July 2011 No Buy Thread - Let the savings sparks fly!

[Debbie]

I'm starting today. My main focus is to keep groceries below $150.00/wk.

8/10-$0

 

[charming23]

Today is a $0 day as well. I am watching my friend's daughter so we are watching movies and playing board games.

July 2011 Budget

Groceries/Household- $300/$180.33 Left
Cat Supplies- $30/$14.82 left
Car/Gas- $70/$45.43 Left
Eating Out- $50/$32.67 left
Misc/Entertainment- $100/$77.67 Left

Total- $550/$350.92 Left

Goal of 15 No Buy Days

7/1- $84.72 Grocery/Household, $15.18 Cat Supplies, and $24.57 Gas
7/2- $0
7/3- $0
7/4- $18.06 Giant Eagle/Groceries
7/5- $0
7/6- $22.33 Target/Misc and $8.06 lunch at Wendy's
7/7- $16.89 Groceries and $9.27 Lunch
7/8- $0
7/9- $0
7/10- $0
7/11
7/12
7/13
7/14
7/15- Kelley's Island
7/16- Kelley's Island
7/17- Kelley's Island
7/18
7/19
7/20
7/21
7/22
7/23
7/24
7/25
7/26
7/27
7/28
7/29
7/30
7/31

6/15 No Buy Days

Coupon/ Store Savings- $20.20

 

[ronnmel]

For some weird reason I seem to spend less on the weekends in the summer?

No Buy Days : 3/8
Gas : 41$ (max 140$)
Groceries : 0$ (max 200$)
Eating out (and snacks) : 178$ (max 100$)
Non-necessities : 189$ (max 400$)

01/07 : 5$ (greeting card)
02/07 : 113$ (DH's gift, snack)
03/07 : 16$ (movie)
04/07 : 178$ (dinner + movie)
05/07 : 41$ (gas)
06/07 : 12$
07/07 : 0$
08/07 : 43$ (haircut)
09/07 : 0$
10/07 : 0$

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

My goal is $400 for food and miscellaneous and $75 for gas.

General

1 - $67.01
2 - $0!
3 - $0!
4 - $17.35
5 - $0!
6 - $5.23
7 - $99.32
8 - $0!
9 - $0!
10 - $1.75

$400-$190.66=$209.34
$0 Buy Days: 5

Gas

$75-$0=$75

I am way ahead of pace again for this month. At least I'm doing GREAT so far with the gas budget!

I think I am going to get gas tomorrow. I recently saw it (when my tank was full) for less than $3! And now it's up to $3.46 again.

For some weird reason I seem to spend less on the weekends in the summer?

I also tend to. I figure I'd rather go to the stores and things during the week when they are less crowded.

 

[wlake]

Here are my goals:
no buy days: 2/10 (it's always harder when I'm home full time!)
longest no buy streak: 3 (I really want to extend this to 4!)
dinners out: 0/4 (not counting traveling)
current no dinners out streak: 8
longest no dinners out streak: 12

7/1: $35 gas
7/2: Oh my. We were visiting my MIL, so... $9 bagels, $46 Trader Joe's, $17 IKEA, $10 dinner on the road home
7/3: $27 groceries
7/4: $8 ice cream
7/5: $12 Kohl's, $19 Walmart, $130 Princess Half registration
7/6:
7/7:
7/8: errand day, so too much to remember numbers for at the moment: haircuts for the boys, lunch out, new sunglasses, fabric, gas, Target
7/9: $25 Lowe's, $8 blueberry picking, $200 deposit for our Feb. WDW trip!
7/10: $60 at the town's fair. Why are country fairs so expensive?

To make things even better, I had gift cards and I managed to spend EXACTLY what was on them, not a cent less, not a cent more!

Ronnmel, I'm impressed! I always seem to end up with 28 cents or something similar left on my gift cards.

wlake - Being picked up is the biggest fear, because it equates to failure to finish and a smashed dream. However, if you're already training, you should have no problem! It's like Dory on land....just keep moving, just keep moving....

I have to tell you that when I signed up for the Princess, it was my first half marathon and I actually kept it a secret from most people! My fear of not finishing was so much that I didn't want to tell people ahead of time in case I couldn't finish! I didn't want to deal with both the disappointment of failure AND the embarrassment of everybody knowing!

There are some Princess threads on the WISH boards here on the DIS that you might want to check out if you haven't already.

Thanks again! I debated not telling people, but my second biggest fear is not following through and doing it, so I told people so I would be motivated to keep training. Believe me, that's working! 4 miles yesterday at 13:52 per mile -- I'll get there yet!

I'm starting today. My main focus is to keep groceries below $150.00/wk.

 

[IMALOVNDISNEY]

I'm back...Last month I spent alot more then I should have. But, still had 16 out of 10 No Buys Days. I can remember only spending $100 a month for groceries not to long ago. OMGish I miss those days! Plus, we did ate out of the freezer a lot

07/01 -0-This should have been an expensive day. We went to the beach and stopped at the casino on the way home. We won enough money to cover all expenses today...And even had a little extra.
07/02 -0-cheer2: Stayed home and did yard work. And swam in the pool -0-
07/03 -0- Another day at home.
07/04 $27.00 groceries. Nice day by the pool with DH, DD and a couple of friends.
07/05 -0- Spent the day on the lake tubing. Used all our left overs from yesterdays mini picnic. What a great way to end our 5 days off. Tomorrow is back to work.
07/06 $50.00 gas
07/07 $52.00 Costco's. Really spent $68.00 but my office will reemberse me for $32.00
07/08 $30.00 Sonic for 4. This was a money saver. We were actually on our way to a local fair when it started storming.
07/09 $25.00 tokens for the local "Taste of Our town". $2.00 for a bottle of water.
07/10 -0-Money maker today..Had an awesome lia party.
07/11
Auto: $50.00/$200
Groceries/Household Goods:$79.00/$200.00
Eating Out/Entertainment: $55.00/$100.00
Misc:/$200
No Buy days 5/10
Coupon savings $8.00[/QUOTE]

 

[charming23]

Another $0 day here today. The repair company is coming out to fix our air conditioner on thursday so I need as many $o days as I can get.

July 2011 Budget

Groceries/Household- $300/$180.33 Left
Cat Supplies- $30/$14.82 left
Car/Gas- $70/$45.43 Left
Eating Out- $50/$32.67 left
Misc/Entertainment- $100/$77.67 Left

Total- $550/$350.92 Left

Goal of 15 No Buy Days

7/1- $84.72 Grocery/Household, $15.18 Cat Supplies, and $24.57 Gas
7/2- $0
7/3- $0
7/4- $18.06 Giant Eagle/Groceries
7/5- $0
7/6- $22.33 Target/Misc and $8.06 lunch at Wendy's
7/7- $16.89 Groceries and $9.27 Lunch
7/8- $0
7/9- $0
7/10- $0
7/11- $0
7/12
7/13
7/14
7/15- Kelley's Island
7/16- Kelley's Island
7/17- Kelley's Island
7/18
7/19
7/20
7/21
7/22
7/23
7/24
7/25
7/26
7/27
7/28
7/29
7/30
7/31

7/15 No Buy Days

Coupon/ Store Savings- $20.20

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

My goal is $400 for food and miscellaneous and $75 for gas.

General

1 - $67.01
2 - $0!
3 - $0!
4 - $17.35
5 - $0!
6 - $5.23
7 - $99.32
8 - $0!
9 - $0!
10 - $1.75
11 - $37.00

$400-$227.66=$172.34
$0 Buy Days: 5

Gas

$75-$0=$75

I am way ahead of pace again for this month. At least I'm doing GREAT so far with the gas budget!

I had lunch with a friend that I hadn't seen in months. I also got my brake tag, which was $25 of that $37 from today. I decided to wait on getting gas until another day. I still have 2/3 of a tank left.

 

[QVCshopper]

OK. I'm back from vacation and had my first no-buy this month. But, it was a cheap vacation since we didn't have to pay for room and board (we were at my in-laws' lake house). I'm going to try to keep the rest of the month low because we are going to Disney soon. Yay!

7/1-$24 Panera Bread, $30 Walmart, $12 Zwhalens
7/1-$7.50 BK, $5 Wawa, $3 Cider Donuts (yummy!)
7/3-$3 Dollar Tree, $36 Kmart, $17 Weiss
7/4-$11 Snacks/Food, $30 Sneakers for DD
7/5-$37.50 Pizza Hut
7/6-$38 Boathouse
7/7-$20 StrideRite Sneakers for DS, $11 Carters, $11.50 Lunch, $4.50 H&D, $2 Motherhood
7/8-$3.50 CFA
7/9-$7 Farmers Market, $33 Kmart, $60 Wegmans, $30 Petsmart, $5 Gymboree
7/10-$10 Sonic/Pool
7/11-$0

 

[ronnmel]

Ronnmel, I'm impressed! I always seem to end up with 28 cents or something similar left on my gift cards.

To be fair, I kinda cheated. I had 18$ and some cents left on my card. My friend wanted to buy some shorts that were buy 2 get the third one free, but she could only find two that she liked. Shorts was what I was shopping for, and I liked the one she tried, so I got a pair for myself. The total divided by 3 was 18$ and some cents, so I just used the remaining of my gift card and she covered the rest. We were not about to fight for less than a dollar!


Wow, 3 no-buy days in a row!

No Buy Days : 4/8
Gas : 41$ (max 140$)
Groceries : 0$ (max 200$)
Eating out (and snacks) : 178$ (max 100$)
Non-necessities : 189$ (max 400$)

01/07 : 5$ (greeting card)
02/07 : 113$ (DH's gift, snack)
03/07 : 16$ (movie)
04/07 : 178$ (dinner + movie)
05/07 : 41$ (gas)
06/07 : 12$
07/07 : 0$
08/07 : 43$ (haircut)
09/07 : 0$
10/07 : 0$
11/07 : 0$

 

[YukiPhnx]

I've returned from my weekend absence! I made a trip to Toronto and forgot to bring my laptop....so here I am, catching up! I don't think I did so well... these last 3 days, but the coming week is looking good.

I gave a pretty big tip when I went to Starbucks last night. I found out baristas make the LEAST tip in the service industry and yet is one of the most dangerous jobs, with burns and stuff.

Debbie, I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND what you mean about university expenses! Even after buying your DD all this new stuff, there's still going to be stuff she'll find out she needs even after a month or two. Also, I went to a Catholic school, so I literally HAD NOTHING TO WEAR. It was really cool to go on that shopping spree just to have enough clothes to wear.

Make sure to get her a small brita filter jug. The tap water in residence is.....questionable...And slippers for the communal showers are good too.


July
Overall budget: 80.83/400
Gas: 0/80
$0 days: 6/10

Misc.
Eating out: 0/5
Clothes: 0/4
The Body Shop: 0/2
Gifts: 0/2
U.S shopping: $100

1-$0 (Off to a good start!)
2-$1.05 (McDonald's iced coffee)
3-$29.02 (groceries)
___
$40-30.07=$9.93

(This will be longer cause of the "uneven-ness" of days)
4-$0
5-$0
6-$0
7-$0 (FOUR DAYS IN A ROW!!!)
___
$40-0=$40

8-$32.64 (Roundtrip greyhound tickets and lunch)
9-$11.18 (anti-itch cream for all these darned bug bites)
10-$6.94 (drink and cookie from Starbucks, I gave a big tip)
___
$40-50.76=$-10.76

11-$0
12-
13-
___
$29.24

14-
15-
16-
___


17-
18-
19-
___


20-
21-
22-
___


23-
24-
25-
___


26-
27-
28-
___


29-
30-
31-
___

 

[bigmama67]

I have been really bad about sticking to budget...things have come up like vet checkups, new tires, etc...but I also haven't been tracking things. Now we're in a holding pattern because I've been unemployed for over a year and they will be re-calculating my benefits. My appointment (by phone) isn't for two more weeks. Meanwhile we've taken money out of savings to cover our July mortgage payment, but once things are sorted out I will get all 3 weeks in back pay. I'm also waiting for my last tutoring check and since they owe me 11 hours for May, 8 hours for June, plus administrative fees for 13 kids, it should be a decent one.

I spent a bunch on groceries today and also got $100 in Uno gift cards from Costco (for $79.99). DS' day camp and both DD and DS' daycare is paid for through the summer. I have tuition due next month for the summer class, and I've been able to get subsidized (interest-free) student loans for the fall. We have some more trips planned for the summer but they are all one or two nights long, all but one are camping trips, and most of the lodging is paid for. Hopefully, then, we will get through this. I don't mind admitting I'm pretty frustrated about having no work lined up for the fall, either. I had to turn down a temp job offer that wouldn't work with my summer class schedule (DH was on board with that) but I am hoping something better comes along.

Please send good wishes and I hope I can get back on track with budgeting and with having some income sooner rather than later...

 

[wlake]

Here are my goals:
no buy days: 2/10 (it's always harder when I'm home full time!)
longest no buy streak: 3 (I really want to extend this to 4!)
dinners out: 0/4 (not counting traveling)
current no dinners out streak: 9
longest no dinners out streak: 12

7/1: $35 gas
7/2: Oh my. We were visiting my MIL, so... $9 bagels, $46 Trader Joe's, $17 IKEA, $10 dinner on the road home
7/3: $27 groceries
7/4: $8 ice cream
7/5: $12 Kohl's, $19 Walmart, $130 Princess Half registration
7/6:
7/7:
7/8: errand day, so too much to remember numbers for at the moment: haircuts for the boys, lunch out, new sunglasses, fabric, gas, Target
7/9: $25 Lowe's, $8 blueberry picking, $200 deposit for our Feb. WDW trip!
7/10: $60 at the town's fair. Why are country fairs so expensive?
7/11: errand day for the week, so $51 groceries, $82 Target, and $9 Staples as well as I-can't-remember Land's End

To be fair, I kinda cheated. I had 18$ and some cents left on my card. My friend wanted to buy some shorts that were buy 2 get the third one free, but she could only find two that she liked. Shorts was what I was shopping for, and I liked the one she tried, so I got a pair for myself. The total divided by 3 was 18$ and some cents, so I just used the remaining of my gift card and she covered the rest. We were not about to fight for less than a dollar!

That's not cheating; that's being creative!

Hopefully, then, we will get through this. I don't mind admitting I'm pretty frustrated about having no work lined up for the fall, either. I had to turn down a temp job offer that wouldn't work with my summer class schedule (DH was on board with that) but I am hoping something better comes along.

Please send good wishes and I hope I can get back on track with budgeting and with having some income sooner rather than later...

Here's good wishes and pixie dust for you! I hope it all works out much sooner rather than later!

 

[kinntj]

8/10-$0
8/11-$0, $15 copay for Dr.
8/12-$

 

[Debbie]

$200 deposit for our Feb. WDW trip!

Out of that $12, I got 10 kid's things to resell.

Whew! I stink at no buy!

Stink at no buy but soar at finding suitable things to resell!

To make things even better, I had gift cards and I managed to spend EXACTLY what was on them, not a cent less, not a cent more!
.
.
.
To be fair, I kinda cheated. I had 18$ and some cents left on my card. My friend wanted to buy some shorts that were buy 2 get the third one free, but she could only find two that she liked. Shorts was what I was shopping for, and I liked the one she tried, so I got a pair for myself. The total divided by 3 was 18$ and some cents, so I just used the remaining of my gift card and she covered the rest. We were not about to fight for less than a dollar!

Not cheating at all. Well done! (and NO money lost on a card with a few pennies on it! )

I am way ahead of pace again for this month. At least I'm doing GREAT so far with the gas budget!

Today is a $0 day as well. I am watching my friend's daughter so we are watching movies and playing board games.

A quiet day. Enjoy!

For some weird reason I seem to spend less on the weekends in the summer?

It's because we like to spend every minute of our very short summer NOT inside shopping!

OK. I'm back from vacation and had my first no-buy this month. But, it was a cheap vacation since we didn't have to pay for room and board (we were at my in-laws' lake house). I'm going to try to keep the rest of the month low because we are going to Disney soon. Yay!

Debbie, I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND what you mean about university expenses! Even after buying your DD all this new stuff, there's still going to be stuff she'll find out she needs even after a month or two. Also, I went to a Catholic school, so I literally HAD NOTHING TO WEAR. It was really cool to go on that shopping spree just to have enough clothes to wear.

Make sure to get her a small brita filter jug. The tap water in residence is.....questionable...And slippers for the communal showers are good too.

Good idea on the Brita! She will have a fridge in her room! Surprisingly, any time I mention shopping for what she needs, clothing wise, she declines. Guess she doesn't want to miss any of our short summer.

I have been really bad about sticking to budget...things have come up like vet checkups, new tires, etc...but I also haven't been tracking things. Now we're in a holding pattern because I've been unemployed for over a year and they will be re-calculating my benefits. My appointment (by phone) isn't for two more weeks. Meanwhile we've taken money out of savings to cover our July mortgage payment, but once things are sorted out I will get all 3 weeks in back pay. I'm also waiting for my last tutoring check and since they owe me 11 hours for May, 8 hours for June, plus administrative fees for 13 kids, it should be a decent one.

I spent a bunch on groceries today and also got $100 in Uno gift cards from Costco (for $79.99). DS' day camp and both DD and DS' daycare is paid for through the summer. I have tuition due next month for the summer class, and I've been able to get subsidized (interest-free) student loans for the fall. We have some more trips planned for the summer but they are all one or two nights long, all but one are camping trips, and most of the lodging is paid for. Hopefully, then, we will get through this. I don't mind admitting I'm pretty frustrated about having no work lined up for the fall, either. I had to turn down a temp job offer that wouldn't work with my summer class schedule (DH was on board with that) but I am hoping something better comes along.

Please send good wishes and I hope I can get back on track with budgeting and with having some income sooner rather than later...

FAITH TRUST AND PIXIE DUST just for you.

 

[Debbie]

I have decided to not worry about the number of No Buy days in our house. I'll continue to record, I'll declare TEN as an awesome achievement, and I'll know that if I hit FIVE, it will be miraculous! Just recording $$$ spent helps keep me on track!

Unfortunately, this is going to be an expensive month for me.

1. DD will be home (I think) from Egypt for the last week or two.
2. I'm off for the summer, and my sanity is sending DH (SAHD) out to shop
3. Need to get the garage door replaced.
4. House needs repairs: painting, carpet, blinds etc.
5. Changing classrooms means updating some things.
6. I'm going 'over the river' to a Daily Café workshop with "The Sisters"

Oh, well, here's the budget as it stands.

Budget: Actual (last month expenses)
Gas: $600 $161 ($535) Allowing for some vacation driving
Groceries/Household: $600 $192 ($512)
Drug co-pays/medicine/lens: $40 $0 ($75)
Misc including gifts: $500 $229 ( $816 ) Not counting the garage door, or the hotel/expenses for the Daily Café workshop that I'm going to
Pool expenses: $200 $41 ($0)
Dining: $200 $74($81) Upped this for our 'vacation' mode
University incidentals expenses: $250 $120 (N/A)

July 1: $0 (Thank Heaven's for HOLIDAYS!)
July 2: gas $33, groceries $38, market (more groceries!) $15
July 3: gifts $43, household wasp spray/foam stuff $25 (really want to get rid of those suckers!)
July 4: gas $10
July 5: gas $40, groceries $33
July 6: Worked in the classroom with DD and DNephew all morning, so I bought them Subway $14, and paid DN $10, Anniversary dinner out $60
July 7: Gas $32
July 8: University stuff $120, vet $63, Christmas Shopping (great sale + $25 'gift' cards to reduce the amount to...) $74
July 9: $0
July 10: $0
July 11: Pool supplies $41, groceries $45, gas $46
July 12: groceries $61

No Buy Days: 3/10

 

[charming23]

I had coffee with my friend, Rachel today. We then did a little shopping but I got all food items.

July 2011 Budget

Groceries/Household- $300/$165.33 Left
Cat Supplies- $30/$14.82 left
Car/Gas- $70/$45.43 Left
Eating Out- $50/$29.52 left
Misc/Entertainment- $100/$77.67 Left

Total- $550/$332.77 Left

Goal of 15 No Buy Days

7/1- $84.72 Grocery/Household, $15.18 Cat Supplies, and $24.57 Gas
7/2- $0
7/3- $0
7/4- $18.06 Giant Eagle/Groceries
7/5- $0
7/6- $22.33 Target/Misc and $8.06 lunch at Wendy's
7/7- $16.89 Groceries and $9.27 Lunch
7/8- $0
7/9- $0
7/10- $0
7/11- $0
7/12- $3.15 Starbucks and $15 Groceries
7/13
7/14
7/15- Kelley's Island
7/16- Kelley's Island
7/17- Kelley's Island
7/18
7/19
7/20
7/21
7/22
7/23
7/24
7/25
7/26
7/27
7/28
7/29
7/30
7/31

7/15 No Buy Days

Coupon/ Store Savings- $20.20

 

[Virgderon]

I'm back. The shower was lovely, but the driving idea seems a little dumb now. It did give me lots of time to just think. Sometimes being alone is a good thing.

I'm just lumping all the spending from the last week into the wedding shower category, and I did go over. Darn gas is so expensive.

Running Total: Spent $146
$1100 budget... $954 left
$0 Days: 3
Goal is 7 or more!
coupon/sale savings : 13

Groceries budget- $300-7= 293 left
Wedding shower budget - $600 -966= $366 over

July 1: 77 ( 25 to check DDs bag at airport, 17 gas, 35 misc stuff for DD)
July 2: 0
JUly 3: 0
July 4: 69 (26 shoes for my MOTB dress that ended up not matching, 17 Walgreens for pop and laundry detg, 10 gas , 16 movie)
July 5 : 0
July 6- 12 out of town

 

[wlake]

Here are my goals:
no buy days: 3/10 (it's always harder when I'm home full time!)
longest no buy streak: 3 (I really want to extend this to 4!)
dinners out: 0/4 (not counting traveling)
current no dinners out streak: 10
longest no dinners out streak: 12

7/1: $35 gas
7/2: Oh my. We were visiting my MIL, so... $9 bagels, $46 Trader Joe's, $17 IKEA, $10 dinner on the road home
7/3: $27 groceries
7/4: $8 ice cream
7/5: $12 Kohl's, $19 Walmart, $130 Princess Half registration
7/6:
7/7:
7/8: errand day, so too much to remember numbers for at the moment: haircuts for the boys, lunch out, new sunglasses, fabric, gas, Target
7/9: $25 Lowe's, $8 blueberry picking, $200 deposit for our Feb. WDW trip!
7/10: $60 at the town's fair. Why are country fairs so expensive?
7/11: errand day for the week, so $51 groceries, $82 Target, and $9 Staples as well as I-can't-remember Land's End
7/12:

I have decided to not worry about the number of No Buy days in our house. I'll continue to record, I'll declare TEN as an awesome achievement, and I'll know that if I hit FIVE, it will be miraculous! Just recording $$$ spent helps keep me on track!

I think I may need to adopt this philosophy for the summer!

I'm back. The shower was lovely, but the driving idea seems a little dumb now. It did give me lots of time to just think. Sometimes being alone is a good thing.

I'm glad the shower was nice! As the mother of two no-stop questioners, some alone time to think sounds good! (DS9 often asks a question a minute as we're driving in the car or at a new place. His record is 90 questions in 30 minutes!).

 

[ronnmel]

Glad you had a nice time at the shower Virgderon!

No Buy Days : 4/8
Gas : 41$ (max 140$)
Groceries : 46$ (max 200$)
Eating out (and snacks) : 178$ (max 100$)
Non-necessities : 189$ (max 400$)

01/07 : 5$ (greeting card)
02/07 : 113$ (DH's gift, snack)
03/07 : 16$ (movie)
04/07 : 178$ (dinner + movie)
05/07 : 41$ (gas)
06/07 : 12$
07/07 : 0$
08/07 : 43$ (haircut)
09/07 : 0$
10/07 : 0$
11/07 : 0$
12/07 : 46$ (groceries)