April 2016 No Buy

[EpiStitch]

I'm a few days late, but I didn't see that anyone else already started a thread. I'm trying for 17 days this month.

In case we have anyone new joining in, the purpose of this thread is to track days that you don't spend, and you decide what counts as spending and what doesn't. For example, I don't count the days I pay my utility bills as spend days, but I do count groceries because it helps me stay on budget better. Others don't include groceries.

April
1-No Buy #1
2-ordered dinner
3-ordered dinner again since I'm trying to avoid grocery shopping until Tuesday
4-No Buy #2
5-bought groceries on the way home
6-No Buy #3
7-No Buy #4
8-No Buy #5
9-There was a huge sale going on at one of my favorite stores so I got $450 of stuff for $120! I don't feel that bad since I rarely buy new clothes and I've lost weight recently so I needed to buy pants that fit.
10-ordered dinner since I didn't buy enough food to last very long this week, sigh
11-bought groceries
12-No Buy #6, went out to a bar with friends, but didn't order anything
13-No Buy #7
14-No Buy #8
15-Uber home from my friend's place since it was late
16-spent $4 for lunch during a meeting at a restaurant, could've been worse
17-No Buy #9
18-No Buy #10
19-No Buy #11
20-No Buy #12

12/17 Days So Far

Well.........it seems my budget is blown. I have about $90 left for the month, but my mom wants me to buy something that's $100 as a favor for her. It doesn't seem like a huge shift, but this would've been 2 months in a row of making my budget (and maybe even having money left over to save). Sigh.

 

[mommajo143]

Well Since we have been furloughed at work I need to aim for 25 days, but ball season is in full swing so 15 is more likely... So I'll aim for 20.

4/1 - grilled burgers (yay!) but had to run & pick up buns :-(
4/2 - decorating boys cakes & time got away from me, $5 pizza pick up
4/3 - NO BUY #1 - we were all pooped from church & bday parties... We were tempted to grab supper out but stayed home & had (fresh) egg sandwiches!
4/4 - no buy #2
4/5 - no buy #3
4/6 - no buy #4
4/7: DS9s baseball game ran late, picked up supper since it was already 830 when we left the ball park
4/8- major budget buster, washing machine died so spent several hours looking for a new one & picked up supper
4/9 m - no buy #5
4/10 - since new washer won't be delivered until Friday we went to my parents to do laundry. Stopped & picked up whoppers (my dads favorite) for lunch.
4/11 - no buy #6. I remembered to pack my lunch & DH is cooking supper!
4/12 - ate at home as planned but went to biglots & bought some items on sale
4/13 - no buy #7
4/14 - no buy #8
4/15 - spent the entire day waiting for new W/D to be delivered...no buy #9
4/16 - went to Dirt Cheap, wasted money on junk. Should've stayed home :-(
4/17 - went to lunch after church.
4/18 - brought my lunch & despite the huge going out of business sign down the street @ our local fabric shop I am NOT using lunch break to go 'browse' the deals

Edited to add for accountability : No buy days are any day I personally avoid spending money not budgeted that should have been anticipated / budgeted. Since I get groceries twice a month any trips to pick up extras in between real trips (other than weekly run for fresh milk) count as a purchase as do any UNPLANNED meals out.

 

[pjlla]

March got away from me and I just did not have time to come on and report my "no-buy" days!! Aiming for 15 No-Buy days in April, but with a robotics tournament, a college visit, and April vacation, that will be difficult!...........P

 

[Shmily1]

Hoping for atleast 12 no buy days this month.

April 12/30
1 No buy #1
2 bought breakfast
3 bought breakfast and lunch
4 bought dinner
5 bought groceries and dinner
6 bought dinner again!
7 No buy #2
8 zoo day spent money
9 ate out
10 ate out and went to see Zootopia
11 ate out after ball game
12 ate out after ball game
13 No buy #3
14 ate out after being gone on a work trip
15 ate dinner out
16 No buy #4
17 ate out
18 No buy #5
19 will be going to the grocery store and eating out after DGS6 and DGS3 play baseball tonight.


I am not making it very well this month. UGH!

 

[EpiStitch]

Bumping the thread in case others want to join this month

 

[mommajo143]

I also found out that our raises/bonuses at work (from 2015) are not only going to be almost 6 months late, they're also going to be only half of normal. It sucks, but it's better than nothing, so I don't want to complain too much.

Sorry your bonus won't come through & will be short. We are seriously on a budget squeeze this year. General layoff notices were distributed yesterday... I'm so anxious I can't sleep & my shoulders are all knotted up. Won't know until 7/1 who is getting the axe - going to be a very long quarter I'm afraid.... First time in 7 years we haven't at least had a trip in planning so my usual hobby of planning our trip is out the window...

 

[verleniahall]

First time joining in - with lots going on this month - I will start off small and aim for 8 days

I know right off the bat that this weekend is out - we are headed to Iowa for my nephew's Eagle Scout Pinning BUT we had already budgeted for that - so does that count or now - Im kinda confused? And Groceries COUNT or they dont?

 

[mousefanmichelle]

This is my first time joining in. Trying to save for a new car, new flooring and a cruise next spring....

Going for 12 days
4-1 Grocery shopped (went over budget )/ Gas $30 (budgeted)
4-2 $3 movie rental (used extra cash in my wallet left over from week before).
4-3 $0
4-4 $30 gas (budgeted)
4-5 $0
4-6 $42 - out to eat (not planned)
4-7 $0
4-8 $ 4 lunch (forgot mine at home)

 

[EpiStitch]

First time joining in - with lots going on this month - I will start off small and aim for 8 days

I know right off the bat that this weekend is out - we are headed to Iowa for my nephew's Eagle Scout Pinning BUT we had already budgeted for that - so does that count or now - Im kinda confused? And Groceries COUNT or they dont?

The beauty of this is that you get to decide what counts! I choose to include grocery runs as spending days since I don't have them on a schedule and tend to run out for things I forgot, but a lot of people count them as part of their normal budget and not additional spending. If you have already budgeted for something like a trip, you may not count it as a "spend" day if you don't go wild with extra spending.

 

[EpiStitch]

Sorry your bonus won't come through & will be short. We are seriously on a budget squeeze this year. General layoff notices were distributed yesterday... I'm so anxious I can't sleep & my shoulders are all knotted up. Won't know until 7/1 who is getting the axe - going to be a very long quarter I'm afraid.... First time in 7 years we haven't at least had a trip in planning so my usual hobby of planning our trip is out the window...

Wow! I guess the silver lining is that it gives you time to look for something else if you think you might get laid off? My company actually just did a lay off last week for the first time in their 20 year history. They didn't give employees advanced notice, so we weren't worried about it in advance, but the people that got cut had no idea and no time to plan at all. I should just be glad I wasn't one of them as I can't afford to be unemployed right now.

I hope it works out for you and that this board may help in some small way!

 

[Shmily1]

Well Since we have been furloughed at work I need to aim for 25 days, but ball season is in full swing so 15 is more likely... So I'll aim for 20.

4/1 - grilled burgers (yay!) but had to run & pick up buns :-(
4/2 - decorating boys cakes & time got away from me, $5 pizza pick up
4/3 - NO BUY #1 - we were all pooped from church & bday parties... We were tempted to grab supper out but stayed home & had (fresh) egg sandwiches!
4/4 - no buy #2
4/5 - no buy #3
4/6 - no buy #4
4/7: DS9s baseball game ran late, picked up supper since it was already 830 when we left the ball park
4/8- major budget buster, washing machine died so spent several hours looking for a new one & picked up supper
4/9 m - no buy #5
4/10 - since new washer won't be delivered until Friday we went to my parents to do laundry. Stopped & picked up whoppers (my dads favorite) for lunch.

Edited to add for accountability : No buy days are any day I personally avoid spending money not budgeted that should have been anticipated / budgeted. Since I get groceries twice a month any trips to pick up extras in between real trips (other than weekly run for fresh milk) count as a purchase as do any UNPLANNED meals out.

At first, I was thinking the candy Whoppers, not the hamburgers and was thinking that's an odd lunch! You can tell for food, chocolate comes first in my mind.

 

[mommajo143]

Hoping for atleast 12 no buy days this month.

I am not making it very well this month. UGH!

20 days until 4/30 so plenty of the month left to 'no buy'

 

[EpiStitch]

Bumping the thread in case others want to check in. I'm about halfway to my goal and we're about halfway through the month. I really need to buckle down since I overspent last weekend.

 

[mommajo143]

Bumping the thread in case others want to check in. I'm about halfway to my goal and we're about halfway through the month. I really need to buckle down since I overspent last weekend.

We are doing a lot better than I thought with eating at home since I'm being so aware of it... But I realized I'm wasting money on other stuff way more often than I thought.... This board definitely is making me much more aware of my spending.

 

[EpiStitch]

We are doing a lot better than I thought with eating at home since I'm being so aware of it... But I realized I'm wasting money on other stuff way more often than I thought.... This board definitely is making me much more aware of my spending.

I feel like it takes a loooooong time to cut down on all the excess spending, even after you identify it. I was able to cut out about $400 of spending each month that will allow me to build up an emergency fund and pay off my student loans within 5 years of when they came due (assuming I stay on track).

 

[mommajo143]

I feel like it takes a loooooong time to cut down on all the excess spending, even after you identify it. I was able to cut out about $400 of spending each month that will allow me to build up an emergency fund and pay off my student loans within 5 years of when they came due (assuming I stay on track).

I kinda feel guilty - I have fussed at DH for years for all his takeout (he has a job that requires ALOT of travel daily) but now that I'm watching my habits, I'm really ashamed. I'll need to apologize ...

 

[EpiStitch]

I took some of my clothes to sell today, and they didn't buy a single thing! I guess I'm not trendy enough since they were all in great condition and some even still have tags on them. I have one dress I'm planning to sell on eBay since it's more high end and I wouldn't get much for it here even if it was deemed "good enough". The irony is that it also still has the tags on it, but I don't like the style on me. I also bought it off eBay and may be able to sell it for more than I originally paid!

At the very least, my closet is cleaned out and the remaining items will be donated so that some young women here will have a chance to pick up nice items.