Feb No Buy! Short Month! We can do this!

[ronnmel]

Oh boy! 17 days of great savings, and I just blew it all in one day. It's like, after all these no-buy days, money was burning my hands and I HAD to spend it. As I was in Walmart just to get glasses, I kept being pulled further and further back. Bought books for my class, a Mickey t-shirt and a few scrapbooking stickers. And very expensive glasses. To be fair, I did need new glasses as I've had mine for 4 years and they were VERY scratched. Not to mention I lost my sunglasses-clip-on and I need them when it's sunny. The store had 25$ frames, but do I like them? of course not, I much prefer the 200$ ones! At least they had a 2 for 1 deal going...

One thing though. The whole time I was walking through the store and grabbing things, I kept thinking back to this thread and how I was going to have to own up to all that money spent. I even put a few items back! So, yay! for that.


No Buy Days : 13/16
Gas : 102$ (let's try 100$)
Groceries : 80$ (250$ max)
Eating out (and snacks) : 31$ (100$ max)
Non-necessities : 608$ (200$) Ouch!

01/02 : 0$
02/02 : 0$
03/02 : 35$ (gas)
04/02 : 0$
05/02 : 0$
06/02 : 0$
07/02 : 0$
08/02 : 111$ (gas + groceries)
09/02 : 0$
10/02 : 0$
11/02 : 41$ (dinner + clothes)
12/02 : 0$
13/02 : 0$
14/02 : 0$
15/02 : 12$ (scarf, mittens + snack)
16/02 : 0$
17/02 : 0$
18/02 : 622$

 

[msmama]

I'm going to go for 14 No Buys - half the month.

I'm also going to track spending this month:
Groceries: 422/300 - 122 over
Car: 34/80 - 46 left
Dining out/Entertainment: 83/100 - 17 left
Gifts/Valentines: 147/100 - 47 over

2/1 - 5 -met friend for coffee
2/2 - 0
2/3 - 0
2/4 - 97+9 - Target and Taco Bell
2/5 - 55+66+8 - Sale meat at Grocery store, Flowers for BFF and Quiznos
2/6 - 0
2/7 - 0 (if I call it now then I can't spend, right?)
2/8 - 0
2/9 - 50+60 (baby present and Tangled preorder and dinner out with soon to give birth friend)
2/10 - 0 (got Cash from the ATM but didn't spend it so I figure it counts as "No Buy")
2/11 - 30+7 (birthday present for Mom)
2/12 - 139 (Totally unnecessary groceries at Target. But I couldn't pass up the sale prices of their "bulk" items.)
2/13 - 0
2/14 - 2 (Missed a No Buy by 2 freaking dollars. Library fine and a bit over a GC at Starbucks).
2/15 - 0
2/16 - SURGERY -0
2/17 -0
2/18 - 0 (Happy that I managed to ward off the online shopping bug)
2/19
2/20
2/21
2/22
2/23
2/24
2/25
2/26
2/27
2/28

11/14 No Buy Days!

 

[Debbie]

Wasn't a no buy day, and tomorrow night we are heading to Orlando for the weekend to see my nephews band at Downtown Disney and take him to Universal. I'm not going to worry about the no buys- I'd just like to stay under budget this month. Hotel was paid out of money put aside previously , and I got a good deal on Bookit. I'll try to be good this weekend.

Have a great time!

Downtown D23 Member event...hope I don't get sucked into buying something.

That sounds like FUN.

Oh well! Bought a cute Disney lanyard from ebay - I wear a lanyard everyday at work & wanted one that doesn't have the company logo (I love the company I work for, but a Disney lanyard will make me smile more )

-- I must say this. Although it appears I will not make my goal this month, I had another goal in mind when I started the February No Buy. That goal was (is!) to fatten up my savings account. (AKA, the emergency fund) I have done rather well (I didn't have a specifc amount in mind, just to add to it as much as possible.) I'm really rather pleased with the result of my efforts, so I'm not going to beat myself up for (probably) not making my No Buy goal. In fact, I think I deserve a !!

Absolutely you deserve a In fact, you deserve LOTS of hugs! That is a GREAT feeling, and good self-control. Congratulations.

the things we do for our kids!

and SOOOOOO true!

Feb 18: Pd 2 bills, not counted, Got $40 out of the bank, in case I need it, but didn't spend it, so $0!!

$0 Days: 12!!! Woo Hoo!! Goal met!!!! Let's see how many more I can do!

HOORAY!!!!!

Oh boy! 17 days of great savings, and I just blew it all in one day. It's like, after all these no-buy days, money was burning my hands and I HAD to spend it. As I was in Walmart just to get glasses, I kept being pulled further and further back. Bought books for my class, a Mickey t-shirt and a few scrapbooking stickers. And very expensive glasses. To be fair, I did need new glasses as I've had mine for 4 years and they were VERY scratched. Not to mention I lost my sunglasses-clip-on and I need them when it's sunny. The store had 25$ frames, but do I like them? of course not, I much prefer the 200$ ones! At least they had a 2 for 1 deal going...

One thing though. The whole time I was walking through the store and grabbing things, I kept thinking back to this thread and how I was going to have to own up to all that money spent. I even put a few items back! So, yay! for that.

It's funny how that works.....like a snowball, but I think you've done well. Glasses are an expensive NEED. (and yes, I realize that you picked the expensive ones, but sometimes, that is just what we need!)

11/14 No Buy Days!

Getting CLOSE!

 

[SunnieRN]

Oh boy! 17 days of great savings, and I just blew it all in one day. It's like, after all these no-buy days, money was burning my hands and I HAD to spend it. As I was in Walmart just to get glasses, I kept being pulled further and further back. Bought books for my class, a Mickey t-shirt and a few scrapbooking stickers. And very expensive glasses. To be fair, I did need new glasses as I've had mine for 4 years and they were VERY scratched. Not to mention I lost my sunglasses-clip-on and I need them when it's sunny. The store had 25$ frames, but do I like them? of course not, I much prefer the 200$ ones! At least they had a 2 for 1 deal going...

18/02 : 622$

I think you are doing fantastic! If you had come to post tonight and told us you spent money on something unnecessary, I could see you being sad, but, glasses are a necessity! It is something you have on your face all day, every day. They are a continuous fashion statement! Not buying the ones you like, would make you unhappy every time you look in the mirror!

I think we are trying to learn, how to make our money work for us!! We are getting a lot of things accomplished with no buy days, because then when something that is necessary comes along, we can take care of it. We don't have to charge it, without being able to pay it off, we don't need to worry about it.

Besides that, what good does it do, to work hard, save money and curb spending, if you can't enjoy what you do buy! I think you had a victory today and should only count your non glasses spending!

 

[A.Mickey]

Running Total: Spent $1251.32
$0 Days:7/10

Groceries ($252-$9/day)- $167.14
Eating Out ($196-$7/day)- $115.33
Misc. (Shopping/Entertainment) ($1008-$36/day) $837.85 Not Planned (Snuck up on me): $215 Southwest Tickets...I think I will take the money from the Ohio Hotel and pay for the Ohio Hotel next month. $330 Planned left= $92 Great America, Have $224 left for Ohio Hotel, $14 Metra to see Musical[/COLOR]
Gas $200?- $25 (2/3), $48 (2/6), $28 (2/8), $30 (2/14) = $131

WEEK 1 BEGIN:
1- $12.68 (McDonald's-Eating Out), $21.04 (Walgreens-Groceries), $6.34 (Meijer-Groceries)
2- As much as I would like to go out, to get a few items at Dominick's before they are off sale, it is not happening. We got 22" of snow! Only emergency and medical vehicles are allowed on the road.
$0
3- $31.43 (Meijer-Groceries), $4.88 (McDonald's-Eating Out)
4- $0
5- $9.97 (CVS-Groceries), $5.99 (Dominick's-Groceries)
WEEK 2 BEGIN:
6- $2 (Dollar Tree-Papers), $6.37 (Meijer-Groceries), $3/bag, probably got over 50 kids books (Library Book Sale-Shopping), $12.95 (Walgreens-Groceries), $13.98 (Wendy's-Eating Out), $291.60 (Hotel for 2 nights St. Louis in July, staying right next to the arch and we can walk to Busch stadium for the U2 concert), $101.25 (Car Registration-Misc.)
7- $35 (Joe Caputo-Groceries)
8- $200 (Registration for Spring Classes for our 3 year old son and preschool in the fall)
9- $6 (McDonald's-Eating Out), $23 (Post Office-Misc. Needed to send in a DSLR lens that broke on our trip in December, it is still under warranty though, so hopefully this will save me money in the long run, and also bought a book of stamps)
10- $0
11- $0
12- $6.82 (Jewel-Groceries), $2 (Dollar Tree-Shopping Newspapers), $9.80 (McDonald's-Eating Out), $13.15 (Eating Out-Subway)
WEEK 3 BEGIN:
13- $31 (Zoo-Eating Out, bought a refillable mug for $10 that will be good til the end of the year, now we just have to remember to bring it), $19 (Meijer-Groceries), $6.77 (Super Target-Groceries)
14- $3.81 (Joe Caputo-Groceries), $16.58 (KFC-Eating Out and Hubby's Valentine's Day present...he loves Hot wings and last week he wanted them, but he couldn't justify getting them when we have so much food in the house. He works 3rd shift so I lined them up on a pan to make them spell out I "heart" U. I can't wait til he sees it. He loves his hotwings and hasn't had them for a long time)
15- $0
16- $215 (Southwest-bought two one way tickets for our trip in Sept/October), $1.65 (Walgreens-Groceries), $7.26 (Wendy's-Eating Out)
17- $0
18- $0
19- Meijer, Dollar Tree, Decided on Driving Parking $8 and eating out. Musical Downtown
WEEK 4 BEGIN:
20- Downtown D23 Member event...hope I don't get sucked into buying something.


Budget: $1656....76%
Month: 18/28: 64%
No Buy: 7/10: 70%

My savings from coupons and sales: $570.44

Next Month: Pictures, Ohio Hotel, two trips by train, Great America season pass installment, 2nd half of our airplane tickets for October...

 

[Debbie]

Hooray! I made another $0.

Feb. 1: Groceries $30, summer conference for me....$295 (luckily, I've saved for this and it is not really a part of the budget )
Feb. 2: $0 Snow day!
Feb. 3: $20 at DD's Talent night. $10 for my admission, and $10 for draws. I won a really nice Lavender hand cream/soap/shower gel set from Crabtree and Evelyn.
Feb. 4: gas $45, 2 pair special "loop" scissors for school $7, and a renewal for Scholars Choice which nets me 10% discount, $10 in free goods, AND a huge mug/warmer + notepads $10 (seems like a deal to me ) Hmmmm. So far, I can't put the finger on DH for spending (but tomorrow is another day....one of his 'shopping days!"
Feb. 5: DH shopped in the city in the morning-groceries $45 and I shopped Costco-groceries-$32, tax software-$37 and in our village in the afternoon, another $45 on groceries. After a Church dinner that he worked at, DH brought home buns, snacks, pie etc, so we gained there
Feb. 6: DH bought some gingerale for DD who isn't feeling well $4, so I had him top up the gas $35 since we'd need it tomorrow anyway
Feb. 7: $0 Finally, another one!
Feb. 8: DH's 'shopping day' and it was only $60. That, in itself, is an accomplishment!
Feb. 9: groceries....stocking up $83
Feb 10: gas $43, pharmacy $25
Feb 11: DD's birthday so she went wild with spending-close to $200 that Mommy forked out, but I'm not going to count that since it will come out of a different budget. Just the same, let me say it was well over (say 4 times!) what I would have sent her if she were still in Egypt. OTOH, she was excited to get her birthday wish....an end to the protests...and will likely return shortly, so I spoiled her some. I spent (for the house/family) about $50, including a trip to Tim Horton's for hot chocolate for her "birthday surprise visitor". (another wish that she got)
Feb 12: still stocking up groceries $100
Feb 13: gas $36
Feb 14: DH bought me strawberries for Valentine's Day....that and a St. Patrick's Day card $5
Feb 15: DH's shop $35 gas $39
Feb 16: FINALLY! $0
Feb 17: Had to take DD to Toronto to return to Egypt today, so ended up spending $48 in gas. Went to Costco for my staff 'store' for Cancer Research, and, for me, bought ink cartridges $70 and snack food $8. THEN DH and I went to Denny's. We had entrées gift cards, so spent less than $10 ($6 tip and $3.44 for the meal ) Maybe tomorrow.
Feb 18: $0
No Buy days this month: 4/10

 

[Jennia]

Feb 1: $15 at Walgreens
Feb 2: $0
Feb 3: $15 on gas and parking in Seattle
Feb 4: $0
Feb 5: $0
Feb 6: $0
Feb 7: $29, Gymboree and Joann's
Feb 8: $0
Feb 9: $0
Feb 10: $0
Feb 11: $2, snack for dd
Feb 12: $0
Feb 13: $0
Feb 14: $0
Feb 15: $56, groceries
Feb 16: $0
Feb 17: $0
Feb 18: $191, professional photos (maternity and some 3.5 year photos of dd), lunch out with dd afterwards

 

[ronnmel]

It's funny how that works.....like a snowball, but I think you've done well. Glasses are an expensive NEED. (and yes, I realize that you picked the expensive ones, but sometimes, that is just what we need!)

Thanks. And yes, really like a snowball. At least I was able to control it a tiny bit.

I think you are doing fantastic! If you had come to post tonight and told us you spent money on something unnecessary, I could see you being sad, but, glasses are a necessity! It is something you have on your face all day, every day. They are a continuous fashion statement! Not buying the ones you like, would make you unhappy every time you look in the mirror!

I think we are trying to learn, how to make our money work for us!! We are getting a lot of things accomplished with no buy days, because then when something that is necessary comes along, we can take care of it. We don't have to charge it, without being able to pay it off, we don't need to worry about it.

Besides that, what good does it do, to work hard, save money and curb spending, if you can't enjoy what you do buy! I think you had a victory today and should only count your non glasses spending!

I know, and I agree. Glasses are a necessity AND I need to love them because I do wear them everyday (never wear contacts). I remember my first pair of glasses, and I hated it! Now I love wearing glasses.

I will count it though because I know I could have gotten it for a LOT cheaper. For example, I could have tried to buy a pair off clearlycontacts.com, and then just buy a pair of clip-ons. So the shaking head smiley is for that : spending 550$ for something I could have gotten at least 200$ cheaper. Oh well, I'm sure I'll forget all about the sticker price shock once I receive them.

 

[bigmama67]

2/1 - $21.13 on groceries today, $4.16 on a shirt for DS to be a Sneetch (it's Dr. Seuss week at school), $10 on Shari's Berries voucher (gift for DH).

2/2 - $61.98 on groceries - stocked up on meat and cereal, $516.84 left for the month.

2/3 - $0

2/4 - $50.70 groceries/$466.14; $20.65 household; $6 to see a movie with my friend (didn't buy $nack$ this time, LOL!). Also paid some bills but I don't count that.

2/5 - Planned a "no-buy" day but that went out the window! $8.50 Johnny Rockets, groceries - $16.85 on Amazon and $14.41 at Stop & Shop; $8.01 for beer; $7.48 for LED lights and $40.79 for clothing at Kohls! So much for a "no-buy" day, huh? LOL.

2/6 – Groceries $62.48, coupon savings $70.20! $372.40 left for the month. Also $4.00 for DH and DS to bowl a couple of games.

2/7 - $0

2/8 – Groceries $82.11/$290.29 left for month (also tipped $5 to the delivery guy); $9.99 for Fish Oil for my cats (buy one get one free!); $16.46 on stuff for the house (new pizza pans, etc.); $28.99 for birthday gifts for DS’ (twin) friends; DH put $10 of gas in the car...Paid a few bills too.

2/9 – 50 cents to print documents at the library; $1.61 for a toothbrush, $10 for DH’s tab at a social event. So much for no-buy day #3, next chance for one will be Sunday.

2/10 – Toys R Us $11.32; Groceries $8.08/$282.21 left for month; gas $3 (to keep it going till I can get to Costco for the cheap gas!)

2/11 – DS lunch at school $4.65; Costco $88.96 groceries/$193.25 left for the month but we don’t need much more; cat litter $11.99; gas $31.35; $5.65 for a gift bag and tissue paper at CVS; Gymboree $55.68 (20% off and I'll get $25 Gymbucks!); Target $12.83 (new potty for DD and Pepsi); $9 for a My First LeapPad at the consignment store – I got it for DD because I thought her other one was broken (it turns out it isn’t, but DH said we might as well keep the second one just in case; they don’t make them any more)! Expensive day!

2/12 - Circus Science Day at the Museum (we’re members so at least admission was free): $7 parking, $16 lunch, $10 souvenirs. We had a BLAST though! Groceries $30.75/$162.50 left for month!

2/13 – $40.48 gas for my van/$168.17 left for month; $26.57 Costco groceries/$135.93 left for month; $10.00 DH’s prescription; he also bought some beer (DD already pulled the sixpack down and broke one…) and some stuff for my new tutoring assignments but that came out from a different account so I won’t count it.

2/14 – $0
(DH got me something at Bath & Body Works but I don't know how much it was and so I'm assuming it came from a different source.)

Although it's a no-buy day, it's also a no-earn day. I was supposed to start some new tutoring gigs today but that's on hold now because of some snafu with the classroom I was supposed to use. ARGH! I had already arranged for DD to go to her old daycare - canceled that for today and tomorrow, now I'll start Wednesday - and DS is going to Extended Care, which I'll leave as is. He was looking forward to it and it happens to be over 60 degrees out! Going to the park with DD soon, in fact! (Update: she fell asleep on the way, and there was still snow on the ground anyhow, so we came right home.)

2/15 – Groceries $7.89/$128.04 left for the month - saved $11.01 in coupons/discounts! Also paid some bills.

2/16 – $0

2/17 – Poor little DD had a tummy bug so…$5.49 to get some ginger ale for her (also root beer for me and a strawberry milk for DS…we had to walk to the overpriced deli since I was washing her car seat…’nuff said on that )…also DH got a few grocery items at Stop & Shop - $6.27 and his protein powder (counts under health) $10.99. So $116.28 left for the month on groceries and I’m only halfway to my no-buy goal as of the 17th…sigh…not looking too hopeful.

2/18 – DS school lunch $4.55; took DD to doctor $15; also DH got some Pedia pops and crackers for DD at the grocery store $10; DH took DS out to dinner so DD could rest with me $18; out of desperation we brought DD to the E.R. (I lost count of how many times she threw up yesterday…sweetie couldn’t even keep down a tiny bit of breast milk!) They gave her an anti-nausea shot which FINALLY seems to have done the trick - $50 copay.




Coupon/Discount savings so far: $305.14!! (If ONLY I could bank that…sigh…)

No-buy days: 4/8

 

[dtr_angel]

Week 3
2/13 - $1.10 eating out, $5.30 eating out (DH)
2/14 - $84.40 misc (dentist), $36.91 - FAIL! misc (reebok easy tone shoes)
2/15 - $5.30 eating out (DH), eating out $6.16
2/16 – $55.27 (gas)
2/17 – $6.32 eating out
2/18 – $15.39 eating out
2/19 – hoping to only buy groceries today!

Totals
Groceries- $134.89/$350
Eating Out- $128.58/$150
Misc- $224.74/$450
Gas- $105.38/$110
Gifts- $92.44/$100

No buy days - Feb 2

 

[nunzia]

Feb 1- Gas $20, Walmart shopping trip during a snowstorm..ack: $106.89 (more than I expected to spend, but dogs have to eat and DH needs his beer) coupons: $8.45
2- $0 (even New Mexico was snowed in today)
3- took a friend visiting from Florida out for lunch $22.87, went to Dollar Tree for hash browns but got my DH his favorite cookies instead since they had no hash browns $5.00, ended up at Lowes for hash browns $1.99
4- $12.00..out for lunch with another friend
5- $0
6- $0
7- $0
8- $0 ( to be fair..I did buy a plane ticket for DH's trip to join me after Expo next year, but that wasn't an optional purchase and money came from trip account..I'm only counting optional things, food and gas, not things that are locked in stone)
9- Big spending day! DH medicine and gas: $20, groceries: $39, Leapfrog site,,they still have some DIDJ stuff on clearance and I bought DGS a Didj for Christmas and he loves it so needed to get stuff before it totally disappears, plus a charger to save on batteries, so $53, and DH had to buy materials to replace the pad to our bedroom carpet that got ruined during the big stupid freeze/thaw we had, so $166 ACK Coupons, $2.50 (PS edited to *** $4.90 to ship Valentines stuff to out of state grandkids..forgot to yesterday)
10- $0
11- $9.00, lunch out with a friend, $9.00 grandkids to Dollar Tree after school
12- $20.45 at my second job, Hastings, for frappe, bagel, magazines for grandkids and part of a wedding shower gift, $45.75 WalMart, rest of the wedding shower gift, a few groceries and WHOOP toys on super clearance put away for future events, $30.00 Bingo night out with son and DIL
13-$0
14-$0
15-$1.74 movie rental, $10.00 gas, $4.50 berries on sale
16-$26 Walmart..groceries and did I mention the great Toys clearance?
17-Took a day off from work today. At my other job spent $1.00 for a bagel (started feeling shakey..low blood sugar issues) and rental clearance Sorcerer's Apprentice for $4.99, then went to Penny's because I had overpaid my CC and got some stuff for a baby shower and grandkids, but cost nothing, down the mall past Hallmark, who had all their left over ornaments on sale for $2.00 each, bought 2..Kmart to finish getting stuff for the baby shower, $16.96, then tacos for lunch $4.80. We also went out to dinner with friends, but used a GC
18-Dang, blew it with $6.89 at Dollar Tree with the grandkids...
19-
20-
21-
22-
23-
24-
25-
26-
27-
28-

8/12

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I did a big multi-quote post yesterday evening. I even tried to post it twice. I was afraid it would double post. HA! It didn't post AT ALL!

-- I must say this. Although it appears I will not make my goal this month, I had another goal in mind when I started the February No Buy. That goal was (is!) to fatten up my savings account. (AKA, the emergency fund) I have done rather well (I didn't have a specifc amount in mind, just to add to it as much as possible.) I'm really rather pleased with the result of my efforts, so I'm not going to beat myself up for (probably) not making my No Buy goal. In fact, I think I deserve a !!

Yes, I do agree that I think you need a hug! I also think it's good to see the progress you are making in the bigger financial picture than just the number of $0 Buy Days.

I've said it before, but the reason I don't have a goal number for the $0 Buy Days is because that is really not my main goal. The $0 Days may help me reach my goal, but if I focus on them too much, then I tend to lose sight of my main goal, which is to stay within budget on spending.

Down to the last week of my 6 week "money fast."

I'm really getting the hang of it. Yesterday hit both the dollar store and Costco and picked up only the 5 items on my list!

That is QUITE the accomplishment, ESPECIALLY at those two stores!!

So 6 weeks....are you going to continue with no buy?

Thanks annsteere!
sometimes it's all about the little things! For less than $5.00 I will smile every day when I put on that lanyard - that will be well worth the money spent.

And thanks to all of you - the support found on this thread is only outdone by how friendly everyone is! Group hug everybody!!!!

That's awesome! I did the same thing. I had a standard-issue work lanyard (plain blue) and I went and got a Saints lanyard. Much more interesting.

Took the kids to the local zoo and out for ice cream. Used our membership and free coupons. It's such a beautiful (and free) day!

We had absolutely beautiful weather here yesterday too....after the insanely dense fog burned off, that is!

Oh boy! 17 days of great savings, and I just blew it all in one day. It's like, after all these no-buy days, money was burning my hands and I HAD to spend it. As I was in Walmart just to get glasses, I kept being pulled further and further back. Bought books for my class, a Mickey t-shirt and a few scrapbooking stickers. And very expensive glasses. To be fair, I did need new glasses as I've had mine for 4 years and they were VERY scratched. Not to mention I lost my sunglasses-clip-on and I need them when it's sunny. The store had 25$ frames, but do I like them? of course not, I much prefer the 200$ ones! At least they had a 2 for 1 deal going...

One thing though. The whole time I was walking through the store and grabbing things, I kept thinking back to this thread and how I was going to have to own up to all that money spent. I even put a few items back! So, yay! for that.

I feel like that some days! Well, if you wear this pair for 4 year, and got a BOGO on $200 glasses, that means each pair costs you $25 per year. Besides, since glasses are a need and you want to feel confident while wearing them, you really need to get glasses you LIKE. And being so frugal the rest of the month allowed you the option to choose the ones you liked best!

I think you did good to put some things back, and really consider each item you were buying. Walmart is a scary place when you're trying to save money! I swear their prices may be cheaper than other places, but since I buy MORE when I'm there, I don't actually save money! I have not yet gone to Walmart in 2011 and I've been to Target only once. That alone is saving me money!

I think you are doing fantastic! If you had come to post tonight and told us you spent money on something unnecessary, I could see you being sad, but, glasses are a necessity! It is something you have on your face all day, every day. They are a continuous fashion statement! Not buying the ones you like, would make you unhappy every time you look in the mirror!

I think we are trying to learn, how to make our money work for us!! We are getting a lot of things accomplished with no buy days, because then when something that is necessary comes along, we can take care of it. We don't have to charge it, without being able to pay it off, we don't need to worry about it.

Besides that, what good does it do, to work hard, save money and curb spending, if you can't enjoy what you do buy! I think you had a victory today and should only count your non glasses spending!

I agree with all of this!

 

[3goofyboys]

I'm in again this month!

Welcome new faces, hope you love the thread!

I've shooting for a goal of 12 no-buys for the shorter month. This month both DH and I have birthdays, plus v-day so that ads some extra expenses. Thankfully, we aren't having major birthdays this year so no big parties and we never do anything big for v-day. We are planning on buying a new house in March or April, so we need to do some saving to prep for the extra moving expenses.

Feb 1 I like to start the month with a no buy, but no such luck today. $70 had to register the boys for soccer and swimming, but I found out I had a big credit on my account (yay for found money!) so that took care of half the bill, $60 groceries.


Feb 2 It was errand day today, so $$$! $170 groceries, $40 gas, $25 filed my taxes. Hopefully this will take care of any spending through early next week.


Feb 3 We got caught out unexpectedly at lunch time, so we had to hit Subway. I could have waited, but DH gets very cranky if he isn't fed on schedule ! $15 Subway.

Feb 4 $6 dinner with my parents, $23 gas

Feb 5 woo hoo! Finally a no buy day!


Feb 6

Feb 7 $21 lunch, $40 dinner, $89 paperwork that need to be ordered. I feel terrible that we had lunch AND dinner out today. But, we're in the middle of crazy loan/house stuff and after dealing with that and a preschool board meeting today plus babysitting a friend's little boy, I did not have cooking dinner in me!

Feb 8 Calling it early because the roads are awful and we're staying inside!

Feb 9 It's been a pricey couple of days! $64 moving supplies, $10 Inta Juice

Feb 10 $30 Home Depot-more boxes, $40 gas, $18 medical, $22 driver's license, $33 date night with DH


Feb 11 $14 groceries, $12 car wash

Feb 12

Feb 13

Feb 14 $63 groceries, $4 lunch

Feb 15 $22 a set of vintage photos I really liked, $26 took the boys ice skating...it was a horrible experience (we skate a lot, this was just one bad time) hate that, especially when it wasn't cheap, $40 Home Depot-some fixer upper stuff for the house, $100 cleaning lady, $14 groceries

Feb 16

Feb 17 $40 gas, $77 errand running and lunch with DH, $66 dogs groomed.

Feb 18 $30 Target for cleaning supplies

6/12 no buy days

 

[SunnieRN]

Bigmama67, I hope your daughter gets well soon! It is so scary when our little ones can't keep anything down. When my older grandson was young,if he ever threw up, it wouldn't stop. Period! He even ended up in the hospital one time! Grandma HD to stay with him as Mommy had just had baby brother the day before. Now, if he throws up one time, out comes the Zofran! To me this drug is a miracle for him, as phenergren didn't even touch his nausea.

Where'sPiglet, I am glad your multi quotes are working again! I get very frustrated on my iPad. I can't multi quote, as the window on some websites will not scroll to respond.

That is also the reason I have so many more errors in my posts now. I can't scroll to edit them out, lol.

 

[#1hoosierfan]

This month is turning into a total bust. My mom called yesterday after I got off from work and offered to watch the boys for dh and I to go out to dinner. My BIL wasn't feeling well, but my sister decided to join us. We went to a new Cuban restaurant that recently opened downtown. We sat and shared mojitos and several different tapas. Perfect way to end a stressful work week!


2/1 - $0
2/2 - 75 cents on fritos at work to go with my leftover taco salad.... highway robbery! Walgreens - $6.30, coupons $4.20 and got $6 in register rewards.
2/3 $0
2/4 - $14.51 at Jimmy Johns and 99 cents for Angry Birds on iPhone.
2/5 - $50 for oldest ds t-ball sign-ups. $53 for dinner. We got AWESOME seats to the Louisville game last night from dh's CEO. Had lots of fun, and our team won! Parking, snacks, and beer at the game.... $42. 2.32
2/6 - $2.14 McDonalds; Meijer $91.12 saved $4 in coupons; Walgreens $27.97 saved $19 in coupons and received $17 in register rewards
2/7 - $0
2/8 - $0
2/9 - $0
2/10 - $0
2/11 - $20 deposit into my lunch account at work; $22.13 Walmart; $2.49 book for my Kindle
2/12- $20 basketball pictures; $5.33 Toys R Us cute Mickey shirt for Disney; $156 Chuck E Cheese party and cake
2/13 - $15.70 Walgreens saved $24.50 in coupons and received $15 in register rewards; $104.70 Kroger, saved $5 in coupons; $121 Target after $20 gift card. Save $3.25 in coupons
2/14 - $36 dinner at local Mexican restaurant ; $75 cleaning lady
2/15 - KMart - $29, they have their clearance kids clothes 40% already reduced price.... I got the boys' several sets of warm pjs for next year and fall jackets for next year.... all of it was Disney or Thomas the Train; $16Arby's dinner drive-thru.
2/16 -$5.30 lunch; $27 Meijer iXL book for ds's birthday
2/17 - $12 Mary Kay order; $132 Disneystore.com..... Free Shipping was REALLY expensive.......
2/18 - Walmart - $27; dinner out $75


Goal:
6/10

January coupon savings: $58.50

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Where'sPiglet, I am glad your multi quotes are working again! I get very frustrated on my iPad. I can't multi quote, as the window on some websites will not scroll to respond.

That is also the reason I have so many more errors in my posts now. I can't scroll to edit them out, lol.

Thanks. It was so strange last night. I went through, selected a bunch of posts to multi-quote, and then went to add my comments. Some of the posts I chose were not quoted, and some that I didn't were. Then, when I went to submit the post, the DIS had a note that it was down for 2 hours for maintenance, so I used my back button. I hit submit again, only to get a message that the server was too busy and try again later. When I went to check that I didn't double post, I found that mine didn't post at all, but two other posts did while I was working on mine.

I decided to give up at that point and try again this morning!

I have an iPhone and will often check this thread and some others during my lunch at work. However, it's frustrating to post from the phone so I don't do that often. I post in the evenings from my computer at home.

 

[SunnieRN]

I love everything about my iPad, except for the fact that forum response windows do NOT scroll, but I guess that is actually minor, in the great scope of things.

I sometimes get odd messages also, or my iPad will connect to this site, but my laptop will not. I do the same thing and just put everything off until later. Less stressful that way!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

1: $20.89 gas ($2.86/gallon)
2: $0!
3: $0!
4: $0!
5: $138.70 Walgreens, Rite Aid, CVS, SaveALot, Rouses, Winn-Dixie, Wendy's
6: $0!
7: $0!
8: $0!
9: $0!
10: $0!
11: $0!
12: $0!
13: $0!
14: $109.19 Walgreens, CVS, Exxon ($2.85/g), Rouses, RiteAid, iTunes, Work
15: $0!
16: $0!
17: $0!
18: $7.20 Winn-Dixie and a snoball (like a snow cone...yes, in February!!)

$0 Days: 14
Spending: $275.98/$475= 58%
Days Passed: 18/28: 64%

Goal: To keep spending to within $475 for food, gas, and miscellaneous. I do not track bills; I only track "point of sale" transactions.

My DH and I went to Big Lots yesterday to look at patio furniture. We did not have any, but I wanted a table and chairs at least. I set a budget of $200 before I left. Well, for $197 we got a table, 4 chairs, a BBQ, grill cooking and cleaning tools, a saw, 2 pruning shears, and some light bulbs that I thought were the size I needed. I think we did pretty good.

I am not sure if I will return the light bulbs or find a use for them around the house. They are a smaller size bulb than standard, but the standard size base, so I think I can use them in most light sockets. The lights that burned out that I was attempting to replace are little bulbs with little bases. Then, when I got home and went to unscrew one of the burned out bulbs, the light broke from the metal right at the base.

I am not counting the Big Lots items in the general budget.

 

[bigmama67]

Bigmama67, I hope your daughter gets well soon! It is so scary when our little ones can't keep anything down. When my older grandson was young,if he ever threw up, it wouldn't stop. Period! He even ended up in the hospital one time! Grandma HD to stay with him as Mommy had just had baby brother the day before. Now, if he throws up one time, out comes the Zofran! To me this drug is a miracle for him, as phenergren didn't even touch his nausea.

Thanks. She woke up at 6:15 DEMANDING to nurse, so I gave her a little. She kept that down so I gave her some Pedialyte which also stayed down. Then at 9:15 she came down and had a Pedia pop and a couple of crackers. Now she's sleeping (and she NEVER naps during the day). I think we're over it but it will take her a couple of days to get her strength back...and she LOVES to eat so she will be frustrated soon enough at not being allowed to chow down.

DH and DS are at bowling and I have a play reading to go to this afternoon so I'd better get back to working on the kitchen. For some reason DH can't get much done while he's home with both kids... At least I can go without stressing too much about DD though!

 

[thebeesknees]

2/1 - $0
2/2 - $0
2/3 - $0
2/4 - $0
2/5 - $0
2/6 - $0
2/7 - $22 Dollar Tree, $66 Target, $13 Walmart, $3 McDonald's
2/8 - $200 Sam's Club
2/9 - $19 Walmart, $1 Dollar Tree, $17 Thrift Store
2/10 - $0
2/11 - $0
2/12 - $14 Safeway, $35 gasoline
2/13 - $0
2/14 - $0
2/15 - $0
2/16 - $0
2/17 - $65 - groceries.
2/18 - $0
2/19 - $0

14/12 no-buy days this month