After January's budget busters...I declare Frugal February! Who's with me?

[pannm]

I was on track for little to no spending last month. Doing soooo well!!! Then, Jan. 14th hit with a big budget buster (traveling for a week for medical issues to Mayo for my daughter...which was worth every penny, but still money we didn't plan to spend!!!)

Back home now and looking at our "vacation fund"...I've given myself a challenge this month. I have $150 a week. What ever is NOT spent out of that $150 is going into our vacation savings fund. I think I can do pretty well. Our pantry is quite stocked with most of what we need and our freezer has a lot of meat (including a 15 lb. turkey!!!) so other than milk, fresh fruit/veggies, & eggs I don't want to buy ANYTHING at the grocery store!!!

I've decided to go over to supercook.com again this month and enter everything I have. It pops out some really good recipes to use what we have already and I've had good luck with them in the past. It's been a great helper when it comes to saving some money!

 

[sandynd]

I am in for Frugal February! December and January I went off the rails and spent a whack of money I didn't plan on. Thanks for the supercook link - I am very interested in trying it out!

 

[JAMIESMITH]

We were also on track for a light spending January until my husband's Jeep started giving problems last weekend. Luckily, my husband is a mechanic, so we're only out parts. That's still $400 I wasn't planning on spending. I did pay off our Disney World vacation for September last month as well so now I'm just saving for gas and incidentals. I'm hoping for a frugal Febuary as well, but I do know I'll be spending about $200 to get our puppy spayed.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

I'm with you. The more $$ we save each month, the less we have to take from our vacation fund to pay for our upcoming Disney trip. Our refrigerator and freezer are pretty well stocked, so it should be just perishables for us unless there is a great sale on chicken that we can't pass up. Thanks so much for mentioning the supercook.com website. I'd never heard of it before and it looks like it will be AMAZINGLY helpful with meal planning.

 

[gator75]

Count me in january was ahorrible budget buster month for me it was one thing after another. We had a car repair we werent counting on, we had a water heater issue and the list goes on.

 

[StephMK]

I'm in. Between Christmas & DD's 18th bday last week, I'm ready for a savings month. DH's bday is Sunday then DD11's next month. Other than that, I hope to keep spending to just groceries & gas.

We need new tires for 2 cars but plan to use part of the tax refund for that. Thanks for the website idea, I'll have to go check that out. Menu planning has fallen to the back burner and I need to get it back under control.

 

[Sagginit]

i'm in! i just bought a car unexpectedly (good deal long term but still) so the cost of the new insurance, registering, sales tax, and now im still carrying the old car until i sell it has been a bit much. i also stocked up on after xmas sales, i honestly needed all the stuff and will be ready to rock next xmas, but it put me way over. i am trying to eat out of my pantry more this month. let's see how well i do.

 

[Cinderella's slipper]

Ok I'm in. What a great idea!

 

[hsmamato2]

I'm with you...(tentative voice) I WANT to be with...I'll START with you.....I hope I can STAY with you the whole (short) month!
Here's to good budgets! (woohoo)

 

[hsmamato2]

Ok here's my confession,last month I started out 'no-buy'.... but by the close of January I had rediscovered my old passion for sewing...and cool retro dress patterns.... so.....while I'm no hoarder,I do have a nice box of 4-5 patterns and some lovely fabric that was definitely not 'no-buy' if you know what I mean.... frugal,yes. No-buy,no.

 

[thebeesknees]

I'm in! We had a horrible January with one thing after another...DH's Mom passed away overseas, so that was a last-minute trip for him ($$$), MAJOR car repair ($1K), etc. I think we are going to need to start looking for a new vehicle, as our only one is 13 years old and starting to give us more trouble, so the more I can save now, the bigger down payment we will be able to make. Bought gas and groceries today, so I should be good for a few no-buy days in a row now.

 

[Cinderella's slipper]

I'm with you...(tentative voice) I WANT to be with...I'll START with you.....I hope I can STAY with you the whole (short) month!
Here's to good budgets! (woohoo)

Um in my bestest pooh voice, "What's a budget?" I'll need all the pixie dust I can get to keep expenditures down this month.

 

[hsmamato2]

Ok I'm on board here.... I got inspired (after spending 200.00 stocking up) to inventory our food,and USE it. So here's to 'not much more' for our food budget this month. I have most stuff right here, but I already need more onions.....I have a crazy weekend with an after funeral gathering (bring trays of food) plus superbowl party(bring food) plus surprise visitors for lunch tomorrow(make food) but with that inventory list it's going to be ok as far as cost goes.....
I go over our finances/budget weekly (paycheck day) and it's always an eye opener to remind me that I don't actually have disposable income right now....
SO I plan and plan my next few trips, which causes DH to panic (LOL) but he calms down when I tell him I'm simply planning,and we aren't actually going anywhere for quite a while.....I can plan for years!

 

[lady9]

Our February has already been blown budget wise-$433 for glasses for 2 kids (and 1 kids reused the same frames because he likes them and they still fit well) and $300 for van repair. We are getting ready to do our taxes so hoping for the best!