March No Buy..Rolling Into Spring!

[annsteere]

I'm calling this a no buy even tho I spent $98. I got a birthday check for $125 from my uncle , and I really needed professional clothes. I laid out all my clothes on the bed that I thought were still wearable for work, and decided I just needed a couple blouses, a white tee shirt for under a jacket and a pair of shoes. I ended up getting 3 blouses, 1 white t-shirt, 2 pairs of a shoes and some of my favorite shampoo for $98. Thanks New York and company and Payless BOGO, get one half sales.

March 12 : 0

We try very hard to be flexible and supportive on this thread. But, I think we are going to have to draw a line in the sand here. The way I read it you bought SEVEN personal items and didn't spend a dime of budgeted money. I think that has to be something other than just plain old, "no buy day."

How about "Birthday Blessing" "Birthday Blowout" "Jackpot" or "Go Pro" day?

 

[3goofyboys]

We try very hard to be flexible and supportive on this thread. But, I think we are going to have to draw a line in the sand here. The way I read it you bought SEVEN personal items and didn't spend a dime of budgeted money. I think that has to be something other than just plain old, "no buy day."

How about "Birthday Blessing" "Birthday Blowout" "Jackpot" or "Go Pro" day?

Everyone gets to make their own rules, so if it's a "no buy" for her, it's a "no buy" for her. That's the beauty of the thread!

Virgderon: I would have called it a no buy because what if your uncle had sent you the exact same items wrapped up in a box? You would have called it a no buy day for sure. This was a gift as well, this way you just know everything fits !

 

[Tiggerish]

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

Auto $50 /$12 left
Eating Out/Entertainment $100 / $78 left
Giving $10
Groceries/Household Goods $250 / $147 left
Medical $25
Misc. $75 /$19 left
Set bills $205 / $150 left

No spend days 12 /6
Coupon savings $15.55
Christmas 2011 $8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2/1 $0
2/2 $0
2/3 $0
2/4 Misc. $27
3/5 Groceries $22
3/6 Set bills $30 (church); Eating out $4
3/7 Eating out $18
3/8 $0
3/9 $0
3/10 $27 Misc. (copying, faxing and printer ink)
3/11 $0
3/12 Groceries $76 (k-cups and the cheese store); Set bills $25 (credit card); Misc. $2 (Easter cards from the dollar store); Eating out $20 (took niece to lunch); Auto $38 (gas - which is now $3.65 a gallon)

 

[QVCshopper]

7/15 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
3/4-$0
3/5-$14 Sears, $23 Costco, $26 Hallmark, $25 VS (but got a $10 coupon), $5 Build A Bear
3/6-$18 Wegmans, $20 birthday gift
3/7-$0
3/8-$0
3/9-$0
3/10-$3 Dunkin Donuts, $55 Wegmans
3/11-$3 Dunkin Donut, $31.50 Train tix, food for flower show
3/12-$0

Been a crazy few days. DH has minor surgery (he's just fine) and then we went to the Philly flower show for free as a thank you from the United Way, but we took the train and got a cheesesteak (yummy!).

Everyone is coming to my DS's party, so that's good. He chose a bowling cake because he thinks he can play with the cake topper later.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I thought annsteere was being sarcastic and saying it was even better than a $0 Buy.

Virdergon, I think you did great with your purchases today! What a great idea to lay all the clothes out to really get a grasp on what you truly needed!

I spent about $180 today. Close to $50 of that were prescriptions, but still. Ugh. I am not in pace to meet my budget goal for this month. Almost all the spending today was groceries, so we should be good for a while. I did notice that the sales are not as good as in the past. Also, we biffed on a couple of items that we thought were on sale due to product placement and signage, but they turned out to not be on sale and we didn't notice until we got home. Sigh.

I'll update my numbers later today. I'm posting from my phone now.

 

[Tiggerish]

I agree that the comment meant that it was a better than a zero day! At least that is how I took it.

 

[ronnmel]

Bought lots of stuff today, but some of it are going in the wedding budget : a dress for step-daughter, and shirts for the guys. All on sale too!

This month is a LOT more expensive than February so far... it will be hard to stay under budget...

No Buy Days : 5/12
Gas : 72$ (max 120$ Raising the max due to higher gas prices)
Groceries : 64$ (max 250$)
Eating out (and snacks) : 42$ (max 100$)
Non-necessities : 290$ (max 300$)

03/01 : 45$ (gas + pharmacy)
03/02 : 0$
03/03 : 0$
03/04 : 0$
03/05 : 0$[
03/06 : 95$ (canadian tire + dinner)
03/07 : 0$
03/08 : 118$ (dinner, passport, and a few little things)
03/09 : 79$ (gas + long overdue windshield wipers)
03/10 : 55$
03/11 : 22$ (breakfast, envelopes, groceries)
03/12 : 54$ (gift for baby shower)

RonandMel,

You are going to be an absolute beautiful bride!!! Your dress is beautiful, as are you!! Thank you SP much for sending me your picture!! I can't wait to see wedding pictures on the beach! I am so happy that someone is taping your ceremony!! It will be a great keepsake and help your Mom feel as if she were there!!

Thank you Sunnie. Glad you liked the dress.

A quick run to their Goodwill in the afternoon while they napped was mixed. Got white dress trousers that will be a wardrobe basic. I've lost 17 pounds since last summer so they were a need. Also got a pair of "Lilly" print slacks that were definitely an indulgence. But, they were only 5 bucks and that is what allowance is for. . . .the occasional frivolous spend. . . right?

I wouldn't call 5$ for slacks frivolous, I would call it a great find.

I thought annsteere was being sarcastic and saying it was even better than a $0 Buy.

I spent about $180 today. Close to $50 of that were prescriptions, but still. Ugh. I am not in pace to meet my budget goal for this month. Almost all the spending today was groceries, so we should be good for a while. I did notice that the sales are not as good as in the past. Also, we biffed on a couple of items that we thought were on sale due to product placement and signage, but they turned out to not be on sale and we didn't notice until we got home. Sigh.

I'll update my numbers later today. I'm posting from my phone now.

I too took annsteere's comment as sort of "tongue-in-cheek" funny, better than a no-buy day.

As for food, I too have noticed that prices have gone up and sales are not as good.

 

[3goofyboys]

I thought annsteere was being sarcastic and saying it was even better than a $0 Buy.

Virdergon, I think you did great with your purchases today! What a great idea to lay all the clothes out to really get a grasp on what you truly needed!

D'oh! I didn't read it that way originally, but I totally see it now! I don't know where my head was at. Sorry annsteere!

 

[Virgderon]

Everyone gets to make their own rules, so if it's a "no buy" for her, it's a "no buy" for her. That's the beauty of the thread!

Virgderon: I would have called it a no buy because what if your uncle had sent you the exact same items wrapped up in a box? You would have called it a no buy day for sure. This was a gift as well, this way you just know everything fits !

I thought about it later, and in the spirit of the thread, I should have counted it as a buy day and added the $125 to my available budget to spend.

I know we are flexible, but that is what I probably should have done. Maybe I will add one more no buy day to my total goal to make up for it.

I took annsteere comments as being light hearted, and thought she was very funny !!! I did do really well. In the past I would not have been nearly as careful about what I was buying. I also went to 4 stores and 4 stores only, where I knew they were having sales or I had a coupon. My habits have changed so much since I started on this thread!

I love how supportive we all are. We are awesome.

 

[Orangewolf]

March 1st: (Gas)$61.90 - (Groceries) $60.13 - (Household - vitamins, shampoo etc) $28.59

March 2nd - $0

March 3rd - Tickets To WDW $1243 RT for 5 people from MSP.
(Groceries) $38.02

March 4th - (Pharmacy) $9.17 - (Groceries)$4.14

March 5th - (Groceries) $119.29
(Household) $13.05

March 6th - $0

March 7th - Post Office - $8.80 - book of stamps

March 8th - $0 -

March 9th - (Groceries) $7.63

March 10th - (Household) - $31.49 -
(Cub Scout Donation) $19.23 -

March 11th - (Pets) $32.44 - holy cow did dog food skyrocket! I paid $26 a bag last month!
(Groceries) - $23.06- needed bread, milk and eggs again!
(Household) $3.99

March 12th - $0

$252.27/$400 Groc.
$61.90/$150 Gas
$83.52/$100 Household

 

[annsteere]

Yes. I had my tongue firmly planted in my cheek. The last thing I'd like to see on this board is a spirit where we judge each other or try to tell anybody else what their goals or measurements should be.

Apologies to anybody who thought I was serious.

 

[SunnieRN]

Hello everyone!!

March 11-25:

Goals:

Groc: $200 / -$93
Medical: $260
Cash: $100

March 11: $0
March 12: $0

No Buy Goal: 8 / 2 accomplished

 

[A.Mickey]

Running Total: Spent $1157
$0 Days:4/14 Got 13 no buys last month, trying to up it to one more.

Groceries ($279-$9/day)- $98.11
Eating Out ($217-$7/day)- $157.68
Misc. (Shopping/Entertainment) ($806-$26/day) Great America season pass installment $811.52
Gas $250- (3/1-$23.69), (3/6-$28.55), (3/8-$37.45 $3.64/gal)= $89.69

WEEK 1 BEGIN:
1- $15.76 (Dominick's-Groceries), $31.02 (Target-Pictures), $23.69 (Gas)
2- $0
3- $9.26 (Walgreens-Groceries), $2.85 (Meijer- Groceries), $3.97 (Dominick's-Groceries), $26.58 (Jewel-Prescription), $12.46 (McDonald's-Eating Out)
4- $0
5- $11 (Zoo Admission), $16 (Eating Out), $37 (Chinese- Eating Out-we bought food for 5 people), $3.91 (Home Depot- Misc.)
6- $196 (Spring Awakening Tickets-Misc. Weren't expecting this, but we are sitting 2nd row center and it is our 7 year anniversary of knowing each other and it is the last performance of the show in Chicago...I forgot that my husband wanted to see this, he wanted to go to two shows and sit in the cheap seats, but for the price of sitting in the 2nd to last row for two nights it is the same as sitting in the front row for one performance, so we opted for sitting close, since our broadway series shows are for the cheap seats), $149.41 (Cedar Point Hotel-Misc.), $31.75 (Driver's License Renewal),
$126.11 (Sears Essentials-Misc. husband wanted a Logitech harmony remote forever! and it was more than half off in liquidation sale), $20.63 (Culver's-Eating Out), $2 (Dollar Tree-Papers), $6.96 (Dominick's-Groceries), $12.50 (Meijer-Groceries), $82.73 (Printer Ink), $27.51 (Amazon.com-Veggie Cages and hiking book)
7- $5.18 (Trader Joe's-Groceries), $24.33 (Joe Caputo-Groceries)
8- $.59 (Dominick's-Groceries), $5.04 (Meijer-Groceries), $6.59 (Chipotle-Eating Out)
9- $0
10-$0
11- $107.50 (Signed up Hubby and I for 5K in October), $3.39 (Dominick's-Groceries), $2.86 (Meijer-Groceries), $1.73 (Walgreens-Groceries), $3.23 (Aldi's-Groceries)
12- $14 (Train-Misc.), $65 (The Berghoff-Eating Out), $2 (Dollar Tree-Misc.)


Budget: $1552....75%
Month: 12/31: 39%
No Buy: 4/14: 29%

My savings from coupons and sales: $614.53

Next Month: 2nd half of our airplane tickets, Get car fixed...

 

[nunzia]

Here we go:
Mar 1: 56.07 Birthday gifts for DBIL and DN, $12.20 for Amazon peanut butter (seemed like a good deal)
Mar 2: Not starting out very well! have to get past these birthdays...$98.34 groceries (bday dinner for 13, dog food, beer..etc), $46.00 DH gas (some will be reimbursed..he has to go to a town 90 miles away for a continuing ed class)
Mar 3: $2.42 for movie rental and a coffee, $9.00 dinner out with friend
Mar 4: DH got $23 reimbursement for the gas, so Plus that..then minus $10 to the church rummage sale (cool pedal car for DGD and really neat vintage desk for DGS), $9.48 Dollar Tree
Mar 5: $0 yea!
Mar 6: $7.43 WalMart (clearance toys..from $6 to $2 for Easter gifts & Sharpies on clearance) $2.19 Dollar Tree...needed 8x8 foil pan for a dessert I have to bring somewhere and got 4 at Dollar Tree for $2 instead of 3 at WalMart of $3)
Mar 7: 24.34 Amazon (2 pop up Harry Potter books and baby gift..had $10 off coupon
Mar 8: $20.00 gas..ack, $3.67 PhotoPass pictures developed at Walgreens
Mar 9: $3.57 movie rental
Mar 10: $18.00 dinner out with friends
Mar 11: $0
Mar 12: $20.33 Walmart groceries..didn't even LOOK in the toys clearance aisle

$489.96/$800.00 remaining

 

[Tiggerish]

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

Auto $50 /$12 left
Eating Out/Entertainment $100 / $78 left
Giving $10 / $9 left
Groceries/Household Goods $250 / $142 left
Medical $25
Misc. $75 /$19 left
Set bills $205 / $120 left

No spend days 12 /6
Coupon savings $15.55
Christmas 2011 $8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3/1 $0
3/2 $0
3/3 $0
3/4 Misc. $27
3/5 Groceries $22
3/6 Set bills $30 (church); Eating out $4
3/7 Eating out $18
3/8 $0
3/9 $0
3/10 $27 Misc. (copying, faxing and printer ink)
3/11 $0
3/12 Groceries $76 (k-cups and the cheese store); Set bills $25 (credit card); Misc. $2 (Easter cards from the dollar store); Eating out $20 (took niece to lunch); Auto $38 (gas - which is now $3.65 a gallon)
3/13 Set bills $30 (church); Groceries $5; Giving $1 (person begging in the grocery store parking lot)

 

[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?)

March 4

March 5

March 6 $273 groceries- that will hopefully keep us in food for the next 2 weeks and it includes a baby shower gift (apparently I spoke too soon when I said we didn't have any this month) and dollar bills to play a shower game.

March 7 PLUS, I actually won all my dollar bills back plus $36 at the shower last night. That was enough to cover my baby shower gift. Hooray!! I did pay tuition for my guys today, but that comes out of a separate account, so I'm not counting that.


March 8 $40 gas, $11 landfill run. I also got my hair cut, but I paid for that out of my shower winnings!

March 9


March 10 $16 ticket to the local children's museum

March 11 $17 groceries-it was my turn to parent help in DS's class and I didn't read until this morning that I needed to bring a special snack. Nothing like an early morning grocery run. $40 gas AGAIN!


March 11 We were going to run the St. Patricks day run this morning (first run of race season, YAY!!), BUT there was a huge SNAFU where DH and I got seperated and once we finally found each other, we were too late to register (note to selves, never attempt race day registration again). The boys did run in the kids race, which was really the point anyway. Not racing saved us $60. We did spend $1 to park and $4 on doughnuts after the "race". Plus I decided to have everyone over tomorrow for corned beef and cabbage, $25 groceries for that. Tomorrow should be a no buy day.


March 12 I always jinx myself when I say "tomorrow should be a no buy day"! $65 car maintenance-oil change with some additional work. $25 packing supplies-ran out of packing tape. $30 dog food.

5/14 No Buys

 

[ronnmel]

Bought another thing for the wedding today, a Disney themed cake topper. Coming out of my special wedding budget, so counting today as a no-buy (finally!)

No Buy Days : 5/12
Gas : 72$ (max 120$ Raising the max due to higher gas prices)
Groceries : 64$ (max 250$)
Eating out (and snacks) : 47$ (max 100$)
Non-necessities : 290$ (max 300$)

03/01 : 45$ (gas + pharmacy)
03/02 : 0$
03/03 : 0$
03/04 : 0$
03/05 : 0$[
03/06 : 95$ (canadian tire + dinner)
03/07 : 0$
03/08 : 118$ (dinner, passport, and a few little things)
03/09 : 79$ (gas + long overdue windshield wipers)
03/10 : 55$ (cat litter & food)
03/11 : 22$ (breakfast, envelopes, groceries)
03/12 : 59$ (gift for baby shower + snack)
03/13 : 0$

 

[charming23]

Ran out for cat litter and a few other needed items.

March 2011 Budget
Grocery/Household- $300/$79.50 Left
Car/Gas- $50/$21.25 Left
Eating out -$50/$31.30 Left
Entertainment/Misc- $100/ $66.86 left

Total- $500/$198.91 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- $0
3/5- $0
3/6- $10.25 Pat Catan's
3/7- $0

Week Two
3/8- $0
3/9- $95.02 Grocery, $22.89 Misc, and $28.75 Gas
3/10- $20.59 Groceries/household
3/11- $0
3/12- $0
3/13- $23.43 grocery
3/14

7/15 No Buy Days

Coupon/Store Savings- $89.78

 

[Virgderon]

Spent the day fretting about the events in Japan. DD is far south of where it happened, but it's just so devastating. I've taken a lot of calls and facebook messages from people who were worried, which is understandable since most of our friends only know that she is in Japan , not exactly where. I'm more than thankful she is safe, but what a terrible thing for all the people there.

Running Total: Spent $215
$900 budget... $685 left
$0 Days: 6
Goal is 8 or more!
coupon/sale savings :70

Groceries budget- $250-3-52-47= 148 left

March 1: 22
March 2 : 0
March 3: 52 ( groceries)
March 4: 0
March 5: 11 ( Walgreens pop, cooking supplies)
March 6 : 22 ( cleaning supplies )
March 7 : 0
March 8: 18 ( 13 Walgreens, 5 snack at bowling)
March 9 : 0
March 10: 48 ( Publix)
March 11: 43 ( 15 dress, 28 gas)
March 12 : 0
March 13 : 0

 

[wlake]

3/1:
3/2: $26 groceries
3/3:
3/4: $35 after school care, $540 brakes (ouch!), $12 dinner, $16 skate night
3/5: $13 Christmas Tree Shop (candy for basket raffle, cupcake liners, and replacement garden clogs), $23 Yankee Candle (candle!), $24 Michael's (gifts for parties the boys are invited to), $51 gas and $16 Walmart (groceries and a dry cleaning kit I have a rebate for)
3/6: $35 dinner out to celebrate DS8 scoring two goals in his indoor soccer game today (he's not terribly athletic, so this is huge!) and the end of indoor soccer season (DS5 played too, but he's very athletic and usually outscored the other team) as well as $49 on groceries. A little more bragging here: I saved $30 on that grocery bill between sales and coupons AND walked out with coupons for a free box of frozen fish and a free gallon of milk. I'm pretty proud of myself!
3/7:
3/8: $6 groceries (well, ice cream after a tough couple of days) and $5 books
3/9: $10 lunch, $26.50 x2 for school lunches for the boys
3/10:
3/11:
3/12: $3 JoAnn's (sprinkles and cupcake liners), $40 gas, $? Target (drinks, cat litter, health and beauty type stuff), $25 birthday gift for my aunt, $25 birthday gift for my sister
3/13: $27 groceries

no buy days: 5/12
longest streak: 3
meals out: 2/5
days without dinner out: 7
longest no dinners out streak: 10
non-consumable items purchased: 2/0 (2 books)