Not doing very well this month, goal is still 15 but will be happy to reach 10.
October 1- Not a good start. $55 DD15's yearbook, $18 DD15's PSAT, $4.50 2 kids wanted to buy lunch (we don't do this but once a month maybe twice for DD15) $14.50 school photos for DD8. Really messed up my back today (this is an ongoing and expensive problem) so I absolutely couldn't cook, plus I was supposed to get groceries and that was out. I barely made it to get the kids dinner, so a pizza at the drive thru $8 (DH isn't home or he'd have handled dinner.) However I subbed yesterday and today so I made some money (preschool, so just about $50 for the 2 days) and will be face painting at a festival tomorrow and will get $1 a kid, so that is good (hope it's busy!) And finally, the best news of the day...over the weekend I checked out state's unclaimed property and DH had one thing. It didn't say what it was but I filled out the form to get it and we got it today. It was a check for $338.88!!! DH and I are going to dinner and a movie tomorrow and putting the rest away.
October 2- Woke up wanting to go to the emergency room for my back, but had committed to being the face painter at a local festival so I pushed though and took my DD15 for help and we went. I gave her $4 for food out of what we made. DH and I were going to go out on a date but I couldn't hardly move so when I came hom I got inot bed and have been here since. So not quite a no spend day, but had she not gone with me there would have been no way I could have done it and wouldn't have made anything so it was money well spent. PLUS, I am starting to feel better so that is a $150 ER copay saved.
October 3- Apple Fest, I am clumping it all together at about $80 We ate, we bought a custom made sign for my DH's office and he bought me a really cool but totally unnecessary gift. BUT, it was an amazingly fun day. $100.52 @ Sam's. $3 ice cream for the kids at Sam's. $2 snack for DH. $20 gas and $84 groceries. Need to get back on track tomorrow!!!
October 4-$0 
"Technically"
DH had a coupon for lunch. He called and asked me to come and said he was going with or without me so I wouldn't be blowing a $0 day. He said he missed me cause I was in bed with my back most of the weekend.
How can you say no to that? So I went with him. Normally I'd count it but with the coupon and it coming out of his weekly spening money... oh then we got tickets to see a movie after work. We went to see "Life As We Know It," great movie! We went with the free preview passes.
October 5-$0 Calling it early today. Wasn't planning on spending anything anwyay, but woke up to a mouse in our house
so I baracaded myself in my bedroom and won't be leaving till DH gets home to check on me (and the traps) later this afternoon. Hopefully he will have caught it by then cause he has to work overnight tonight and while I wish I wasn't, I am so fearful of those little buggers!
ETA- Returned someting, credit about $10
October 6-$0 Calling it another early day. Only going for flu shots for the kids and Open House for DD11 tonight.
October 7- So annoyed!!! I decided I had to spend money at CEC for the kids school fundraiser. Using coupons I got a pizza with everything, drinks and 129 tokens for $19. It was such a mad house the kids mostly ran around with their friends and didn't use many tokens so we came home with over 100 left! Anyway, back to the annoying part. I had 2 gift cards for $16 each from Staples rebates. I figured I'd use those and wouldn't spend any money (the money for them was recorded back in August.) Well I asked her to put $15.99 on one and the rest on another. She kept putting the whole thing though and of course the card got declined. Well after her telling me 3 times in front of all the people around me from the kids' school, well, I got embarassed and just paid for it. The good news is I still have the gift cards for a rainy day. Bad news is, 8 days in and I only have 3 $0 days and today and tomorrrow won't be as it is my DD's Sweet 16 party today and tomorrow. BUT, that is budgeted and I want to spend more then she does so I have way more allowed for it then we will need.
October 8- DD's Sweet 16 Party so $$$. Dinner was $127
We went to a habatchi place. The girls all ordered what they wanted and drinks (my DD ordered water, she has been trained though I told her since it was her b-day she could have what she watned.) After the drinks came they decided they wanted virgin daquiris. No way was I paying $3 a drink PLUS $5 each for those so I said we'd make them later. Then they went to lazer tag, $48. While they were there I went and got the stuff for daquiris and a bunch of candy and a pie DD likes, $22.06. Gas $20. Redbox $1. $24 hoddie for DD11 with her new school name on it.
October 9- $35.58 Food for DH to tailgate tomorrow. His friend got the tickets so we bought the food. $18.86 allergy pills, fall allergies are kicking my family's tails. $22.27 makeup for me and dry shampoo for our trip (21 hour drive makes my hair look
) Date with the hubby
$50 and Haunted House for DD15 $9.
October 10- Not doing so well this month with the $0 days, but we are doing and not buying and that doesn't bother me as much. Today we spent the day at the Farm Festival. $24 admission for me and DD8 and DD11. Spent the whole day there. Didn't expect to be there though lunch and dinner and food was expensive so we got dinner on the way home for $18. It was, however, an alomst perfect Fall day. Had DH and DD15 been there it would have been perfect!
October 11- Continuing to do badly this month. The kids had off and Sweet and Sassy was doing free Updos and lomo rides, so we went there. No one was tipping but I felt I should so I gave each of the girls who did my DDs hair $3 and gave the limo driver $1 each girl. After I told them I'd take them to lunch. I didn't expect them to pick Taco Bell, but OK...$8. We went to paint pottery (I have a $25 G/C that I paid $5 for on Groupon) but they didn't hve the pieces they wanted in stock (after a 4 day weekend they were pretty pikced over) so we decided to wait. I had to stop at Walgreens and let them pick out a treat each (for the movies later) and got some Mickey Halloween ring pops for friends kids when they come here, that was $10. Then we went to the movies $3 for 4 of us to see Despicable Me, it was funny! Then I went and got some milk and an easy dinner and the stuff to make DD's cupcakes for her b-day tomorrow (in HS they can bring treats and even homemade ones, they can't in middle and elementary) and I found comfy Mickey jammies, $68.35.
Soooo need a $0 day today but not so sure, DD's b-day is TOMORROW and I have not gotten so much as a card! I have looked but don't see any that fit her and as far as gifts, I have no ideas at all.
October 12-$0 Finally!!! I did get a few goceries, under $10 worth that could have waited but DH watned french toast so I needed bread and used all the eggs for cupcakes for DD's b-day. BUT I used part of a G/C that I got as a rebate from Stapes at Back to School time and that money was recorded back in August. I could have waited on them, but I was going next to the store for DD8's dance tonight and got a pack of chicken with a hole it in I wanted to take back anyway, so since I had the G/C, I went for it.
ETA- I found out at dance today that I sold another 3 pairs of used shoes so I made another $15 for those!
October 13- Didn't get off with a $0 today. It was DD's 16th b-day. So, her gift was $70. We got her a tablet for her computer. We could spend a little more cause her party came in under $200 which is what I had planned for. $73 Sam's for groceries and a pair of pants for me. $41.38 gas. $18.96
Walmart groceries. $4 Walgreen's card and a MUCH NEEDED bottle of Mickey mouse pumpkin bubbles.
And $6 ice cream.
October 14-$0 Calling it an early day. I have girl scouts at my house tonight and the house looks like we live her tooooo comfortably!
I will be cleaning allllll day. Dinner is already in the crock pot so until this evening (dance/scouts) I have nothing to do but clean, clean, clean!!!
October 15- Uggg, it was a no spend day till... I had gone on a field trips with my DD11's class. The high today was supposed to be 50, not sure it ever made it there, and pouring rain. We were at a Corn Maze. I was soaked to the bone, freezing, and just generally miserable. DDD16 was at a party and the younger girls, just before I was trying to get myself to start dinner, asked dad if we could go to Friendly's and wit the chill still not gone and being so beyond tired, having soemone else cook AND do the dishes counded great! So, we blew it. BUT, we all ate and had ice cream and get a sundae cup and a half gallon for $25 with tip. (2 kids eat free coupons and a spend $25 save $5 coupon whcih is why we brought home ice cream, we basically got it for $.50 cause of the coupon.) So not too bad but I did blow what could have been and had been a $0. You know what? It was worth it!
October 16-$0 I got a lot done today but it hasn't been the best day. I am calling it now so I am motivated to make dinner and not grab a pizza. I want to call it a day, throw my jammies on and crawl into bed but I have to pick up DD8 at a party at 7 first. So I am going to force myself to make DD11 and DD16 dinner and then after I get DD8 reward myself with some warm jammies and hopefully a good movie on TV.
October 17- Went apple picking, $12 for 20 pounds of Golden (very) Delicious!, DD was at another Sweet 16 party, so I told DD11 and DD8 if they worked well as a team cleaning their bedroom I'd take them to Chuck E Cheese. I still have a free pass there for a pizza and tokens. (DD11 is a neat freak, DD8 is a little tornado, I try to be thankful for what we have but I do so wish I could give them their own rooms, DD11 works so hard to keep it up and DD8 is just such a mess. But thankfully DD11 loves her sister a lot and though it bugs her she still cleans up, but I wanted them to work more of a team.) So, they did it. They did ask though if we could have McDs for lunch instead of CEC, which is a shock, they love CEC but I said OK. It wasn't about the lunch, they wanted the Mr. Potato Head buckets that they Happy Meals came in. So, I paid for lunch but still have the coupon for another day, anyway, I also had fries (so bad but oh, so good!) and that was $8. Then DH and I slipped away for a dinner date. We had a B1G1 coupon but it was still $25 with tip. We got bread and milk on the way home, that was $3. Oh, and $20 for 2 birthday gifts.
October 18-$0 With one month till our trip I needed to start going though shorts to see what fits and what doesn't and wound up spending the entire day sorting old clothes. We desperatly need to have a yard sale. Can you have one that is virtually all clothes? I guess I will find out in the Spring.
October 19-$0 Kind of wanted mushrooms with our spaghetti tonight, but wanted a $0 more! The homemade meatballs will have to be enough! ( I am starving, the house smells great, and we have to wait for DD8 to get home from dance!)
October 20- $7 at target for glow sticks, a coffee mug for DH for his stocking and DD8 convinced me we needed to try pumpkin flavored pop tarts. $8 ordered the Keurig Kcups here on the BB. $89 groceries but that included like $20 in cleaners, why do they all run out at once? And we have not been to family night at the local burger place in over a month. I used to be the face painter there so the kids would get to go every week but since I don't work there anymore we don't go that often. They aksed daddy today if we could go and so, $18 for dinner out with the family.
ETA- Forgot I won a Cinderella dress for DD8 to wear to BBB and to dinner at 1900PF. That was $23 with shipping.
Ocotber 21-$0 Might as well call it an early day, just doing some cleaning then making dinner then off to Girl Scouts. I also made $20some today subbing at preschool this morning.
October 22-$0 Wish it wasn't one. Kids had no place to be and hubby was supposed to be home, we were going to order a pizza and relax by the fire but hubby is stuck at work after all, maybe tomorrow night. So, girls and I will hang out but not going to order pizza, save that for tomorrow.
October 23- Caved and ate out $30
October 24-$0 Alright, money did pass my hands, but still for me it was a $0. DH got very sick in the night. He had a horrible asthma attack, one of the worst he has ever had. (In the Gulf War his gasmask failed and damaged his lungs, he is now out of the military on disability.) Anyway, he got up and drove himself to the hospital.
So, I got the kids situated and went and got my flu shot (as we had planned) and headed up to be with him. As soon as I got there he was feeling better and wanted to eat! So I went and got him a bagel but that is his weekly money, so doesn't count. (Had I had something it would be a different story, I did not despite there being a beautiful danish calling me, but I passed, good for the wallet, good for the diet!) We also paid $150 co-pay but I don't count medical. This evening I took the kids to an incredible magic show for the Children's Hospital, but the tickets were a gift so they would have been $50, but we got them for free. I wouldn have paid it in a heart beat, DD8 was in there as a baby and they were amazing, but a friend bought tickets for us.
October 25-$0 I reqally need to grocery shop, but I think the combination of the long tiring day yesterday, sleeping on the couch so I could let DH rest and tons of cleaning this morning before getting a call to come get a sickish kid I just couldn't do it today. Thankfully I freeze meals so we are having lasagna tongiht, no problem. We did need bread though, but I still had $12 on a rebate GC so I spent a buck of that on bread and will grocery shop tomorrow. ETA_ $35 for a new enhaler for DH, asthma started back up, but I don't count medical (but I do record it.)
No Spend Days 12/15
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Happy About Record Since Joining No Buy-
January-14 Days
February-13 Days
March-17 Days
April-15 Days
May-15 Days
June-8 Days
July- 6 Days
(only in town and only recorded half the month, probably had about 7-8 no buys while away)
August-15 Days
September-15 Days
Longest Streak-4 Days in a Row
. DD and I split a chicken dinner by Liberty Tavern and I bought some popcorn and a drink for the parade. Not a bad day moneywise. MNSSHP is just wonderful. The parade is the best I have ever seen there. The fireworks were delightful and the characters look so cute. Worth the money for sure!
Edited - ended up going to the grocery store for lunch stuff... grrrr... So this is a spend day... Here's hoping for a no spend day Monday
