No Buy April- come join us!

[Tiggerish]

The budget is $700 and 10 no spend days.

Automobile $75 / $45 left
Eating Out/Entertainment $75 / $44 left
Giving $120 / $80 left
Groceries/Household Goods $250 / $156 left
Medical $15
Misc. $165 / $87 left

No Spend Days Achieved = 4
Coupon Savings $17.70

-----------------------------------------------------
4/1 Groceries $8
4/2 Eating out $19
4/3 Groceries $9; Misc. $21 for printer ink
4/4 Giving $20 (church); Groceries $24
4/5 Groceries $15
4/6 Groceries $2; Eating out $7.
4/7 $0
4/8 Groceries $2; Eating out $4
4/9 $0
4/10 Groceries $34; Gas $30
4/11 Giving $20 (church collection); Misc. $28 for a new disney guide book
4/12 $0
4/13/$0
4/14 Misc. $10 (am paying this each month to my sister so my niece can have a data plan on her cell phone thru our family plan. She is in college.)

 

[bas71873]

I seem to be on a spending roll, instead of a saving one.

Me too . Maybe we should ditch this club and start a "See how much you can spend this month" club!

 

[charming23]

Groceries/Household- $250/ $145.71 left
Gas/Car- $50/ $29.31
Entertainment/Eating Out- $75/ $50.23 Left
Misc/Emergency- $75/ $51

Total- $450/ $276.25 Left

9/15 No Buy Days

4/1- $45.00 Groceries
4/2- $0
4/3- $24.77 Dinner Out and $24 Office Max
4/4- $0
4/5- $0
4/6- $0
4/7- $0
4/8- $39.80 Marc's (Groceries)
4/9- $0
4/10- $0
4/11- $0
4/12- $20.69 Gas and $7.03 Deli (Lunchmeat)
4/13- $13.46 Groceries from save-a-lot
4/14- $0

 

[VirataMama4]

4/1- $62- Yearly fees for DH and DS
4/2- $70- Walmart (weed eater & extras)
4/3- $105- Groceries, $20 Toys R Us- board games
4/4- $0
4/5- $24- BK
4/6- $63- Groceries
4/7- $0
4/8- $52- (pull-ups, jeans for me, shampoo & conditioner, travel items for DH), $30 Taekwondo fee
4/9- $0
4/10- $0
4/11- $40- Gas for DH, $24- Hair cuts for DS and DH, $11-Taco Bell for DH (traveling)
4/12- $19- Groceries for DH (work travel), $6- Mcdonald's for DH
4/13- $0
4/14- $128- Groceries, $35- Underclothes, Mother's day cards and B-day card, $28- School sweatshirt for DD


Groceries $450-315 = $135
Necessities $150-82.50= $67.50
Eating out $50-41= $9
Extras = $156.50

5/10- $0 days Half way there!

Our eating out budget will be blown this month since DH is traveling this week and the last week of April and we're taking DD11 to NYC the day for her B-day! My grocery budget of $450 was a cut back of about $50, with DH traveling, my mom and DD4 coming, I'm thinking that this will be worthless too! Good thing this is my trial month on the No Buy Thread... Otherwise I might throw in the towel on the whole budget thing.

 

[Jennia]

late to the game, but better now than never, right?

April 14: $25, two Janie and Jack sale pieces (shirt and pants)

 

[thebigkahuna]

04-01 No Spend Day!
04-02 No Spend!
04-03 No Spend! OH! I found .36 cents! so +.36 !
04-04 $46.01 Gas. (unbudgeted)
04-05 -$2.54 bread & two chocolates that were 50% off!
04-06 - $15.86 Target - groceries. (Note to self: STOP shopping without a list. Thank you.)
04-07 - $2.44 Dunkin' Donuts. Bad day = a bagel "pickmeup"
04-08 - NO SPEND!
04-09 -$7.00 breakfast, $8.00 co-workers breakfast. $15.98 Sephora, $17.57 Jewelry Kiosk in the mall. Wow. I lost a bit of my grip today ~Tomorrow is another day! (hopefully a NO SPEND DAY!)
04-10 - NO $PEND!
04-11 - NO $PEND! and I stayed in my grocery budget! Shopped wisely & came home with change!!
04-12 - PLUS $57.60 (sold some old jewelry) minus $15.14 (lunch) Profit = $42.46
Not a zero spend day, but I'm still ahead of the game!
04-13 - NO $PEND!
04-14 - $37.09 Target. Didn't really want to spend, but someone at work mentioned that their h/d had crashed, and they lost everything. So on the way home, I stopped into Target & picked up an 8GB flash drive. Just put all my pictures on it. I cant imagine how distraught I would be if I lost all of the pictures of our 1st trip to Disney.

GOAL: 10 NO $PEND DAYS
# OF NO $PENDS: 7

DISNEY BUCKET MONEY: $20.00 (I'm one day away from adding to the Disney Bucket!!!!!

 

[MommyBell08]

4/1-81.15 for groceries at Kroger, Meijer and Target
4/2-0
4/3-0
4/4-0
4/5-6.04 groceries and personal items at Kmart(double coupons up to $2)
4/6-0
4/7-54.01 for groceries and 11.06 for Target
4/8-87.96 crocs.com...AHHH I did get 5 pairs though Time to buckle down I need 6 more by the 15th. Wow my goal sux. I can do it?
4/9-0
4/10-0
4/11-0
4/12-10.31 Malys
4/13-0
4/14-63.90 year membership renewal at Toledo Zoo!
4/15-

*Goals for the month of April*

8/20 goal-No buy days
63.90/16.10-Eating Out and Entertainment
-35.08/0-Non-Necessity
81.15 spent/ 88.80 left-Groceries(first month with REAL couponing, wish me luck)
96.15-Spent for Gas
10.31-Spent for Other

 

[cherry-pops]

GOAL: 10 NO $PEND DAYS
# OF NO $PENDS: 7

DISNEY BUCKET MONEY: $20.00 (I'm one day away from adding to the Disney Bucket!!!!!

I love your Disney Bucket idea - so cute! A great way of still saving for that vacation!

 

[ronnmel]

4/1 don't remember
4/2 don't remember
4/3 55$ (dinner + bachelorette gift)
4/4 0$
4/5 0$
4/6 30$ (gas + dinner)
4/7 23$ (breakfast + groceries)
4/8 0$
4/9 52$ (groceries + lunch)
4/10 0$
4/11 10$ (ice cream)
4/12 50$ (groceries)
4/13 5$ (fast food)
4/14 0$

No buy days goal: 5/10

 

[QVCshopper]

I think I'm starting to spend more consciously. Hoping for another no-buy tomorrow, but then I must spend b/c we need some food.

No-buys: 7/15

4/1-$0
4/2-$10 gift for nephew; $3.20 candy
4/3-$40 Wegmans (food)
4/4-$0
4/5-$17.09 Target (after Easter, snacks); found .60
4/6-$0; found .25
4/7-$51 Wegmans/Redners (food); $5.61 BK (lunch); found .25
4/8-$0
4/9-$22.70 Target (Easter, snacks), $10.15 Wegmans (food), $2.40 Sears (clothes), found .25
4/10-$10 ice cream, $16.43 Chinese food, $6.88 Genuardis (food), found .02
4/11-$0
4/12-$20 Wegmans (prescriptions and food)
4/13-$0
4/14-$0
4/15-

 

[SunnieRN]

4/1 Pd bills only $0
4/2 $30 Pizza, family over
4/3 $67.20 Groceries
4/4 $0
4/5 $18.50 Clutch for gift
4/6 $25.16 Daughters birthday lunch
4/7 $0
4/8 $0
4/9 $0
4/10 $0
4/11: $0
4/12: $6.40, breakfast for 4
4/13: $0
4/14: $0

$0 days 9 out of 13!

Payday is coming Friday, so hopefully tomorrow and Friday will be $0 also, since I am working....Saturday, we have grocery shopping to do. Have been trying to "shop the pantry and freezer, but we need some basics this weekend.

 

[A.Mickey]

Running Total: Spent $266
$600...$334 left
$0 Days:6
Goal is 15 or more!

Groceries- $250...$135 left
Eating Out- $150...$42 left
Misc. (Shopping/Entertainment) $200...$157 left
I always round up to the nearest dollar.

1- $34 (Shopping-Target). My son's 3rd birthday is tomorrow-picked up a Disney Preschool computer software, diapers, wrapping paper and a few toys.
2- 0
3- $18 (Eating Out- Chipotle), $6 (Groceries-Walgreens), $2 (Shopping-Dollar Tree), $13 (Groceries- Jewel)
4- 0
5- 0
6- 0
7- $2 (Eating Out- Wendy's), $5 (Groceries- Jewel), $1 (Groceries- Walgreens)
8- $2 (Groceries- Walgreens), $9 (Groceries- Jewel)
9- $19 (Groceries- Walgreens), $4 (Groceries- CVS)
10- $25 (Eating Out- Museum), $21 (Eating Out- Ice Cream Museum), $2 (Groceries- Target)
11- $13 (Eating Out- Subway), $20 (Eating Out- Bakery), $7 (Shopping-Dollar Tree)
12- 0
13- $9 (Eating Out- McDonald's), $8 (Groceries- Jewel), $42 (Groceries-Dominick's), $4 (Groceries- Walgreens)
14- 0


$0 Days: 6: 40%
$600 Limit: $266: 44%
Month: 14/30: 47%

My savings from coupons and sales: $466.83
Year to Date Total from Coupons and sales: $2978.66
Year to Date Spent: $2449

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

April 1- School Fundaiser Night at Chuck E Cheese $19.06
New Moon DVD, socks for Easter Baskets and popcorn for resale at Walmart $20.36 ($5.40 for the popcorn.)
Total- $39.42 paid out
April 2- $0 ~~~I am counting this as a $0 spend day because all I spent on was taking my DD8 to the eye doctor ($60 copay) and because her eye is not getting better they had to patch it, so $12 for a patch. This to me is the same as a morgage, insurance and all that. It is a necessity. So while I am writing it down for my benefit to know where the money went, I am calling today a no spend day. Total- $72.96 It was a day off from school so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to do something with them, but we played outside (it was 86 today) and made peanut butter playdough (like at Coral Reef.)
April 3- Busy Day but financially not too bad. We did 3 eggs hunts (town, Adventure Landing and Girl Scouts) and 2 free crafts (Michael's and Home Depot) and played at the park.
$5 Donation to Make a Wish
$1.50 for a mid day slush for the kids (it was 88 degrees in upstate NY!)
$10 gas
$19.38 pizza for dinner
$1.08 New Moon DVD(second copy, this one is for charity.)
$4.50 New Disney Family Stickers for the van, mine are beyond peeling. This is not a necessity, I know, but I bought them anyway. I got them off eBay for a lot less then the ones I bought in Disney.
Total- $41.46
April 4-
Walmart (razors and medicine) $18
Easter Dinner Out (with coupons) $24
Ice Cream for Dessert $3
Groceries $99
Total- $144
April 5- $0
April 6-
$61.95 Produce and meat (shopping on Easter night, these dept. were lacking)
$109 dance tuition
$11 Recital Trophies
$15 gas
Total- $196.95
April 7- $0
April 8- $0 Day 4, so how do we get that $20, Paypal???
April 9- $0
April 10-
Gas- $48.68
Best Buy (DH's B-day gifts)-$124.18
Target(spring clothes)-$117.23
Lunch for the kids- $3.24
Target (spring clothes)- $38.56
Target (spring clothes)- $26.29
Little Cesears (dinner)- $13.98
Lowes (new grill and cover)- $194.95
Ulta (my makeup)-$27.00
Total-$594.11
April11-
Longhorn Steakhouse (DH's b-day lunch)- $38.37
Bed, Bath, Beyond (Mother's Day gifts on clearance, Keurig Mini for travel for DH and a big box of Keurig cups)- $76.10
Marshalls' (clothes for me)- $20.79
Wegman's (groceries)- $28.57
Total-$163.83
April 12-
$60-X-Ray copay DD (Hand not broken! )
$15.98- 10 pair of Mudd Sunglasses (couldn't resist)
Total- $75.98
April 13-
$15.69- Dinner Date with hubby
$103.30- Wegman's Groceries
Total- $118.99
April 14- $14 DD8's ssoftball uniform came in. UGGG, and it was finally going to be a $0 day. This has been a bad month for me.

Total No Buy Days--- 5

Total Spent- $1690.51

 

[thebigkahuna]

I love your Disney Bucket idea - so cute! A great way of still saving for that vacation!

thanks! for every 4 no spend days, $20.00 goes into the bucket
it's extra incentive to NOT SPEND!!!
(and I need all the help i can get!!)

 

[wdwfan16]

4/1 - $0
4/4 - $0
4/6 - $0
4/7 - $0
4/8 - $0
4/11 - $0
4/13 - $0
4/14 - $0
4/15 - $0

 

[Tinkerbelle9980]

4/1- $0
4/2- $135 ($29 for gas, $27 for dinner, $79 for walmart stuff)
4/3- $0
4/4- $30 (replacement pair of work pants for my husband at Kohl's)
4/5- $14 (repair tire that had a screw in it)
4/6- $0
4/7- $0
4/8- $40 (walmart and food)
4/9- $11 (Burger King after Clash Of The Titans, used gift card for movies)
4/10- $32 (BWW with friends)
4/11- $33 (oil and oil filter to change oil in the car)
4/12- $0
4/13- $0
4/14- $0

7/15 no buy days

 

[casper_jj11]

Hi everyone

I gave up on March when we booked a trip to Mexico. The actual trip aside, I had so many things to buy for it that there was no point in even trying to keep to budget. I did try to get the best prices possible and have some things that we never used with tags still on that I plan to return.

Just before we left, dd was released from the outpatient oncology clinic. Her doctor actual said that there was more danger for her in the playground or in a car than the cancer returning. We arrived home to a voice message from the oncology nurse that there's a problem with her last test. The same thing happened in the fall but they rechecked and said it was a lab error. They're retesting next week but aren't saying lab error anymore. I suspect its back and the lab error was actually the recheck in the fall and not the original test. We've been on a roller coaster this week but I"m starting to get back on track and we're working on finding another lab to get the test run again just to double check the results. Anyway, I am going to try and stick to a budget for this month because after last month, we need to get back on track. I'm not, however, going to be as careful with the groceries. For a year now, we've been on a 'if you don't need it, I don't buy it' grocery list. Some of the kids fav things (which isn't actually junky but convenience foods like individual fruit cups and cheese strings for example) have been off the list in favour of less expensive items. My view is right now very different. If something as little as a fruit cup makes dd and her brothers happy, they she's going to have it. And I'm not going to wait for a sale.

Anyway, here's the budget

groceries $700 $531 left
gas $500
cat food $90
hockey registration $500 $0 left
gymnastics registration $318 $0 left
boys haircuts $36
summer shoes for kids $350
my spending $150
DH spending $150
family pics $200
summer clothes for kids $160 $0 left

Total: $3154 $2007 left

Apr 12: groceries $160; gymnastics registration $318
Apr 13: summer clothes $160; groceries $9
Apr 14: hockey registration $500
Apr 15: need to get a few more groceries and cat food and gas ...

 

[wdwfan16]

Hi everyone

I gave up on March when we booked a trip to Mexico. The actual trip aside, I had so many things to buy for it that there was no point in even trying to keep to budget. I did try to get the best prices possible and have some things that we never used with tags still on that I plan to return.

Just before we left, dd was released from the outpatient oncology clinic. Her doctor actual said that there was more danger for her in the playground or in a car than the cancer returning. We arrived home to a voice message from the oncology nurse that there's a problem with her last test. The same thing happened in the fall but they rechecked and said it was a lab error. They're retesting next week but aren't saying lab error anymore. I suspect its back and the lab error was actually the recheck in the fall and not the original test. We've been on a roller coaster this week but I"m starting to get back on track and we're working on finding another lab to get the test run again just to double check the results. Anyway, I am going to try and stick to a budget for this month because after last month, we need to get back on track. I'm not, however, going to be as careful with the groceries. For a year now, we've been on a 'if you don't need it, I don't buy it' grocery list. Some of the kids fav things (which isn't actually junky but convenience foods like individual fruit cups and cheese strings for example) have been off the list in favour of less expensive items. My view is right now very different. If something as little as a fruit cup makes dd and her brothers happy, they she's going to have it. And I'm not going to wait for a sale.

Anyway, here's the budget

groceries $700 $531 left
gas $500
cat food $90
hockey registration $500 $0 left
gymnastics registration $318 $0 left
boys haircuts $36
summer shoes for kids $350
my spending $150
DH spending $150
family pics $200
summer clothes for kids $160 $0 left

Total: $3154 $2007 left

Apr 12: groceries $160; gymnastics registration $318
Apr 13: summer clothes $160; groceries $9
Apr 14: hockey registration $500
Apr 15: need to get a few more groceries and cat food and gas ...

I hope it again is a lab error. I also agree that some little fun treats are needed at this time. Good luck.

 

[hmack]

04/01 - ZERO SPEND DAY
04/02 - Easter gifts - $22
04/03 - lunch out - $17, clothes - $57, easter gifts - $10, gas - 40, groceries, $153
04/04 - ZERO SPEND DAY
04/05 - ZERO SPEND DAY
04/06 - ZERO SPEND DAY
04/07 - gas $40, groceries - $16
04/08 -
04/09 - ZERO SPEND DAY
04/10 - groceries - $79.37
04/11 - lunch out - $42, Borders (book & cd) $18
04/12 - pizza out - $11
04/13 - gas $40, groceries $7
04/14 - ZERO SPEND DAY

6 no spend days/5 to go.

I think that tonight will be a "you can eat it, if you can find it" sort of night. You've got to ahve those every now and then, right?

So hopefully it will be another zero spend day.

 

[DisneyCrafter]

Groceries/Necessities: $31.57, $8.58, $16.48, $5.75, $24.92, $7.98

Gas: $130

"Extras": $42.12, $32.70, $2.10, $49.73 x 2, $15, $22.34, $38.49, $59.41, $118.26, $114.63, $26.99, $119.96

New "Extras": $7.67 (Target-I picked up some new pens, 2 notebooks, and some "PipSqueak" markers as I was told they may fit into my cricut, which they don't so I'm hoping to return them even if it is only $4.00), $13.61 (Trip to Michaels to get glue pen for future DSIL and also picked up some ribbon and a scrapbook organizer.)

Medical: $30.00 (Prescription Refill-Darn Allergies!), $25.00 (Copay at DR.)

My wisdom teeth are bothering me again so I finally bit the bullet and made the appt. with an oral surgeon to get them removed. The consultation appt. alone is costing me $115.00, but it's my health so there's nothing I can do about it.

$0 Days= 7 (4/1, 4/2, 4/5, 4/7, 4/8, 4/12, 4/13)