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

[WAMUMOF4]

i had to make a new category to cover all our pre trip expenses i need to not get that far behind again, took to long to catch it all up


15 sleeps till we hit the USA this month needs to be a big saving one

Goals VS actual spent
US Dollars $4000($2659.10)
grocery's $500($378.28)
fuel $600($345)
Travel insurance $500
miscellaneous $100($186.75)
USA Trip expenses($441.18)

8 no spend days 1/8
5 Under $20 days 1/5

July 1 $25 fuel $30supermarket
July 2 $270 fuel $127.58 supermarket
July 3 $0
July 4 i spent $201.07 at the Disney store on things for our trip i might have to make another category for this as i will be doing a fair bit of online shopping this month for stuff to be delivered to us during our trip
July 5 24.43 supermarket
July 6 11.95 balaclava for DH $39.95 camera lens cleaning kit $52.02 souvenirs to take to USA $74.03 supermarket travel sox $43.16 of that
July 7 $1068 changed into $US supermarket 20.95
July 8 $101 heating gas
July 9 $50 fuel $12.85 supermarket
July 10 supermarket $41.03
July 11 supermarket $53.17 accountant for tax $154
July 12 pizza $32.75 $346 Ds camera
July 13 $17.20 supermarket
July 14 $1500 into US$1559.10
July 15 $20.20 supermarket

I have two good pieces of budget news today.

1. I sent in the last payment for my car this morning

2. I got a call for a job interview friday morning

Congrats on paying of the car and for the job interview!

 

[QVCshopper]

Charming, I know about air conditioners breaking. Ours blew up the winter before last. Anyway, our electric bills went down with the new one. But, maybe you can get smaller window ones for a couple rooms if you just get too hot. And, hope you get the job!!

 

[charming23]

Charming, I know about air conditioners breaking. Ours blew up the winter before last. Anyway, our electric bills went down with the new one. But, maybe you can get smaller window ones for a couple rooms if you just get too hot. And, hope you get the job!!

We are thinking about a few window units. My uncle was telling me that our electric bill would go way down with a new energy efficient one. Ours was just about 30 years old, my parents put it in the second summer they lived here in 1981. So it lasted longer than it should have.

 

[YukiPhnx]

Just updating for yesterday. There's a good chance today won't be a $0 day, so I'll wait until later to report.

July
Overall budget: 111.75/400
Gas: 20.09/80
$0 days: 7/10

Misc.
Eating out: 2/5
Clothes: 0/4
The Body Shop: 0/2
Gifts: 0/2
U.S shopping: $150

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-$0
13-$16.67
___
$29.24-16.67=$12.57 (Ahh, back to balanced)

14-$14.25 (dinner on campus), 20.09 (gas)
15-
16-
___
$40-

17-
18-
19-
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20-
21-
22-
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23-
24-
25-
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26-
27-
28-
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29-
30-
31-
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[Debbie]

Debbie, a fridge is a great idea. I was able to find a medium sized one off craigslist for $40!

We're lucky. The university provides a fridge in each residence room....well for $25 for the year. A great investment in my mind!

I went and looked back at my tracking and realized I haven't bought gas since 6/21!

Wow! One problem with living outside of the city! I figure I'm ahead of the game if I reach THREE days! Way to go! (or not go anywhere, if that is the case.)

OK, so I MAY have some online work coming soon, and I wrote an appeal letter to Unemployment yesterday. I need to get plane tickets for DS and I to go to Arizona for my nephew's Bar Mitzvah in November, but I'm not going to get them until I have Unemployment sorted out and get my last tutoring check. Everything should be clearer two weeks from now so I just have to hang in there. Thanks for all the good wishes.

Doin' fine, and a GREAT attitude!

Ok so after being really good for over a week I went on a spending spree today! Bought Teva Mush flip flops for Disney (after reading so many good reviews here on the Dis), new joggin shoes (never really had a good pair, thought it'd be wise to invest at least once), and of course gas. Why do I always have to wait until the day the price goes up to fill up???

Sounds like me and my paycheck...I buy American $ each pay, and the dollar is ALWAYS down on that day!

I'm really hoping the weather will be nice for the weekend!

Going to be hot, hazy and humid. VERY little chance of rain. I like cool evenings, and I don't think we'll see those much, either.

Almost a 0, but almost does not count.

Well, we could call it the almost no-buy thread!

If I can manage a no buy and not get take out tomorrow, I can extend BOTH streaks! It may end up being a buy day due to problems with my new sunglasses though.

Great job! Keep it up! I your streaks!

i had to make a new category to cover all our pre trip expenses i need to not get that far behind again, took to long to catch it all up

Downright HARD WORK, says she as she opens up Quicken to check where the money went the past 2 days!

 

[Debbie]

Could have had a $0 today, but the ice cream was calling me.

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 $185 ($535) Allowing for some vacation driving
Groceries/Household: $600 $314 ($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
July 13: DH topped up the gas $24, groceries $114
July 14: $0
July 15: Drumsticks (ice cream) and whipped cream (for my raspberries) $8

No Buy Days: 4/10

 

[ronnmel]

It was DH's turn to shop for shoes. I went with him to the mall, but I did not buy one single thing for me. In fact, I didn't even look because I'm sure I would have found something.


No Buy Days : 6/8
Gas : 66$ (max 140$)
Groceries : 46$ (max 200$)
Eating out (and snacks) : 183$ (max 100$)
Non-necessities : 348$ (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)
13/07 : 0$
14/07 : 189$ (shoes + gas + ice cream)
15/07 : 0$

 

[wlake]

Debbie, we "blew" today's no buy with ice cream too! My DH got good news at work and we wanted to celebrate! Ice cream was calling louder than the no buy tonight!

We did extend our no dinners out streak! This from the family who used to have take out at least once a week if not more!

Here are my goals:
no buy days: 5/10 (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: 13
longest no dinners out streak: 13

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:
7/13:
7/14:
7/15: $10 ice cream

 

[YukiPhnx]

Today turned out to be a $0 day after all! DBF paid for groceries while I made dinner. Tomorrow is my US trip. I hope I can keep it under $150! Since our CAD dollar is doing so well, I'm just going to use my credit card instead of taking out USD cash.

July
Overall budget: 111.75/400
Gas: 20.09/80
$0 days: 8/10

Misc.
Eating out: 2/5
Clothes: 0/4
The Body Shop: 0/2
Gifts: 0/2
U.S shopping: $150

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-$0
13-$16.67
___
$29.24-16.67=$12.57 (Ahh, back to balanced)

14-$14.25 (dinner on campus), 20.09 (gas)
15-$0
16-
___
$40-

17-
18-
19-
___


20-
21-
22-
___


23-
24-
25-
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26-
27-
28-
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29-
30-
31-
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[Virgderon]

Debbie, ice cream is a great reason to blow a no buy.

DH took care of his own groceries while I was gone, but I really needed a grocery run today. I have been too busy with work to really coupon, I just buy the cheapest of whatever item it is.

Running Total: Spent $245
$1100 budget... $855 left
$0 Days: 4
Goal is 7 or more!
coupon/sale savings : 34

Groceries budget- $300-7-84= 209 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
July 13 : 0
July 14 : 15 ( Walgreens)
JUly 15: 84 ( Target groceries)

 

[annsteere]

.

We did however stop for lunch and the consignment shop. I have gone down another pant size so I needed a few new bottoms to get through the summer.

$23.91 Consignment shop (4 bottoms for me, 1 for my mom and a new bathrobe for her)

This is an excellent spend. Congratulations on your weight loss.

 

[neatokimmo]

Wow I am so far behind!

I have taken all my business stuff out of my regular finances, something I should have done at the very beginning for taxes. So I am not going to count that stuff any more because it's gonna be a LOT! I still might post and freak out about the charges though

We had a very mild week. DD had 3 gyms and 2 ballets so I didn't have extra time to shop for junk. We still ate out too much. Luckily everything is on my CC so I can just go back through the charges.

7-16 Today we have a birthday party to go to. We are going to stay home until we get there so it will be a zero day. I got the birthday girl's blinkie aurora shoes on clearance in Jan for $4 and I made her a matching tutu. It has 225 feet of ribbon tulle in it, it stands up on it's own lol I stole the tulle from my biz supplies hehe

7-15 zero.

7-14 $11.35 for Chinese, $2.73 for pre movie snack and $14.50 for grub at harry potter. Then walmart at 3am (it was so quiet, it was so weird!) for $29.13. About $20 of that was groceries.

7-13 Pizza for date night, $8.75. Then we got a pre-gym snack at BK for $3.29.

7-12 zero!

7-11 - I had to get my car window fixed. Did you know if your DD puts 50 stickers on the window, when it rolls down things will get jammed up and burn out a motor? Doh $208.04.

7-10 - I spent almost 1K on biz stuff so I didn't spend any every day money. I was wigging out a bit hehe So zero!

7-16 zero
7-15 zero
7-14 $57.41
7-13 $12.04
7-12 zero
7-11 208.04
7-10 zero
7-9 6.01 (McDs), $7 groceries, $12 yard sales
7-8 $13.13 (drinks)
7-7 $16.46
7-6 zero
7-5 Chinese 14.45, $14.11 target
7-4 $32.80
7-3 $21.26
7-2 $66.71
7-1 $12.50

 

[Debbie]

wlake, your streaks are awesome! You should be proud!
Have fun, YukiPhnx!
Virgderon, finding the best bargain, with or without coupon (I rarely coupon) is a great game!
I agree with annsteere! You've done great with your weight loss and got some deals in your shopping, too!
neatokimmo, I'd love to see that tutu! It sounds like just what the any little girl would want!

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 $185 ($535) Allowing for some vacation driving
Groceries/Household: $600 $369 ($512)
Drug co-pays/medicine/lens: $40 $0 ($75)
Misc including gifts: $500 $246 ( $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 $102($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
July 13: DH topped up the gas $24, groceries $114
July 14: $0
July 15: Drumsticks (ice cream) and whipped cream (for my raspberries) $8
July 16: Picked up a gorgeous summer bedspread for my bedroom at the second hand store. No more yucky, old, fraying, polyester backing for ME! $17, MORE groceries $55, chinese food $28

No Buy Days: 4/10

 

[wlake]

Here are my goals:
no buy days: 5/10 (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: 14
longest no dinners out streak: 14

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:
7/13:
7/14:
7/15: $10 ice cream
7/16: $7 blueberry picking, $32 Children's Place, $50 photos, $35 Christmas Tree Shop

 

[QVCshopper]

We went to a wedding yesterday and met Phineas and Ferb at the mall. It was a kinda crazy day. But my sister and her bf babysat my kids for free for six hours. The fruit was to thank them. They are the best!

7/15-$0
7/16-$21 Edible Arrangements, $19 Panera Bread, $8 Parking for wedding, $6 Wendy's, $37 Wegmans
7/17-$6 Snacks, $26.49 Gymboree (for 11 pieces of clothing!), $23 Genuardis, $9.50 Chinese food, $5 VS
7/18-$13 Wegmans

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 (will get $25 rebate), $5 Gymboree
7/10-$10 Sonic/Pool
7/11-$0
7/12-$3 Wawa, $4 Movies, $16 Staples (will get $6 rebate)
7/13-BK/Pool $9.50
7/14-$19 Wegmans, $13.50 Liberty Thrift

 

[ronnmel]

No Buy Days : 6/8
Gas : 66$ (max 140$)
Groceries : 46$ (max 200$)
Eating out (and snacks) : 193$ (max 100$)
Non-necessities : 384$ (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)
13/07 : 0$
14/07 : 189$ (shoes + gas + ice cream)
15/07 : 0$
16/07 : 46$ (walmart + dinner)

 

[wlake]

Wow, QVCShopper, what a great deal at Gymboree!

Here are my goals:
no buy days: 5/10 (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: 1/4 (not counting traveling)
current no dinners out streak: 0
longest no dinners out streak: 14

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:
7/13:
7/14:
7/15: $10 ice cream
7/16: $7 blueberry picking, $32 Children's Place, $50 photos, $35 Christmas Tree Shop
7/17: $10 JoAnne's, $12 Walmart, $29 dinner (all good streaks must come to an end sometime!)

 

[ronnmel]

No Buy Days : 7/8
Gas : 66$ (max 140$)
Groceries : 46$ (max 200$)
Eating out (and snacks) : 193$ (max 100$)
Non-necessities : 384$ (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)
13/07 : 0$
14/07 : 189$ (shoes + gas + ice cream)
15/07 : 0$
16/07 : 46$ (walmart + dinner)
17/07 : 0$

 

[neatokimmo]

I bought some house stuff for $3.82 today.

7-17 3.82
7-16 zero
7-15 zero
7-14 $57.41
7-13 $12.04
7-12 zero
7-11 208.04
7-10 zero
7-9 6.01 (McDs), $7 groceries, $12 yard sales
7-8 $13.13 (drinks)
7-7 $16.46
7-6 zero
7-5 Chinese 14.45, $14.11 target
7-4 $32.80
7-3 $21.26
7-2 $66.71
7-1 $12.50

 

[charming23]

This is an excellent spend. Congratulations on your weight loss.

Thank You. It is so hard to spend money on myself at times but I feel proud to have a good reason too.


I am back from our weekend away. I do not count the money we spend into our regular monthly budget since we put money aside during the year for our two weekend trips up there. Although we did not spend to much. We hit a new farmer's market and I got a few little things but only spent $10 on souveniers.