No Buy August

[princessbride6205]

8/1 - $0 (+$73 and -$73)
8/2 - $62 groceries, $23 dining out
8/3 - $0
8/4 - $2 coffee (out of my $40/mo. "fun money"), $9 Target (clearance tank top, coupon organizer & mailing tape for all the stuff I've been selling)
8/5 - planning on $0!

I'm glad I didn't spend any more on clothes for DD this past weekend. I spoke to my mom and she bought a bunch of stuff on sale at Carter's yesterday, including stuff for next spring/summer!
I've turned DH into a coupon & free food junkie! He loves going out to eat for lunch, so he's been figuring out how to stretch his "fun money" the farthest. Today he's going to Arby's, because you get a free roast beef sandwich with purchase of a drink. He writes to all the fast food restaurants when they have specials and coupons, too. Oh, and I'm not keeping track of the fun money DH spends - he has an envelope with $40 cash, so that's that.

 

[Jennia]

Aug 1: $0
Aug 2: $0
Aug 3: $65 at Target (snacks for our mini trip this weekend, clothes for DH, baby shower present)
Aug 4: $0

 

[albertamommyof4]

August 4th- my first $0 day of the month yay i am so happy lol
August 5th- $0 day as well as staying home

 

[Ava]

Ava - I used to live in the Bronx and I found it was very difficult to do $0 days there due to the lifestyle of a lot of small shopping trips and walking/mass transit everywhere and popping into places to get a drink/snacks.

It is, I don't shoot for $0 days so much as just avoiding unnecessary spending. My biggest problem is buying drinks/snacks while at work. I often go to the newsstand with my co-workers for the "break" and end up buying something. I'm trying to bring things from home more so I don't NEED to buy that overpriced candy from the newsstand guy! We also recently discovered that there is a Stop 'n Shop in walking distance from our apartment. (We always thought it was too far, but my partner found a short cut.) So we're trying to do one large grocery shop per week there and fill in perishables from the local store or farmer's market.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Aug. 1 $0
Aug. 2 $0
Aug. 3 $110
Aug. 4 $93, $38
Aug. 5 $0

tomorrow is open house for the kids' school, I'm going in early to help, I can always count on lemonade and graham crackers being on hand at school, it should be a zero day...

I ran out of laundry detergent today, but I don't want to go food shopping until friday. Darn it, I guess I just can't do laundry for a few days .

 

[Tiggerish]

Total discretionary budget for August is $420

Groceries = $120 / $84 left
Auto/Gas = 75
Giving = $50
Medical = $50
Eating Out = $25 / $12 left
Misc. = $100
==================================================

8/1 = $0
8/2 = $13 Eating out
8/3 = $7 Groceries
8/4 = $29 Groceries
8/5 = $0

 

[annsteere]

Aug 1st - not so good! - 30$ valentino's w/ family
- 35$ matinee movie tickets
- 5$ movie snacks from dollar store
- 75$ school supplies for 3
- 20$ socks & undies for kids
- 20$ toilet paper
- 20$ sandals for dh
- 10$ beer for dh, 2$ magazine for
me, and 10$ groceries
Aug 2nd -

Hey Lattemom, you and I have a bad start. We are BOUND to get better as August rolls along.

The great thing about this thread is that we encourage those who fall off the wagon to jump back on. (Not to mention that we let everybody design their own wagon).

 

[neatokimmo]

Bought $10 in gas and $1.08 on a brownie.

Groceries - 147.56/200
Eating out - 17.85/50
Cats - 30
Baby Loot - 44.13/60
Mama Loot - 32.32/40
Gas - 50/60
YardSale cash - 50
Misc - 200

August 5 - $11.08 $110.46/690
August 4 - $31.51 $99.38/690
August 3 - $1! $67.87/$690
August 2 - zero! $66.87/ $690
August 1 - $66.87/ $690

 

[cjdj4]

This is hard! LOL, I guess that is why it's a personal challenge.

8/1- Lunch $17, Ikea $30, Night out $93- Total $140
8/2- CVS $130
8/3- $0
8/4- A LOT
8/5- Lunch $12

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Hey Lattemom, you and I have a bad start. We are BOUND to get better as August rolls along.

The great thing about this thread is that we encourage those who fall off the wagon to jump back on. (Not to mention that we let everybody design their own wagon).

Design your own wagon, that's a cool idea.

Bought $10 in gas and $1.08 on a brownie.

I'm so tired this morning I read it as $10 worth of brownies and I was like, yeah, I've been there. Oh, no, wait...


I have no idea what open house at the kids elementary school's going to cost me today, I have two yearbooks to buy (this is the first year I'm not making them share), agendas, tee shirts, augh, last year it cost me $80 at the other school, I don't know what this one will be like ( I think cheaper, though).

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

1 - $0
2 - $8.74 Walmart groceries, $2 Walmart (newspaper), $13.06 Raising Canes (fast food), $4.98 McDonald's (McFlurries) [$28.78 total]
3 - $0
4 - $29.30 Rouses (groceries), $56.64 Target, $10.17 Quiznos, $0.83 Walgreens, $4.39 Office Depot [$101.33 total]
5 - $5.00 Cafe du Monde, $1.36 soda @ Target, $4.34 Arby's [$15.70 eating out], $17.11 school uniform shirt, $4.56 Target, $2.50 parking in FQ [$24.17 misc] [$34.87 total]

Groceries: $200 ~ $161.96 left
Eating Out: $100 ~ $61.09 left
Gas & Car: $60 ~ $60
Miscellaneous: $250 ~ $163.97 left
Total: $610 ~ $445.02

Today will not be a $0 day either; I am going out to lunch with some friends, getting my hair cut, washing the car, and getting gas.

This is my last week of summer break (I'm a teacher), so this week has been VERY errand and get-together heavy in an attempt to get it all in before I go to work!

 

[Goofygirl17]

Sandi S- I think I'll bring candy in my purse for the next free movie. The theater was practically empty both times we went so no worry about limited tickets! We have a tax free weekend coming up but there's no tax on things under $50 so it doesn't make much difference to us.

Kickapoo- Can you imagine ever spending over $50,000 for a car?! Even if I had that much I can't see it.

Where's piglet- Don't you love free gift cards? Do you know if the Honda Fit sport comes in a standard shift? We're going to need a new car sometiime fairly soon.

Kim- You're little girl is adorable!

Susie- Hope you feel better.

Everyone seems to be doing well! I didn't spend anything yesterday because I spent most of the day (from 11 on) in bed with a migraine. DH ended up taking the girls out for Burger King for dinner though so that's about $10.

8/1 $0 (DH $31)
8/2 $2.50-DD, $127 groceries, $12 Staples, $71 Famous Footwear
8/3 $1 (DD6 ice cream)
8/4 $9 at the "free movie", $10 copay at CVS but got $50 in gift cards
8/5 $10 (approx)

Expected purchases this month:
sneakers for me
sneakers for both DDs- $35, -
school clothes for DDs (only if a good sale since they can start with summer clothes)
school supplies (once we get the lists)- $12, $24 (messenger bag)
school shoes for DDs - $10, -

I'm not sure what our plans are for today. I still have a headache but at least it's not pounding. I'm probably going to just take is easy and putter around the house cleaning- that's free

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Where's piglet- Don't you love free gift cards? Do you know if the Honda Fit sport comes in a standard shift? We're going to need a new car sometiime fairly soon.

Yes, it does.
Here's the 2009 Honda Fit specifications page.

We decided to go with the sport model instead of the basic because it came with cruise control, the keyless entry, and a USB port for music. Also, when we went to get the car, they didn't have any basic models - only sport models, and I didn't want to wait for them to get the other model in.

I am loving my car - especially the magic seats. There is a TON of storage space, particularly for a car of it's size.

 

[Goofygirl17]

We have a 1997 honda civic right now. It has 210,000 miles on it and still gets 33 mpg. It's only a 2 door but we kept it for our commuter car when we had kids. We also have a Subaru outback that has 130,000 miles. They are both eating oil right now so we have to decide what to get as a replacement.

I'll have to check out the Hondas since ours has lasted so long and gets such great mileage.

 

[Sandi S]

We have a 1997 honda civic right now. It has 210,000 miles on it and still gets 33 mpg. It's only a 2 door but we kept it for our commuter car when we had kids. We also have a Subaru outback that has 130,000 miles. They are both eating oil right now so we have to decide what to get as a replacement.

I'll have to check out the Hondas since ours has lasted so long and gets such great mileage.

I have to give a shout out for Toyota Corollas. My first car was a 93 Corolla and I drove it for over 210,000 miles. When my mom got a new Corolla last August, we swapped her 95 Corolla with 110,000 miles on it for our 93 (and she got $2,000 trade-in). Those Corollas are fantastic cars! (I also have a Toyota Sienna and love it, too!)

 

[Sandi S]

So far for August (just tracking spending this month):
8/1 - $0 (listed 9 things on eBay - one will definitely sell for at least $64)
8/2 - $0 (had a $2.99 BIN ebay!)
8/3 - $3.46 @ post office, got $9.88 at the consignment shop, spent $29 @ fabric store (pattern mag & pleating for DD smocked dress), $2.79 @ Walmart, $3.98 at TRU on pull-ups (had $30 worth of gift cards & a coupon!), $8 on Disney Princess panties @ Target, $9 worth of food and snacks while doing all this
8/4 $0.27 for lunch (I had a $5 GC to a local sub shop - treated myself before a dentist appt)
8/5 $0
8/6 $0

I just listed our crib on Craigslist so I'm hoping for another $100 there!


Total extra IN: $76.87
Total discretionary OUT: $48.50

Current total: $28.37

 

[OnePrincess]

Spent some money yesterday but still not bad. Had a late meeting so DD and I decided to grab dinner on the way home because there was no way I was cooking at 8:00. I don't have any plans for today so it should be a $0 day.

8/1 - $0
8/2 - $0
8/3 - $0
8/4 - $14.85 (dinner)
8/5 - $8.48 (dinner) $4.66 (milk & snack for dd)

 

[Jennia]

Aug 1: $0
Aug 2: $0
Aug 3: $65 at Target (snacks for our mini trip this weekend, clothes for DH, baby shower present)
Aug 4: $0
Aug 5: $0

 

[Tiggerish]

Another vote for the Toyota Corolla. Mine is a '99 with 197,000 and in the ten years I have owned it, I have spent less than $1,500 in repairs excluding oil changes and tires. I get 28 in the city and 35 to 38 on the highway. My mechanic says I should be able to get to 250,000 with the engine but I am getting rust and all the plastic interior parts are pretty shabby. However, I LOVE this car and intend to drive it until bondo will no longer hold it together.

Today should be another $0 day for me unless something unexpected comes up.

 

[Mrs. Bradbury]

I am loving my car - especially the magic seats.

Tell me more about these magic seats