March No Buy..Rolling Into Spring!

[MickeyMomOfThree]

Tiggerish, that is great news! I am so happy for you!

Virgderon, have a great visit.

My DH told me my cheapness is good for his health. I have been too cheap to get my own gym membership, so every morning he and DDq16 go (at 4am, I can't do that!) And he and I go at night. (He is allowed 1 guest at a time.) So he is working out twice a day, 6 days a week. (She doesn't go on Sundays.) So hey, beingcheap is good for his health!

Hey, another thing. Do you guys ever go on other threads and then wish yo uwere back here. People out there can be kind of mean. I know it would be, but well, I am just happy to come back here to my happy place.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

It was and thank you!! Bye the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to YOU and
bigmomma!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



It certainly isn't now!!! That is awesome and congratulations!! Sometimes the clothing clues make me feel better than the scale does!! I always have to approach dieting one meal, one calorie at a time!! Sometimes one minute at a time, when my resolve is low!



Woo Hoo!!! Great news!!!!

MickeyMomof3, I understand how hard it is! Believe it or not an illness, takes a healing time for your body to allow it to then give up weight. Prior to that healing time, it may be reacting to the lower calories as a 'starvation' situation and it wants to hold on to the calories it needs, to protect you in case of another illness.

Sounds wacky, but that's what happens if you cut your calories too low also!!

I wish you all good wishes, but would like to suggest eating really healthy meals, the best being 6 small meals a day to keep your body fueled. If you watch your calories and fat, as well as your carbs, your body will heal and be MUCH nicer to you in your weight loss adventures! Also, I can't stress enough the importance of water. If I drink 8 glasses a day, I stall, 10, I will lose easier. And I am 53!

All good advise. We have all switched to water just about exclusively. I still have the kids drink some milk, I never did so with the exception of a Diet Soda at the movies or soemthing, we are 100% water, DH and I. hat is big, we used to drink so much OJ. I truly was addicted to it. We'd go though a gallon every 2 days! Drank 2 bottles at the gym tonight. I raced myself at the end to meet my goal before I wet my pants. I am a really healthy eater. That is what makes it so frustrating. I do like carbs, well, pasta, but we have switched to all brown pasta when we eat it which is not neatly as often. I never ate breakfast, but I force myself to now and it isn't so bad. I eat Special K. I know I should do better but I can't eat some of those cereals. But, something is up, that is for sure. So I probably will go see the specialist, but not yet. I am steping up the exercise. Hoping that works.

 

[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.
March 4- DH told the kids we'd go out to dinner. It was kids eat free, but still was $23 with tip. I also had to go get DD16 tights for Model UN and some meds, $20ish
March 5-$0 Went to the gym with DH, he is allowed to bring a guest for free. Then spent the day massively cleaning, more to be done but made a big dent.
March 6-$6 dinner for the kids, $15 dinner with hubby (B1G1coupon) and $24 bowling. Starting the week on a good note...priceless!!!
March 7-$0 Can't catch up now, DD11 has a "surprise" band concert tonight. They said it was a possiblity in September but never mentioned it again and I forgot. Apparently a note came home back when I saw sick but it is MIA. My DD forgot about it too, she said the band teacher never said a word till today. So I have been scrambling to get her clothes together. We are headed out in a few, will catch up tonight. Hope all is well...
March 8-$0 I did have to go pick up DD11's allergy meds, starting early this year. But I don't count meds. $13
March 9-$0 I was taking the kids to Family Night tonight cause DH was working really late, but I found a gift certificate that had expired a year and a half ago in an old purse. I asked if they would take it and they said sure! I got back $.69 too!!!
March 10-$0 I got free movie passes again last night for Batle:LA. It wasn't my thing so I offered to watch DH's friends kids so the boys could go. His friend declined cause the kids would be up so late so I went with him. Would have rather played with the kids, the movie stunk, but as always, I did love the company. DH agreed with me this time, the movie was bad. BUT, we didn't pay so NBD.
March 11-$0 Calling it early. Dh had his card league tonight, DD16 is out with friends, and I might be tempted to take the kids out. BUT, we have food here and they need to clean their room so going to stay in tonight so we can enjoy the rest of the weekend.
March 12- $110 baby gift (DH's half sister is having a baby. We are not close, at all, and I am 8 hours away so I am not going to the shower, so I ordered a gift and had it shipped so she will have it for the shower.) $6 for DD to go to her best friend's basketball game. It was an hour away, that covered the game and the bus. $5 food for her and her friend before the game. $25 dinner out with the famly (this was a bad weekend for cooking for some reason.) $20 gas to hold me over.
March 13- DH and I went out. There is nothing better then his company I tell you. We started at the gym, but that was free. Except I don't want to go only as his guest so I think I am going to join so I can go when I want. So it will wind up costing but I'm OK with that. Then we were starving so we went to use a B1G1 coupon at a habatchi place. It didn't open till 4. So we got B1G1 free greek salads and jyros and went on with our day. That was $10 with tip. Then we ran errands. We spent $50 to fill my tank. We spent $180 at Sam's on groceries, paper goods, etc. Then my DH said he still wanted habatchi so we got the kids Subway $10 and we went back . Dinner $20. We were bad, but I don't care. I love his company more then anything and it was worth it. (Love my kids, but love a break too.)
March 14-$0 I did spend $40 copay at the doctor today, but don't count medical. It was a follow up from my 3.5 week flu. They did blood work to see if my liver is OK. I am sure it is, but they wanted to be sure. Now I am off to sub this afternoon. Have a good day everyone!
March 15-$0
March 16-$0 $10.80 copay for RX, don't count meds though.

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

No Buy Days- 10/18

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

Groceries- $60ish $19 $8.44
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

 

[A.Mickey]

Running Total: Spent $1425.11
$0 Days:5/14 Got 13 no buys last month, trying to up it to one more.

Groceries ($279-$9/day)- $142.05
Eating Out ($217-$7/day)- $166.88
Misc. (Shopping/Entertainment) ($806-$26/day) Great America season pass installment $1026.49
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), $4 (Dollar Tree-Misc.)
13- $13.42 (Walgreens-Groceries)
14- $205 (Airplane Tickets for October-Southwest), $9.20 (McDonald's-Eating Out), $15.94 (Joe Caputo-Groceries)
15- $0
16- $7.97 (Deal Woot-Shopping), $14.58 (Meijer-Groceries)


Budget: $1552....92%
Month: 16/31: 52%
No Buy: 5/14: 36%

My savings from coupons and sales: $772.95

Next Month: Get car fixed...

 

[Debbie]

Working through the taxes. Got Mom's, my 2 younger daughters done and they were netfiled. Mine and DH are done, but I need him to check that he has one of his forms before I send it in. The 3 older kids....I think that it's time for them to take over on their own.
Here's my plan:
1. I will only track PoS transactions-cash, cc, or debit-usually, groceries and gas, although this month there will be a couple of birthday gifts, and my running shoes need to be replaced [there goes $200]
2. Bills paid regularly, including all charity, not included, nor all items that are budgeted for (eg. DD's music trips....money is already set aside-I'll note them, but they don't count)
3. Whatever 'fun' money DH spends i.e. junk food, on himself....not counting
4. I anticipate some eating out this month-birthday and March Break
5. Gas....there is no telling!
6. I would like to aim for 10 No Buy days. Something to shoot for.

Great start.
Mar. 1: DH took the car in for a needed oil change. Found other issues (I knew there was something) Maintenance $434, gas $40
Mar. 2: $0
Mar. 3: $0
Mar. 4: $0
Mar. 5: Mom paid for the hospital parking and supper, but went to Costco: $90 for DD's gifts (birthday), $20 for odds and ends
Mar. 6: groceries $98, gas $47 Music trips that are b$5udgeted for: $125
Mar. 7: medical co-pay , groceries $16
Mar. 8: $0
Mar. 9: Happy Birthday to my baby, who asked for pizzeria pizza (a rare treat) $25 and ice cream cake $24. (and for me-Buster bars while I was at DQ $10), fundraiser World's Finest Chocolate almonds for DNiece $20, gas $44
Mar 10: $0
Mar 11: vet charges for tests/visit $250 definitely not planned for, and only the beginning. My poor fur baby!
Mar 12: Medicine for $28, plumbing repair $80, groceries $55
Mar 13: $0
Mar 14: Costco-gifts plus a steam mop $241 (but gifts for DH are DONE for birthday AND Father's Day), tea from Timmy's $2, vet $147
Mar 15: Groceries $89 Mostly for Mom. So excited to actually find Hot Cross Buns! Last year, I didn't have one serving.
Mar 16: Tea from Timmy's $2, pretzel at the mall $2 It could have been a $0, but playing chauffeur when I hadn't had any supper....


NO BUY DAYS: 6/10

 

[ronnmel]

Forgot about the salsa class ending this month and the new sessions starting right after. Need to adjust the budget.

No Buy Days : 6/12
Gas : 110$ (max 120$ Raising the max due to higher gas prices)
Groceries : 64$ (max 250$)
Eating out (and snacks) : 54$ (max 100$)
Non-necessities : 570$ (max 500$)

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$
03/14 : 38$ (gas)
03/15 : 0$
03/16 : 287$ (salsa class + fast food)

 

[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 12 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 13 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.

March 14 $30 packing supplies, $55 dinner out after a tough day of packing, $15 supplies for a garage sale to get rid of all the stuff we don't want to move.

March 15 $50 gas, $50 moving supplies (bubble wrap and tape are crazy expensive!), $8 beer for the hubby to keep him happy while he hauls boxes around the house.

March 16 Holy cow am I behind!! I have good news and bad news: the good news is we found a renter for our house. Through a great accident, I got to meet the tenants (we are dealing through property managment company and we really aren't supposed to deal with the tenants at all) and they are wonderful. The bad news: moving is EXPENSIVE!! Just moving supplies alone are adding up, plus I am always running out of something, so I'm not scoring any no buy days. On a plus note for my budget, we're moving in with my MIL between our move out date and the time we close on a new house. So, we'll be mortgage/utility free (my MIL insists we not pay rent and if I did pay her, she would put it right back in my bank account) for about 2 months. That adds up to big savings on my end. Now if we can just find a house!
$3 moving supplies, $50 medical bills, $40 Target-we had to take the boys house hunting b/c all our normal sitters were out of town or working. We promised them if they behaved like gentlemen through all the houses, we'd let them pick a new toy. We very, very rarely reward good behavior with material items, so this was a real treat for them and it was fun for us to provide the treat.

5/14 No Buys

 

[3goofyboys]

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!)

So cute! DH and I didn't have a topper, so I always love to hear what other people choose (we did flowers instead).

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.

So glad your DD is okay. It must be very scary for everyone in Japan right now. I'm saying prayers for them all.

1: $0!
I looked back at my receipt yesterday, we got the correct size, correct type, correct brand of an item and it rang up $3.29 when it should have been on sale for 8/$10. All the others rang up at the sale price. Also, the wrong brand of pasta (same color/size box) was mixed in with the brand that was on sale on the shelf. Yes, we should have caught that one, but I still think it's a bit sly. One brand was 3/$5 BOGO, and the other was priced $3/5. So we should have gotten 6/$5 but we ended up having 4 of the BOGO brand and 2 of the 3/$5 price. It's very hard to catch pricing errors at this store because the computer takes some of the sale items off immediately on the screen, and some off at the end. If you can't keep track of what has/has not come off the price, you won't realize it until after you've paid and you get the printed receipt. (Which, incidentally, is printed like the screen, with some prices taken off next to the item and others at the bottom, so you have to play a little matching game.)

I, for one, am MORE than a little tired of playing these nickel and dime games that the stores, banks, and other companies are playing.

Rant over.

I agree. I especially hate stores that don't have a screen for the customer to watch how things ring up. How do I know if something rings up correctly if I can't watch it ring up?

(Kohls) $41.99 - DH needed new shoes - he has a big meeting with his bosses bosses boss on Tues and his wing tips were looking pretty bad - they are over 15 yrs old so I think he was due a new pair - and Kohl's had a great sale, they were normally $70 - PLUS I walked into Kohls, went to the shoes, grabbed the box and went straight to the registers..no detour to the kids clothes! Yay Me!!

Not even looking is a HUGE victory! Yay you!!

I've been at my Mom's looking after her for the weekend, and, she has no internet , so I will be back later to update, but I'm off to the vet in a few minutes. One very sick kitty!

There are people out there without internet? JK, my grandma doesn't have internet and I keep telling her she needs to get it just so she can keep up with us on Facebook!

Congrats! I bet donating those clothes felt great!

Sadly, our kitty didn't make it. I'm upset, since, maybe, if I had gotten him in sooner, he'd have had a chance. He was a friendly guy, never complaining, (rarely meowed), always traipsing in when I was on the toilet. Gonna miss him.

I'm so sorry about your kitty. Losing an animal is hard.

March 14: $240, Target, YEP, you read that right. $33 on 6 mos of zyrtec' Mobigo and 1 extra game for EACH of my grandsons, so $140 there. New cookie sheets, as my son in law refuses to NOT put the non stick ones in the dishwasher and they now stick BAD, $25, nice cephalon, big ones. Also some misc. stuff I needed, plastic containers etc. The whole time going through the store, I kept saying, 'I am going to have to confess this on Dis boards". My daughter laughed and told me to get over it. I can't believe I spent that much $$$.n: Tomorrow, I'm stayin' home!!!

I think that everytime I buy something I don't really need. It helps keep me honest!

!!

Oh, and about your friend. You said something that I connected with. When I got engaged to my DH I was 16. Everyone told me it was a mistake, but I had this one teacher who bugged me about it a lot. She said if I told her one good reason why I thought we were meant to be togeter she'd leave me alone. I told her that he was the first person I'd want to run to to share my good news with and the first person I wanted to run to with bad news cause he knew how to comfort me. After that she left me alone about it. 20 years later I still feel that way, so I get what you are saying about your best friend for sure.

I feel the same way about my DH. Isn't it great?

Going back to work after some time off (March break) is always hard, but add to that the loss of an hour due to "spring forward" and I am completely exhausted. Sorry I'm too tired to take the time to comment.

I swear, whoever created the time change system didn't have to care for children. Each change kills us and we're exhausted for a month.

Something cool - at the last minute I decided to go to this networking thing being held for women in my town at the high school tonight. I intended to go for an hour and stayed for two. I went to a really interesting presentation on figuring out what you want to do next with your life; I got a makeover (my hair is straight! it's NEVER straight!) and they had a "suit bank" and since I've gone down a size I felt OK about taking one. I actually found a nice grey pants suit that is just my size and style. What a cool evening! (But my makeup itches; I'm not used to wearing it...LOL).

What a cool event! And score on a new suit.

I am doing a happy dance today because I was approved for a
whole year of assistance with my MS drug. The drug costs $2500 a month and even with the insurance coverage I just qualified for through medicare, my co-pay was $480 a month. Now with the insurance and the assistance I pay nothing!!

That deserves a happy dance for sure!!

On Monday, my DH's hotel was near a shoe outlet with some good deals, so he picked up new sneakers for the boys a size ahead. If they were shoes for me, I'd consider them non-consumables, but as they're for the boys, they're consumable!

I'm always amazed at how fast my boys go through shoes. Kid's shoes are definitely a consumable!

Hey, another thing. Do you guys ever go on other threads and then wish yo uwere back here. People out there can be kind of mean. I know it would be, but well, I am just happy to come back here to my happy place.

Things have been really snotty out there recently. It's nice to come to a happy supportive thread!

 

[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
Mar 13: $20.53 Walmart AGAIN...DH needed stuff that he forgot to write down.
Mar 14: $0! End of the pay period, so I put the remaining $40 cash in my Trip cash box.
Mar 15: $0
Mar 16: $10.23 Amazon for durum flour

$419.92/$800.00 remaining

 

[charming23]

Charming, I completly forgot to say I am glad things went so smoothly for you mom. My grandpa has the same surgery next week. I can't be there, I bet it was comforting for her to have you there with her. You are such a good daughter.

Thanks. I hope your grandpa's surgery goes smoothly. I think my mom was more worried about me than I was about her, even though I was worried a ton.

I am doing a happy dance today because I was approved for a
whole year of assistance with my MS drug. The drug costs $2500 a month and even with the insurance coverage I just qualified for through medicare, my co-pay was $480 a month. Now with the insurance and the assistance I pay nothing!!

Yay!!! I love when I hear that people are getting the help they need.

It certainly isn't now!!! That is awesome and congratulations!! Sometimes the clothing clues make me feel better than the scale does!! I always have to approach dieting one meal, one calorie at a time!! Sometimes one minute at a time, when my resolve is low!

I do that too. I take it day by day now and try not to worry about the longterm. It was so funny yesterday I wore a top that I had not worn in forever since it had gotten too small. It was a fave (a purple zip-up hoodie with Tink on it) and my Grandma asked me yesterday if it was new because it fit me so well.

Virgderon, have a great time in Chicago.

Happy St. Patty's Day

Today I am staying home. The weather outside is really nice so I am going to clean up the garage a bit. Tonight my grandma and aunt are coming over for corned beef sandwiches.

March 2011 Budget
Grocery/Household- $300/$66.35 Left
Car/Gas- $50/$21.25 Left
Eating out -$50/$26.42 Left
Entertainment/Misc- $100/ $47.44 left

Total- $500/$161.46 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- $19.42 Walgreen's Misc

Week Three
3/15- $0
3/16- $13.15 Grocery and $4.88 Dairy Queen
3/17- $0
3/18
3/19
3/20
3/21

9/15 No Buy Days

Coupon/Store Savings- $92.77

 

[wlake]

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

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
3/14: $30 dinner (DH is out of town, so my mom suggested going out -- I was all too happy to go and pay for dinner!), $38 sneakers for the boys
3/15:
3/16:
3/17:

no buy days: 8/12
longest streak: 3
meals out: 3/5
days without dinner out: 3
longest no dinners out streak: 10
non-consumable items purchased: 2/0 (2 books)

 

[QVCshopper]

My little guy's b-day is tomorrow and his party is Saturday. Lots of money, but I guess you only turn 5 once! His special b-day snack at preschool was letter pretzels that spelled out Happy Birthday. He was so proud!

10/15 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
3/13-$18.50 Chinese food; $55 Various Food Stores; $13 Michaels; $5 Five Below; $23 Target; $3 Costco; $10 Haircut
3/14-$0
3/15-$0
3/16-$11 Pretzels, $4 Five Below, $19 Wegmans, $6 Genuardis, $5 Goodwill, $2 iTunes, $3 Target
3/17-$0

 

[wlake]

My little guy's b-day is tomorrow and his party is Saturday. Lots of money, but I guess you only turn 5 once! His special b-day snack at preschool was letter pretzels that spelled out Happy Birthday. He was so proud!

Happy birthday to him! The letter pretzels sound SO cute! My little guy will be 6 next month, and I'm hoping/praying/wishing to teach kindergarten next year, so I have to ask where you found them! I may have to import them if you say Wegmans! Many of my relatives live in upstate NY and I love Wegmans!

 

[Debbie]

A wickedly busy day! Three trips into the city, ending with a dinner with DH at Denny's. (We never go out!)
Here's my plan:
1. I will only track PoS transactions-cash, cc, or debit-usually, groceries and gas, although this month there will be a couple of birthday gifts, and my running shoes need to be replaced [there goes $200]
2. Bills paid regularly, including all charity, not included, nor all items that are budgeted for (eg. DD's music trips....money is already set aside-I'll note them, but they don't count)
3. Whatever 'fun' money DH spends i.e. junk food, on himself....not counting
4. I anticipate some eating out this month-birthday and March Break
5. Gas....there is no telling!
6. I would like to aim for 10 No Buy days. Something to shoot for.

Great start.
Mar. 1: DH took the car in for a needed oil change. Found other issues (I knew there was something) Maintenance $434, gas $40
Mar. 2: $0
Mar. 3: $0
Mar. 4: $0
Mar. 5: Mom paid for the hospital parking and supper, but went to Costco: $90 for DD's gifts (birthday), $20 for odds and ends
Mar. 6: groceries $98, gas $47 Music trips that are b$5udgeted for: $125
Mar. 7: medical co-pay , groceries $16
Mar. 8: $0
Mar. 9: Happy Birthday to my baby, who asked for pizzeria pizza (a rare treat) $25 and ice cream cake $24. (and for me-Buster bars while I was at DQ $10), fundraiser World's Finest Chocolate almonds for DNiece $20, gas $44
Mar 10: $0
Mar 11: vet charges for tests/visit $250 definitely not planned for, and only the beginning. My poor fur baby!
Mar 12: Medicine for $28, plumbing repair $80, groceries $55
Mar 13: $0
Mar 14: Costco-gifts plus a steam mop $241 (but gifts for DH are DONE for birthday AND Father's Day), tea from Timmy's $2, vet $147
Mar 15: Groceries $89 Mostly for Mom. So excited to actually find Hot Cross Buns! Last year, I didn't have one serving.
Mar 16: Tea from Timmy's $2, pretzel at the mall $2 It could have been a $0, but playing chauffeur when I hadn't had any supper....
Mar 17: Parking fees $20, gas $48, Dinner at Denny's FREE but the tip $10.


NO BUY DAYS: 6/10

 

[QVCshopper]

Happy birthday to him! The letter pretzels sound SO cute! My little guy will be 6 next month, and I'm hoping/praying/wishing to teach kindergarten next year, so I have to ask where you found them! I may have to import them if you say Wegmans! Many of my relatives live in upstate NY and I love Wegmans!

I'm in PA, and got them at the Philly Pretzel Company (which are big here; I bet any pretzel place would make them). The letters are $1 each, but I had a 50% off coupon, so 18 letters for $9 (plus a $2 shamrock pretzel my DS wanted). Anyway, his teachers really liked them, and I gave each kid a paper bag with their name on it so they could take the rest of the pretzel home--they were about 8" x 6" big. Good luck teaching K! My DD is 6 and in K now.

 

[wlake]

I'm in PA, and got them at the Philly Pretzel Company (which are big here; I bet any pretzel place would make them). The letters are $1 each, but I had a 50% off coupon, so 18 letters for $9 (plus a $2 shamrock pretzel my DS wanted). Anyway, his teachers really liked them, and I gave each kid a paper bag with their name on it so they could take the rest of the pretzel home--they were about 8" x 6" big. Good luck teaching K! My DD is 6 and in K now.

That's even better (and even cuter) than I was imagining!! I bet I could make those -- I have a from scratch recipe, plus our BJ's sells the kits from Auntie Annie's. Thanks for the idea! (Now to email the teacher to check for allergies!)

Isn't K the best? I taught it for the last several years, but got switched to 4th due to low enrollment this year. I miss it!

 

[QVCshopper]

That's even better (and even cuter) than I was imagining!! I bet I could make those -- I have a from scratch recipe, plus our BJ's sells the kits from Auntie Annie's. Thanks for the idea! (Now to email the teacher to check for allergies!)

Isn't K the best? I taught it for the last several years, but got switched to 4th due to low enrollment this year. I miss it!

Yes, you could make them! Then, each kid gets their own letter. It seemed to be a hit. K is fun, my DD loves it (today was green day for St. Patty's Day. Her teacher asked parents to send in one green fruit/veggie for the class and they could each try one. Plus, she seemed to have a leprechaun visit who left chocolate gold coins.) Hope everything works out for next year.

 

[QVCshopper]

That's even better (and even cuter) than I was imagining!! I bet I could make those -- I have a from scratch recipe, plus our BJ's sells the kits from Auntie Annie's. Thanks for the idea! (Now to email the teacher to check for allergies!)

Isn't K the best? I taught it for the last several years, but got switched to 4th due to low enrollment this year. I miss it!

Yes, you could make them! Then, each kid gets their own letter. It seemed to be a hit. K is fun, my DD loves it (today was green day for St. Patty's Day. Her teacher asked parents to send in one green fruit/veggie for the class and they could each try one. Plus, she seemed to have a leprechaun visit who left chocolate gold coins.) Hope everything works out for next year.

 

[QVCshopper]

Oops, double post! Sorry about that.

Congrats on the renters, 3GoofyBoys! We've been looking at homes with our kids and it's tough. Finding a home that you like can be a challenge, so I hope it works out for you.

Also, glad your mom's surgery went well, Charming23, and nice job on the weight loss!

 

[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 12 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 13 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.

March 14 $30 packing supplies, $55 dinner out after a tough day of packing, $15 supplies for a garage sale to get rid of all the stuff we don't want to move.

March 15 $50 gas, $50 moving supplies (bubble wrap and tape are crazy expensive!), $8 beer for the hubby to keep him happy while he hauls boxes around the house.

March 16 Holy cow am I behind!! I have good news and bad news: the good news is we found a renter for our house. Through a great accident, I got to meet the tenants (we are dealing through property managment company and we really aren't supposed to deal with the tenants at all) and they are wonderful. The bad news: moving is EXPENSIVE!! Just moving supplies alone are adding up, plus I am always running out of something, so I'm not scoring any no buy days. On a plus note for my budget, we're moving in with my MIL between our move out date and the time we close on a new house. So, we'll be mortgage/utility free (my MIL insists we not pay rent and if I did pay her, she would put it right back in my bank account) for about 2 months. That adds up to big savings on my end. Now if we can just find a house!
$3 moving supplies, $50 medical bills, $40 Target-we had to take the boys house hunting b/c all our normal sitters were out of town or working. We promised them if they behaved like gentlemen through all the houses, we'd let them pick a new toy. We very, very rarely reward good behavior with material items, so this was a real treat for them and it was fun for us to provide the treat.

March 17 $60 supplies to fix some things at the house, $40 gas-house hunting is burning gas like crazy, $9 car wash

5/14 No Buys