No Buy January

[OceanAnnie]

i'm just in here to observe and figure out how you guys work... hopefully i'll join in sooner or later!

Me too!

 

[reginaastralis]

Oh, yeah! The four of us can eat a LOT for less than 30 bucks (like 28.50), and it's really, really good. We usually get the rib/pulled pork platter with the mac and cheese side and the brown bean side, and a small order of wings on the side. That and four waters (not ordering sodas is our biggest budget/waistline secret we've done for years) and we're all so full we've yet to be able to cram in any ice cream at the place next door

I like how you go in, order at the front, they give you a number, and five minutes later your food's on the table. I HATE waiting to order, waiting for drinks, etc. By the time we get there I'm usually totally starved...

Oooo ... it sounds like a place where Julie and I can order one meal and split. I like that! Don't get me wrong, my little girl can eat ... but it sounds like we'll both be stuffed here.

 

[ForTheLoveofDisney]

Whoa, was last night a close call!!

I know we're not in January yet (and this is the January No Buy) but I just had to share.

Last night DH and I set out to go to last chance mass as we affectionately call it (that's when you don't make it Saturday night or Sunday morning and you go to the College/teen mass at 7:30pm on Sunday night) but we didn't get the memo that they were cancelling that one .

DH has this idea that he wants to go to the Asian Bistro. Nothing wrong with that but we're doing "No BUY" remember? So, we actually pull up to the front of the building the whole time my trying to be the voice of reason about how we need to save every penny so that we're not caught by surprise when we go to closing on our new (to us) home in January and how this isn't budgeted for and how we promised eachother. . . .

I'll admit, it was hard to pull away and go home and make something to eat but we did it and I know we saved about $15.00 in the process.

I know that $15.00 might not be much but for us, we were eating out 3 to 5 times a week and then it really adds up!!

Tonight, I'm going to start working on my January budget. Well, finish it. I had already started working on it.

Oh, and I wanted to pass along a title of a book I'm reading. It's called Your Money or Your Life. Have you read it? I'm really starting to understand that our Life Energy is what we "PAY" for our money!! I don't mean Life Energy in a New Agey way I litterally mean our life energy. As in we're only alloted so much time in life and how much do we give away for our money that we give away so carelessly?

Thanks for letting me be part of your thread!

 

[Irin997]

FYI: Keep in mind January has 5 weeks! Factor that into your budget!

I'm in again, although this month, I really need to stay active and post everything and keep track of everything. I finally became eligible for my 401k so that is affecting my take home pay. I can't wait until open enrollment and I can get out of this dependent care spending account I'm in. Yes, it's saving tax dollars but it's really, really crunching my account while I'm waiting to be reimbursed. It's like I'm paying for daycare twice and waiting for it to come back to me. We'll see the impact when I do my taxes. Here's my budget so far. Luckily no birthday's this month and I don't think I have any extras to really buy.

$160 Gas
$100 Groceries/Household (really need to cut back in this area as we have tons in the pantry and fridge/freezer
$20 Prescription (3 month BCP, no negotiations here)
$60 Virus Protection (might be able to sqeeze into Feb, not sure)
$50 Going out
$20 Eating out (trying to make this $0 this month - hopefully)
$17 Netflix (stupid writer's strike)
$25 Misc

I'm cutting WAY back this month and literally sticking to the basics. I've GOT to cut back on my discretionary spending. I can't afford it.

I'm going to hopefully have a "Present" fund starting next month that I can pull birthday present $$ and Christmas $$ out of so I can be more prepared throughout the year. We'll see. This dependent care account is killing me though and I have until July 1.

I can't wait to get my W-2's. This is when being a single mom pays you back (well, a little anyway).

My resolution is to get better at making menus and cooking at home using what I have, not what I need to go get at the store.

 

[smiller]

Allright, I think I've got my budget figured out for January:

Earn, give, save, pay house, gas, electricity, cable/internet, insurance, Netflix, and bus/el pass.

All the rest:

Going Out: $40
Groceries: $80
Household: $5 (I usually only need 1 item a month, say TP or dishwasher detergent )
Personal/Toiletries: $10
Cleaners: $10
Gifts: $10 (DMom's birthday this month! I'm taking her to a casual lunch; all she wants to do is spend time together. )
Christmas Savings: $15 (must plan ahead for next year)
Memberships Savings: $10 (pay throughout the year for various organizations)
Metra 10-Ride Savings: $20 (will need to buy one of these soon)

I KNOW I will go over my Going Out budget. I ALWAYS seem to do so something bad. I'm going to try to do some side jobs and any money I earn half will go to the going out budget and half will go in the bank. Now let's just hope I can find some side jobs this month!

I wrote up crisp new envelopes this months since the other ones started looking a little dodgy. I have a bit of money left over for the cleaners, must go there soon. I'm also glad I've been budgeting for my Metra train ticket; that helps each time I shell out $33.15 for that. Now if I can only get in the habit of NOT eating at the train station each month!

A couple financial tasks/goals I have for this coming year:
- write out formal budget for the year
- build up emergency fund
- pick funds for my Roth IRA
- call CCs for lower rates (they're already pretty darn good, but I figure it can't hurt to ask!)
- be on the lookout for side jobs/additional means of income
- don't carry CCs around, only use for pre-meditated purchases

I also have a bunch of general housekeeping financial tasks, such as calls to make, a reimbursement to request, a package to send, etc. Simple things that I've been putting off that could put me (at least mentally!) in a better financial situation.

I'm really debating whether or not to cancel my newspaper delivery. I get Wed-Thu-Fri-Sun and it IS only $1 a week... I mainly get it for the coupons and the ads. I could use that $52 a year somewhere else! (I usually clip DSis's coupons, too, anyway! )

 

[hinodis]

I really need to stick to this. I added up how much I spent for food and it was $935.00 for a month Here is my January budget:

Gas: $300.00

Food: $500.00

B-day For Neice: $20.00

HSM on ice: $50.00

Perscriptions: $20.00

And that is it. I will need help surviving, I'm sure

 

[Conway733]

Just reading through the thread...what does everyone use the envelopes for? I'm assuming to keep money in, but I"m just wondering for what items do you find the envelope method useful?

 

[WatchinCaptKangaroo]

January exceptions are I need to renew my virus protection for the computer.

AVGFree. Better than any of the pay services.

 

[hildarumpole]

I'm so glad I happened upon this thread. The $100 detergent is my biggest problem, along with the $5 stop at Starbuck's before I leave Target and the $50 carry-out dinner, because I dilly-dallied so much shopping for "bargains" and there's no time or energy to cook. Learning to budget is my New Year's resolution and this sounds like a great way to kick start it. I have never done a budget before. Wednesday will be the day I'll go through all our bills and figure out a plan. It's impossible to think with everyone home right now.

 

[KarenAylwood]

Alrighty, I'm in... again... for the sixth month in a row!!

The holidays were tough but I made it through unscathed (well, mostly) and didn't go into debt over it. I start a new job this month (same place, different responsibilities) and instead of getting paid weekly, I get paid monthly!! My first month trying that. I have one paycheck left over from the weekly schedule, which comes this Friday. I'm going to use that to pad my new "unplanned expenses" account that I'll use instead of savings for things that pop up. I don't want to get in the habit of using my savings for that kind of thing.

I'm in a rush tonight and just got home last night from NY (at 1am ) so I'll have to post my budget later. I'm going to try for the least amount of "extras" this month but might up the out to eat budget since I may be going out to lunch with coworkers more. The first few months in the job I'd like to take the opportunity to socialize with new people more before I start the "I'm poor, I bring my lunch everyday" thing again. We'll see.

And last but not least, hello newbies!!!

 

[Aisling]

I haven't read through the whole thread yet, but I'm so IN!

I spent so much on Christmas gifts that I'm dreading the cc bills. DH makes a very nice salary, so I figure if I do a No Buy January (and February, too), I can catch up. And then if I can stick to it, I hope to re-train myself not to spend spend spend. Fast foods are a big waste, and that's the first thing on my list to eliminate for the month. I'm going to write out my necessary monthly expenses, and make a budget. I've never done this before, and I'm looking forward to the support from this thread. I need to get rid of my cc debts!

 

[reginaastralis]

Just reading through the thread...what does everyone use the envelopes for? I'm assuming to keep money in, but I"m just wondering for what items do you find the envelope method useful?

Speaking for the other posters, they use the envelope method that one of the financia guru's talk about. You divide up your money in the envelopes at the beginning of the month, and when it's gone, it's gone.

 

[wannabee]

I'm in for January.... no birthdays , no big expenses
I'm planning to even keep the grocery budget low by using up my stockpile.

So--- groceries 200
registration for next school year 300
blow money for me and Dh 160 (20 each per week)- all soda, coffee, lunch out has to come from this)

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

AVGFree. Better than any of the pay services.

Totally disagree with this, especially if you have Vista. It totally, totally messed up Vista (who was none too stable to begin with). I now use the Microsoft 1 care, much, much better. And the first three months are free, so that will bump out your budget!

totally.

 

[disneymom3]

I've been sort-of following these threads but I think I'm ready to jump in for January. I need to start saving $$$ and stop spending money frivolously so I can put more money away for my wedding and buying a new house!

My new years resolution is to become more domestic so this fits right in (at least it does in my opinon... )...

My goal for the week is:
Buy a weekly meal planning journal
Organize my monthly budget


My goal for the month is:
Cancel my gym membership at the gym I never go to (my employer pays for my membership at a different gym... I just never cancelled the old one )
Buy myself out of my AT&T contract so I'm not paying for a phone I don't need (again, my employer pays for a cell phone, I just pay if I go over my allotted minutes, which will be cheaper than having another phone for just personal use)
Stop drinking so much Starbucks coffee
Stop eating out 4-5 times a week
Pack lunches for work

Those are pretty darn close to my goals each month.

I am sooo glad to be getting back to this after my very difficult December.

Of course, I did just book a trip to Wash DC to meet some DIS friends so I am going to have to budget for that.

 

[Siouxstone]

Hello All! It's great to see some of you back again! Has it really been six months? I seriously can't believe it! How amazing is that! It's also great to see all the newbies and lurkers joining in! The best advice I can give is to hang tough and if you fall off the wagon, don't just give up. Every single one of us has been off the wagon in the past.

My usual auto-pilot household: mortgage, utilities, car payment, insurance, yada, yada, yada
Gas/Oil-$35 a week
Groceries & Household- $100 a week
Work breakfast meeting- $10
Car Repairs-$500
Clothing-$100 (if I can make myself do it)
Haircut-$15 (still didn't get to it in December)
The Grocery Game-$20
Sunday Paper-$7

We'll see how the gas budget holds out. I see it's climbing at the pumps again. DH drives 20+ miles to work, but I'm just down the street. Here's hoping!

I'm keeping the groceries & household at $100 a week. This now includes such items as the new toilet handle we had to buy today and a new light fixture DH put in last month confused3 who knew? I was at work and he cleaned up after himself! I thought the bulb was just out!) I was going to cut it back to about $75 a week, but after thinking about the toilet & light fixture I'm just going to add it all into one category. I also need to restock things such as lightbulbs and get filters for the heater/ac.

Clothing- I need to just bite the bullet and go shopping. I ripped the sleeve of one of my favorite work blouses and am about to be desperate in the tights department. I could also use at least one new bra. I hope to make myself buy a few new things for work. I am getting a little shabby and work meetings will be coming up in Feb or March. I really need to buy a new suit soon. I haven't bought one in over 6 years. I hope to need it by the end of March, but I don't want to jinx myself! Next month, I am going to make myself buy a new pair of shoes, but I'll cross that bridge in Feb.

I am signing back up for the Grocery Game. I tried Coupon Mom, but the info for this area is just not there. I did very well during my $1 trial and am clipping coupons every single week. I've stopped buying the local paper because the Houston paper has almost twice the coupons every week. I'm going to really track how much I use this info for the next 8 weeks to see if I really get my money back out of the Grocery Game.

There are no birthdays for us this month and no major holidays. I hope to score quite a few $0 days this month. This is good because I have to take the Saturn back for the repairs on Friday when the parts come in. But, hey, it's paid for and has been for a long, long time.

Here's to a great New Year everybody!

 

[WatchinCaptKangaroo]

Totally disagree with this, especially if you have Vista. It totally, totally messed up Vista (who was none too stable to begin with). I now use the Microsoft 1 care, much, much better. And the first three months are free, so that will bump out your budget!

totally.

You are the first person I have heard of who have had issues with AVGFree on any Windows OS. It's the software that all my industry (IT) friends recommend to everyone (industry and layman alike).

What kind of issues did you have with it?

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

You are the first person I have heard of who have had issues with AVGFree on any Windows OS. It's the software that all my industry (IT) friends recommend to everyone (industry and layman alike).

What kind of issues did you have with it?

Sorry to go OT ladies...

I orginally put avg free on my 2007 vista computer when the Norton expired, and I really don't love norton that much so went to castlecops.com and they recommended avg, also I think someone on another thread here recommended them. Once I uninstalled Norton correctly (and that was a bear, getting rid of it all with the help of the castlecops guys), and got avg on, the computer ran sooooooooo slooooooooowly. It also started having trouble installing updates, and windows defender crapped out completely. I managed to repair windows defender to the point where it runs but the vista security center still thinks it's not running.

Basically, once I put avg on there, I noticed things crashing left and right, and the speed, especially when avg was doing it's little checker thingny, was unacceptably slow. I then pulled avg off, went to the windows security center, and looked at the other options. I liked the microsoft 1 care, they had a 90 day free subscription, and so far I've been very happy, it's running much faster, stuff's not crashing, and while the security center still can't see that I have both a virus checker and windows defender, at least I know they're still working. I also checked the computer thoroughly several times for any worms, viruses, trojans, what have you, and came up clean, so I think it was the avg.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming

 

[castleview]

The Game Plan: Everyone sets their own lists of essentials and exemptions. Think carefully over the month and try to plan ahead. For example, if you know you have a birthday coming up and need to buy a present, or if your Disney trip is coming up, list the trip period as an exemption. Everyone sets their own rules.

The Goal: To become aware of everyday spending habits and save a little money. Or, as I think of it, to end the $100 detergent habit. What's $100 detergent? It's when you run in Target or Wal-mart for laundry detergent and end up spending $100. Now, you may use everything you bought and it may fit into your budget structure, but if you are in a saving mode, did you really need it at that time? Or is it a money leak?
!

This is an excellent goal for me to start with. Sometimes I wonder why I don't spend an extra $2.00 at the grocery store on diapers, and avoid the $100 Walmart bill.

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I'll join. My exemptions are, 1) If I find a good airline price for my next trip to Disney I can book it, 2) I am allowed $50 a week for groceries and food at work, (I work at a grocery store, so not buying anything for a month would be next to impossible, and 3) I can use the gift cards I recieved for Christmas.