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

[Ava]

Dining out tip:

In laws had 5 kids, traveled a lot with Army.

Whenever they ate at a restaurant one member of the family was "trash can". They didn't order anything but a beverage, got an empty plate, and got to sample some of each other persons' meal. Saved money and "trash can" soon became the coveted status.

I like this idea! My DD is "trash can" by default, since she's only 20 months old & we usually just give her some of whatever we order when we go out.

 

[charming23]

Went out today as Old Navy had their extra 40% off clearance sale and I had a giftcard. We also had to get some more groceries as my family is coming over for an impromptu dinner tomorrow and we needed a few items. I also stopped for gas and bought some cute mugs on clearnace at the Disney Store.

Anyways today is a no spend.

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

9/15 No Buy Days

Store and coupon savings- $47.19

 

[fairyprincess1]

Here is what I got...

Jan 1 $0
Jan 2 $0
Jan 3 spend - lunch, groceries, and a small CVS run
Jan 4 spend - but it was just some subway for lunch
Jan 5 $0
Jan 6 spend - going out for dinner with the neighborhood ladies
Jan 7 $0
Jan 8 $0
Jan 9 $0 It's amazing how you spend no money when you have the flu
Jan 10 spend
Jan 11 spend
Jan 12 spend
Jan 13 spend


6/14 no buy days

 

[Tiggerish]

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

Auto $70
Eating Out/Entertainment $50 / $32 left
Giving $10
Groceries/Household Goods $200/ $179 left
Medical $100 /$25 over
Misc. $50/ $10 left
Set bills $420/ $121 left
Semi-Annual Neurology eval in Chicago budget is $300

No spend days goal of 12/7
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
1/12 $0
1/13 Set bills $68; Groceries $8
1/14 $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
1/6 $0
1/7 $0
1/8 $97.58 groceries and $58.47 for misc
1/9 $0
1/10 $75 - $66 on dd's gymnastics class, $9 on monthly rx (these are not counted in $100 for extras)
1/11 $0
1/12 $40 gas
1/13 $0
1/14 $25 - signed up for better budgeting class

8/10
$195.95/$400 - $204.05
$107.81/$200 - 92.19
$83.47/$100 - $41.53

 

[MapleGirl]

Running Total: $598.03
Cash spent: $15.25
No Buy Days: 8/10


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 $0
1/12 $0
1/13 $0 ($1 cash - snack machine)
1/14 $0
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

 

[ronnmel]

No Buy Days : 8/15
Gas : 31$ (max 100$)
Groceries : 27$ (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$

 

[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
Jan 5: $12 on a valance for the baby's room
Jan 6: $0
Jan 7: $12 for a day at the mall with dd (whoo hoo for free play area!)
Jan 8: $70 groceries
Jan 9: $0
Jan 10: $0
Jan 11: $0
Jan 12: $0
Jan 13: $0
Jan 14: $0

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

1/1: $0!
1/2: $0!
1/3: $11.10 Popeyes
1/4: $6.25 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!

$0 Buy Days: 6
Total Spent: $195.31/$395=49%
Month Over: 14/31=45%

$395 breakdowns:
grocery: 200.00-85.72=114.28 left
eating out: 50.00-38.85=11.15 left
misc: 70.00-43.83=26.17 left
gas: 75.00-23.16=51.84 left
[/QUOTE]

I decided to wait until tomorrow to do the Target trip, so today was another $0 Buy!

I'd eaten Cheerios at the crack of dawn and was still semi-hungry. I hate to fly on an empty stomach, but this was mostly "Yummm. I smell the grease."

Dry cereal does NOT fill me up. I find it has no staying power in my stomach; I am always hungry shortly after I eat it. Oatmeal, on the other hand, is like eating concrete.

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

1/1 - $17 grocery/paper products
1/2 - $0!
1/3 - $2 postage, $2 grocery
1/4 - $0!
1/5 - $27 grocery
1/6 - $20 laundry
1/7 - $0!
Week 1 total: $68

1/8 - $84 grocery
1/9 - $22 farmer's market, $10 medical, $7 breakfast out, $10 laundry
1/10 - $22 cat litter
1/11 - $0!
1/12 - $0!
1/13 - $0!
1/14 -
Week 2 total: $155

Monthly total: $223

Hmm... 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.

You are in a high cost of living area. I have lived in NYC and it's very hard to keep costs down, particularly the cost of food. When I moved down here, I wanted to buy all the food and stock up because to me, being accustomed to the prices of C-Town, EVERYTHING in the store seemed to be on sale!

I add money to my wallet each week, but I do my grocery budget for the month. Some weeks are more than others (especially depending on the sales), but in the end I want it all to add up to no more than $200 for the month. I take the money out of the ATM for the weekly cash 2x/month, but only put a week's worth at a time in my wallet, so I can visually pace myself.

I have a separate "pet" category. It encompasses vet bills, dog food, toys, and other pet needs like her crate and dog bed. After tracking it for a while as a separate category, you will know how often you buy a new bag of food. I get a bag about once every 2 months. I suppose you could either put aside a "cat food fund" of $8 every month and buy a new bag every 3rd month, or you could just put $22 in your budget every third month and take that cash from a different category (savings?) that month.

 

[msmama]

I'm aiming for 15 No Buy Days, but hoping for 20!

1/1 - $0
1/2 - $89.30 (for 2 weeks worth of groceries - this meal planning stuff really works!)
1/3 - $0
1/4 - 37.00 (Darn kid and the stuff he likes. I HAD to get tickets to take him to a Dinosaur Train exhibit.)
1/5 - $0
1/6 - 49.29 (saved due to Amazon Mom and Subscribe and Save, and (fingers crossed) this could be the last pack of diapers I ever buy)
1/7 - 111.41 + 10.95 (groceries and McDonalds for lunch)
1/8 - -- Alright, this may be cheating, but I'm not counting today. Money was spent, but it came from a special fund that I've been saving up for (Ikea) so it isn't money that came out of my regular budget. But I won't count it as No Buy.
1/9 - $0
1/10 - 110.59 (Big Costco shop. Feeling discouraged. I'm only $40 away from my grocery budget for the month and I know there's a handful of things I still need. Crap).
1/11 - 27 + 505 (Amazon to get the CORRECT size diapers since I bought the wrong size on 1/6 - will get a refund though whenever the snow lets up to get the UPS man here. Also had to write a check for the kids preschool tuition for NEXT YEAR already - big budget buster there).
1/12 - $0 Thank you snow!
1/13 - 33 + 5 on GC (Was doing well until the darn gas light came on! I would've waited 'til tomorow but with a couple feet of snow and a temp of 7 degrees overnight I decided it best to ruin my No Buy day).
1/14 - 95 + 15 + K cups (Books for my first class back in school after a decade , Birthday present for Dad and still to buy Kcups - waiting on my buy 2 get 2 code, lol. Would've been more buy my house and the ice and snow conspired to keep me out of Target.
1/15 -

Still 5/15 No Buys

Hmm... 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.

I feel you. I had a HUGE dent in my budget by needing TP, Paper Towels, Kleenex, Diapers, Wipes, etc all at the same time.

 

[AnninIowa]

I was naughty today and went to the mall!! However, today is my birthday, so I'm using that as an excuse! To see what I got, you can read my blog post: http://annabellasgiftshop.blogspot.com/2011/01/huge-mall-haul-old-navy-gordmans-and.html

 

[#1hoosierfan]

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

My Wal-Mart trip included a Mickey Mouse shirt for each of the boys at $5 a piece and a Mickey shirt and a Minnie shirt for me clearanced at $3. These will come in hand for our trip in March!

Ava - I think your best best is to track your spending for a 3-4 month months. You can then see what you spend on things like cat litter that you buy only every so often.... average the total and then incorparate it into your weekly budget. Does that make sense?

No Spend:
5/10

 

[Virgderon]

DD is leaving tomorrow, and heading to London for study abroad. For the next 5 months both of my girls will be out of the country. I told them when they were little they could do anything they want .... I guess they believed me!

Running Total: Spent $463
$950 budget...$487 left
$0 Days: 5
Goal is 8 or more!
coupon/sale savings : 94

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)

 

[Virgderon]

Ava - I think your best best is to track your spending for a 3-4 month months. You can then see what you spend on things like cat litter that you buy only every so often.... average the total and then incorparate it into your weekly budget. Does that make sense?

This totally makes sense and I have never been able to make it work. Its like one week you have extra money, the next week you don't...you are supposed to save the extra from one week and put it toward the next... but I would just ending up buying some shoes or something.

I'm still working on being a great budgeter- for now I am just a good one.

 

[TheDisneyWorldFan]

Today:

I spent none of my own money (mom gave me money for ice cream (she paid for it))

1/15 no spend days now.

 

[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

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

January 8 $0

January 9 $0

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

7/15 No Buy Days

 

[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
1/6 $0
1/7 $0
1/8 $97.58 groceries and $58.47 for misc
1/9 $0
1/10 $75 - $66 on dd's gymnastics class, $9 on monthly rx (these are not counted in $100 for extras)
1/11 $0
1/12 $40 gas
1/13 $0
1/14 $75 - signed up for better budgeting class

8/10
$195.95/$400 - $204.05
$107.81/$200 - 92.19
$133.47/$100 - ($33.47)

had to adjust, signed up for a 4 mile race for the family

 

[A.Mickey]

Haha I can try to overcome the Target temptations.

Target is way too tempting with their 75% off clothes...plus an additional 30% off!

 

[A.Mickey]

Running Total: Spent $686.45
$0 Days:5/10

Groceries ($340-$11/day)- $144.08
Eating Out ($100-$3.4/day)-$67.98
Misc. (Shopping/Entertainment) ($930-$30/day) $474.39
Gas for Tracking- 1/5 $20, 1/5 $50, 1/8 $35, 1/13 $17, = $122
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- Meijer, Walgreens, Jewel
WEEK 3 BEGIN:
16- CVS
17- No Buy?!?
18- McDonald's
19- Preschool Education Night, No Buy?!?
20-
21-
22-


Budget: $1350....51%
Month: 14/31: 45%
No Buy: 5/10: 50%

My savings from coupons and sales: $964.03

 

[Beezle2]

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 (coupon/sale savings $37.52) adding this idea from another poster because I like it!

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

1/6 $0
1/7 $0
1/8 $0
1/9 $0
1/10 $0
1/11 $2.50 for gum and diet coke. Stopped at Aldis and spent $32 from the grocery budget so $75 left there.
1/12 $0
1/13 $1.49 for a diet pepsi
1/14 Spent $99 at the grocery store though and am now over the budget I had wanted for that. Saved $39 with coupons and sales. Also $50 for dogfood and $50 to gas up the van.
1/15 $0

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