No Buy April- come join us!

[QVCshopper]

I
4/4 $13 Mighty Beans (toys)
QUOTE]

Too funny! I was at a park today with my kids, and these other kids had Mighty Beans, and we had never seen them before. We're not sure what they do; I think my no-buy month has placed me in a situation where I don't know what things are... but that's OK. That, and only watching Disney Channel and PBS Kids.

 

[QVCshopper]

Pacing myself this month... 6 days so far, and 3 no-buys. We need food though, so tomorrow I will spend some. Oh, and I'm looking for money again.

No-buys: 3/15

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-
4/8-
4/9-
4/10-
4/11-
4/12-
4/13-
4/14-
4/15-

 

[wdwfan16]

4/1 - $0
4/4 - $0
4/6 - $0
4/7 - $0

 

[VirataMama4]

I'm posting early because I'm not feeling well so I know today will be a $0 day!

4/7-$0

2/10- $0 days

 

[thebigkahuna]

04-01 No Spend Day! (ok ok, I paid bills, but those dont count!) it was driving past McDonalds that was difficult ~

04-02 No Spend!

04-03 No Spend! OH! I found .36 cents! so +.36 !

04-04 $46.01 Gas. Apparently, I drove further than I thought, because Saturday night my gas light came on! So although gas is a "in the budget" item, this purchase was not. BUT! I filled up & shouldn't have to worry about it 'till Friday when I will top the tank off.

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.)


GOAL: THREE!! of 10 NO $PEND DAYS

DISNEY BUCKET MONEY: $0.00 (one more & I can add to the bucket!)

 

[wdwfan16]

DISNEY BUCKET MONEY: $0.00 (one more & I can add to the bucket!)

I have four no spend days. Please deposit $20 into my DISNEY BUCKET. TIA

 

[rainyday77]

I'm a newbie and love this forum. I think I will steal the disney bucket idea. Love that.

What do people usually spend a month on groceries? We have a 4 year old and a baby and usually spend 500 = 550 a month in groceries. I don't use coupons but spend at a local discount grocery store and buy most items on sale. We rarely buy meat as we have a freezer full of venison. However, $500 still seems like a lot!

 

[Ava]

4/1 - $14.93 cat food/litter
4/2 - $9.86 lunch, $5.00 tip for Red Cap, $27.93 DD Easter/Birthday gifts (ordered back in March but just charged to card now so I guess it has to count for April!)
4/3 - $0!
4/4 - $0!
4/5 - $24.00 laundry
4/6 - $8.20 post office, $18.23 grocery, $3.29 milk

Tonight I need to finish my grocery shopping, as long as the elevator is fixed in my building!

 

[CherylA]

I'm a newbie and love this forum. I think I will steal the disney bucket idea. Love that.

What do people usually spend a month on groceries? We have a 4 year old and a baby and usually spend 500 = 550 a month in groceries. I don't use coupons but spend at a local discount grocery store and buy most items on sale. We rarely buy meat as we have a freezer full of venison. However, $500 still seems like a lot!

Sounds right on par with what I pay. It helps that you have the Venison. I use coupons and shop sales, plenty of room to stockpile and I have an extra freezer so I buy meats when they are super cheap. Still I spend about 550/mo. Last month I tried to make it on $400, I ate every piece of meat that I had in the freezer and we still went over by about $80. So I know for a fact I can not do it for under $500 and still eat the way I feel we need to. Lots of fruits and veggies (which I buy mostly at a discount produce store) small serving of meat every night with dinner, leftovers or salads for lunches (I never buy cold cuts) I pack lunches for/feed my kids lunch every day and we typically have a slice of toast and a glass of milk for breakfast. I don't buy many ready made snacks but I do buy plenty of baking supplies. Feeding a family of 4 is not cheap! I think to some extent it depends where you live too.

 

[hmack]

Last month - I spend $645 on groceries. I was really surprised by this number - I would have guessed that I spend $500 at the most. Surprise ! (and not in a good way). I should say that groceries, for me, include health/beauty stuff and cleaning stuff. This month, I'm trying to cut back. I'm hoping that by doing a better job of planning my menu and doing my "big" shopping every two weeks instead of every week will keep me organized.

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

goal - 11. 9 left to conquer!


I feel good heading into this month. My first month was such an eye-opener.

 

[CherylA]

Grocery $570
(paid $150 for my CSA share, thats half the total cost, that runs June-Oct not sure how I want to divy it up among the months, maybe $75 each month until the $300 is accounted for- I'm not counting it right now, we'll see how the month goes)
- 50.00 Trader joes 4/1
-15.00 CVS 4/1
-3.70 xtra mart eggs 4/1
-45.88 Stop and Shop 4/1
-30.15 M&M farms 4/1
-4.70 ALDI 4/1
-14.50 S&S 4/1
-7.22 Shop Rite 4/2
-4.79 S&S 4/3
-8.03 M&M farms 4/5
-3.66 S&S 4/7
-10.00 meat market 4/7
=387.37

Clothing $100
-31.14 Target kids ts and leggings 7/2
= 68.86

House Upkeep $75
-53.76 home depot paint 4/3
=21.24

Misc Spending $200
-25.00 mobility car assistance for MIL 4/6
=175.00

Gifts $40
-6 Easter flowers 4/3
-3 Easter flowers 4/3
=31.00

Entertainment $250
-21.00 Starbucks 4/1
-7.09 Panera lunch 4/1
=221.91

$905.38 remaining of $1235.00 total budget
2/7 no buy days (4/4, 4/6)exception: no tracking April 15-22 Vacation

 

[thebigkahuna]

I have four no spend days. Please deposit $20 into my DISNEY BUCKET. TIA

LOL!!!! So THATS how to get extra funds for Disney!!

 

[QVCshopper]

I'm a newbie and love this forum. I think I will steal the disney bucket idea. Love that.

What do people usually spend a month on groceries? We have a 4 year old and a baby and usually spend 500 = 550 a month in groceries. I don't use coupons but spend at a local discount grocery store and buy most items on sale. We rarely buy meat as we have a freezer full of venison. However, $500 still seems like a lot!

For my family of 4 (DD5 and DS4), we spent about $300 last month on groceries; and about $100 eating out. I kept track through the no-buy, and I was really trying to cut down. This was less than usual for us, but I was surprised by how low it was. I think cutting OUT my big weekly shopping trip is what helped the most. Think smaller trips, less stockpile, use up what you have.

I eat oatmeal and soup for lunch a lot, but I actually like that, and would even without thinking about money. Usually, I strive for $100/week, but I can go less than that when I pick up the sell-today meat (.99 for 1.3 lbs of ground turkey, or .99/lb of boneless skinless Purdue chicken). [the faces are from my DD--LOL!]

 

[DisneyCrafter]

I'm a newbie and love this forum. I think I will steal the disney bucket idea. Love that.

What do people usually spend a month on groceries? We have a 4 year old and a baby and usually spend 500 = 550 a month in groceries. I don't use coupons but spend at a local discount grocery store and buy most items on sale. We rarely buy meat as we have a freezer full of venison. However, $500 still seems like a lot!

It is just DH and I and we spend about $160 a month on groceries and other household necessities. I shop at 3 local grocery stores. One of which has fantastic produce prices (for example they have apples on sale this week for .49 a lb. and strawberries for .99 a lb. (last week it was .69 a lb.). I go to the Dollar Tree and Target as well. We used to spend $400 a month. We haven't sacrificied our food quality or variance in meals either. I also love to bake and bake at least once a week, so those materials are included in our budget as well. We don't have any children, just a cat. It seems like from what I've been reading about people's grocery budgets the East coast prices seem higher. We are in the suburbs of Chicago so our costs are not as high as the city prices. With a baby added into the mix I would guess it would go up another $100 or so between formula/diapers/baby food, etc. Add another child into there and I would say $50. But that's for the prices around me. I also only buy meat when it's on sale and base my meals around that. We always keep at least 3 different fruits and fresh veggies on hand at all time.

 

[wdwfan16]

LOL!!!! So THATS how to get extra funds for Disney!!

That is my plan. Now all you Aprilers time to send me my $20s.

 

[SunnieRN]

I have four no spend days. Please deposit $20 into my DISNEY BUCKET. TIA

Fantastic and congratulations!! I hope you don't mind, but I am going to copy your idea!

A little background. I have tried to form a budget that includes bills, medications (I have several health problems) and groceries. I am listing anything other than these items on my budget. I am keeping track of my grocery budget also. So, I allow $400 for groceries monthly and $400 for medications. My adult daughter, son in law and grandchildren live with me also and contribute to the grocery fund.

My month so far:

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

$0 days 3 out of 10!

 

[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-
4/9-
4/10-
4/11-
4/12-
4/13-
4/14-
4/15-

*Goals for the month of April*

4/20-No buy days
0/80-Eating Out and Entertainment
11.06/63.94-Non-Necessity
81.15 spent/ 88.80 left-Groceries(first month with REAL couponing, wish me luck)
-Spent for Gas
-Spent for Other
125.30+ in Coupon Savings

 

[charming23]

Groceries/Household- $250/ $205.00 left
Gas/Car- $50
Entertainment/Eating Out- $75/ $50.23 Left
Misc/Emergency- $75/ $51

Total- $450/ $356.23 Left

5/15 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

 

[PeytonSdiz]

I'm a newbie and love this forum. I think I will steal the disney bucket idea. Love that.

What do people usually spend a month on groceries? We have a 4 year old and a baby and usually spend 500 = 550 a month in groceries. I don't use coupons but spend at a local discount grocery store and buy most items on sale. We rarely buy meat as we have a freezer full of venison. However, $500 still seems like a lot!

Does that include things like shampoo, soaps, etc.? What about paper products like TP and paper towels? Cleaning stuff?

We're just two adults and we pay anywhere from $300-$400 a month JUST on food. (We buy soaps,paper products, etc. at Costco and cleaning supplies at Walmart or Target.) However, the only expensive food items are the meats (chicken breasts, ground beef, roast, etc.)

So to me, $500 for a whole family seems like very little!

 

[lougoofy]

2/06/10: $3.75 laundry, $1.48 cofffee (hardee's), $1.50 bus fare, $4.08 iced latte, $6.28 groceries (Kroger's) and $5.50 drinks

4/07/10: $.94 White Castle cappucino, $3.12 Dollar Tree and $3.65 Kroger's (groceries)