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

[#1hoosierfan]

1/1 - $6.00 -Group On deal to indoor play area I like to take the boys
1/2 - $141.75 Meijer Coupon Savings - $4.75

I really want to get into couponing again. I was doing really well until my second ds was born, and it just got so hard with a 2 little ones that I got out of it. I LOVED the savings, though.

Hoping for a no-spend day tomorrow!

 

[armomof3lvsdisney]

WooHoo starting the year out with 2 no buys days in a row. Unfortunately, I know that streak will end tomorrow. Both girls have a ball game. Oh well excited to have 2 days so far.

1/1=$0
1/2=$0

 

[A.Mickey]

Running Total: Spent $94.95
$0 Days:1/10

Groceries ($100-$3.22/day)- $38.99
Eating Out ($200-$6.45/day)-$10.42
Misc. (Shopping/Entertainment) ($500-$16/day) $45.54


Decided to start a weekly budget, maybe this way I won't get too discouraged

WEEK 1:
Eating Out- $41.18 left
Misc.- $82.46 left

WEEK 2:
Groceries- $9.31 left
Eating Out- $45.15
Misc.- $112


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- No Buy?
4- McDonald's
5-
6-
7-
8-
WEEK 2 BEGIN:


Budget: $800....12%
Month: 2/31: 6%
No Buy: 1/10: 10%

My savings from coupons and sales: $230.45

 

[arkansas mom]

Hello, new no-buy friends.

Let's see. Last night I set a goal of spending no more than $100 over my fixed/budgeted expenses. Little did I know that when I put that in writing here on the budget board, I had already blown it!

DS had a date with his GF, and of course I had to drive them to the movie which gave me a perfect opportunity to walk down the plaza and spend my Christmas giftcard. Plus $8.40.
Then I went to Target and spent $25.95.
And the took DS to dinner. $20.10.
Went to WalMart for $43.86.
And thanks to the budget board spent $15.66 at snapfish.com.

Crap. On day two I'm already $13.97 in the hole--I've spent $113.97 outside my budget.

So, how to recover? I can't seriously expect not to spend another penny for the rest of the month. (and when I say spend, I mean anything not budgeted like bills, gas and groceries.) I think I'll take this as a warning to myself that I can not do this if I think one little trip here or there won't hurt. EVERY PENNY COUNTS.

I wanted to sign up for the grocery game today. Not gonna do it now--I'll just do the legwork myself. I wanted to run to Kroger to pick up something for tomorrow's dinner. Not gonna do it now--gonna change my menu and use what I have.


So, the ugly truth...
M.I.S.O.O.B. (money I've spent out of budget)

12/1--$98.31
12/2 (technically my snapfish purchase was after midnight)---$15.66

Where that leaves me for the month--$113.97, or $13.97 over my no-buy limit

 

[lillygator]

count me in.....not quite sure of all my goals just yet....
$100 a week in groceries and no eating out is my goal for January (unless we head to Gainesville for a cheer clinic - if so, limit to cheaper places)

1/1 $0
1/2 $97.37 groceries

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

Well, I am back in. Not sure what exactly my plans are. 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. So I am in, will give some thought to how I want the next year to go, but will for sure be back just cause I like you all so much!!!

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.

January 1-$0 Actually, not totally 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 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.

2/15 No Spend Days This Month

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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!

 

[Jennia]

I'm in, though I may be making some baby purchases since I'm more than halfway along now.

Jan 1: $0
Jan 2: $0

 

[bweagle]

I'm jumping on board because one of my New Years Resolutions is to reduce impulse buying. I find myself walking into a store for one thing and walking out with bags of "deals" that add exponentially to my bill. I need to stay out of stores to end the temptations. I'll start by tracking my in store purchases and when I got a handle On this, try to move on to tracking the expenses with eating out.


Jan. 1st: DVD-R ($13.00) to back up iTunes
Jan. 2nd: $0

 

[KBazzel]

New to this but I really want to make this the year we get a handle on our spending.

My goals for this month are:
2 dinners out this month
1 lunch out each week
$150 groceries each week
15 days of not buying anything outside gas, groceries and bills
$100 mad money - anything that's a want not a need

Anyone have suggestions for great resources on coupon shopping? I can't seem to wrap my head around how to make it work for me.

Kira

1/1 - No buy
1/2 - Bought groceries but nothing extra. Did go over budget by quite a bit but I needed to restock lots of staples we haven't bought for the last 2 weeks. Also bought dog and cat food for the month. Hoping I can make up for it the rest of the month. $225
1/3 - No buy
1/4 - 1 lunch out for the week ($9.08, although it is tax deductible because I plotted a book with my friend). I also bought a cage set for our sugar glider but I ordered it last week so I'm not going to count it (I knew it was coming) ($25).
1/5 -

 

[Ava]

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

1/1 - $17 groceries
1/2 - $0

It's easy not to spend money when you don't leave the house all day. Tomorrow I am back to work, and back to resisting the lure of vending machines!

 

[wlake]

Wow, so many people here! Welcome everyone!

I'm not off to a great start, and tomorrow won't be much better as I'll have to pay for after school care. Here's hoping for Tuesday!

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!

 

[arkansas mom]

Right now they are building forts for the kittens.

That is soooooo precious!

 

[Mrsdennison]

Well, I'm going to jump in and give it a shot. I made a meal plan for the next two weeks. Groceries will be purchased on Wed.

So, no spending besides gas til Wed.

Then the weekend we take a small trip, so I will pocket 100 dollars for that trip.

Then no spending til the 21st which is my bday.

I figure this is like small steps towards no spending for a set amount of days. I will keep track and try and set a goal for Feb. based on how we fair this month. Overall 12 No buy Days would be great for this month.

Mrsdennison

 

[3girlsfun]

1/1-$0
1/2-$0

Two no spend days in a row! Yeah for that! Tomorrow will not be a no spend day, as I will be going out to lunch during inservice. Well worth it though, as this is a 4 times a year happening. Can't wait! It will be a cheap spend though, and hoping it is the only money I spend tomorrow!

 

[mom0299]

I posted on page 4, but decided to add this post so I can track my spending.

Jan. 1: $38.87 (groceries for the week for a family of 4!)
Jan. 2: $0
Jan. 3: $8.92 (Sugar because I ran out and a laundry basket to replace the 12 year-old one that broke)
Jan. 4:
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[AnninIowa]

I caved today and bought the Angry Birds iPhone game app for 99 cents.

 

[growinupdisney]

I'm excited to do this..I actally had planned to do this om on bur=t when I saw the thread thought this would help with the support. I need to put a way some extra spending money for our trip in April.

Jan 1- $20 (groceries)
Jan 2- 0
Jan 3- $50 (dd3 tumbling class)

 

[3goofyboys]

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 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.

1/15 No Buy Days

 

[3goofyboys]

I caved today and bought the Angry Birds iPhone game app for 99 cents.

We are total Angry Birds addicts in my house! 99 cents for hours of entertainment=good value!

 

[discorsner]

Well, my sis in law and I are starting this No Buy for the first time and we are joining you! My first goal is 16 No Buy Days for January! I hope I can do it!!!
Wish me luck! My other goal is only 5 eating out days.