And the spending continues. I had a call from Westjet with a MAJOR change to our flight in November. Major is right....there IS no flight out of our local airport due to the new winter/seasonal schedule for our outbound flight. Ended up cancelling the flight, rebooking the inbound with WJ and booking the outbound with AC. All total....another $500 for their change in schedule. grrrrrrr. Add to the pool repair, and the total spend for the day was another $565.
July 23 $0 8/8 12/15 So, despite the heavy spending this week (and it will continue next, due to activities planned with DD), we made my conservative goal for not buying groceries every day. Still working on not spending for myself.
July 24 $101 groceries for a family get-together Sunday...we're celebrating DD's visit home after 2 years.
July 25 $35 for airport parking and breakfast on the road home.

To pay $500 more for what's probably less convenient and not what you wanted to begin with? Ouch!

Catching up from my beach days:
July 1 - 7: vacation
July 8: groceries, clothes for DS
July 9: new dish towels (so much for no new things in the house! Mine are so stained and these were so pretty….)
July 10: dinner out, a new boogie board for DS (not counting as a non-consumable because the broken one went right in the trash)
July 11: errands
July 12: errands
July 13: no buy #1
July 14: A BIG spend day, but I'm registered for the Princess Half!
July 15: groceries, checks, clothes and shoes
July 16: blueberry picking
July 17: no buy #2
July 18: groceries, clothes for DS, ice cream
July 19: gas, wholesale club, pizza
July 20: no buy #3
July 21: groceries
July 22: no buy #4
July 23: no buy #5
July 24: dinner out when the baseball game ended at 7:45 and we were 45 minutes away from home
July 25: fresh corn -- yum! Worth ruining a no buy for!

goal: 5/8 days
9/0 non-consumable items purchased (clothes for the boys don't count)

 

[EpiStitch]

I haven't been keeping up with this well, but I'll try to update at least once a week.

July:
1-No Buy #1
2-so close, but the bus was delayed and I would've been late for my workout class so I had to catch a cab
3-groceries
4-No Buy #2
5-bought dinner after watching the World Cup Final
6-No Buy #3
7-No Buy #4
8-No Buy #5
9-bought lunch at work, at least it was only $6
10-groceries
11-needed new workout clothes
12-gas (not a frequent expense for me)
13-coffee/groceries
14-dinner out
15-No Buy #6
16-happy hour
17-No Buy #7
18-had to buy sunscreen because I walked out without any despite having 3 at home.......grr
19-groceries
20-No Buy #8
21-forgot to bring my lunch so had to make a Walmart run
22-No Buy #9
23-No Buy #10, I went to the office happy hour and only drank water and didn't buy dinner on the way home
24-No Buy #11
25-groceries and a going away party, but the bar did give me $5 off since it was my first visit so I only ended up spending $2 there!
26-more groceries plus I went a little crazy shopping, whoops

11/15 Days So Far......if I really focus, I can get close, but I doubt 4 of 6 days is happening

 

[EpiStitch]

July:
1-No Buy #1
2-so close, but the bus was delayed and I would've been late for my workout class so I had to catch a cab
3-groceries
4-No Buy #2
5-bought dinner after watching the World Cup Final
6-No Buy #3
7-No Buy #4
8-No Buy #5
9-bought lunch at work, at least it was only $6
10-groceries
11-needed new workout clothes
12-gas (not a frequent expense for me)
13-coffee/groceries
14-dinner out
15-No Buy #6
16-happy hour
17-No Buy #7
18-had to buy sunscreen because I walked out without any despite having 3 at home.......grr
19-groceries
20-No Buy #8
21-forgot to bring my lunch so had to make a Walmart run
22-No Buy #9
23-No Buy #10, I went to the office happy hour and only drank water and didn't buy dinner on the way home
24-No Buy #11
25-groceries and a going away party, but the bar did give me $5 off since it was my first visit so I only ended up spending $2 there!
26-more groceries plus I went a little crazy shopping, whoops
27-bought my ticket for a charity event next week that I had forgotten about

11/15 Days So Far......I'm not gonna make it

 

[redsonja76]

lol, I failed this month, I bought a house!

 

[EpiStitch]

July:
1-No Buy #1
2-so close, but the bus was delayed and I would've been late for my workout class so I had to catch a cab
3-groceries
4-No Buy #2
5-bought dinner after watching the World Cup Final
6-No Buy #3
7-No Buy #4
8-No Buy #5
9-bought lunch at work, at least it was only $6
10-groceries
11-needed new workout clothes
12-gas (not a frequent expense for me)
13-coffee/groceries
14-dinner out
15-No Buy #6
16-happy hour
17-No Buy #7
18-had to buy sunscreen because I walked out without any despite having 3 at home.......grr
19-groceries
20-No Buy #8
21-forgot to bring my lunch so had to make a Walmart run
22-No Buy #9
23-No Buy #10, I went to the office happy hour and only drank water and didn't buy dinner on the way home
24-No Buy #11
25-groceries and a going away party, but the bar did give me $5 off since it was my first visit so I only ended up spending $2 there!
26-more groceries plus I went a little crazy shopping, whoops
27-bought my ticket for a charity event next week that I had forgotten about
28-my air conditioner died overnight, so I had repair people look at it, but now I have to buy a new unit ugh

11/15 Days So Far....

 

[Debbie]

lol, I failed this month, I bought a house!

Congratulations! So much fun and excitement!

 

[toystoryduo]

It's been a few days since I have posted an update.

We did manage to make our goal of 10 "No Buys", but more importantly, we're getting a better idea of how we are spending our extra money and how quickly it adds up. Our goal for August will be to cut back on spending and be more mindful of those "extra" purchases. Our trip is coming up in early September, and we would like to have some extra money for that.

1st: Fast food- $6
2nd: Dinner- $37
3nd: Groceries-$150
4th: Donuts- $6; Tickets: $158
5th: Dinner- $40 (Took the kids to a local food/sports place to watch the Women's World Cup Soccer Finals. What a GREAT game! USA! USA! USA!)
6th- Lunch- $9
7th- Notebook/Snacks/Ice-$4
8th- NO BUY #1
9th- NO BUY #2
10th- NO BUY #3
11th- NO BUY #4
12th- Car Part for Repair + Oil Change- $375
13th- Lunch- $25
14th- Snack Run- $16
15th- Walmart- $16
16th- No Buy #5
17th- No Buy #6
18th- Dinner $30
19th- No Buy #7
20th- Breakfast $10; Snack $5; Dinner: $32
21st- No Buy # 8
22nd- No Buy #9
23rd- Spent money, can't remember where
24th- Haircuts and Lunch- $90
25th- Birthday Party Food/Supplies- $120
26th- Pizza for party- $45
27th- Birthday Cake- $10
28th- No Buy #10
29th- No Buy #11

No Buys: 11/10

 

[wlake]

It's been a few days since I have posted an update.

We did manage to make our goal of 10 "No Buys", but more importantly, we're getting a better idea of how we are spending our extra money and how quickly it adds up. Our goal for August will be to cut back on spending and be more mindful of those "extra" purchases. Our trip is coming up in early September, and we would like to have some extra money for that.

Knowing where that money goes is big!

lol, I failed this month, I bought a house!

Congratulations!


July 1 - 7: vacation
July 8: groceries, clothes for DS
July 9: new dish towels (so much for no new things in the house! Mine are so stained and these were so pretty….)
July 10: dinner out, a new boogie board for DS (not counting as a non-consumable because the broken one went right in the trash)
July 11: errands
July 12: errands
July 13: no buy #1
July 14: A BIG spend day, but I'm registered for the Princess Half!
July 15: groceries, checks, clothes and shoes
July 16: blueberry picking
July 17: no buy #2
July 18: groceries, clothes for DS, ice cream
July 19: gas, wholesale club, pizza
July 20: no buy #3
July 21: groceries
July 22: no buy #4
July 23: no buy #5
July 24: dinner out when the baseball game ended at 7:45 and we were 45 minutes away from home
July 25: fresh corn -- yum! Worth ruining a no buy for!
July 26: mini golf
July 27: no buy #6
July 28: a sweater for me that finally went on a big sale -- about 65% off
July 29: gas -- the tank was empty!

goal: 6/8 days
9/0 non-consumable items purchased (clothes for the boys don't count)

 

[EpiStitch]

July:
1-No Buy #1
2-so close, but the bus was delayed and I would've been late for my workout class so I had to catch a cab
3-groceries
4-No Buy #2
5-bought dinner after watching the World Cup Final
6-No Buy #3
7-No Buy #4
8-No Buy #5
9-bought lunch at work, at least it was only $6
10-groceries
11-needed new workout clothes
12-gas (not a frequent expense for me)
13-coffee/groceries
14-dinner out
15-No Buy #6
16-happy hour
17-No Buy #7
18-had to buy sunscreen because I walked out without any despite having 3 at home.......grr
19-groceries
20-No Buy #8
21-forgot to bring my lunch so had to make a Walmart run
22-No Buy #9
23-No Buy #10, I went to the office happy hour and only drank water and didn't buy dinner on the way home
24-No Buy #11
25-groceries and a going away party, but the bar did give me $5 off since it was my first visit so I only ended up spending $2 there!
26-more groceries plus I went a little crazy shopping, whoops
27-bought my ticket for a charity event next week that I had forgotten about
28-my air conditioner died overnight, so I had repair people look at it, but now I have to buy a new unit ugh
29-bought lunch

11/15 Days So Far....