No Buy March

[charming23]

Ugggh had to run back to Save-a-lot for a few items as it is hard to have sloopy joes without buns and I picked up a few other items I forgot.

Grocery/Household- $250/$49.76 Left
Gas- $50/ $29.46
Eating Out/Entertainment- $75/ $30.07 Left
Emergency/Misc- $75/$29.68 Left

Total- $450/ $138.86Left

16/15 No Buy days

3/1- $41.26 Groceries
3/2- $0
3/3- $0
3/4- $12.06 Qudoba Lunch
3/5- $20.54 Gas
3/6- $0
3/7- $35.75 Groceries
3/8- $0
3/9- $5.15 Walgreen's
3/10- $0
3/11- $0
3/12- $25.68 Dinner at El Rodeo
3/13- $0
3/14- $23.12 Groceries at Giant Eagle
3/15- $39.84 Groceries and Household from Marc's and $12.07 at Kinkos
3/16- $14.99 for The Princess and the Frog
3/17- $0
3/18- $0
3/19- $0
3/20- $40.30 Marc's, $2.19 Brueggers, and $13.20 Lowes
3/21- $0
3/22- $0
3/23- $0
3/24- $5 Subway
3/25- $0
3/26- $0
3/27- $0
3/28- $9.78 Save-a-lot
3/29- $10.19

 

[Suellen]

Would love to join for April! I have been reading through trying to learn and get ready for April!

 

[lougoofy]

3/28/10: $2.31 Hardee's and about $2.50 snacks and coffee

3/29/10: $1.60 tape (dav), $1.05 coffee (white castle) and $2.03 1/2 price bag of salad and a candy bar (DGMarketplace)

 

[PrincessTeresa]

I can't wait till the April one!! I'm ready!!!!

 

[A.Mickey]

Running Total: Spent $623
$600...$23 over
$0 Days:11
Goal is 15 or more!

Groceries- $300...$32 left
Eating Out- $100...-$53 over
Misc. (Shopping/Entertainment) $200...$12 left
I always round up to the nearest dollar.

1- $0
2- $8 (Groceries-Jewel)
3- $7 (Eating Out-McDonald's), $2 (Groceries-Jewel), $1 (Groceries-Walgreens)
4- $36 (Groceries-Meijer) $16 (Eating Out-Ikea), $59 (Shopping-Amazon)
5- $6 (Eating Out- Mario's), $1 (Groceries- Jewel)
6- $6 (Eating Out- McDonald's), $23 (Groceries- Joe Caputo), $10 (Groceries- Aldi), $13 (Groceries-Jewel), $2 (Shopping-Dollar Tree)
7- $0
8- $0
9- $2 (Eating Out- Wendy's), $18 (Groceries-Jewel), $6 (Groceries-Target)
10- $12 (Groceries- Jewel) $7 (Groceries- Meijer)
11- $0
12- $0
13- $21 (Eating Out- Portillo's), $7 (Groceries-Walgreens), $3 (Groceries-CVS), $4 (Shopping-Dollartree), $7 (Groceries-Dominick's)
14- $24 (Eating Out- Fuddrucker's), $20 (Groceries- Target), $22 (Shopping-Target)
15- $0
16- $4 (Eating Out- Wendy's & DQ), $4 (Groceries-Jewel), $2 (Shopping-Family Dollar), $12 (Groceries-Target)
17- $0
18- $0
19- $10 (Groceries-Jewel), $14 (Groceries-Meijer)
20- $8 (Shopping-Toys R Us), $3 (Groceries-Jewel), $17 (Shopping-Wal-Mart), $8 (Groceries- Walgreens), $6 (Shopping- Dollar Tree)
21- $19 (Groceries-Joe Caputo), $4 (Groceries-Aldi's), $2 (Groceries-Jewel)
22- $0
23- $18 (Eating Out- McDonald's), $3 (Groceries-Jewel), $6 (Shopping-Toys R Us)
24- $2 (Groceries- Dominick's), $13 (Groceries-Walgreens), $26 (Shopping-Oil Change)
25- $0
26- $20 (Misc-Haircut and Tip, boy did that feel good! Haven't gotten a haircut since April of last year! )
27- $35 (Eating Out- Zoo), $10 (Shopping) Had an awesome weekend with DISer's, the weekend was priceless!
28- $30 (Eating Out- Red Robin), $4 (Shopping-Papers)
29- $0



$0 Days: 11/15: 73%
$600 Limit: $623 : 104%
Month: 29/31: 94%

My savings from coupons and sales: $1002.98 Will I break $1,000 for this month?!?! I did it!

 

[SunnieRN]

Welcome! We're glad to have you. It's my first month, and I'm having a great time. Nice to know where all of your cash is going.

Thank you, and it is scary to see how much I used to waste!

Yay! Jump right in! We will be happy to have you. The more the merrier. I have been here since October and it has really held me accountable, but I tend to always go over budget anyway...maybe one of these months, I won't go negative.

I will probably go over budget most months, but at least I will account for my spending Thank you!

Welcome!!!

Thanks so much!!

Now a question please. Do you pay your bills, mortgage etc, and still count that as a no spend day if that is all you spend? Thanks!!

 

[Debbie]

Mar 22: groceries $5
Mar 23: DH bought chips for himself + mac and cheese that we did not need $5
Mar 24: DH and groceries (he DOES love to shop) $8 + gas $32
Mar 25: another stop for DH $5
Mar 26: Easter goodies $20
Mar 27: groceries + junk food $95
Mar 28: I'd hoped for a NO BUY day, but DH worked a fundraiser and they had leftovers. He spent $7 for: 4 loaves bread, 2 full pancake syrup containers, 2 lb cooked bacon, 5 lb cooked sausages, 1 900g tub margarine and a container of orange juice. Not a $0 but a GREAT buy!
Mar 29: $38 gas We tried really hard for a NO BUY yesterday, but, with carting kids in and out of the city, the car needed a drink. And I KNOW that we need groceries today. sigh

Budget for week 4 + 3 days (and those 3 days will send us over, I know) 35/250

No Buy Days: 7/10
Week 3: -52/250
Week 2: 81/250
Week 1: 137/250

 

[thebigkahuna]

Now a question please. Do you pay your bills, mortgage etc, and still count that as a no spend day if that is all you spend? Thanks!!

*if* that is all I spend, then I count that as a no spend day because those are budgeted expenses. I plan for those bills & they are mandatory.

What I record here is the *unplanned* - things that aren't bills that cause me to spend money! Lunches, the late nights when I just grab a pizza instead of cooking, Starbucks, those trips to SuperTarget that cost me an arm & a leg! Those types of spending are what I record. Oh & when my car broke down, I put that here because it was an unexpected expense that bit a chunk out of my budget.
HTH, YVMV

 

[wdwfan16]

3/1 - $0
3/2 - $0
3/3 - $0
3/4 - $0
3/6 - $0
3/7 - $0
3/9 - $0
3/10 - $0
3/11 - $0
3/12 - $0
3/14 - $0
3/18 - $0
3/20 - $0
3/24 - $0
3/25 - $0
3/28 - $0
3/30 - $0

*if* that is all I spend, then I count that as a no spend day because those are budgeted expenses. I plan for those bills & they are mandatory.

What I record here is the *unplanned* - things that aren't bills that cause me to spend money! Lunches, the late nights when I just grab a pizza instead of cooking, Starbucks, those trips to SuperTarget that cost me an arm & a leg! Those types of spending are what I record. Oh & when my car broke down, I put that here because it was an unexpected expense that bit a chunk out of my budget.
HTH, YVMV

This is what I do too.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

March 1 $0
March 2 $84 groceries, $109 dance tuition, $7 DH prescription
March 3 $5 Much needed HipHop Shoes (from the resale box at dance!)
March 4 $0
March 5 $0
March 6- Movie $49. Sam's Club $131. Taco Bell $14
March 7- Date With hubby $16 Red Robin, Gas $39.74, Wegman's $30.92 and Easter Basket things $26.88
March 8- $0
March 9- $0
March 10- $86 AP Test for DD15 (she better pass it!) $101.34 groceries $.50 ice cream treat (went to lunch with DD8)
March 11- $0
March 12- $0
March 13- $315.49 Mostly clothes and some groceries and lunch out with the kids and date night with hubby.
March 14- $0
March 15- $0
March 16- $0
March 17- $185.41--Dance clothes, groceries, DVD
March 18- $0
March 19- $26.97 Pizza and Wings, friends over
March 20-Paid kids for YardWork $6---Dinner out $17.79---Color Me Mine $12.96---Groceries $16.19----Total $52.94
March 21- Breakfast out $10--- Chuck E Cheese Free!!!---Toys R Us $16.51 P&TF plus preorder TS1&2---Little Ceasars $5.40 --Blockbuster $2.16---Gas $14.60 Total $48.67
March 22- $2.25 DD10 bought lunch---$20.80 Big Lots 2 pairs of Mickey Crocks for the kids---$71 groceries---Total $94.05
March 23- Gas $45.08, Sam's groceries (most will be paid back. DH runs the snack area at work and I had to resuplly it. We get it back but in the form of coins that we put towards Disney.) $50.14--- Walgreen's (Easter backet stuff) $15.98, Little Ceasars (this is like the 3rd day in a row for this. DH had surgery yesterday and all the meds have been making him not feel good and crazy bread is all that he was in the mood for.) $2.70---$9.13 fruit at Wegman's---$5.90 Toys R Us, Toy Story 1&2 on BluRay. Total---$128.93
March 24 $0
March 25-$0
March 26-$0
March 27-$0
March 28- Breakfast with the Easter Bunny $18
Finally saw The Blindside with hubby, and it was as good as everyone said! $4
Dinner with Hubby under $35 (lost receipt, has not posted on bank statement yet)
Soap, a book, a DVD story of Easter and a few various groceries at Sam's $43.99
Pizza for the kids $5.40
total- $106.39
March 29-$0

# of $0 Spend Days- 16 SO PROUD OF THIS! (Goal was 15)

Total Spent $1714.23 in 29 days NOT SO PROUD OF THIS!

On Sunday I wrapped all our Sliver Change for our Disney trip and we had over $350! We still have 7.5 months to save it too, but the jar was overflowing so I figured it was time to wrap. I leave the pennies for the kids. If they want to wrap them, they can have them.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

Personally, I do not pay the bills, my DH does, but I wouldn 't count them. Morgage and stuff, that is life. I do, however, count when I pay for dance class for my 2 girls and things liek that. They are bills we have every month but not a necessity. I will never make them stop, it has done amazing things for them physically and confidence wise and wish my oldest had done it, so I won't ever have them stop, but I can't IMO put it with morgage and electric. That is just me, I like to keep track of it anyway. Like gas and groceries, they are nevessities but I like to see where I am spending so I keep track of it for me.

 

[hmack]

03/01 - 7.50 - school lunches for youngest dd
03/02 - 0
03/03 - $30 gas - $56.59 between Walgreens, Shaws & Hannaford.
03/04 - 0
03/05 - 0
03/06 - $30 gas - $37 Burlington Coat (but I got both my oldest DD's semi-formal dress and my youngest's easter dress) + $76 TJ Maxx (spring clothes) = $113 clothes - $13 Tim Hortons for lunch - $8 groceries
03/07 - $96 weekly groceries (pretty good for me), $13 Cold Stone Ice Cream
03/08 - $17 meeting DH for lunch, $6 groceries, $7.50 school lunch
03/09 - $40 gas - $15 dd fundraiser - $14 new book (this month's book club book)
03/10 - 0
03/11 - $36 - groceries (did some pantry stocking up with coupons)
03/12 - 0
03/13 - gas $40, groceries $14, gelato fiasco (the splurge) $41
03/14 - groceries $90, ydd school lunch $5, sent away for a certified copy of odd's birthcertificate $10.
03/15 - 0
03/16 - $9 - Walgreens, $30 gasoline
03/17 - 0
03/18 - $3 - groceries, $37 for three Threadless Ts (one for me and one for each girl's Easter gift)
03/19 - $38 - DD's athletic fee, $27 - treating dh to dinner
03/20 - groceries - $33, Gap & Old Navy, $111 (and that's with the 30% off coupon) - gas $40
03/21 - groceries - $81
03/22 - school lunches - $5
03/23 - $9 - special prizes for my class
03/24 - 0
03/25 - $25 Walgreens
03/26 - $32.60 Old Navy (nephew's bday present)
03/27 - $18 - Subway, $27 - Yoshi (two meals eating out!!!), $47 - target (new shoes, misc., coupon binder) $78 - groceries
03/28 - $111 - groceries, $4.25 -Rite Aid
03/29 - 0


11 goal - 9 accomplished = 2 more to go.

 

[CherylA]

At least I'm hitting my "no buy" days goal this month even though I'm over on the total budget!

Clothing 50.00

Groceries 400.00
- 1.00 toast 3/1
- 25.10 coffee kcups 3/1
-13.60 s&s 3/1
-21.00 School lunch program 3/4
-2.50 milk 3/4
-18.69 M&M produce 3/4
-15.50 weight watchers bars @ meeting 3/4
-27.00 Target 3/4
-31.34 Adams grocery 3/5
-118.56 Costco 3/6
-11.96 S&S 3/6
-5.00 S&S 3/5
-2.70 milk 3/9
-4.00 S&S 3/10
-14.00 hubby work groceries 3/12
-56.65 Target 3/16
-10 M&M farms 3/18
-20.00 ww bars 3/18
-16.00 GC cookies Tiff 3/16
-20.00 Girl Scout Cookies Shelli 3/18
-7.98 ice creams 3/20
-40.00 Shop Rite/S&S 3/24
-5.00 dollar store 3/24
-6.00 Jerrys 3/25
-6.50 dark chocolate 3/26
-32.00 S&S 3/27
= negative 132.08



House Upkeep/Decorating 40.00
-7.00 furnace air filters 3/4
-7.50 Lowes 3/21
=25.50

Misc Spending 140.00
-20.50 NH Register newspaper subscription 3/4
-10.00 car wash hubby 3/10
-1.60 rest.com gc 3/12
-5.00 izzy bangs trimmed 3/18
-5.00 Pokeno pot
-10.45 ship Proj Linus blankets 3/19
-11.00 Toy Story 1&2
-10.00 pizza 3/27
= 66.47

Gifts 35.00
-10.10 fruit salad M&M farms sis bday 3/6
-21.75 pokeno & me stuff @ target 3/18
-15.00 Easter gift zhu zhus
= negative 11.85

Entertainment
200.00
-110.00 dinner and drinks sis bday 3/5
-6.00 lunch 3/9
-9.5 lunch w hubby 3/10
-15.00 Buffalo Wild Wings w friends 3/12
-23.00 hubby and kids pizza out 3/12
-10.00 sandwich/tips scrap weekend 3/13
-10.00 hubby Chilis w/guys 3/13
-14.65 Princess & frog 3/16
-8.50 Wendys 3/20
-15.20 Plaza diner 3/22
-106.00 day in NYC
=negative 127.85


10/9 no buy days (Mar 2nd) (Mar 3rd) (Mar 7th) (Mar 8th) (Mar 11)(Mar 14) (Mar 15) (Mar 17) (Mar 28) (Mar 29)
negative 130.08 remaining of $865 total budget

 

[lougoofy]

3/29/10: $1.60 tape (dav), $1.05 coffee (white castle) and $2.03 1/2 price bag of salad and a candy bar (DGMarketplace)

3/30/10: $1.79 pancakes (McD's) and $5.50 laundry (last load not totally dry, hang drying on hangers and on a basket ARRGGGG) and $1.50 bus fare and $2.45 coffee and $1.00 two kinds of cheese

 

[bas71873]

When will the April thread begin? I wanna play. I need to cut WAY down on my "boredom" shopping. I know I spend a ton of money on things I don't need to be spending on (Kohl's and Target get me in big trouble).

 

[MommyBell08]

Looking over my month as its almost up and I hope to have a "no buy" tomorrow, I'm really proud of myself. Ive started couponing too and am feeling bad for being so careless with our budget before I had this saving mentality. Oh well. Here's to a new me!


3/15-$0
3/16-$18.61 Princess and the Frog (is this necessity?)
3/17- DH $16.91 for wine
3/18-$5 train ride for the family
3/19-$0
3/20-$0
3/21-$0
3/22-$0
3/23-$11.78 for Toy Story and Toy Story 2, $68.04 gas, $6.41 CVS, DH-$36.02 Gas
3/24-$0
3/25-$0
3/26-$0
3/27-$2 went to a movie with DH and DS
3/28-$70 church $13.11 Bd's Mongo BBQ after church
3/29-$0
3/30-$0
3/31


$13.11 spent/$6.89 left for eating out

No buy days-10....Goal is 1 more "no buy"
Gasoline-$100.03
Spending Extras-$60.71
Other-$70

 

[charming23]

Grocery/Household- $250/$49.76 Left
Gas- $50/ $29.46
Eating Out/Entertainment- $75/ $30.07 Left
Emergency/Misc- $75/$29.68 Left

Total- $450/ $138.86Left

17/15 No Buy days

3/1- $41.26 Groceries
3/2- $0
3/3- $0
3/4- $12.06 Qudoba Lunch
3/5- $20.54 Gas
3/6- $0
3/7- $35.75 Groceries
3/8- $0
3/9- $5.15 Walgreen's
3/10- $0
3/11- $0
3/12- $25.68 Dinner at El Rodeo
3/13- $0
3/14- $23.12 Groceries at Giant Eagle
3/15- $39.84 Groceries and Household from Marc's and $12.07 at Kinkos
3/16- $14.99 for The Princess and the Frog
3/17- $0
3/18- $0
3/19- $0
3/20- $40.30 Marc's, $2.19 Brueggers, and $13.20 Lowes
3/21- $0
3/22- $0
3/23- $0
3/24- $5 Subway
3/25- $0
3/26- $0
3/27- $0
3/28- $9.78 Save-a-lot
3/29- $10.19 Groceries
3/30- $0

 

[Tiggerish]

Budget is a tight $475 for a long month.

Automobile $50 /$2 left
Eating Out/Entertainment $25 / $5 over
Giving $50 / $0 left
Groceries/Household Goods $200 / $17 over
Medical $25 / $15 left
Misc. $100 / $7 over
Easter Baskets $25 / $3.50 over
Coupon savings $66.89
_________________________________
3/1 $0
3/2 $0
3/3 Eating out $13; Groceries $2
3/4 $0
3/5 Groceries $44
3/6 $0
3/7 Giving $20, Eating out $4
3/8 $0
3/9 Groceries $17; Eating out $13
3/10 Misc. $23 (haircut and printer ink)
3/11 Auto $26 for gas; Easter baskets $2
3/12 $0
3/13 Groceries $40
3/14 Giving $10; Misc. $10 (ordered a flower for Easter from kids club at church)
3/15 $0
3/16 $0
3/17 Misc. $7 for craft supplies; Groceries $7; Easter Basket stuff $13
3/18 Groceries $30; Easter Basket stuff $4.50
3/19 $0
3/20 Groceries $20; Misc. $10
3/21 Giving $10 (church collection); Misc. $2
3/22 $0
3/23 Auto $22 for oil change & filter; Easter baskets $6
3/24 $0
3/25 Medical $10
3/26 Misc. $45 - gifts for family; Easter baskets $2
3/27 Groceries $59; Misc $10 for flowers
3/28 Giving $10 (church collection)
3/29 $0
3/30 $0

 

[thebeesknees]

3/1 $0
3/2 $0
3/3 $0
3/4 $0
3/5 $35 gas, $44 Dollar Tree for birthday party stuff for tomorrow, $6 lunch, $16 pictures for DD, $77 groceries
3/6 $22 groceries, $15 haircut for DD
3/7 $8 passport photo for DH, $165 Sam's Club groceries, etc.
3/8 $0
3/9 $4 Lands' End swimwear for DD
3/10 $185 passports for DH and DS
3/11 $0
3/12 $99 Target household items, $14 Dollar Tree cards & snack items, $19 Sunflower Market fresh produce
3/13 $25 Target, $45 Safeway - hit the cereal stock up sale and got dairy items
3/14 $0
3/15 $83 pay medical bill
3/16 $13 Dollar Tree frozen vegetables & sympathy cards, $20 King Soopers cheese/Rx, $10 Goodwill 2 new dresses for DD & 1 shirt for DH
3/17 $0
3/18 $15 Walmart crafts for DD's party next week
3/19 $0
3/20 $80 Safeway groceries & gift cards for DSis' birthday, $45 King Soopers groceries
3/21 $35 gas
3/22 $50 Target stuff for birthday party next weekend, birthday gifts for DNieces
3/23 $27 Post office mailing birthday packages, $45 Target summer clothes DD
3/24 $0 We are snowed in and it is still coming down, so no shopping today!
3/25 $43 Walmart shoes for DS, groceries
3/26 $0
3/27 $0
3/28 $0
3/29 $21 groceries for Easter and Friday game night
3/30 $0

14 of 10 no-buy days so far!

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

March 1 $0
March 2 $84 groceries, $109 dance tuition, $7 DH prescription
March 3 $5 Much needed HipHop Shoes (from the resale box at dance!)
March 4 $0
March 5 $0
March 6- Movie $49. Sam's Club $131. Taco Bell $14
March 7- Date With hubby $16 Red Robin, Gas $39.74, Wegman's $30.92 and Easter Basket things $26.88
March 8- $0
March 9- $0
March 10- $86 AP Test for DD15 (she better pass it!) $101.34 groceries $.50 ice cream treat (went to lunch with DD8)
March 11- $0
March 12- $0
March 13- $315.49 Mostly clothes and some groceries and lunch out with the kids and date night with hubby.
March 14- $0
March 15- $0
March 16- $0
March 17- $185.41--Dance clothes, groceries, DVD
March 18- $0
March 19- $26.97 Pizza and Wings, friends over
March 20-Paid kids for YardWork $6---Dinner out $17.79---Color Me Mine $12.96---Groceries $16.19----Total $52.94
March 21- Breakfast out $10--- Chuck E Cheese Free!!!---Toys R Us $16.51 P&TF plus preorder TS1&2---Little Ceasars $5.40 --Blockbuster $2.16---Gas $14.60 Total $48.67
March 22- $2.25 DD10 bought lunch---$20.80 Big Lots 2 pairs of Mickey Crocks for the kids---$71 groceries---Total $94.05
March 23- Gas $45.08, Sam's groceries (most will be paid back. DH runs the snack area at work and I had to resuplly it. We get it back but in the form of coins that we put towards Disney.) $50.14--- Walgreen's (Easter backet stuff) $15.98, Little Ceasars (this is like the 3rd day in a row for this. DH had surgery yesterday and all the meds have been making him not feel good and crazy bread is all that he was in the mood for.) $2.70---$9.13 fruit at Wegman's---$5.90 Toys R Us, Toy Story 1&2 on BluRay. Total---$128.93
March 24 $0
March 25-$0
March 26-$0
March 27-$0
March 28- Breakfast with the Easter Bunny $18
Finally saw The Blindside with hubby, and it was as good as everyone said! $4
Dinner with Hubby under $35 (lost receipt, has not posted on bank statement yet)
Soap, a book, a DVD story of Easter and a few various groceries at Sam's $43.99
Pizza for the kids $5.40
total- $106.39
March 29-$0
March 30-$0 Really needed groceries, but managed to squeek one more dinner and making a pasta salad for the kids lunches tomorrow (won't have tomato, but they will survive) since we are now out of bread. I wasn't so much for another $0 day, though I will take it, but I had a long afternoon and was just too wiped out to even think about going tonight. So, we are having chicken encheladas for dinner not so bad, right?


# of $0 Spend Days- 17 SO PROUD OF THIS! (Goal was 15)

Total Spent $1714.23 in 30 days NOT SO PROUD OF THIS!