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

Running Total: $598.03
Cash spent: $15.25
No Buy Days: 4/10


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: $18.85 ($18.85 Whole Foods. Cash: $2 cup of tea)
1/6: $38.69 ($9.50 book from amazon.com and $29.19 at Kmart. Cash: $10 lunch at work)
1/7: $0 ($23 Target giftcard and $9 Starbuck's giftcard)
1/8 $211.88 ($12.03 tea and rock salt at OSJL, $25.10 Costco groceries, $31.84 Petco cat litter, $80.30 Sudbury Farms, $62.61 dinner with friends)
1/9 $143.96 ($11.95 amazon.com ink for printer, $40 gas for car, $92.01 plants at Home Depot $19 breakfast at Starbucks with giftcard)

1/10: $0 ($2.25 cash - cup of coffee)
1/11 No Buy Day
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
 
Don't be discouraged! This month is kind of a "finding out" month. Just keep swimming, Just keep swimming!

if we hadn't called a plumber we would have been swimming all right...lol...we were blown right out of NBJ on the 5th day into the month/year...$675 bill :headache: My mom brought into the ER/Hospital on Saturday and needed to get a sandwich after 7 hours...then MIL called and needed me Sunday requiring me to purchase more gas than I normally budget for, :rolleyes: and DH turns 50 on the 28th and I have NO gift or ideas yet... I'm going to have to start in Feb :sad2:
 
No Buy Days : 6/15
Gas : 31$ (max 100$)
Groceries : 0$ (max 250$)
Eating out (and snacks) : 36$ (max 100$)
Non-necessities : 0$ (max 200$)

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BRAVO, Ronmel!

Ten days and NO non-necessities. That's a target for the rest of us.
 
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
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
Jan. 26
Jan. 27
Jan. 28
Jan. 29
Jan. 30
Jan. 31
__________________
 

Who knew this thread could be so motivating!

I am amazed how quickly I would just say, "Hey, I'll pop in for a quick bite to eat/iced tea/cappucino nonsense" during the work week.

But now, when I am getting ready in the morning, I remind myself that I have to be accountable on this thread, and quick as a wink I make sure I have something for lunch and throw a protein shake in the blender for all of 20 seconds.

I will have saved close to $80 this month without even really trying!

Next month I will try to do more!
 
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. Yes, its early, but I'm not feeling well and won't be going anywhere or doing anything this evening.
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 :( BUT! breakfast and lunch for tomorrow are packed & ready to go, so tomorrow can be a no $pend!
01-10-11:flower3: no $pend day # 4!
01-11-11 I'm calling this one now as a no spend day ~ I packed my lunch, so im good to go! (I won't add it to my total till later ~ just to make sure!)
01-12-11
01-13-11
01-14-11 ~ bill paying day ~ aiming for 2 things: A.) staying in the budget for groceries & gas and B.) no un~needed spending.

4 of 10 days :woohoo:
 
All my No Buy friends, I can't believe no one called me on my mistake! I just realized I have been posting "December" instead of "January" since the 5th! :rotfl:


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.


8/15 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
Total gas for the month- $0


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:
 
I was doing so good today at Shoprite's can can sale, like 67 cents for tuna but then I go and forget to take my $5 cash back at the self-checkout:headache: Oh well, I'll think of it as a church donation. I did call and no one turned it in.
 
All my No Buy friends, I can't believe no one called me on my mistake! I just realized I have been posting "December" instead of "January" since the 5th! :rotfl:
lol, that's because I have been so focused on making sure I'm writing (or typing) 2011 instead of 2010!!!!
 
Calling it early today. Maybe tomorrow will be a no-buy if we get enough snow!

6/12 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
 
I sat down and paid bills today so it was a big spend day. :headache:
The January budget is $1200 with 12 no spend days.

Auto $70
Eating Out/Entertainment $50 / $32 left
Giving $10
Groceries/Household Goods $200/ $187 left
Medical $100 /$25 over
Misc. $50/ $10 left
Set bills $420/ $189 left
Semi-Annual Neurology eval in Chicago budget is $300

No spend days goal of 12/ 5

Coupon savings $21.90
Christmas '11 running total = $8
-------------------------------------------------------
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
1/6 $0
1/7 $0
1/8 Eating out $18; Medical $21 (OTC drugs)
1/9 Set bills $20 (church); Misc. $10 (Mom's birthday gift) Christmas $8
1/10 $0
1/11 Set bills $186
 
I guess even though I am 17 I can do this.

I for the next month won't buy any lunch during my work shift and wait to get home. I will only allow myself $30 total for the month for other spending (Disney music, etc..). I will decrease this the following month. The money I save will go towards college and a Disney Trip.

School lunches: $30
Miscellaneous: $30
Gas: $20 (as I borrow my parents car, don't need alot)
Total: $80 budget
 
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

No Spend:
4/10

I almost ruined it today. I am home with the boys because we got several inches of snow this morning. I knew it would be an easy "no-spend" day. Well some guy came around and offered to shovel my sidewalk and driveway for $10. Without thinking, I said yes. I realized it almost as soon as I said it that it would ruin my no spend day. As it turns out, the guy didn't have change for my $20 bill anyway. When the baby took a nap I bundled the 3 year old to play in the snow, and I shoveled. Saved my no-spend day AND got some exercise. :banana:
 
I guess even though I am 17 I can do this.

I for the next month won't buy any lunch during my work shift and wait to get home. I will only allow myself $30 total for the month for other spending (Disney music, etc..). I will decrease this the following month. The money I save will go towards college and a Disney Trip.

School lunches: $30
Miscellaneous: $30
Gas: $20 (as I borrow my parents car, don't need alot)
Total: $80 budget

Good for you! I can't tell you how much I wish someone, ANYONE would have taught me to be careful with money many years ago. I got into a lot of trouble cause I just truly didn't know better. I do now, but I am twice your age. Welcome!!!
 
Haven't posted for a couple of days so here are my totals so far. I think we'll be able to come in under budget for groceries but I also think we haven't budgeted enough for gas. Tomorrow should be no-buy day #2 because of the snow coming and I just stocked up on groceries and we both have gas so as long as I can stay off the 'net we're good! :3dglasses

As of 1/11/11:

Groceries $310.43/$189.57 left (at least I stocked up on meat, all we need is cheese, fruit, milk, that sort of thing)
Gas $100.81/$49.19 left (I can tell this won't work!)
Medical $50.99/$9.01 left (this probably won't work either but I've been to the doctor twice this month which is very unusual!)

No-buy days: 1/5 so far
 
No spend today as well. It has been snowing steadily all day so I stayed inside my nice warm house and cleaned.

Tomorrow is grocery day.

Groceries/household- $300/ $183.83 left
Car/gas- $50
Eating out- $50/ $32.37 left
Entertainment/Misc- $100

Total- $500/ $366.20 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
1/13
1/14

8/15 No Buy Days

Store and coupon savings- $10.00
 
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).

6/15 No Buy Days
 
Good for you! I can't tell you how much I wish someone, ANYONE would have taught me to be careful with money many years ago. I got into a lot of trouble cause I just truly didn't know better. I do now, but I am twice your age. Welcome!!!


I am from upstate New york as well. I don't want to say much more as this place is public, but it's nice knowing that I am not the only upstate new york person on this forum site.
 














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