No Buy January 2010

[kinntj]

1/1 - $0
1/2 - $0

 

[neatokimmo]

Today will be a zero day.

I'm spending the day cooking that stupid 40 cent a pound turkey I bought. If you look at your oven and wonder if the bird will fit, the answer is NOT probably but PROBABLY NOT! I had to take it out halfway through and hack it up to continue cooking it. And I don't want to talk about the grease in the oven, floor, counter tops. Sheez, not a bargain at all! (but I do have 1.5 gallons of premium stock, 3 gallons of regular stock, 6 meals of shredded breast meat, a couple of pounds of turkey salad, 2 leg quarters to do something with and a ton of bits and parts I'll chop up for the cats)


Jan 2 - ZERO
Jan 1 - 11.75

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

1/2: $45 spent on pantry stock-up and a few health/beauty needs, $46 on meat at Sam's Club

Grocery/gen. household budget for January - $499/$600 left

 

[smiller]

Great idea, Dawn. I had forgotten about the envelope thing. We did Dave Ramsey's course earlier this year and never got around to going cash-only. I think I'll adopt this method for my budget, leaving only my bill money in the bank account. Hopefully that will help me curb my unnecessary spending!

I go on a cash only basis - and I love it and highly recommend it! I started out with the envelope system (actually used a coupon organizer with my own labels) but then I figured out lumping all the money together worked best for you. You'll get to the right system for you!

Spent $11.75 on dinner tonight. We are going out to eat once a month. I guess doing on the very first of the month wasn't the smartest thing to do

I was sooo tempted to order pizza or something yesterday but restrained myself - I seemed to have gone on an eating out binge the last few days of 2009. I love eating out!

As for my January budget - regular bills and gas aren't included, just expenses I can control like groceries, going out, eating out, gifts, household, toiletries, etc. I REALLY need to get to the cobbler's this month, too.

I went over a little on Christmas and December No Buy, so I'm subtracting that from my regular January Budget. DSis is giving birth on 1/21 so I only really need to make my money last until then - I'll be staying at her house for several weeks to care for her and her family.

DMom has a birthday, DSis &DBiL have their anniversary, and I have membership dues for one organization. I do need to buy a bunch of dairy products and get some shoes fixed, but those are my only real spending goals for the month.

1/1 - $0

$0/$202.78

 

[tinkryansmom]

Ok I'm in!! Working on finding the budget numbers - also reading Dave's Total Money Makeover. We don't really have any debt other than a car payment and the TONS of money we spend each month. Just not saving enough and getting ready to build a house so gotta get tougher.

Extras for the month - nieces birthday $20, DD skiing through school $125, Already purchased other birthday gifts but need a few cards $25?

I am going to try putting $600 into my debit card acct - this is not where we put any other money. And track it with a notebook - and see how far we get. Will do this each pay period for total of $1200.

Gas is hard as we live on a ranch - 30 minutes really to anywhere - 15 miles just to post office - so if we need gas we fill up - so about $500/month
Groceries $500?
Ent/Misc - really needs to be kaboshed. maybe GCs from Xmas will help
Clothes - minimal thanks to Xmas

Aiming for 10 $0 days!

1/1 $0 - it does help everything is closed and internet was down
1/2 $0 - its foggy and I have decided I am not going to town today

 

[Debbie]

I'm back in, too.

I have discussed with DH the importance of keeping spending under check, but with two adult sons back for the time being, groceries just went UP.

My plan is to track groceries (including cat food/litter, household cleaners etc), gas and misc (eating out, clothes etc). I'm not tracking the gift money that my Mom gave us. We are debating how to spend it: new computer? treadmill? paint the main floor? carpeting? tv for bedroom? dvd player? and the list goes on. When we do decide, I won't count it.

I'm going to start with a budget of $800. We'll see. I'm aiming for 10 $0 days, too.

Budget: 703/800 left
$0 days: 1/10

Jan 1: $0
Jan 2: $49 groceries $48 gas and windshield washer fluid

 

[KibbyCat]

Frustrating:

 

[neatokimmo]

Do you work too? Maybe he'll be open to packing a lunch if you pack one too. Figure out the savings then decide what the two of you will spend the excess on.

I know the guys in my life are very visual, like if they know the money is going towards a big tv or something, they are good to go.

I'm visual too, I have my goal taped on the wall above my monitor. It keeps me out of etsy and hyenacart! lol

Frustrating:

How do I stick to MY budget if my husband eats out every day for work but does NOT bring me receipts? He uses a work debit card, and it's delayed by a few days, so even if I go to my bank's website, his charges for today will not be on there until Monday.

We've discussed using the "eating out" money to buy restaurant gift cards at the beginning of the month so that he can just buy his lunch with the gift card instead of the debit (because he refuses to carry an envelope full of cash with him to work), but we share a vehicle and I have not been able to get out to purchase the cards yet.

I may do the same with my grocery money so that I won't be able to overspend.

 

[KibbyCat]

I ALWAYS bring my lunch.

 

[Tiggerish]

Budget for the month is $300 because I had to pay my quarterly car and life insurance and my annual licensing fee on the 1st which came to $650
So I am going to have to be very tightfisted for the rest of the month.

Groceries - $150 / $110 left
Auto - $40
Medical - $10
Eating Out - $25
Misc. - $75
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/1 $0
1/2 $ Groceries $40

 

[KibbyCat]

My spending goal for the month is $1000, or $200 per week.

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

Anniversary trip to New Orleans: NO School of Cooking,walking tours of FQ and Garden District, dinner at Mulate's to hear a zydeco band, anniversary dinner at either Galatoire's or Emeril's, cemetary tour....drinks at Pat O'Brien's and Lafitte's, breakfast at Cafe Du Monde and sandwiches from Central Grocery.... The IMaxx show at the aquarium looks good and we're staying close by so we may do that. Any suggestions?

That sounds like a good list!

NOMA (NO Museum of Art) is having a special Disney exhibit until March. It focuses on the history of Disney animation and also has a big section on the new movie, The Princess and the Frog. I went once already and plan to go again at least once. NOMA is in City Park, which is also nice to walk around in - lots of live oaks and some ponds with stone bridges.

Which IMAX show are you thinking of? Hurricane on the Bayou? It's well done and informative; some parts are hard to watch.

Mardi Gras World is good if you want to know about the history of Mardi Gras and see some of the floats they use, as well as how they make them.

If I think of anything else, I'll post it too.

Today was supposed to be a $0 day. Then I noticed my puppy's incision (from getting spayed 2 weeks ago) looked infected. Turns out it was, and she needed 2 different antibiotics for it. I don't list "health" items on here; I can't really control that kind of thing. However, at Petsmart we also got her a training harness thing. I'll post my total later in the quoted post.

 

[Swmr359]

I tok the laptop to be fixed today; but someone else is paying! So another 0 day for me.
----------
Jan. 1: $0
Jan. 2: $0

Groceries: $100
Eat out: 0/2 ($0)
Misc.: $0
Total: $0

 

[estherhead]

Jan 1st: $2.95 on McDonald's; $19.97 for I-Max movie and gas money.
Jan 2nd: $44.00 Walmart toy clearance; $202.00 groceries.

 

[KimFIGFern]

I am new to this ... but I am in. I think this month I am just going to post what I spend. Hopefully seeing it will help me to see where I can cut. We always go over our financial situation in January and plan for the year. So .... hoping this helps.

1/1 $0

1/2 $0

1/3 $0

1/4

• Food (Hoping this lasts for 2 maybe 3 weeks.) $187.05
• Lunch Box - starting back to work in 2 weeks $0 with gift cert from Black Friday
• Christmas Tree skirt ... couldn't find mine this year and went without it, waited until today and snagged one for 12.84! Yahoo.
• Had to order glass top for bathroom cabinet. Youngest son broke it and I need it before everyone destroys the top. That payment will be coming in a few days (UGH), however, I was pleasantly surprised at how cheap it was ...

1/5

• 5.00 for gift cert. for a friend who lent me a skiing helmet. I thought this would be a no buy day ... UGH.

1/6 $0

1/7

• Sam's Club membership 35.00. Tickets to a matinee movie 10.00 (We saw It's Complicated ... VERY FUNNY!) Food at Sam's Club 48.67.

4 DAYS AND COUNTING!

 

[lougoofy]

1/01/10 so far: $2.00 drink after work (2a.m.), $1.50 bus fare, $5.06 latte and rugalach, $16.94 1 season of an old tv show on dvd plus a book and $6.58 pico de gallo and a bottled drink from grocery

$13.75 drinks and tip and $3.50 chinese food
1/02/10: $4.96 Hardees plus donuts and $4.61 Dollar store (groceries)

 

[SnowWhite607]

Anniversary trip to New Orleans: NO School of Cooking,walking tours of FQ and Garden District, dinner at Mulate's to hear a zydeco band, anniversary dinner at either Galatoire's or Emeril's, cemetary tour....drinks at Pat O'Brien's and Lafitte's, breakfast at Cafe Du Monde and sandwiches from Central Grocery.... The IMaxx show at the aquarium looks good and we're staying close by so we may do that. Any suggestions?

Ooooo, have fun Eeyore'smom! We are about an hour away from NOLA so we have done many of those things regularly but this summer we are taking a cruise from NO and plan to spend a few days after we get back just playing tourist in our town. I want to do a cemetary tour also and breakfast at Cafe du Monde is not to be missed!! The beignets are delicious!!

If you are a gambler, they also have Harrah's Casino by the aquarium. The zoo is nice also if you like outside activities. You can ride a riverboat from the zoo to the aquarium if you like. Thats something I have alwasy wanted to do. Dont forget to ride a streetcar on St Charles Ave!! Hope you have a great time and come back often!!

 

[SnowWhite607]

Groceries (including paper products and cat stuff) - 400.00

Eating out - 200.00

Party for DD - 100.00

Dec 31 - 122.03 groceries (277.97 left)
Jan 1 - Wendy's 14.54 eating out (185.46 left)
Jan 2 - ZERO!

 

[luvsJack]

I am in!!

Jan 15 is my oldest ds's birthday--$50 for that. Actually I haven't purchased all of his Christmas gifts yet (we won't have Christmas with him and his wife until Jan 31) but that is already set aside.

groceries $400

gas $160 (one tank per week)

dd's school lunches $66

misc. $50

Bought groceries tonight: $176.00 ($224 left for the month)

Oh, and remembered to reduce amount for dd's school lunches to $66.00, she won't be in school for the full week next week.

 

[joy@disney]

We are closing on our new house next Friday, so we are really going to have to stick to our budget. This may be a good place for me to find help and encouragement.

So far so good -

Jan 1 - $0
Jan 2 - $0