MAY we interest you in a month of No Buy???

[charming23]

Thanks for all the finger crossing. I have not heard anything yet but do not expect to until sometime over the weekend.

Today we went shopping for the weekend. We have two get togethers we are going to so we need some items for those.

I am also going to fix my budget. Mom and I talked and we are doing it in 4 week blocks instead of how we were. So tomorrow will start my June Budget.

May 2011 Budget

Groceries/household- $300/ -$5.58 Left
Car/Gas- $50/$23.17 left
Cat Supplies-$50/ $27.77 Left
Eating Out- $50/$16.87 left
Entertainment/Misc- $100/ $64.29 left

Total Budget $550/ $136.50 left

Goal of 15 No Buy Days

Week One
4/30- $99.35 Groceries/Household and $5.69 Cat Supplies
5/1- $0
5/2- $0
5/3- $0
5/4- $22.73 Groceries/Household, $26.83 Gas, and $5.07 Eating Out
5/5- $0
5/6- $0

Week Two
5/7- $27.58 Groceries
5/8- $0
5/9- $7.11 Lunch at the Zoo
5/10- $0
5/11- $56.21 Groceries/houshold
5/12- $14.68 at Ulta
5/13- $0

Week Three
5/14- $0
5/15- $7.92 Grocery, $15 Chinese dinner, and $7 Dots
5/16- $0
5/17- $0
5/18- $0
5/19- $14.96 Aldi's, $4.03 Post Office, and $39.29 Giant Eagle
5/20- $10 Target

Week Four
5/21- $0
5/22- $11.49 Grocery and $16.54 Cat Supplies
5/23- $0
5/24- $0
5/25- $0
5/26- $5.95 Chick-Fil-A lunch
5/27- $27.05 Groceries

16/15 No Buy Days

Store/Coupon Savings- $88.11

 

[Virgderon]

Went to the mall and got a great deal on glasses, and hubby paid for mine. We really took advantage of our vision insurance.

Running Total: Spent $778
$948 budget... $170 left
$0 Days: 9
Goal is 9 or more!
coupon/sale savings : 65

Groceries budget- $250 -18-28-39-78-26-24= 37 left

May 1 : 76 (Mothers day gift , card & misc.)
May 2 : 0
May 3 : 18 ( groceries, misc)
May 4: 0
May 5: 0
May 6 : 28
May 7: 37 ( garage sale finds)
May 8: 55 ( movie, groceries)
May 9: 8 (Walgreens)
May 10: 0
May 11: 0
May 12 : 29 ( red robin dinner, magazine)
May 13: 21 ( Wendys and food at the game)
May 14 : 54 (21 lunch, 21 bathing suit, 12 soap)
May 15: 124 (20 gas, 26 spa, 78 groceries)
May 16: 0
May 17: 26 ( frozen pizza. pop and a couple misc things)
May 18: 0
May 19: 0
May 20 : 43 (19 Walgreens, 24 Cracker Barrell)
May 21 : 40 (20 parking at hockey game, 20 food at hockey game)
May 22 : 89 (15 tip, 24 groceries, 50 bd gift)
May 23: 0
May 24; 74 ( 20 Walgreens, 54 Allure box)
May 25 : 8 ( lunch and snacks at work)
May 26: 46 (37 gas station, 9 groceries)
May 27: 20 (8 food at mall, 12 Old navy)

 

[ronnmel]

No Buy Days : 7/9
Gas : 25$ (max 120$)
Car : 520$ (oil change + oil leak)
Groceries : 68$ (max 200$)
Eating out (and snacks) : 106$ (max 100$)
Non-necessities : 190$ (max 200$)

05/08 : 44$ (dinner + flowers)
05/09 : 5$ (parking)
05/10 : 0$
05/11 : 78$
05/12 : 172$ (oil change & other small fixes, books)
05/13 : 150$ (fixing oil leak)
05/14 : 0$
05/15 : 38$ (groceries)
05/16 : 0$
05/17 : 17$ (dinner)
05/18 : 0$
05/19 : 77$ (donation + fixing oil leak, again)
05/20 : 22$ (lunch + dinner)
05/21 : 0$
05/22 : 64$ (books, movie, DeSerres)
05/23 : 0$
05/24 : 20$ (thank you cards)
05/25 : 71$ (dinner + gas)
05/26 : 151$ (car repairs + bus)
05/27 : 0$

 

[A.Mickey]

Running Total: Spent $1236.15
$0 Days:12/14

Groceries ($186-$6/day)- $213.73
Eating Out ($217-$7/day)- $200.76
Misc. (Shopping/Entertainment) ($713-$23/day) 1st Month Tuition for preschool $506
Gas $300- $42.07 (5/3-$4.44/gal), $7.07 (5/8-$4.59/gal), $68.58 (5/10-$4.33/gal), $42.84 (5/12-$4.39/gal), $40 (5/19-$4.25/gal), $72 (5/22-$4.13/gal), $40.10 (5/27-$4.08/gal)= $315.66

1- $22.82 (Walgreens-Groceries), $15.03 (Dominick's-Groceries), (Meijer-Groceries), $8.18 (Meijer- Groceries), $100 (Fry's Electronics-Hubby's Birthday)
2- $0
3- $0
4- $2.03 (Meijer-Groceries), $10.96 (Walgreens-Groceries), $3.82 (Jewel-Osco-Groceries), $.57 (Wal-Mart-Groceries)
5- $0
6- $0
7- $4.10 (Jewel-Osco-Groceries), $2.37 (Walgreens-Groceries), $2 (Dollar Tree-Papers), $30 (Lou Malnati's-Eating Out), $10 (McDonald's-Eating Out)
8- $8 (Parking), $1 (Puppetbikeshow-tip), $19 (Superdawg-Eating Out), $5 (Starbucks-1/2 price fraps-Eating Out), $318 (Broadway in Chicago Tickets- this is for 12 tickets (6 shows x2)...we will probably be selling our tickets to see the Osmond's too, so we will make some of this back)
9- $0
10- $6.15 (Wendy's-Eating Out), $5.46 (Target-Groceries), $14.29 (Jewel-Groceries)
11- $0
12- $0
13- $7.95 (McDonald's-Eating Out), $6.32 (Jewel-Osco-Groceries)
14- $2 (Dollar Tree-Papers), $18 (parking), $25 (Eating Out) $9 (Toys), $13 (Dessert)
15- $0
16- $26.79 (Joe Caputo-Groceries)
17- $0
18- $8.37 (Wendy's-Eating Out), $4.80 (Meijer-Groceries), $1.03 (Jewel-Groceries)
19- $18 (McDonalds/Burger King-Eating Out), $4.33 (Meijer-Groceries)
20- $0
21- $0
22- $2 (Dollar Tree), $3.11 (Walgreens-Groceries), $9.56 (McDonalds-Eating Out), $27 (TeddyFabz-Eating Out), $6.75 (Jewel-Groceries), $7 (DQ-Orange Julius-Eating Out)
23- $33 (Buyzooka-4 pack to Santa's Village), $8 (2 AMC movie tickets, Pooh and Cars are coming out), $1 (Lady Gaga's new CD and Cloud service), $13.20 (Joe Caputo-Groceries), $5.76 (Trader Joe's- Groceries)
24- $4 (Admission for Kid's Play Place), $13.31 (Walgreens-Groceries), $3.53 (Meijer-Groceries), $8.73 (Wendy's-Eating Out)
25- $0
26- $0
27- $15.07 (Walgreens-Groceries)
28- $6 (Donuts), $20.10 (Jewel-Groceries)


Budget: $1416....87%
Month: 27/31: 90%
No Buy: 13/14: 93%

My savings from coupons and sales: $1021.53

August: $300 Hotel Room for Cedar Point
October: ~$250 Rental Car

 

[annsteere]

Running Total: Spent $1154.88
$0 Days:12/14

23- $33 (Buyzooka-4 pack to Santa's Village), $8 (2 AMC movie tickets, Pooh and Cars are coming out), $1 (Lady Gaga's new CD and Cloud service),


Budget: $1416....82%
Month: 26/31: 84%
No Buy: 13/14: 93%

My savings from coupons and sales: $673.64

August: $300 Hotel Room for Cedar Point
October: ~$250 Rental Car

A Mickey, would you please post how you are getting the AMC movie tickets for $4? We are in Chicagoland and have been doing matinees at the cheaper theater but their prices are now higher than what you are paying for AMC. Thanks.

 

[charming23]

Okay so I am going to start my new June Budget tomorrow. Today was my last no buy day for the month.

May 2011 Budget

Groceries/household- $300/ -$5.58 Left
Car/Gas- $50/$23.17 left
Cat Supplies-$50/ $27.77 Left
Eating Out- $50/$16.87 left
Entertainment/Misc- $100/ $64.29 left

Total Budget $550/ $136.50 left

Goal of 15 No Buy Days

Week One
4/30- $99.35 Groceries/Household and $5.69 Cat Supplies
5/1- $0
5/2- $0
5/3- $0
5/4- $22.73 Groceries/Household, $26.83 Gas, and $5.07 Eating Out
5/5- $0
5/6- $0

Week Two
5/7- $27.58 Groceries
5/8- $0
5/9- $7.11 Lunch at the Zoo
5/10- $0
5/11- $56.21 Groceries/houshold
5/12- $14.68 at Ulta
5/13- $0

Week Three
5/14- $0
5/15- $7.92 Grocery, $15 Chinese dinner, and $7 Dots
5/16- $0
5/17- $0
5/18- $0
5/19- $14.96 Aldi's, $4.03 Post Office, and $39.29 Giant Eagle
5/20- $10 Target

Week Four
5/21- $0
5/22- $11.49 Grocery and $16.54 Cat Supplies
5/23- $0
5/24- $0
5/25- $0
5/26- $5.95 Chick-Fil-A lunch
5/27- $27.05 Groceries
5/28- $0

17/15 No Buy Days

Store/Coupon Savings- $88.11

 

[A.Mickey]

A Mickey, would you please post how you are getting the AMC movie tickets for $4? We are in Chicagoland and have been doing matinees at the cheaper theater but their prices are now higher than what you are paying for AMC. Thanks.

I think it was a groupon or livingsocial deal for that day. I can pm you if it comes out again. Usually you can get a 4 pack of tickets for $6 a piece.

 

[Debbie]

Oh, dear! After 2-in-a-row $0, I went crazy yesterday and today....and I do mean crazy! Local video store is going out of business, so I loaded up on 1 game and an armload of videos-new and played. Some will be gifts, some will be for school, and some are "just because". THEN I shopped online again...AND my two favourite grocery stores are having mega sales this week. What's a girl to do?????

Budget: (last month expenses)
Gas: $300($337)
Groceries/Household: $600($675)
Drug co-pays/medicine/lens: $30 ($149)
Misc including gifts: $150( $395)
Pool opening expenses: $600 ($0)
Dining: $60 ($0)

May 1: groceries $60
May 2: $0
May 3: gas $45 (does include gas for the lawnmower)
May 4: groceries $60, supper $30, Mother's Day gift $23
May 5: $0
May 6: $0
May 7: market $21 (bread and flowers to go with my Mother's Day gift), card, $4, groceries, $30, gas $55
May 8: $0
May 9: Darn! DH spent $2 on hot dog buns!
May 10: $0
May 11: gas $55, medical $25 (I don't remember it costing this much for stuff for my last colonoscopy), clear fluids stuff at the grocery store $11, chlorine $17
May 12: hospital parking $9, lunch $25, groceries, $14
May 13: $0
May 14: Yep, I went to the Scholar's Choice Warehouse sale. I bought little (math) books, plus a box of coils (we can make books!), and GIFTS! I bought: Father's Day, birthday, moving into residence and Christmas gifts. All told it was $92 with my discount, $19 was for school and the rest gifts. DH did his shopping and it was $45 for groceries.
May 15: DH went to the grocery store to buy pie and get the free ice cream. Spent $18
May 16: Workshop for me, offsite. Lunch+dessert: $12
May 17: Gas $48
May 18: $0 (although DD bought icing sugar to make candy for her bake sale tomorrow)
May 19: $5 donation at DD's final string concert. $38 on a book for teaching
May 20: $0
May 21: DH did his weekly "after Church" shopping $54
May 22: gas for lawn and car: $48, groceries $110 (should be good for groceries for most of the week, now)
May 23: $0
May 24: groceries/batteries $16, drug co-pay $1
May 25: $0
May 26: $0
May 27: Shoppers Drug Mart $32, gas $44, groceries $15, school supplies $35, videos/games $153
May 28: groceries $91 Hopefully, grocery shopping will be much curtailed for the rest of the week!

Gas: $295
Groceries/Household: $564
Drug co-pays/medicine/hospital parking: $35
Misc including gifts: $500
Pool: $79
Dining: $67

No Buy days: 10/12

 

[wlake]

Debbie, sometimes you just have a spendy day! Of course, I may be just saying that because I had one myself today...

5/1: $110 for DS6's birthday party (so worth it!)
5/2:
5/3:
5/4: $30 dinner out
5/5: $15 jacket for DS (I just realized how small the one he's wearing is. I can't believe I let him out of the house in it.), $50 water shoes for DS and pants for me, $30 for field trips
5/6:
5/7: $84 Target, ? potting soil, ? lunch out, and ??? (the other three went out to buy a Mother's Day gift, so I wasn't with them! Guess I'll find out tomorrow! )
5/8: $18 Target (a case for my Mother's Day iPhone!!), ? groceries
5/9:
5/10: $35 dinner out
5/11:
5/12: $12 ice cream out to celebrate DS8's concert
5/13:
5/14: $40 pharmacy, $I-already-forgot Target, $85 BJ's, $95 hair cut and color, $31 things for school, $60 gas
5/15: ? groceries
5/16: $26 prescriptions at pharmacy #1; $18 prescription at pharmacy #2, $12 OTC eyedrops at pharmacy #3. $5 dinner out because I couldn't stand the thought of cooking! (We had a GC and coupons for free kids' meals.)
5/17:
5/18:
5/19: $12 ice cream out to celebrate the boys' art show
5/20:
5/21: $10 baseball socks, $10 party goods, $85 for ONE contact lens!, $3 fabric, $52 gas, $16 lunch, $20 birthday gifts for DS8, $24 Target, $30 BJ's, $4 laundry soap (*whispering* and I might order myself an iPad tonight to replace my work computer which I have to turn in next month. First I have to get over the extravagance of it.)
5/22: $44 garden store, $70 groceries
5/23: take out, $783 Apple store
5/24: $20 ice cream cake for DS
5/25:
5/26: $11 party supplies
5/27:
5/28: $60 gas, $30 plants, $70 party supplies (for work), $20 clothes for the boys, $8 Pepperidge Farm outlet, ? boys' haircuts, ? BJ's and ? Lowe's (DH was in charge of those while I had a plant shopping afternoon with a friend)

no buy days: 11/10
longest no buy streak: 3 days
dinners out: 4/5
days since our last dinner out: 5
longest no meals out streak: 10

 

[dltnboz3mom]

I am going to give the no-buy month a try. I am new at this but I need to start saving my money. I had to cancel my 40th Birthday trip in July due to a transmission problem with my car. This broke my heart and I have spent a large amount of time thinking about all of the things that I have blown money on over the past year! If I had of prioritized my spending/saving I would have been able to repair the car and still take my trip. I look forward to learning from you all and drawing inspiration from your successes!

 

[A.Mickey]

Running Total: Spent $1244.83
$0 Days:12/14

Groceries ($186-$6/day)- $215.78
Eating Out ($217-$7/day)- $207.39
Misc. (Shopping/Entertainment) ($713-$23/day) 1st Month Tuition for preschool $506
Gas $300- $42.07 (5/3-$4.44/gal), $7.07 (5/8-$4.59/gal), $68.58 (5/10-$4.33/gal), $42.84 (5/12-$4.39/gal), $40 (5/19-$4.25/gal), $72 (5/22-$4.13/gal), $40.10 (5/27-$4.08/gal)= $315.66

1- $22.82 (Walgreens-Groceries), $15.03 (Dominick's-Groceries), (Meijer-Groceries), $8.18 (Meijer- Groceries), $100 (Fry's Electronics-Hubby's Birthday)
2- $0
3- $0
4- $2.03 (Meijer-Groceries), $10.96 (Walgreens-Groceries), $3.82 (Jewel-Osco-Groceries), $.57 (Wal-Mart-Groceries)
5- $0
6- $0
7- $4.10 (Jewel-Osco-Groceries), $2.37 (Walgreens-Groceries), $2 (Dollar Tree-Papers), $30 (Lou Malnati's-Eating Out), $10 (McDonald's-Eating Out)
8- $8 (Parking), $1 (Puppetbikeshow-tip), $19 (Superdawg-Eating Out), $5 (Starbucks-1/2 price fraps-Eating Out), $318 (Broadway in Chicago Tickets- this is for 12 tickets (6 shows x2)...we will probably be selling our tickets to see the Osmond's too, so we will make some of this back)
9- $0
10- $6.15 (Wendy's-Eating Out), $5.46 (Target-Groceries), $14.29 (Jewel-Groceries)
11- $0
12- $0
13- $7.95 (McDonald's-Eating Out), $6.32 (Jewel-Osco-Groceries)
14- $2 (Dollar Tree-Papers), $18 (parking), $25 (Eating Out) $9 (Toys), $13 (Dessert)
15- $0
16- $26.79 (Joe Caputo-Groceries)
17- $0
18- $8.37 (Wendy's-Eating Out), $4.80 (Meijer-Groceries), $1.03 (Jewel-Groceries)
19- $18 (McDonalds/Burger King-Eating Out), $4.33 (Meijer-Groceries)
20- $0
21- $0
22- $2 (Dollar Tree), $3.11 (Walgreens-Groceries), $9.56 (McDonalds-Eating Out), $27 (TeddyFabz-Eating Out), $6.75 (Jewel-Groceries), $7 (DQ-Orange Julius-Eating Out)
23- $33 (Buyzooka-4 pack to Santa's Village), $8 (2 AMC movie tickets, Pooh and Cars are coming out), $1 (Lady Gaga's new CD and Cloud service), $13.20 (Joe Caputo-Groceries), $5.76 (Trader Joe's- Groceries)
24- $4 (Admission for Kid's Play Place), $13.31 (Walgreens-Groceries), $3.53 (Meijer-Groceries), $8.73 (Wendy's-Eating Out)
25- $0
26- $0
27- $15.07 (Walgreens-Groceries)
28- $6 (Donuts), $20.10 (Jewel-Groceries), $2.05 (Dominick's-Groceries), $6.63 (Subway-Eating Out)


Budget: $1416....88%
Month: 27/31: 90%
No Buy: 13/14: 93%

My savings from coupons and sales: $1041.33

August: $300 Hotel Room for Cedar Point
October: ~$250 Rental Car

 

[WAMUMOF4]

As you can see we are already over on the grocery's we started our DS on a high protein diet last week and it blew our grocery's out of the water but it is worth it he lost 4 kilos in a week

grocery's- $500(-$1061.07)
Fuel/gas - $800(-$686.20)
football fees -$200(-$260)
Tyres -$220(-$198)
flights $5500 left(-$2500)
happy to get as much of as possible but would love them to be paid. Miscalculated how much we had paid so had to add $500

The kids and i are on a lets see if we can spend $100 a week on grocery's our normal bill would be between $200-$250+

May 1 $0
May2 $148
May 3 $60
May 4 $0
MAY 5 $1126.43
May 6 $228
May 7 $0
May 8 $0
May 9 $0
May 10 $147.36
May 11 $0
May 12 $134.10
May 13 $500.00 ($500 over to car hire instead of flights)
May 14 $255.52 (got 2 DS shirts when paid fees so added it on to fees)
May 15 $86.24
May 16 $23.32
May 17 $27.79
May 18 $59.63
May 19 $1597.00 (paid $1500 of car hire instead of flights)
May 20 $578.00
May 21 $220.77
May 22 $0
May 23 $0
May 24 $22.41 ($16.99 on hayfever medication unbudgeted for)
May 25 $0
May 26 $452.75($298.75 grocery's! DH speeding fine$75 )
May 27 $1000 off flight thanks to refund from DW $48.98 took DH shopping
May 28 $176.60
May 29 $0
May 30
May 31
$0 = 10/12 I am surprised we have made so many
Still feeling a bit disappointed that i wont meet our flights paid of goal!

This week is a real blow out week for us un budgeted speeding fine $75 GAS for hot water etc $225 Hayfever/Vitamins $81.94 Internet they are saying we went 2 gig over our allocation which was not possible as we had a prepaid one we needed to use first and we were away for 6 days of the bill $71.52= $453.36 meant for flight plus our blowout in grocery's

charming23 sending you lots of pixie dust hope you get the job!

 

[Virgderon]

Well, for the first time in a really long time I am over budget, but I have a good excuse.

We went to the Premium Outlets yesterday, and I went into the Saks Fifth Avenue outlet. I found the perfect Mother of the Bride dress. It was orginally $510, marked down to $189, with another 20% off. I put it on and DH, who doesnt care much about clothes, was floored. I'll post a picture after the wedding, but it's fabulous and hides all the little things I want to hide. He loved it and so did I. So, I am over for the month.

Running Total: Spent $988
$948 budget... $40 over
$0 Days: 9
Goal is 9 or more!
coupon/sale savings : 65

Groceries budget- $250 -18-28-39-78-26-24= 37 left

May 1 : 76 (Mothers day gift , card & misc.)
May 2 : 0
May 3 : 18 ( groceries, misc)
May 4: 0
May 5: 0
May 6 : 28
May 7: 37 ( garage sale finds)
May 8: 55 ( movie, groceries)
May 9: 8 (Walgreens)
May 10: 0
May 11: 0
May 12 : 29 ( red robin dinner, magazine)
May 13: 21 ( Wendys and food at the game)
May 14 : 54 (21 lunch, 21 bathing suit, 12 soap)
May 15: 124 (20 gas, 26 spa, 78 groceries)
May 16: 0
May 17: 26 ( frozen pizza. pop and a couple misc things)
May 18: 0
May 19: 0
May 20 : 43 (19 Walgreens, 24 Cracker Barrell)
May 21 : 40 (20 parking at hockey game, 20 food at hockey game)
May 22 : 89 (15 tip, 24 groceries, 50 bd gift)
May 23: 0
May 24; 74 ( 20 Walgreens, 54 Allure box)
May 25 : 8 ( lunch and snacks at work)
May 26: 46 (37 gas station, 9 groceries)
May 27: 20 (8 food at mall, 12 Old navy)
May 28: 210 ( 19 lunch out, 13 pop at gas station, 162 MOB dress, 16 shipping at post office)

 

[ronnmel]

No Buy Days : 7/9
Gas : 25$ (max 120$)
Car : 520$ (oil change + oil leak)
Groceries : 141$ (max 200$)
Eating out (and snacks) : 106$ (max 100$)
Non-necessities : 190$ (max 200$)

05/08 : 44$ (dinner + flowers)
05/09 : 5$ (parking)
05/10 : 0$
05/11 : 78$
05/12 : 172$ (oil change & other small fixes, books)
05/13 : 150$ (fixing oil leak)
05/14 : 0$
05/15 : 38$ (groceries)
05/16 : 0$
05/17 : 17$ (dinner)
05/18 : 0$
05/19 : 77$ (donation + fixing oil leak, again)
05/20 : 22$ (lunch + dinner)
05/21 : 0$
05/22 : 64$ (books, movie, DeSerres)
05/23 : 0$
05/24 : 20$ (thank you cards)
05/25 : 71$ (dinner + gas)
05/26 : 151$ (car repairs + bus)
05/27 : 0$
05/28 : 73$ (groceries)

I am going to give the no-buy month a try. I am new at this but I need to start saving my money. I had to cancel my 40th Birthday trip in July due to a transmission problem with my car. This broke my heart and I have spent a large amount of time thinking about all of the things that I have blown money on over the past year! If I had of prioritized my spending/saving I would have been able to repair the car and still take my trip. I look forward to learning from you all and drawing inspiration from your successes!

You have come to the perfect place to do that. Good luck with your goal.

Well, for the first time in a really long time I am over budget, but I have a good excuse.

We went to the Premium Outlets yesterday, and I went into the Saks Fifth Avenue outlet. I found the perfect Mother of the Bride dress. It was orginally $510, marked down to $189, with another 20% off. I put it on and DH, who doesnt care much about clothes, was floored. I'll post a picture after the wedding, but it's fabulous and hides all the little things I want to hide. He loved it and so did I. So, I am over for the month.

I think it's an excellent reason to be over-budget. I'm looking forward to seeing a picture of you in the dress!

 

[Debbie]

Can hardly wait to see those pics, Virgderon! Did we ever see pics, ronmel, of your wedding dress? If so, I missed those.

wlake, we do have those spendy days. I don't regret them....especially since I have the money to pay cash, or, if I use the cc, pay it off as soon as I get home. They can be fun! Just NOT too often!

 

[wlake]

I am going to give the no-buy month a try. I am new at this but I need to start saving my money. I had to cancel my 40th Birthday trip in July due to a transmission problem with my car. This broke my heart and I have spent a large amount of time thinking about all of the things that I have blown money on over the past year! If I had of prioritized my spending/saving I would have been able to repair the car and still take my trip. I look forward to learning from you all and drawing inspiration from your successes!

We're glad you're here!

Well, for the first time in a really long time I am over budget, but I have a good excuse.

We went to the Premium Outlets yesterday, and I went into the Saks Fifth Avenue outlet. I found the perfect Mother of the Bride dress. It was orginally $510, marked down to $189, with another 20% off. I put it on and DH, who doesnt care much about clothes, was floored. I'll post a picture after the wedding, but it's fabulous and hides all the little things I want to hide. He loved it and so did I. So, I am over for the month.

Congrats on finding a dress! Well worth going over for if you ask me or my mother. She's still looking for the perfect MotB dress, and I've been married for almost 12 years!

5/1: $110 for DS6's birthday party (so worth it!)
5/2:
5/3:
5/4: $30 dinner out
5/5: $15 jacket for DS (I just realized how small the one he's wearing is. I can't believe I let him out of the house in it.), $50 water shoes for DS and pants for me, $30 for field trips
5/6:
5/7: $84 Target, ? potting soil, ? lunch out, and ??? (the other three went out to buy a Mother's Day gift, so I wasn't with them! Guess I'll find out tomorrow! )
5/8: $18 Target (a case for my Mother's Day iPhone!!), ? groceries
5/9:
5/10: $35 dinner out
5/11:
5/12: $12 ice cream out to celebrate DS8's concert
5/13:
5/14: $40 pharmacy, $I-already-forgot Target, $85 BJ's, $95 hair cut and color, $31 things for school, $60 gas
5/15: ? groceries
5/16: $26 prescriptions at pharmacy #1; $18 prescription at pharmacy #2, $12 OTC eyedrops at pharmacy #3. $5 dinner out because I couldn't stand the thought of cooking! (We had a GC and coupons for free kids' meals.)
5/17:
5/18:
5/19: $12 ice cream out to celebrate the boys' art show
5/20:
5/21: $10 baseball socks, $10 party goods, $85 for ONE contact lens!, $3 fabric, $52 gas, $16 lunch, $20 birthday gifts for DS8, $24 Target, $30 BJ's, $4 laundry soap (*whispering* and I might order myself an iPad tonight to replace my work computer which I have to turn in next month. First I have to get over the extravagance of it.)
5/22: $44 garden store, $70 groceries
5/23: take out, $783 Apple store
5/24: $20 ice cream cake for DS
5/25:
5/26: $11 party supplies
5/27:
5/28: $60 gas, $30 plants, $70 party supplies (for work), $20 clothes for the boys, $8 Pepperidge Farm outlet, ? boys' haircuts, ? BJ's and ? Lowe's (DH was in charge of those while I had a plant shopping afternoon with a friend)
5/29: $50 shorts and pjs for DS9 (NOTHING from last summer fit when we tried on shorts and pjs today!! ) and ? groceries as I forgot to buy lettuce and tomatoes for tonight's cookout and DH is at the store right now (how on earth did I forget those?!?)

no buy days: 11/10
longest no buy streak: 3 days
dinners out: 4/5
days since our last dinner out: 6
longest no meals out streak: 10

 

[annsteere]

Well, for the first time in a really long time I am over budget, but I have a good excuse.

We went to the Premium Outlets yesterday, and I went into the Saks Fifth Avenue outlet. I found the perfect Mother of the Bride dress. It was orginally $510, marked down to $189, with another 20% off. I put it on and DH, who doesnt care much about clothes, was floored. I'll post a picture after the wedding, but it's fabulous and hides all the little things I want to hide. He loved it and so did I. So, I am over for the month.

Hooray for you! At least for me, part of the reason to discipline spending is so there is money available for this kind of purchase. And, while it does not appear in your May budget, you knew you were going to spend something on this sometime. Sounds like you got a GREAT buy. Enjoy (and, post a picture later).

 

[charming23]

Today starts my June Budget.

I went out and got gas and some groceries. I got mostly snack items and things I had coupons for.

June 2011 Budget
Groceries/Household- $300/$263.07 Left
Cat Supplies- $30/$22.24 left
Car/Gas- $70/$40.22 left
Eating Out- $50
Entertainment/Misc- $100

Total- $550/$475.53 left

Goal of 14 No Buy Days

Week One
5/29- $36.93 Grocery, $7.76 Cat Supplies, and $29.78 Gas
5/30
5/31
6/1
6/2
6/3
6/4

0/14 No Buy Days

Store and Coupon Savings- $27.79

 

[Virgderon]

Thanks Annsteere,Debbie, wlake and ronmel for lessening my guilt about going over budget! I was not really planning on buying the MOB dress this month, but the wedding is in August and the dress is something you need to buy when you see it.

I did not charge it, and my "budget" is much lower than what I actually made this month as I worked quite a bit of overtime. I used $948 as my budget because that is how much I spent last year in May, and I was trying to beat it. I'm more than okay that I didn't, but I do need to think about a June, July and August budget that includes the wedding.

I'll probably have seperate "wedding budget" in addition to my normal budget.

Running Total: Spent $1034
$948 budget... $86 over
$0 Days: 9
Goal is 9 or more!
coupon/sale savings : 71

Groceries budget- $250 -18-28-39-78-26-24-13= 24 left

May 1 : 76 (Mothers day gift , card & misc.)
May 2 : 0
May 3 : 18 ( groceries, misc)
May 4: 0
May 5: 0
May 6 : 28
May 7: 37 ( garage sale finds)
May 8: 55 ( movie, groceries)
May 9: 8 (Walgreens)
May 10: 0
May 11: 0
May 12 : 29 ( red robin dinner, magazine)
May 13: 21 ( Wendys and food at the game)
May 14 : 54 (21 lunch, 21 bathing suit, 12 soap)
May 15: 124 (20 gas, 26 spa, 78 groceries)
May 16: 0
May 17: 26 ( frozen pizza. pop and a couple misc things)
May 18: 0
May 19: 0
May 20 : 43 (19 Walgreens, 24 Cracker Barrell)
May 21 : 40 (20 parking at hockey game, 20 food at hockey game)
May 22 : 89 (15 tip, 24 groceries, 50 bd gift)
May 23: 0
May 24; 74 ( 20 Walgreens, 54 Allure box)
May 25 : 8 ( lunch and snacks at work)
May 26: 46 (37 gas station, 9 groceries)
May 27: 20 (8 food at mall, 12 Old navy)
May 28: 210 ( 19 lunch out, 13 pop at gas station, 162 MOB dress, 16 shipping at post office)
May 29 46 (18 lunch at zoo, 28 chinese food - we will eat it for 2 or 3 days, so not too bad)

 

[ronnmel]

Can hardly wait to see those pics, Virgderon! Did we ever see pics, ronmel, of your wedding dress? If so, I missed those.

I had posted a picture a while ago, in this post:
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=41110004&postcount=156

But you can find much more pictures in these posts of my PTR:
Getting Ready
Ceremony (part 1)
Ceremony (part 2)

Maybe you guys could answer the question I asked at the end of my last update:

What were we (the newlyweds) doing 2 hours after the wedding ceremony?

No Buy Days : 7/9
Gas : 61$ (max 120$)
Car : 520$ (oil change + oil leak)
Groceries : 161$ (max 200$)
Eating out (and snacks) : 106$ (max 100$)
Non-necessities : 190$ (max 200$)

05/08 : 44$ (dinner + flowers)
05/09 : 5$ (parking)
05/10 : 0$
05/11 : 78$
05/12 : 172$ (oil change & other small fixes, books)
05/13 : 150$ (fixing oil leak)
05/14 : 0$
05/15 : 38$ (groceries)
05/16 : 0$
05/17 : 17$ (dinner)
05/18 : 0$
05/19 : 77$ (donation + fixing oil leak, again)
05/20 : 22$ (lunch + dinner)
05/21 : 0$
05/22 : 64$ (books, movie, DeSerres)
05/23 : 0$
05/24 : 20$ (thank you cards)
05/25 : 71$ (dinner + gas)
05/26 : 151$ (car repairs + bus)
05/27 : 0$
05/28 : 73$ (groceries)
05/29 : 56$ (gas + groceries)