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

[A.Mickey]

Running Total: Spent $314.30
$0 Days:2/10

Groceries ($100-$3.22/day)- $68.54
Eating Out ($200-$6.45/day)-$20.22
Misc. (Shopping/Entertainment) ($500-$16/day) $225.54

WEEK 1:
Eating Out- $31.38 left

WEEK 2:
Eating Out- $45.15
Misc.- $14.46

WEEK 3:
Groceries- $2.30
Eating Out- $45.15
Misc- $112

WEEK 4:
Groceries- $28.98
Eating Out- $58.05
Misc- $144


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- Walgreens, CVS
6- No Buy?
7- No Buy?
8-
WEEK 2 BEGIN:
9-
10-
11- McDonald's
12-
13-
14-
15-


Budget: $800....39%
Month: 4/31: 13%
No Buy: 2/10: 20%

My savings from coupons and sales: $260.81

 

[superme80]

We went out to lunch today. It was so nice to get to spend some time with my DH. So far our week
1/1 16.50 Chik Fil-A
1/2 No Buy!
1/3 No Buy!
1/4 Gas $20 Snacks $4.00 Lunch $23 Grocery Run $7.36.

 

[nunzia]

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
Jan. 6
Jan. 7
Jan. 8
Jan. 9
Jan. 10
Jan. 11
Jan. 12
Jan. 13
Jan. 14
Jan. 15
Jan. 16
Jan. 17
Jan. 18
Jan. 19
Jan. 20
Jan. 21
Jan. 22
Jan. 23
Jan. 24
Jan. 25
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Jan. 28
Jan. 29
Jan. 30
Jan. 31

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

I had a vision last night in my sleepy, can't sleep state. I didn't know how to do this year but it came to me. I am going to continue to follow DH's suggestion of not counting groceries and gas, but my goal is going to spend less then this month last year. Since I recorded every penny I spent I know how much it was. I am going to take anything I save at the end of this month from last month and put it into our savings account. This month will be a challenge for me. My DD8's b-day is next week and we are having a party which we didn't have last year. So, it will be a challenge but I think it will be fun for myself. I am going to go total everything I spent last January and edit this later.

$1828.99 Spent last January
$550 of it was the deposit on DD11's braces, so I will take that away, that is not a normal expense.
So, my goal is to be UNDER $1278.99

Hi! Yep, something you said about not having guilt for doing things months ago was what made me realize that's how we like to live, but I'd never thought about it and put it into words! 8 years with no plastic is amazing! We had some plastic debt from our wedding & a few foolish other things that we paid off before having kids (and it's amazing how much we could save before we had them, and it is SO much harder now!). I hear you about the house things, we have so many appliances that are 10 years old, that all seem to be having problems recently - fridge, dishwasher, washer, dryer - we really need to start up a home improvement savings asap, and the kids need braces, sigh, always something!

And this is where we ran into trouble. As you know I got married when I was 17 and got pregnant by surprise right away. At the time my DH was making $10,000 a year so we often bought things like diapers on credit. We never, never, never ate out or went to the movies, we didn't have cable. We were broke. I wouldn 't trade it for anything I am OK with what we had to do, but we never had a time where we could save much because of the rockey start. We made it through and it made us stronger, but I have no idea how it is to save without kids cause we got married, saved to move, moved and SURPRISE (a good surprise, but still a surprise.) After that anything we had went to getting a crib and stuff like that. BUT, that is all paid off now, no worries. It was worth the interest charges to have her.


And I know all about the appliances. Our washer and dryer and dying, they are over 17 years old. When I bought them it was just hubby and I so we went small and cheap. We have to run it all the time cause it holds so little, but I can say we got our money's worth for sure!
Our fridge is 14 years old and is going. We had the money saved to replace it but remember when I tried to make my mom happy meeting her in Vermont? Well, that took the money. So we are saving for that now.

But, at the same time we are saving and trying to pay off things we are also trying to enjoy life. I know some don't agree but that is the nice thing about this board, no one judges even if they disagree. The way I see it no one else is paying our bills so no one else gets to tell us what we should do with our money.

 

[MapleGirl]

You're all doing great- just starting to be more aware is a great 1st step! I too, think the key is writing down every dime I spend. ******** I don't, however, mind nearly as much if I spend a little $ on doing something w/ my family. I forget about the stuff a short while after I've boughten it, but memories of a fun filled afternoon at the waterpark, or renting a movie & snuggling on the couch w/ the kids, last a lot longer. I've read a few articles lately that say that happier people prioritze "doing" more than "having".

Hi Latte,
Thank you for the encouragement! I completely agree with you about the 'having' vs. 'doing'. This is something that DH and I disagree about. He would rather have a house full of consumer goods and I would rather have a photo album full of wonderful memories. However, we both agree that our spending is out of control and we that we want to eliminate our credit card debt. I'm really inspired by all you folks who have no cc debt or no debt at all. I really hope to be there some day soon. DH and I made a few bad choices and went wild with our credit cards in our early 20's. We're paying for it now. I want to have it under control by the time we're 30. (That's in 2 years.) I don't know if we can eliminate all our cc debt, but I want to try. We love each other and are going to work as a team to get ourselves in a better place financially. Talking about it together and planning our next steps helps us feel more in control.



Here's our spending update: Yesterday was a No Buy day, but I broke down and bought a $1 lotto ticket. Sadly we didn't win the $330 million. I'm not too concerned about the ticket because we paid cash with a dollar that DH had in his wallet. We never use or carry cash. We prefer debit cards so we can track our spending online. For the No Buy tracking I am not including cash or gift card purchases, but I will record them so I can see what I'm doing. I still count yesterday as a No Buy day.


Running Total: $184.65
No Buy Days: 2/10


1/1: $105.58 (Gas: $42.53 and Fabric Store: $63.05)
1/2: $79.07 (Groceries: $72.90 and Dunkin' Donuts: $6.17)

1/3: $0
1/4: $0 ($1 cash - lotto ticket)
1/5: No Buy day
1/6: 4 Year Anniversary - going out to dinner
1/7
1/8
1/9

1/10
1/11
1/12
1/13
1/14
1/15

1/16
1/17
1/18
1/19
1/20
1/21
1/22
1/23

1/24
1/25
1/26
1/27
1/28
1/29
1/30
1/31

 

[MapleGirl]

The way I see it no one else is paying our bills so no one else gets to tell us what we should do with our money.

This is a really good point!

 

[rnorwo1]

I laugh only because you remind me so much of me!

If you are cracking on the 3rd day, find a way to break down your goals to build on success. Instead of stressing about the spending and the $0 days this month, consider focusing just on the habit of tracking the spending. Then next month, set the goal to spend less than this month, then by the 3rd month you should be within your ideal range. Doing too much too fast will set you up for frustration, burnout, and failure, so do what you need to do to achieve success in small bits!

I'm joining team turtle this year...not team rabbit!

Can you tell i am a teacher that has had training in goal setting and "scaffolding" learning?

I need a little bit more of that baby-steps mentality! I work in mental health, so I'm always over-analyzing everything. At least I am well aware of my own issues and why I have them! Not that that motivates me to change my issues...

Yesterday was much better for me. I pushed the thought of "you cannot buy" out of my head so I didn't go into that deprived-feeling state which I will blame for my shopping binge the day before. I wanted to make a special dish for my DH so I stopped at the store and successfully walked in and out with just what I needed... 1 onion! I will happily enter that $1.25 on my expense tracker for the day and feel proud. So I guess the pp's idea of not focusing on the buying as much as the amount spent may work better for me. I'll just keep plugging along and see how it goes!

 

[Virgderon]

I had a vision last night in my sleepy, can't sleep state. I didn't know how to do this year but it came to me. I am going to continue to follow DH's suggestion of not counting groceries and gas, but my goal is going to spend less then this month last year. Since I recorded every penny I spent I know how much it was. I am going to take anything I save at the end of this month from last month and put it into our savings account. This month will be a challenge for me. My DD8's b-day is next week and we are having a party which we didn't have last year. So, it will be a challenge but I think it will be fun for myself. I am going to go total everything I spent last January and edit this later.

$1828.99 Spent last January
$550 of it was the deposit on DD11's braces, so I will take that away, that is not a normal expense.
So, my goal is to be UNDER $1278.99

That is brilliant! I won't be able to do it yet because I did not start until May, but I love that idea. You are such a smart one, MickeyMom.

 

[bigmama67]

1/1: Not sure, we were on our way home from visiting my Mom.
1/2: Groceries $32.78, Borders $18, Home Depot $12, Lunch Out $63.01 (OUCH!)
1/3: Groceries $22.78, Medical Expenses $27, gas $25 ($125 left), $7.42 for postage (mailed out our family calendars; late)
1/4: No Buy Day #1, YEAH! In fact I got $12.xx back from Target for LED lights which went down in price.

No Buy Days: 1/5
Groceries: $55.56, $444.44 left (yes, our grocery budget is $500 for the month and I am not sure we will make THAT work but we'll see! We spend WAY too much on food!)
Gas: $25, $125 left

 

[Jennia]

Jan 1: $0
Jan 2: $0
Jan 3: $0
Jan 4: $121 on necessary items for the new baby, all purchased at the Target baby clearance (mattress, bottles, towels, etc) plus some grocery items

 

[Ava]

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

1/1 - $17 grocery
1/2 - $0
1/3 - $2 postage, $2 grocery, $16 J's knitting supplies
1/4 - $0

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

Tonight I am taking my kids to family night at the Burger place I used to be the face painter at. We haven't gone in so long, in fact we bought a t-shirt in Disney (with a Mickey ballon animal on it) for my friend there who is amazing at balloon creations, a true balloon artist. Anyway, we haven't even been to give her the shirt! So it has been a while. I am making dinner but will let them have a little something there (if more people had a little something there I'd still have my job) since we will go right from dance. They can have a snack and play for a while, then come home for meatloaf.

That is brilliant! I won't be able to do it yet because I did not start until May, but I love that idea. You are such a smart one, MickeyMom.

Awww...shucks! No really though, I do like the idea. I was wondering how I could still participate, encorperate my husband's ideas and kick it up a notch to make it still interesting and I thought of that last night and liked it. I wrote it on my hand in the middle of the night so I wouldn't forget.

 

[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.

January 3 $0 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 .

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


3/15 No Buy Days

 

[thebigkahuna]

January goal is no 10 $pend days

01-01-11 Spent money what the heck? LOL
01-02-11 no $pend day #1. Yes, its early, but I'm not feeling well and won't be going anywhere or doing anything this evening.
01-03-11 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. Not the best start to the week, but it will improve

2 of 10 days

 

[Beezle2]

Good Luck everyone!

1/1 $0
1/2 $0
1/3 $0
1/4 $43 from grocery budget $107 left. 2 gals milk, eggs, strawberries, blackberries,pears,apples,cherries,mushrooms,avacados,coleslaw,tomatoes,
soup,diet coke,pancake mix. Almost perfect, lol
1/5 $10.50 to see True Grit with DH and $3 for a box of screws to make a play table for DD's Playmobil

The rest of the week should be no buy days because I'll be at home doing chores and getting ready to go back to school myself on Monday.

 

[Virgderon]

Today is a 0 day. This is greatly helped by the fact that I let my daughter take my car to Orlando, so I can't go anywhere unless I want to walk, but we will take a 0 day anyway we can get it.

Running Total: Spent $162
$900 budget...$738 left
$0 Days: 1
Goal is 8 or more!
coupon/sale savings : 60

Groceries budget- $250 -11= 241 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

 

[lillygator]

Goals:
10 $0 Days
$100/week on groceries
$200/gas
$100 for extras

January 2011
1/1 $0
1/2 $97.37 groceries
1/3 $0
1/4 $0
1/5 $67.81 in gas but hope to last a while

3/10
$97.37/$400 - $302.63
$67.81/$200 - 132.19

keep it up everyone. tonight is normally girls night out (my dh closes and I take the girls out to dinner) but we are going to eat at home instead. i have decided to allow myself one lunch out a week, as going from 5 days out to cold turkey would probably be too much of a shock for me.

 

[Tiggerish]

The January budget is $1200 with 12 no spend days.

Auto $70
Eating Out/Entertainment $50
Giving $10
Groceries/Household Goods $200/ $187 left
Medical $100 / $4 over
Misc. $50/ $21 left
Set bills $420/ $395 left
Semi-Annual Neurology eval in Chicago budget is $300

No spend days goal of 12/ 2

Coupon savings $10
--------------------------------------------------------
1/1 $0
1/2 Set bills $25 (church)
1/3 Groceries $13; Misc. $29 (birthday present for niece)
1/4 Medical $104 (dentist)
1/5 $0

 

[AnninIowa]

I'm not doing my no-buys by days....I am just trying to not buy anything that isn't a necessity. So far, I've only bought 2 things that were non-essentials - a 99 cents iPhone game and a $1.87 Icee at Target!!

Yesterday we did our monthly stock up at Sam's Club for $98 - paper towels, napkins, kleenex, soap, and a few grocery and toiletry items. No non-essentials, so that trip went great!

Used a gift card to go to dinner at Red Lobster. Paid $5 out of pocket for the tip.

Today went to Target and other than the Icee, stuck to needed groceries. Only spent $48, which is a record for me at Target!

Just back from Walgreens, where I spent $12 on haircolor (yes, that is a neccessity!! ). Russell Stover candy was on sale so I bought $3 worth for Valentine's Day for my dad. . At the register, I got $5 back to spend next time, which I wasn't expecting at all!

 

[Debbie]

I'm in, but this month, I am tracking ONLY the $0 days. My goal is 10 days without buying gas for the car, going to the grocery store, hitting the drugstore or discount store etc. And, with a DH who can't stand a day without shopping, that will be a challenge in itself!

Jan. 1: $0
Jan. 2: $0
Jan. 3: $0
Jan. 4: gas $46; groceries $97; postage for registered letter to Cairo $15
Jan. 5: DH hit up the pharmacy for some iron tabs...$7

3/10