January No Buy: Let's Start the Year Right!

Goal: Spend no more than $100 per week (not including set bills)

mm... I will wait until the end of the month to say this for sure, but it seems like $100/week is not enough. I will also admit I've been "cheating" and have used money leftover from my holiday savings to buy some extras, so I've technically spent more than what's listed above.

I can't really figure out a good way to budget for groceries, etc. Weekly doesn't seem to be working because there are a lot of things I don't buy every week but when I do need to buy them they push me over the budget for that week. For example the $22 for cat litter - I buy it in 40lb bags that last for several months, so how do you budget for that? I don't have it down well enough to know exactly when I'm going to need to buy that litter again.

I guess I'll see where I end up for the month, and if it's $400 or under then I'll try next month to just budget $400 for the month. If it's over $400 I'll try raising the budget a bit.

Some of this just evens out overtime. This month it is kitty litter. Next
month it is valentines and tp. It may be helpful to track spending by the week, but looking at it month to month helps show you if the overall goal is realistic and if you are hitting it.

When someone wants to lower their overall grocery bill, one of the first steps is to find an extra $20 to spend. They stock up on one or two items they use regularly that are on a good sale price. Spending is up that week. But, that kind of buying reduces you bill eventually.

I assume kitty litter is cheaper in bulk. So, as long as you are buying litter and not a fancy-but-unnecessary new collar, you are good.
 
Jan. 1: $33.00 Walmart (groceries and 75% off Christmas)
Jan. 2: $80.00 (2 shelving units from Lowes. 1 was a facebook deal..79 down to 43)
Jan. 3: $0
Jan. 4: $0
Jan. 5: $0
Jan. 6: $22.69(groceries..stuck to the list!) $18.62 (dinner out with friends) $9.60 (Christmas pictures printed)
Jan. 7: $0
Jan. 8: 18.65 WalMart, groceries, $1.07 McDonalds sausage bisccuit, $19.75, Dh and I went to see Tron, plus got a medium popcorn.
Jan. 9 : $0 (used a $20 Staples Reward card for packing tape, travel tissue and bandaids..I've had a dilemma on if I should count what DH spends..he doesn't spend much..but still. For the sake of this experiment I will only count what I spend since I do the majority of the shopping and all the budgeting..I don't like having to tell him he can't pick up his prescription until a Buy day But I also vow I won't cheat by having him spend money so I don't have to count it )
Jan. 10: $0
Jan. 11: $0
Jan. 12: ack...13.00 lumber for DH project, 10.00 DH gas (so now I'm tracking DH?? dunno) 25.60 Walmart (groceries and upcoming trip stuff) 14.45 (Lowes Pay and Save..small local grocery since we only have that and Walmart and since I'm trying to make a new recipe each week and needed capers which, naturally WalMart does NOT have and then also got mini wines for trip and chicken breasts on sale)
Jan. 13: Well, had planned for a no buy day. BUT..75% off stuff at my second job (Hastings) but had a $16.80 GC so only spent $2.00), then. DD asked me to join her and DGD and another DS and DDIL and another DGD..got taht? at our new IHOP for lunch...$7.49..then..I read that KMart had 75% off toys so went out there..no big sale at my KMart, but my Hallmark had 75% off Christmas so got a couple things...$9.45)
Jan. 14: 11.79 for gas and a package of Jalapeno Cheetos..love those! Then 9.00 for a book of stamps and since I picked up grandkids from school we go to Dollar Tree for toy and snack and they had my DH favorite cookies, so 9.45
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Jan. 31
 
A mid-day update so I don't forget anything -- this is turning out to be an expensive day!

1/1: groceries (but I forgot how much and don't want to get off the couch!)
1/2: $42 gas, $20 pharmacy, $28 JCPenney, ? Home Depot (again, don't want to get off the couch!). I also returned to Lands' End and Kohl's today, enough to cover what we spent! :) Edited to add: $65 on registration for open swim time. Hopefully we'll get there more often this session than last and I can get some exercise!
1/3: :cool1: (although I feel a bit guilty about it -- the only reason it's a $0 is because I forgot to take the checkbook to pay for after school care.)
1/4: after school care $31.50, take out for dinner ?
1/5: :cool1:
1/6: :cool1:
1/7: $35 after school, $35 dinner, $12 book orders for the boys
1/8: $8 Lowes, $28 gas, $12 things for school
1/9: $60 groceries, $26.50 x2 for school lunches
1/10: :cool1:
1/11: :cool1:
1/12: :cool1:
1/13: $3 groceries
1/14: :cool1:
1/15: soccer shoes for both boys (we've tried 5 stores with luck for only one boy and they were $30 :scared1:), $40 Target, $16 Walmart (because Target didn't carry everything I needed), $13 Dick's Sporting Goods (a sock indulgence), $29 Lands' End clearance for next winter for the boys and $34 Staples for things for school (I refuse to function any longer without working staplers and tape dispensers and there's no money in the school's budget. I hate the fact that I got everyone's broken leftovers -- including desks and chairs for the students -- when I transferred to this school.). Finally, $8 dinner out (the rest was a gc) after the headaches of the day.

no buy days: 7/10
meals out: 3/5
longest streak: 3!
 
8/12 no-buy days
* Used coupon

1/1/-$2 TRU*, $7 CFA*, $2 Coldstone*, $31 Wegmans/redbox*
1/2-$6 mcd*, $14 Dollar Store
1/3-$0; 8 miles
1/4-$0; Lego* free build
1/5-$0; 3 miles

1/6-$4 DD*; $24 Wegmans*; $14 Target; 2.5 miles
1/7-$46 Target; $29* Wegmans; 3 miles
1/8-$0
1/9-$0

1/10-$1 LL Bean dress for DD*; $4.50 DH's lunch; $22 Wegmans*; [-$36 Target returns]
1/11-$0
1/12-$0

1/13-$4 DD*, $21 Wegmans*, $37 Target toys
1/14-$1 Goodwill, $26 Gymboree*, $1 Disney Store, $16 Borders for 4 bags of Seattle's Best Coffee!
1/15-$0
 

Staying in today and relaxing.

Groceries/household- $300/ $59.77 left
Car/gas- $50/ $27.52 left
Eating out- $50/ $17.26 left
Entertainment/Misc- $100/ $69.36 left

Total- $500/ $173.81 left

Goal of 15 No Buy days

Week One
1/1- $14.23 Groceries
1/2- $0
1/3- $0
1/4- $0
1/5- $88.96 Groceries/household and $17.63 dinner at Loco Leprechaun
1/6- $0
1/7- $0

Week Two
1/8- $0
1/9- $12.78 groceries
1/10- $0
1/11- $0
1/12- $15.11 Denny's breakfast, $54.11 Marc's, $40.50 Giant Eagle, and $26.36 Walgreens
1/13- $0
1/14- $22.48 Gas, $29.55 Giant Eagle, and $4.28 Disney Store

Week Three
1/15- $0
1/16
1/17
1/18
1/19
1/20
1/21

10/15 No Buy Days

Store and coupon savings- $47.19
 
No Buy Days : 8/15
Gas : 31$ (max 100$)
Groceries : 93$ (max 250$)
Eating out (and snacks) : 65$ (max 100$)
Non-necessities : 73$ (max 200$)


01/01 : 0$
02/01 : 0$
03/01 : 0$

04/01 : 9$ (breakfast + lunch)
05/01 : 0$
06/01 : 0$

07/01 : 48$ (gas + dinner)
08/01 : 35$ (groceries + rent game)
09/01 : 10$ (dinner)
10/01 : 0$
11/01 : 0$

12/01 : 39$ (movie + dinner)
13/01 : 55$ (game)
14/01 : 0$
14/01 : 66$ (cat food & litter)
 
My goal for January is 15 no buy days.
Christmas is done, my DS's birthday is done. We have a few birthday parties to go to, but other than that, we don't have any big expenses coming up in January. I'm ready to get back on track after all the crazy holiday spending

January 1 $0 :cool1: We're in for the day, so I'm calling it early. Hoping the $0 for today is a sign of good things in 2011!

January 2 Plans changed and I ended up going out for dinner tonight instead of tomorrow. So $50 for dinner and I went ahead and filled up with gas today $50 gas.

January 3 $0 :cool1: Took the boys to the library and McDonalds, but we were given coupons this summer that allow one free Happy Meal per kiddo once a month, so we used those :banana:.

January 4 $25 got my hair cut- I haven't had it cut in over a year. I was ready for a new cut. $100 groceries. $28 DH and I went out to dinner for our date night.

January 5 $0 :cool1:

January 6 $80 presents for upcoming birthday parties/misc. at Target (but ONLY what I went in for, no impulse purchases), $40 gas, $15 to refill my freezer with bread, $10 local bounce place

January 7 $0 :cool1:

January 8 $0 :cool1:

January 9 $0 :cool1:

January 10 $106 groceries, $30 gas, $15 new wiper blades, $12 McDonalds for lunch--this is twice this month, unheard of, but I had a looooooong board meeting this morning and I didn't even have the energy to make PB&J.

January 11 $28 new winter coat for DS #1, $29 eye doctor for DS#1 (this will be reimbursed, but I'll record it anyway).

January 12 $12 prepay for preschool pancake breakfast later this month, $30 gas, $25 dinner with friends, $20 doctor for DS (this will be reimbursed as well), $13 treats after the doctor

January 13 $13 groceries

January 14 $0 :cool1:

January 15 $0 :cool1: Calling it early because we went to a birthday party and now we're in for the day.

8/15 No Buy Days
 
This is the first time I've joined in. I'm developing a budget for this year, I'm determined to increase retirement savings and get those 529s going finally!

I just cleaned out my freezers, and I'm hoping my shame of all the stuff I threw out will last me a few months. I think I have enough meat to last an entire month, maybe more, so I'm going to reduce my food budget this month to $200 for our family of 5... that should give me enough for milk and fresh produce and still be able to take advantage of any meat that comes on sale. As for the other variable expenditures, I want to limit my shopping to one day a week and stay under budget on all categories! Then I'm going to commit to moving all of that savings to my emergency fund.

I have been avoiding this thread like the plague as I have NOT done well, but I figured I better go on and face the music (see my original goals above.) I just spent the last hour "reviewing" (ie, looking at it for the first time since we created it this month) our budget and reconciling the bank account. I felt like Gail Vaz-Oxlade from til Debt do Us Part was standing here with me ("You spent on the 3rd, and the 3rd, and the 3rd, and on the 4th and the 4th..."). Good news is that we haven't gone over on any budget categories (yet... there's alot of month left though!), except for something for the house (budgeted $100, spent $1800 :eek:) but that was to fix a safety issue and had to be done. We had the cash, I just didn't get to put anything in the savings as planned... that's always where we seem to be. We have no debt except for the house, but we're just not where we want to be with our savings.

Rather than taking up 3 pages listing all the days that we spent, I'll just say that so far we've only had 3 no-spend days. But I'm not giving up, half the month is still left to improve, right?
 
Darn it. Came so close to a 0 day, but when I dropped off DD at the airport we all decided we were hungry. I got Burger King and I actually hate Burger King.

Running Total: Spent $477
$950 budget...$473 left
$0 Days: 5
Goal is 8 or more!
coupon/sale savings : 96

Groceries budget- $250 -11-36= 206 left

January 1st: 25 (12 parking at hockey game, 5 pop at game, 8 Walgreens)
January 2nd: 11 ( groceries at Flea market)
January 3rd: 65 ( Walgreens, cleaning supplies, vitamins, etc.)
January 4th: 61 ( 16 bowling, 5 food at bowling, 20 gas , 20 to DD for an item that she picked up for me using her Disney discount)
January 5th: 0
January 6th: 0
January 7th: 0
January 8 & 9: 196 (35 groceries, 25 gas, 136 Disney fun)
January 10 : 0
January 11: 54 ( 21 Steak & Shake, 20 shirt, 13 Walgreens misc)
January 12: 16 ( gas)
January 13: 0
January 14 : 35 (15 gas, 20 Walgreens)
January 15: 14 ( Burger King)
 
1/1: $0!
1/2: $0!
1/3: $11.10 Popeyes
1/4: $6.75 Subway
1/5: $23.16 Gas
1/6: $14.19: lunch, Rouses
1/7: $4 lunch
1/8: $102.60: CVS, lunch, Rouses, Winn-Dixie
1/9: $0!
1/10: $0!
1/11: $2.07 Rouses
1/12: $0!
1/13: $31.94: Rite Aid, Burger King, Winn-Dixie
1/14: $0!
1/15: $94.69: Po boy, Winn-Dixie, Target

$0 Buy Days: 6
Total Spent: $290/$395=73% :scared1:
Month Over: 15/31=48%

I ran a bunch of errands today. I ended up getting the bigger bag of dog food because it was cheaper in the long run, but it was $23, so it was about double what I was planning to spend on dog food. The bag is 44 pounds, and it's bigger than my dog. She has been sitting in front of it since we brought the food home. :rotfl:

I took off the category breakdown because the numbers were getting to be too much. I am $1.78 over for the eating out category, but I'm still under for gas and groceries. I have a little over $50 left for gas and a $53.16 left to spend for the rest of the month. :scared1: I am going to try to stay within the budget, but it's going to be difficult! Considering the traffic today, I should be quite content to stay home the next two weekends! :rotfl2:
 
I have been avoiding this thread like the plague as I have NOT done well, but I figured I better go on and face the music (see my original goals above.) I just spent the last hour "reviewing" (ie, looking at it for the first time since we created it this month) our budget and reconciling the bank account. I felt like Gail Vaz-Oxlade from til Debt do Us Part was standing here with me ("You spent on the 3rd, and the 3rd, and the 3rd, and on the 4th and the 4th..."). Good news is that we haven't gone over on any budget categories (yet... there's alot of month left though!), except for something for the house (budgeted $100, spent $1800 :eek:) but that was to fix a safety issue and had to be done. We had the cash, I just didn't get to put anything in the savings as planned... that's always where we seem to be. We have no debt except for the house, but we're just not where we want to be with our savings.

Rather than taking up 3 pages listing all the days that we spent, I'll just say that so far we've only had 3 no-spend days. But I'm not giving up, half the month is still left to improve, right?

Don't give up. :) The first month is about seeing what your spending habits are and how you can improve.

You can tweak the budget next month and you will do much better. It's really good that you had the cash for the household emergency- that shows that you have an emergency fund which a lot of people don't have.

Give yourself a little pat on the back for that and keep plugging away. You are doing fine.:thumbsup2
 
I won't lie, this has been a spendy couple of days...we changed cable providers which will save us about $60 a month but we needed to buy a router last night ($53).

Then I got some things I needed at Kohls today (but the Kohls card is not paid through the monthly budget, but rather through a separate little side job I have. The $ is so sporadic that I don't put the $ into the budget). I got a skillet, coffee grinder, and some bras and underwear I desperately needed for $110 total (after a 30% off code) and got $20 Kohls cash. :guilty:

I spent $47.20 on groceries today and we have $131.67 left for the month in our grocery budget. We're having a big thing at the kids' Hebrew school tomorrow and we were asked to bring in carob (long story) which was $4 a bag and DH got two bags. OUCH! They asked us to bring grape juice too but I couldn't find any that was kosher and I think we're more than doing our part. :headache:

Tomorrow I am DETERMINED to have no-buy day #3!
 
1/1 - $6.00 -Group On
1/2 - $141.75 Meijer Coupon Savings - $4.75
1/3 - $0
1/4 - $15 special order needle felt book character
$8.50 toothbrushes and toothpaste - donation to retirement home
1/5 - $0
1/6 - $5.30 for Chinese take/out
1/7 - $109 - $75 for cleaning lady, $27 for dinner and $7 pre-pay for a
luncheon next week.
1/8 - Target - $40 and Kroger $104
1/9 - $0
1/10 - $5.90 fine at the library edit to add: $3.51 on Blizzard from DQ
1/11 - $0
1/12 - hair/eyebrows $47 ; Walgreens - $12.54 received $7 in RR
1/13 - $0
1/14 - Wal-Mart $54.55. Dinner out /$51
1/15 - Ben Franklin - fabric $19.24: Kroger $98.32

No Spend
5/10
 
I have been avoiding this thread like the plague as I have NOT done well, but I figured I better go on and face the music (see my original goals above.) I just spent the last hour "reviewing" (ie, looking at it for the first time since we created it this month) our budget and reconciling the bank account. I felt like Gail Vaz-Oxlade from til Debt do Us Part was standing here with me ("You spent on the 3rd, and the 3rd, and the 3rd, and on the 4th and the 4th..."). Good news is that we haven't gone over on any budget categories (yet... there's alot of month left though!), except for something for the house (budgeted $100, spent $1800 :eek:) but that was to fix a safety issue and had to be done. We had the cash, I just didn't get to put anything in the savings as planned... that's always where we seem to be. We have no debt except for the house, but we're just not where we want to be with our savings.

Rather than taking up 3 pages listing all the days that we spent, I'll just say that so far we've only had 3 no-spend days. But I'm not giving up, half the month is still left to improve, right?

Don't beat yourself up!!!!! You are soooo far ahead of most of the American public by not having any debt outside of your mortgage AND having an emergency fund set up. It is easy to give-up when you are feeling overwhelmed or defeated. I totally commend you for coming back even though it may have felt a bit uncomfortable. I agree with a pp. Track your spending, and see where you can improve and go from there. Every little bit helps! I have only been doing this for a few weeks, but I find that watching where my money goes is so empowering!
 
Don't beat yourself up!!!!! You are soooo far ahead of most of the American public by not having any debt outside of your mortgage AND having an emergency fund set up. It is easy to give-up when you are feeling overwhelmed or defeated. I totally commend you for coming back even though it may have felt a bit uncomfortable. I agree with a pp. Track your spending, and see where you can improve and go from there. Every little bit helps! I have only been doing this for a few weeks, but I find that watching where my money goes is so empowering!

HEAR HEAR! Also I find myself wanting to avoid spending money much more, and asking myself if I really do need that thing (though it doesn't seem like it today, does it?) :guilty:
 
Running Total: Spent $686.45
$0 Days:5/10

Groceries ($340-$11/day)- $178.24
Eating Out ($100-$3.4/day)-$67.98
Misc. (Shopping/Entertainment) ($930-$30/day) $490.49
Gas for Tracking- 1/5 $20, 1/5 $50, 1/8 $35, 1/13 $17, 1/14 $7 = $129
BIG PURCHASES: Annual DVC Dues: $494.09

WEEK 1 BEGIN:
1- $3.98 (Artscow.com-Misc.), $2 (Dollar Tree-Papers), $38.99 (Ultra Foods-Groceries-most I have spent on one grocery trip in a long long time, but got lots of stuff we eat at stock up prices!), $9.56 (Target-Clearance stuff for next years stocking and son's bday present), $30 (Walmart-balance after giftcard for 2 TB hd), $10.42 (Ikea- Eating Out kids eat free and only bought one pop-it's a start for this family)
2- $0
3- $0
4- $9.80 (McDonald's-Eating Out), $20 (Joe Caputo-Groceries), $9.55 (Dominick's-Groceries), $180 (Midas-Getting Car Fixed)
5- $1.63 (Walgreens-Groceries), $16.45 (CVS-Groceries-but got $17 back in ECB's), $20-Gas
6- $0
7- $2.05 (Walgreens-Groceries), $8.46 (Jewel-Groceries), $2.17 (McDonald's-Eating Out)
8- $0
WEEK 2 BEGIN:
9- $2 (Dollar Tree-Newspapers), $8.48 (Taco Bell-Eating Out), $20 (Target-Shopping)
10- $0
11- $6.30 (Wendy's-Eating Out), $10.13 (Foot Doctor-Misc.), $7.33 (Walgreens-Groceries), $6.18 (Dominick's-Groceries), $12 (Target-Cat Food, Groceries), $92 (Great America Season Pass-Misc.)
12- $4.92 (CVS-Groceries), $4.98 (McDonald's-Eating Out)
13- $10.56 (CVS-prescription), $14.52- (Target-Clothes), $25.83 (GameWorks-Eating Out), $-10.00 (Dave and Busters (free game play)), $71.83 (Target hoping toys go to 75% and get my free boxes of Kashi
14- $37.81 (Target-Clothes) $16.34 (Dominick's-Groceries)
15- $34.92 (Meijer- Bought a new winter jacket for $13! and got lots of groceries), $12.24 (Jewel-Groceries), $3.10 (Dollar Tree-Newspapers and Balloon for son)
WEEK 3 BEGIN:
16-
17- No Buy?!?
18- McDonald's
19- Preschool Education Night, No Buy?!?
20- CVS, Walgreens
21-
22-


Budget: $1350....55%
Month: 15/31: 48%

No Buy: 5/10: 50%

My savings from coupons and sales: $1039.76
 
January goal is no 10 $pend days

01-01-11 Spent money :confused3 what the heck? LOL
01-02-11 :flower3: no $pend day #1.
01-03-11 :flower3: no $pend day #2.
01-04-11 I spent money today ~ it was a VERY long, but VERY productive day, and when all was said and done I declined to cook LOL
01-05-11 today was a spend also, lunch out and will have to do some non-budgeted shopping later.
01-06-11 didn't get to the "non-budgeted" shopping yesterday, so that means I have to do it today, and that means today is another spend day :(
01-07-11:flower3: no $pend day # 3!
01-08-11 :sick::headache: money spent on medicine
01-09-11 spent money today :(
01-10-11:flower3: no $pend day # 4!
01-11-11 :flower3: no $pend day # 5!
01-12-11 spent $ today
01-13-11 spent $ today on gas.
01-14-11 ~ bill paying day ~ spent $ on breakfast (unnecessary spending :( trying NOT to do this!)
01-15-11 spent money today. :sad2: had to be done, but I didn't plan on spending it today.
01-16-11
01-17-11

5!! of 10 days :woohoo:
half way to the goal & I am pleased!
 
Well, I am back in with a new plan. My goal 365 days ago today was to do this for a year. Never thought I'd make it, sure as heck didn't think I'd write down every penny I spent for a year, but I did and while I thought this would only be a one year thing to teach myself, it not only did that but I also like so many people here so much that I don't want to leave.

OK, I gave it some thought. Not to say DH wasn't supportive of this last year, cause he is the most supportive man you could ask for, but something that really bothered him last year was when we'd go without something like milk cause I was trying to strech a no buy day to the next day or something, or let my tank get low cause I didn't want to blow a day on gas. To him groceries and gas are necessities and he said he'd like to see me alter it this year not not include those things. However, I want to continue to record them to keep track cause I think seeing it helped me, so I will continue to record everything but no buy days will now be no extra buy days. We'll see how this works. Also, I recorded every penny spent last year, so I have totaled up each month and my goal for this year is to come under that. Anything I have left over at the end of the month I will put into our savings account.

January 1-$0 :woohoo: Actually, not totally :woohoo: but good for the budget, we were going to go out today while DH worked, but the kids were having fun playing at home so that was good, but we were going to go to Cosmic Bowling tonight when he got off work but he's stuck there, it will be an all nighter, so we decided to hang out here and go with him another time. It isn't as much fun doing those things without him. So, a little bummed we are in but we are going to back some cookies here in a bit and they are having fun playing with their new games. Right now they are building forts for the kittens. :)
January 2-$0 :woohoo: Today was a wonderful day AT HOME! My DH finally didn't have to go into work. He worked till 4am so we slept in. Then we got up and snuggled on the couch and watched football. This afternoon we sampled our candies that we brought back from each country in EPCOT, we took photos for our scrapbook and the kids recorded what they thought of each one and ranked their favorites and least favorites. That was fun. Then tonight I made a nice roast for dinner. Now DH is working (but from home!) I am Dising and the kids are playing Truth or Lies on the Wii. It is a nice way to end vacation, wish it wasn't already over, but looking forward to getting the house back in order.
January 3-$0 :woohoo: I do need to get a few groceries, but they wouldn't count anyway, but I worked really hard today and never got out for them and now I am tired. I will have to go tomorrow. We are out of milk but have pleanty of eggs so we are good for breakfast and pleanty of bread so we are good for lunches. (One of this years resolutions is to declutter a bit (not too much, I did a huge declutter a few years ago and missed my stuff, but halfway would be nice, I worked all day on the kitchen. It isn't done but I made amazing progress!)
Now, I do have to do some shopping, we will see if I do it tonight or tomorrow. DD16 and DD11 need jeans so badly, I didn't realize how bad and I am actually a little embarassed and DD8's b-day is next week and all she wants is for me to replace The Little Mermaid 2, ours broke so I am watching a couple on eBay. Guess it doesn't matter if I do it tonight or tomorrow, but as of now it is a $ day. ETA- I am totally craving a date with my hubby, maybe I can buy jeans, a movie and meet him for lunch tomorrow...hhhmmm... ;)
January 4-$0 :woohoo: I did buy a copy of The Little Mermaid 2 off eBay for DD's b-day, it was $18 but I returned the Perfect Brownie Pan and a game I had bought for DD's b-day. The game I thought was on clearance but was not and the pan, she wanted it but then after I bought it, it looked like a headache to clean and we rarely make brownies so I got back $32.23 so I am calling it a wash. I traded for what she really wanted and saved $15. I also bought groceries but with my DH's system I won't count it, though I am going to record it. ($66.12 groceries) I also paid for dance which I never counted against a no spend day, we consider it a bill but I record it since it is the ony bill I pay-$86
January 5- Target (sympathy card, socks for DD8's b-day, she needed them and anframe on clearance of Kitty's first Christmas) $14.82 Dinner for the kids at Family Night $4.50 (I got a burger, fries, 2 cookies, a rootbeer float and a slush that they shared all of it.) Then we came home and had the dinner I had made, meatloaf, garlic cream cheese mashed potatoes and broccoli.) So under $20, not too bad. Dollar Tree (b-day invites) $4.32 (forgot these)
January 6-$0 :woohoo: The weekend it won't be so easy. I NEED a date with my hubby!
January 7- Dinner date with hubby. I was craving a good burger, he said Red Robin, but being budget minded we went to 5 Guys. It was still good and we sat and talked while munching on peanuts. It was nice. After we got dinner for the kids to bring home. Total $21.
January 8-$0 :woohoo: I took the kids out to Lowes for the free project, then Home Depot for their projext, then we went home for lunch and I took DD11 to her b-ball game. After I came home and cleaned/reorganized all day. It would have been easy to say yes when they asked for pizza, but I made dinner and saved the ppizza night for a day I (and dad who wasn't home) would also enjoy it.
January 9- 4 pairs of jeans for the kids 29.16, groceries-Wegman's $70.35, groceries-Sam's $129, Restaurant.com certificate $3, Movie for DD11's b-day in May (cause it was a deal) $4.50 Groceries are going to be higher I'm afriad. DH has started a new diet and it is going to be a bit more expensive. DH and I went out for a date but used a GC for the whole thing, but we did buy the kids a pizza $5
January 10-$0 :woohoo: Stayed in and cleaned!!!
January 11-$0 :woohoo: Did some cleaning and a good work out this morning, now back to sorting old clothes. I have an embarassing 9 large garbage bags to be sold/donated. :eek: And I am not done! :scared1: Going to finish till I have to take DD8 to sance, but not going anywhere else so not spending anything today.
January 12-$0 :woohoo: Took the kids to Family Night after dance, but convinced them to wait for the dinner I had in the crock pot. We will proably have to eat there next time. I feel guilty when I don't for too many weeks. $62.14 groceries*
January 13-$0 :woohoo: Tomorrow won't be so lucky. It is my baby girl's 9th birthday. :lovestruc
January 14- My added bonus, surprise baby girl is now 9! Crazy! Anyway, I am lumping one thing as $10, it was just short but I threw the change in the Disney jar. It covered a happy meal for her for lunch, 2 balloons, treeat bag things for her party today and for class and a book to donate to her class. I did very well I have to say. Then we let her pick a restaurant for dinner (last time we all went out was in Disney.) She picked Red Robin. It really is YUUUMMM but I know why we don't take the family out. :eek: $45.67 for burgers. :scared1: I also went to the doctor, that was $40 but I don't count that. It's medical. But for the sake of recording I will write it down. The RX was covered 100%, love those rare times!
January 15-Her party. Spent $150 at Chuck E Cheese. It should have been way less but I am not going to worry about it. I gave my DH the stack of coupons I was going to use (as needed based on who came.) I handed them to him and said can you hold thede for me so I don't lose them? We got to CEC and I was a manic trying to get set up (it was a walk in party) and I didn't realize in his effort to help, he went and ordered all the coupons. That included 2 for buy 100 tokens for $25 get 100 free! So $50 in tokens. I had enought for over 200 free tokens so I had those just in case. He didn't realize, and his heart was in the right place so I didn't say anything. We came home with a whole pizza, 4 colectors cups unused and over 400 tokens so had I paid it would have been about $80 cheaper. BUT, we will never have to buy another CEC tokens again. :rotfl: And still $150 for 15 kids to have all the tokens they wanted, pizza for all the kids and parents and colector cups for everyone wasn't too bad. YEAH COUPONS!!!


10/15 No Spend Days This Month Looking at making this number higher since I am not counting groceries at least for this month. Not sure what to set it for, this is a trial month I guess.

Total groceries for the month-$66.12+70.35+129+62.14*
Total gas for the month- $0
*Hate to even count this. DH sent me for a bunch of stuff for his diet. It is all for his meals, not the family, but he is the family so I am counting it but he said his fun money, which is his disability money, will be a lot lower cause he won't be going out at all so we will be saving that as well.

My new goal for myself is to come in under the $ amount I spent last January. Here's how I'm doing.
$1278.99 spent last January minus money spent=$941.45


$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Joined No Buy as a New Years Resolution in 2010 and did pretty well-
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
October-13 Days
November-6 Days (only kept track till November 16th cause we were in Disney the rest of the month)
December-10
Longest Streak-4 Days in a Row
Back in 2011 cause I'd miss you all so much!
:hug:
 
Virgderon, I am sure it will be hard on you with your girls both gone, but you have raised them well. They will believe they can do anything cause you showed them they can. That's a wonderful gift. I wish I had that growing up. I truly believe I would still be a SAHM cause that is where my heart is at, but I wonder who I could have been if the situation with my mom was dfferent. But, I wouldn't change my life now for anything, don't get me wrong.

When you get sad, just head to that magical place you are so lucky to love near. :cloud9:
 
Okay, so this is how I stand so far for the month:
No buy days goal: 12
So far: 7/12

January 1 - $$$ Ate out. :guilty:
January 2- No buy day. :banana:
January 3 - Lunch out during in-service $9.
January 4 - No buy day. :banana:
January 5 - Lunch at school (forgot my packed lunch at home :headache:)
January 6 - Groceries $163 (should last us awhile, or so I thought...)
January 7 - No buy day. :banana:
January 8 - Shopping/lunch out. On the up side I used cash only, no debit card.
January 9 - No buy day. Snowed in. :banana:
January 10-No buy day. Still snowed in. :banana:
January 11 - Groceries. $45 Apparently, we eat a lot when we can't go anywhere.
January 12 - No buy day. :banana:
January 13 - dinner at Burger King. $10
January 14 - No buy day. :banana:
January 15 - Was a no buy day until I couldn't pass up the $2.99 deal for the Family Fun magazine I saw here on the boards. Oh well....I've got the rest of January.

So far, I'm pretty happy with my progress. DH and I are really working to stay on budget and we've been eating at home A LOT more than usual. Go us!
 














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