January no buy

[neatokimmo]

You make your own rules. Like for me, for Jan, the freezer is getting cleared out along with what I have stored in Mom's big freezer. So my grocery bills will be lower. I'll allot so much money towards DD's winter clothes for next year when they go on clearance at the end of Jan. Our Disney trip starts on the 29th so I will have some expenses with the trip in Jan.

I will try to curb my two worst habits, fast food and diet coke.

I WILL NOT BUY ANY CHRISTMAS CLEARANCE JUNK LIKE WRAPPING PAPER OR ORNAMENTS. (I keep telling myself that - I have enough for 5 trees).

Last year I made the mistake of mixing business expenses with regular spending. So this year another goal will be to keep my business expenses to a reasonable amount (I am *this* close to a profit and have an awesome inventory lol) and keep it 100% separate from my personal moola.

So make your own rules!

Not sure what the rules are? No buying of anything? Or only buying of stuff you need and not things you don't need?

I go many days a month without spending money. So I should be able to do this. And snowy January is a yucky time to go shopping for anything anyway. I'm not a bigger shopper. I'm in & out of Walmart & grocery store buying only what we need anyway. Food & pet food. We live really basic. Not into buying music, movies, not many clothes, not fancy toiletries, don't have nails done, etc.

No debt anymore, but I am addicted to watching our bank accounts grow...that is when the stock market does gobble it up.

 

[neatokimmo]

haha we posted at the same time.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

haha we posted at the same time.

Yes, and somehow managed to give almost the same information, but with different examples!

 

[goofyredraider]

I would love to join this group. Some things on the horizon for us....

I've paid off the first 1/2 of our Disney trip and now need to concentrate on paying off the second 1/2 by our deadline of mid-April.

The only spending I *have* to do in January is some clearance shopping for toys/etc. for Easter Baskets when Target does their toy clearance. I *have to* clearance shop in order to afford to do "decent" baskets for three kids on a budget. I've already started collecting a few odds and ends. I guess I need to set a budget on what I can spend at the clearance, and stick to that. So, I guess I can't do a strict "no buy" in January when you factor that...but I will work that into the budget and try to stick to that amount.

DS#1's bday is in February, but I've already set a few things aside for that, and I don't plan to spend much more than what I already have.

eta: I love that we can set our own goals! That rocks!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I would love to join this group. Some things on the horizon for us....

I've paid off the first 1/2 of our Disney trip and now need to concentrate on paying off the second 1/2 by our deadline of mid-April.

The only spending I *have* to do in January is some clearance shopping for toys/etc. for Easter Baskets when Target does their toy clearance. I *have to* clearance shop in order to afford to do "decent" baskets for three kids on a budget. I've already started collecting a few odds and ends. I guess I need to set a budget on what I can spend at the clearance, and stick to that. So, I guess I can't do a strict "no buy" in January when you factor that...but I will work that into the budget and try to stick to that amount.

DS#1's bday is in February, but I've already set a few things aside for that, and I don't plan to spend much more than what I already have.

The part I bolded is exactly what this thread is for: being mindful and aware of your spending by tracking it and being accountable to yourself. (We just help. ) The No Buy name can be a bit confusing; it's not about buying nothing for the month, but picking a number of days that you aim to spend nothing. One day of $0 spending is possible. A whole month is too ambitious to be a reachable goal. I did manage 21 out of 28 days last February, but that was not even close to typical! Normal for me is about 10-12 days in a month.

 

[Virgderon]

I dropped off because I was so busy- I used to work from home but now I am working at the office 4 days a week. I 've done well except for the eating out- if I tracked how much I spend at the little deli in my building I would probably be shocked.

I think it's time to find out- so I would try it again in January just to see where I am wasting money.

Merry Christmas to all- I miss you too! I've thought of you often.

 

[gator75]

I will play. One of the goals i have is to clean out my freezers and use up what i have in jan , then i should be able to do one massive shopping trip and hopefully put my couponing skills to work.

We are also going on a few trips this summer i'd like to save for that.

Another and one of the biggest goals i have is to get some of our debt paid off or cut down significantly. I also like the idea of watching my bank acc grow so maybe i can somehow incorrorporate this to make it all come together.

 

[kinntj]

I'm in. We need to get back into a spending routine. Lately with the Holidays, it's been all over the place.

 

[nicoleezk]

I'm in! I definitely went off the deep end Christmas shopping for the kids this year, so I need to get back on track for our first bit family vacation...to Disney!

 

[living20057]

This is great! I'm going to mainly focus on my amount of eating out. So I am going to create my budget to include dining out.

The usual way this thread works is that everybody chooses their own goal to meet, then posts updates as the month goes on. Usually people will quote themselves, remove the quote brackets, and add to their list each day.

The best thing about that is you will see how different people view spending and budgeting and get ideas. Basically, you create your goal at the beginning of the month and then the group helps you stay accountable to the goal you have selected. You choose how much information you are willing to share.

Some examples of what people have done recently are:
-Meeting a certain number of days where you spend nothing (usually not including monthly bills). Numbers usually range from 10-15. For someone new at this, even 10 is ambitious because you are building new habits. I've noticed it takes about 3 months to calibrate a new budget, so don't give up if you biff on day 2 of the first month!

-Having <$5 days and <$10 days in addition to the $0 Days. For example, you might aim for 10 $0 Days, then allow 5 more days where you keep spending within a low threshold. The reasoning behind this is sometimes when you spend a small amount on a snack, you've "ruined the $0 Day" and might as well get all that other stuff you've been eyeing! The idea is to prevent binge spending on your spend days.

-Keeping spending within certain limits, often broken down by category.

-Rationing your budget, such as dividing the $400 you have to spend all month into $40 cash every three days. This helps you pace yourself, especially if you are reducing your spending.

 

[Luvdancink]

I'm in. Took a new job with a pay cut but better benis and now I need to be more careful to nix the splurges. My big problem is with eating out. I will have a few gift cards to restaurants from family members from christmas to use but if there is no gift card there is no restaurant spending!

 

[neatokimmo]

I am glad to see there are a bunch of us who need to curb eating out. It is easier in a group!

 

[reginaastralis]

I am in! My boyfriend and I had a really good talk the other day about how we need to curb our spending, and this is the best way for us to start.

Jan is a big month for us because we are going to Vegas and it's my daughter's birthday. However, we are already working on doing her birthday on a budget. This last year I quit my job so I could concentrate on school more, and it feels like we are eating out more than ever. We want to try for #2 this year, so we REALLY need to get money under control if that's going to happen.

I hope to have a great year with you ladies!

 

[newtexan]

I need to do this too. We want to vacation in June without squeezing by, so this will be a great place for me to check in and keep up with myself.

 

[LMN]

I'm in! I am trying to find a full time job, so right now its not hard to not spend money- because there is no extra! But, I've got 2 real job possibilities and hopefully one of them will pan out, so I expect to have a job by the first week of Jan. And when that happens, I'll need to not go off the deep end with all of the extra money we will suddenly have from my job. Looking forward to saving as much as I can in Jan! Hoping to take a trip to WDW in June.

 

[Couchy]

I am definitely going to have to join in. My DH told me on Tuesday night that he is making one of my dreams come true and taking me to Disney for Christmas to see the World at Christmas

That is an awesome surprise but I need to save because we already have an April trip planned with our friends

 

[willowsnn3]

I'm in!!! Curbing the eating out habit too. Have a couple credit cards with low balances that I need to focus on. No b'days till mid March thankfully. We are planning on a WDW trip for April but I have enough teaching assignments to pay for my part of that.

 

[naomi78155]

Yay! I have been waiting for this thread! Woot! Count me in, if only my hubby were on board, it would be so much easier!!

 

[living20057]

A lot of people are trying to cut back on eating out. What are some ways that your going to avoid eating out? For me, I like to avoid cooking. After a long day that is the last thing I feel like doing.

 

[neatokimmo]

A lot of people are trying to cut back on eating out. What are some ways that your going to avoid eating out? For me, I like to avoid cooking. After a long day that is the last thing I feel like doing.

I am normally a from scratch cooker. Like we don't eat anything from a can.

So I am going to make up a few meals that will freeze well, in the correct portion size (my big problem is I cook for 6 people when there are 1.25 here and I throw tons of stuff away) so I can just nuke them.

I am also going to incorporate some items I normally would not buy that would save time. Like those fresh pasta things at the grocer. They are $4ish a tub which is normally not something I would buy. Hello...fast food is like more than that. So why not get the fancy fresh pasta?