No Buy May

[sandisuze]

ok it was NOT a good day at all.
i had to deal with many difficult people and i can't throw anything at anyone or yell or ..
So I had to spend 1.00 out of my 125.00 Misc. fund for whatevers that arises

I had originally decided that drowning in chocolate was the way to go but since that would cause my Sugar to be really high and add unwanted pounds..
so while going to the Post office I stopped thru McDonalds and got a giant unsweetend iced tea..not as good as 20 lbs of chocolate but ok and it was only 1.00 . cheaper than chocolate.

1.00/125= 124.00

 

[KarenAylwood]

this is for Karen Aylwood, I would LOVE to bring my family to Williamsburg, have you been there before? What type of accomodations do they have near there, and how much does it cost to get in and what all does it cover? Is there a website that I can go to? email me if you want: tkpowell@mtaonline.net
thanks! Kelly

PSHHHT. Have I BEEN to Williamsburg??

I lived in Williamsburg for over 5 years!! DBF and I got our BS's at William and Mary, and I went on to get my MS there too! So yes, I know a lot about Williamsburg. DBF and I drive up there when we can to visit, and the family of my best friend from college has a summer house there and her hubby is from there. We LOVE the burg!

I'll send you an email about it tomorrow when I'm at work- getting my thoughts together will take a little while. But question- how many kids do you have? What are they interested in? I'll drop you an email tomorrow.


5/1: $0! Good start to the month!!

Tomorrow I'm going out for a girls night. I'm sure it will cost a good amount of money... we'll see what I end up at. If it's expensive I can always adjust what I spend on going out the rest of the month.

Tomorrow I'll probably put my donations in for the MS ride and the Suffolk Red Cross too (since I know it won't be a $0 day anyway).

 

[TheBigBadWolf]

Our budget for April is:
Groceries/Household $500
Eating Out $50
DH work expenses $50
Gas $150
Haircuts for DH & me $40
Horse Food/Farrier/Vet Bills $300
Workshop project $200
Gardening supplies $100
Dental $65
Doctor $40
Prescriptions $150
Mother's Day gift $25
Graduation gift $100

 

[jessp1021]

5/1 And we are right on track! We actually might be able to do this!

 

[paulasillars]

ok it was NOT a good day at all.
i had to deal with many difficult people and i can't throw anything at anyone or yell or ..
So I had to spend 1.00 out of my 125.00 Misc. fund for whatevers that arises

I had originally decided that drowning in chocolate was the way to go but since that would cause my Sugar to be really high and add unwanted pounds..
so while going to the Post office I stopped thru McDonalds and got a giant unsweetend iced tea..not as good as 20 lbs of chocolate but ok and it was only 1.00 . cheaper than chocolate.

1.00/125= 124.00

I would say that was $1 well spent and I commend you for your will power in staying away from the chocolate.

The budgeting I find easy to manage, my ability to say no to chocolate I have trouble with!

I've eaten so much junk (= calories +) in the last 3 days I'm very disappointed in myself!

So far I have managed to spend nothing though... got something right.

1st - $0
2nd - $0
$0/$250

We are heading to a thermal springs about 1.5 hours north for the weekend tomorrow so I will be soaking myself in the thermal pools tomorrow afternoon - can't wait as it feels like winter here now. Its just on freezing outside and hail at the moment. Work social club will cover meal (dinner) expenses and accommodation. We just need to spring for petrol, pool entry and lunch tomorrow and breakfast before we leave. We may actually take some breakfast cereal with us. I can't complain about paying for petrol either as work pays for all our "around town" petrol as we need transport with the job.

I see you all complaining about the aircon being required now and can't help feeling envious and wishing my feet would get warm! Geez, you can't win huh?

 

[Siouxstone]

Ok, so I knew I was forgetting something with the budget. DS's Kumon books are just about full, so I'll add $20 for two more. And, the pool pass! Totally forgot about the pool pass. Instead of doing the big year round family pass, we buy a 25 swim pass for $25. I bought 3 last year ($75) and it perfectly suited us instead of the $250 pass. Unlike my friend who has 5 kids, they work the heck out of their family pass!

Started with a $0 day yesterday, but today I have to go to Wallyworld for shampoo, dishwasher tabs and a few groceries.

5/1-$0

 

[TaniaU]

Yesterday wasn't too bad, $11 for bread/milk/soup and strawberries (smelled and tasted wonderful, finally).

*Didn't* spend $89 +$30 shipping to pre-order wii fit, which is an accomplishment because usually I wouldn't give it a second thought.

$11 / $600 Groceries
$0 / $100 Household
$0 / $200 Gas

 

[DisneyDawnNH]

I'm in again - and unlike April (where I spent double my budgeted amount of $650) I plan on actually NOT SPENDING this month. I just need to stop chasing after "deals" and think a little more ahead.

Groceries 300
Miscellaneous 50
Eating Out 25
Household 150

5/1 - $0
5/2 - 39.69/150.00 Sticker & Oil Change - household budget

We are getting a pizza tonight for dinner so I will update later. I also plan on checking in far more frequently to shame myself into a little more self control

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Well, I set a new record today with CVS coupons! I used, get this, $22.50 worth of coupons at CVS . My total before coupons was 80.30, then I got down to 57.80 with the coupons, and 27.95 I can further deduct from my FSA account (I have to send off the receipt to get reimbursed for FSA eligible spending), so my out of pocket today on 80 worth of merchandise was 26.32 . That's probably the best I'll ever do, I think!

Has anyone else noticed that groceries have gotten REALLY REALLY expensive? I had the biggest grocery bill I have ever had yesterday, and I sat down and looked at the receipt, and it wasn't that I bought more, it was that everything cost more! Rice A Roni used to be .75, and this week it was $1.45. Bummer. I bought a lot of salad dressing ( I used italian dressing for everything from pizza seasoning to grilling marinades) and they used to be 1.87, I look at the receipt and they're all 2.99. I should have shopped more carefully, I think I'm going to go to couponmom.com or something and figure out how to shop smarter, because this stinks!

So:

May 1. $258.99 food (ow.), $18 books (gift budget)
May 2. $26.32 beauty (woo hoo!), $20.25 shirts (4.75 under )

I'm debating whether or not to go to the Renaissance Festival tomorrow with the girls. I think we're going to skip the memorial day cookout so that wil save me $200, maybe if I can find a coupon we can go to the ren fest instead...

 

[SnowWhite607]

May 1 - would have been a zero day but my contacts started acting up while I was at work so I ran across the street to get some solution and eye drops. so 9.87 household.

May 2 - clothing at JC Penney, I had a $10 coupon and a $50 gift card so only 16.75 from the budget. I really did need some shorts for our Disney trip next month. I am putting this under entertainment since it was fun to shop and get bargains cutie: ) and we will be wearing them in Disney!

Eating out 0/200
Groceries and household 9.87/400
Gas 0/150
Entertainment 16.75/75
Mothers Day 0/50
Dance recital 0/25

 

[Mocharilla]

Alrighty...

5/1 - Pizza for dinner, $8

5/2 - Perscription, $50, insurance covered! So, free!
$0 day!

$0/$80 - Tickets
$8/$100 - Eating Out
$0/$100 - General Spending

 

[disneymom3]

We did not go out to eat today! This is big, people! I wanted to. REally wanted to, but I threw together some random stuff for dinner instead. Everyone is full, it was healthy and cheap. Yay!

I did have to buy stamps and gas today, no getting around that, but nothing that was unnecessary.

 

[global_mom]

I think that I had better join in and hopefully get on a better track. Last night I finished our "money spent tracker" for the first full month. I try to keep up but then fall off track. Well for April, I kept every receipt and categorized it all. I thought that I had done pretty good until I totaled it all up. The grand total was , brace yourself, $11,918.46! "Holy Crap" is all I can say.

So I am following the tips on this thread to get things under control for the month of May. Wish me luck!

 

[paulasillars]

We didn't go away this weekend after all, the girl at work doing the accommodation bookings got very confused and booked the holiday homes we were staying in for next weekend so we are staying home - which is probably just as well as the weather is awful!

So I did the grocery shopping instead which was in budget.

Not planning on going out again either...

 

[sandisuze]

Has anyone else noticed that groceries have gotten REALLY REALLY expensive?

I am one of those weird people who notice prices as they go up-
today I had to run and get gift cards for food and a few staples for the food pantry and in 2 days milk had jumped 15 cents..
I wanted corn bread mix- i remember when jiffy mix was 4 for a dollar and now at Publix it was 53 cents each...
I am closely watching my lists and food prices. I get annoyed as I can go to Super target and get whole wheat spaghetti for 89 cents a box and the same brand at Publix is 1.79
anyway today was a ZERO day
tomorrow may not be as i have to help with a fundraiser car wash and DD will want a snack or something.. maybe i can pack her snacks...

 

[TheBigBadWolf]

I think that I had better join in and hopefully get on a better track. Last night I finished our "money spent tracker" for the first full month. I try to keep up but then fall off track. Well for April, I kept every receipt and categorized it all. I thought that I had done pretty good until I totaled it all up. The grand total was , brace yourself, $11,918.46! "Holy Crap" is all I can say.

So I am following the tips on this thread to get things under control for the month of May. Wish me luck!

OMG, did you buy a CAR??

Sorry.... I could not resist. So sorry your total was that expensive. I just thought mine was high...

 

[global_mom]

OMG, did you buy a CAR??

Sorry.... I could not resist. So sorry your total was that expensive. I just thought mine was high...

I wish that I had bought a car! We had some unexpected expenses with medical co-pays and I had to pay for several summer day camps for the kids. Other than that it was "normal" stuff. Here is a rugged breakdown and you'll see that we are going to have to cut out a ton of stuff. The crazy part is that the major expenses were in categories that I thought were under control. I think that I am only supposed to post what the budget will be but I will start with what the budget was and then work backwards:

Groceries - $853 - new budget = $500

Dining out - $653 - new budget = $250

Gas - $623 (cant do much about this one)

Household (Target, etc) - $677 - new budget $300

Savings - $960 (this one gets a big YEA!)

Medical - $568 (hopefully this will reduce as the kids are now well)

Misc. (clothing , gifts, etc.) - $788 - new budget = $300

School Expenses - $553 - this will go away for summer, camps are prepaid

Lawn & home repair - $225

Mortgage/Utilities/cars/debts - $5950.90 - new budget = $4000 (mortgage and utilities are not much and very little cc debt but cell phone and AMex run high b/c DH is selfemployed)

YIKES! And I have to figure in our quarterly estimated taxes. Savings encompasses investing and vacation savings.

Suggestions, thoughts, comments?

 

[Siouxstone]

It was shaping up to be a pretty good day yesterday. I only spent $33 at Walmart. I stuck to my list and the total was $23, then added $10 onto my gift card that we will use for gas on our September trip. (I add $10 everytime I go to Walmart or Sam's to spread the cost.) Then, just after 5, my DH calls and says that just before he was going to cook dinner, the power went out. I told him to give it a little time before they gave up and went to dinner. At 6:30, it was still out so I met them for dinner. We spent $35 with tip. It was nice and I understand why DH didn't want to be stuck in the house with a small parrot who was constantly saying, "The Lights Went Out!" over and over. It's kind of funny because when I was at Ikea on Wednesday, I almost bought a giant pack of candles for the emergency box, but I didn't put it on my Ikea list, so I didn't get them.

5/1-$0
5/2-$33 at Walmart, budgeted, $35 unplanned

 

[TaniaU]

$14 for take out yesterdays dinner. Which is probably the last time we'll be in budget since we're doing yard work today and have already made two trips to home depot and I have a feeling I'll have to feed everyone who's helping

$25/ $600 Groceries
$0 / $100 Household
$0 / $200 Gas

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

I think that I had better join in and hopefully get on a better track. Last night I finished our "money spent tracker" for the first full month. I try to keep up but then fall off track. Well for April, I kept every receipt and categorized it all. I thought that I had done pretty good until I totaled it all up. The grand total was , brace yourself, $11,918.46! "Holy Crap" is all I can say.

So I am following the tips on this thread to get things under control for the month of May. Wish me luck!

Holy Crap!

Ok, I feel better. Kandeebunny is doing so well she's giving me an insecurity complex about spending, nice to know I have global_mom balancing it out .