March No Buy..Rolling Into Spring!

[fairyprincess1]

0/3.... Need to get ice for Bunco tonight ... No room in the freezer for it so couldn't pick it up yesterday.... Anyway hopefully this weekend we can get back on board - tomorrow ds is off school so I know we will probably be spending some money....

 

[rubato]

Well, it's March 3rd, and I've already blown my budget for the month! I'm so upset about this. I really wanted to do this, but, I've been waiting for Hobby Lobby or Michaels to have a discount on custom framing for the last 2 months. We bought 3 prints while at Disneyworld, and I have my 3 medals from the Goofy marathon and a half that I wanted mounted and framed. So, $918 later, I'm feeling pretty bad. But, it was all 60% off, and it could have been so much worse.

So, so far:
3/1: $38 for the new phone, $198 baseball tickets
3/2: $18.28 groceries
3/3: $913 custom framing

I think I've overshot my $800 budget, huh?
I am going to readjust now. Other than the baseball tickets and framing, I'm going to shoot for not spending more than $500.00 total.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

March 1-$0
March 2- Met my wonderful hubby for lunch. He needed a break, and we had a $5 off coupon. My lunch was only $7, so we figured $2 for me to eat and I brought home enough for us both to have lunch tomorrow. Then I spent $4 on new gloves (8 pairs) for the kids, they seem to lose them like crazy. Hubby and I went to a prescreening of a movie tonight, it was awful, but he liked it. It was called Cedar Rapids. We didn't buy anything there. I did buy groceries as well. Will record those tomorrow cause I need to dig out the receipt. I got a call while we were at the movies that I don't have to work tomorrow after all. So happy about that, have lots to do in the morning tomorrow.
March 3-$0 Have a busy evening ahead, but made dinner in the crockpot this morning so we are good there. My DD9 has a field trip with Brownies to Bruster's ice cream, but if I report a no spend day I won't get an ice cream. And that will be good for my wallet and waistline.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

No Buy Days- 2/18

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Groceries- $60ish
Gas-

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Back in 2011 cause I'd miss you all so much!
January-25
February-15
Longest Streak-19 (but I was sick)

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

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Rubato- one thing a lot of us do when we have special spending is to put it as an exception for the no buy/monthly budget. Obviously, you need to include it in your overall personal budget, but the purpose of this thread for most people is to reign in typical monthly spending. If there is a big purchase you have set aside money and planned for, I would not include it here.

Like you mentioned, you're now already over for the month and it's only the 3rd if you include it here. It's making you feel discouraged already, which is not the point. I would just not include the framing (awesome idea, by the way- I'd love to do something special for my Princess, Disneyland, and Coast to Coast medals!) in your daily tallies.

 

[charming23]

My first $0 day of March. I just spent the day doing a little cleaning.

March 2011 Budget
Grocery/Household- $300/$218.54 Left
Car/Gas- $50
Eating out -$50/$31.30 Left
Entertainment/Misc- $100

Total- $500/$399.84 Left

Goal of 15 No Buy Days

Week One
3/1- $75.27 Giant Eagle and $6.19 Drugmart
3/2- $18.70 Loco Laprachaun
3/3- $0
3/4
3/5
3/6
3/7

1/15 No Buy Days

Coupon/Store Savings- $38.38

 

[dtr_angel]

Budget until 3/17 for Groceries, Gas, Eating Out, Gifts, & Misc - $327 - $128.59 left

1- $13.22 misc (cat food), $15.75 groceries, $55.40 gas
2- $2.29 groceries, $8.36 misc (CVS), $8.42 misc (eyeshadow)
3 - $98.22 groceries, $6.13 eating out

We're now all gassed up, and stocked up on groceries. My DH is on board and we are hoping for a lot of no buy days this month. That trip to Disney in May is serious motivation

 

[SunnieRN]

Thirding the thoughts on this! And, Sunnie, feel better soon!

Thank you so much!! The doctor started me on some new medications, so I think that is why I feel punky. Thanks again!

February 25-March 11:

No buy goal: 7
Cash: $100
Medical:$180/-20
Groceries:$200/-92

Feb 25: $92 groceries
Feb 26: $0
Feb 27: $0
Feb 28: $0 ( do not count medical costs, just try to contain them )
March 1: $0 have to go to a meeting at work.: they usually put out coffee.
March 2: $12 Subway, picked up my med refills, which I track, but don't count.
March 3: $0, I owe, I owe, so off to work I go.

No buy goal: 7 / 5 accomplished!

Thought for the day, from an old lady. lol No matter what, if you are posting on this thread, you have made HUGE steps toward controlling spending and improving your financial picture!! If you find a bargain on something you Really want, and you can afford it, you have saved for it, you are not hurting anyone!!

Rubato, congratulations on your framing jobs!!!

Where's Piglet, you are a sweetie!! Bye the way, did yoy hear that Michael's has a 60% off sale on custom frames for your medals?! Sorry, I couldn't resist!!

Charming, I hope all went well with your Mom's appt.

MMOT, Glad you got to have a 'date night', sorry you didn't enjoy the movie.

 

[h2oophelia]

Hi all! I hope everyone is having a wonderful Thursday!

Well today was a no buy day....but tomorrow won't be. The musical Wicked is coming to Boise in May and tickets go on sale tomorrow. And the car is getting an oil change tomorrow. I'm hoping they don't give me bad news at the shop...it's such a sad little car

Goals:
No buy: 12 days
Eating out: No more than 4 meals
Groceries: $250
Entertainment: $75/$66 left

3/1 $0
3/2 $9 for two Fandango movie tickets @ livingsocial.com
3/3 $0

No Buy days: 2/12

 

[QVCshopper]

Just catching up with my spending...

2/15 no-buy days

3/1-$45 Wegmans, $6.50 Acme, $24.50 CVS prescrip, $17.50 Kid's Trips/Girl Scout Cookies
3/2-$0
3/3-$0

 

[IMALOVNDISNEY]

Auto $30.00/$240.00
Groceries/Household Goods /$150.00
Eating Out/Entertainment $10.00/$150.00 (raised DMil's Bday)
Misc. /$200.00 raised this one due to Prom
No Buy days 2/15
Coupon savings $10.00

January coupon savings $360.00
no buy days 17/10
February coupon savings $124.00
No buy days 15/12

03/01 $40.00 $30.00 gas already!!!!, $10.00 Pizza.. Mom's on strike day. Atleast I had a $10/20 purchase.
03/02-0-
03/03-0-

 

[Virgderon]

I've been busy dealing with the fallout from the job situation, but I did buy food today. When you have to eat toast and peanut butter for lunch, and you eat the last piece of bread, you know its time to go to the store.

Running Total: Spent $74
$900 budget... $826 left
$0 Days:
Goal is 8 or more!
coupon/sale savings :21

Groceries budget- $250-3-52= 195 left

March 1: 22
March 2 : 0
March 3: 52 ( groceries)

 

[3goofyboys]

I'm in for the month! This should be a good month. No birthdays, baby showers, weddings, ect! I am hopeful that we will be spending a bit extra on moving, but we'll see if our current house rents soon. We did move back our move date to May 1st, so we have a bit more time.

I'm going for 14 no buys this month.

March 1

March 2 $31 groceries, $40 gas

March 3 $20 groceries (why is there always one more thing to pick up?)


1/14 No Buys

 

[3goofyboys]

Today I found out that my company never actually sent my 401k contributions to the 401k fund since Sept. of last year.

This is insane!! I'm sending positive thoughts and pixie dust your direction.

Virgedon,

So sorry this is happening to you... Guess you are lucky that at least your checks were coming in... I have a friend who her paychecks bounce from time to time... Here's hoping that they get this straightened out for you!!!

I have a relative whos paychecks kept bouncing and she kept on working there for a couple months after they stopped going through. At that point, you're not an employee, you're a volunteer!

We celebrated! We have a tradition. Every year on March 2nd we have Green Eggs and Ham for breakfast while we listen to Bon Jovi music (it's Jon's b-day too.) My favorite author and my favorite singer. I was a little sad today, I subbed at preschool and none of the kids knew who Dr. Seuss was. I read them some books but they don't have The Cat in the Hat so they didn't get why I had painted it on my hands. Then my DD9 came home (in her Cat in the Hat shirt and covered in face and hand painting, Green Eggs and Ham, One Fish, Two Fish, etc and she said not even her teacher knew it was his b-day and they didn't do anything for it. I am just such a fan, we always celebrate today. Like I said, we have had green eggs and ham for years, even my 16 year old still expects them (on the first day of school too.)

Really? My kids LOVE Dr. Seuss. My soon to be born nephew's nursery is all Dr. Seuss themed. Maybe they were familiar with the books, but just didn't know his name?

 

[Tiggerish]

The March budget is $700 with 12 no spend days.

Auto $50
Eating Out/Entertainment $100
Giving $10
Groceries/Household Goods $235
Medical $25
Misc. $75
Set bills $205

No spend days 12 / 3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2/1 $0
2/2 $0
2/3 $0

 

[Debbie]

Rubato- one thing a lot of us do when we have special spending is to put it as an exception for the no buy/monthly budget. Obviously, you need to include it in your overall personal budget, but the purpose of this thread for most people is to reign in typical monthly spending. If there is a big purchase you have set aside money and planned for, I would not include it here.

What Where'sPiglet said. And when you get them....PICTURES, please! (my framed Donald medal still makes me smile)

 

[ronnmel]

That does make me happy. I just love Dr. Seuss so much. Sounds like your DD's class is having a fun week.

We are having our "I love to read" week at school right now. One of the many activities planned is a "Guess the Dr. Seuss book" contest. A short excerpt of one of his book is read on the intercom, and students put their guesses in to try and win a prize.

Well, it's March 3rd, and I've already blown my budget for the month! I'm so upset about this. I really wanted to do this, but, I've been waiting for Hobby Lobby or Michaels to have a discount on custom framing for the last 2 months. We bought 3 prints while at Disneyworld, and I have my 3 medals from the Goofy marathon and a half that I wanted mounted and framed. So, $918 later, I'm feeling pretty bad. But, it was all 60% off, and it could have been so much worse.

Like Where's Piglet has said, you can always put that in a special category and not count it towards the month goal. For example, I tally everything I spend for my wedding in a separate budget, that I don't even post here. I have money specially budgeted for this, so I don't count it here.


No Buy Days : 2/12
Gas : 38$ (max 120$ Raising the max due to higher gas prices)
Groceries : 0$ (max 250$)
Eating out (and snacks) : 0$ (max 100$)
Non-necessities : 7$ (max 200$)

03/01 : 45$ (gas + pharmacy)
03/02 : 0$
03/03 : 0$

 

[camikey]

Newbie here. I think I am going to start by writing down all I spend. I am also going to write up a budget. That way I can track what money can be used more wisely. I'm gonna try to do a budget where the end result at the end of the month is zero. This should allow me to actually budget for savings. I am also going to start going through my home room by room and clean out. I hope to finish my daughter's room by the end of the month. Three boxes....stuff that needs a home, stuff for the yard sale and stuff to donate. My goal is to find $500 for my cruise through yard sales and tightening my spending. Cruise in 4 months.

 

[disney fan 2013]

I did this last year for a couple of months and I got a great budget and system down, to the point that I was able to track by myself and was successful. However, I've recently moved into my own place, bought a car, have lots more bills, have to start paying off student loans, etc.... So I need to figure out some good limits for food, fun, and miscellaneous.... I'm not going to do no-buys this month, just get a feel for what I'm earning (new job - yay!!) and what I'm spending. I did make a budget so I'll see if I can stick to it...! I'm currently working 7 days/week, but I also have some pretty extreme spending, so if I can get it down I will quit my weekend job, which is great motivation if you ask me!

Gas: $400
Groceries: $400
Miscellaneous: $100 I'm going to try SO hard... fingers crossed!!
Commute (Train & Subway Passes): $330

3/1: $42 Gas ($358)
3/2: $327.25 Train & Subway Passes for March...
3/3: $0

 

[bigmama67]

I'm in. The tricky thing this month will be that I have to figure out where I'm getting daycare $ from, as I now have some part-time tutoring but that decreases my unemployment. I'm starting to figure that out though.

I was under budget in February! I still have a bill to pay though...I'm mailing the check tomorrow.

I don't count buying groceries as spending $ though I do keep track of my grocery spending...so I will aim for 10 no-buy days. My birthday is March 11th and whatever I feel like that day (coffee, Pepsi, Dunkin' Donuts, whatever) I will get, darnit!

3/1: Between yesterday and today, spent $63.18 on groceries from March's budget/$536.82 left (we budget $600 but then again, I need to trim this because of the daycare issue.) DH doctor $15.
I don't count medical or groceries so... $0

3/2: $4.74 on groceries (GREAT deals at Acme!) $15 for some LeapPad cartridges for DD (brand new off Craig's List). $7.41 at A.C. Moore (T-shirt for DS for his show, PipSqueak markers, stickers).

3/3 $8.48 on 2 heater fans at Target (75% off!); $52.66 for groceries ($115.84 left for the month...got a LOT of good deals again!) $7.99 for a ladybug umbrella for DD (Amazon, free prime shipping).

3/4 - DS school lunch

3/5 - DS bowling

3/6

3/7

3/8

3/9

3/10

3/11 - my birthday...anything goes! (Well, within reason, especially because I'm tutoring that day!) DS school lunch too.

3/12 - DS bowling league

3/13

3/14

3/15

3/16

3/17

3/18 - DS school lunch; DH out of town so I'll probably take the kids out to dinner.

3/19 - my play reading; have to provide breakfast & lunch for my actors and keep my kids happy. $$$

3/20

3/21

3/22

3/23

3/24 - DS book fair at school.

3/25 - DS school lunch.

3/26

3/27

3/28

3/29

3/30

3/31



No-buy days: 1/10

Coupon savings: $27.97 so far!
________________

 

[wlake]

MickeyMomofThree, my boys' school celebrates a different book each day this week. Today was There's a Wocket in My Pocket day and each child had to wear as many pockets as they could, so there I was last night, counting the pockets in everyone's cargo pants!

Rubato, if I ever had the stamina to run a marathon, let alone a half one day and a whole the next, I'd spend at least that much to frame them!! While it sounds expensive, it also sounds important to you, and that's just as important as money! to your running skills!

Where'sPiglet and Debbie, to you and anyone else who runs that much. I only run to the cookies in the kitchen or for bleeding/screaming/vomiting children!

to our newest no buy friends!

Tomorrow is the school's skate night and my car needs brakes. With the timing of everything, I think it's going to be a dinner out night as well as a spending day!

3/1:
3/2: $26 groceries
3/3:

no buy days: 2/12
longest streak: 3
meals out: 0/5
days without dinner out: 6
longest no dinners out streak: 10
non-consumable items purchased: 0/0