No Buy October

[Tiggerish]

I am in again and my total budget for October is $775 for:

Groceries - $200
Automobile - $350
(insurance, plate & drivers license renewals all this month)
Giving - $50
Medical - $35
Eating Out - $15
Misc. - $125

Then I have a separate budget for Christmas - $400 / $267 left
--this is a challenge because I need 22 kids gifts, 15 adult gifts and 5 grab bag/small gifts and stocking stuffers for 10. I cannot exceed this budget because that is all I managed to put into the Christmas savings account for this year. So I am counting on all my budget friends to keep me from dipping into my personal savings as I am kind of a whimp when it comes to spending on my family, particularly the kids.

 

[KarenAylwood]

Hey all, I haven't been around No Buy since maybe... May or June of 2008 I think??

A LOT has changed since then in my life! I broke up with my DBF (was living with him) and had to splurge on all new furniture, a TV, etc. A good point is that I wouldn't have been able to afford all of that without good saving habits and the No Buy threads I joined starting in 2007! Also as therapy I started photography... great hobby, EXPENSIVE hobby. It's become somewhat of a passion over the last year and I've spent a few thousand on it I've recently slowed down with purchases, and created a photography fund in my ING account

I've also recently moved in with a new DBF I started dating this past winter (let's call him the better, 2.0 version) and he owns a house. In the process of making it "ours" instead of "his" I've spent a lot of money on paint, frames for my pictures, a new mini fridge, etc. I've slowed down on that and created a "house stuff" fund in ING

Also, I have attended 7 weddings and was in one in July. So I've spent over a thousand dollars on that this summer as well. Next summer there are 4 weddings on the list (two are out of town, one is a destination wedding in FL). So... I've started a "wedding" fund in ING (I think this may be a trend).

And finally, my company has decided to send me to the UK in December (I just found out last week). So I'm taking a few days to spend in London- which will be pretty expensive. I need to save up for that pretty quickly!

The plan is to spend as little as possible on "me stuff." Extras for this month include:

$20 - rock climbing on Saturday
$20 - donation to volunteer in ALS walk
$25 - wine festival
$75 - road trip to Savannah to see DBF's brother come home from a year in Iraq
$100 - out to eat fund
$50 - Halloween

I also need to buy some new pants and a new tote for my trip to the UK. They dress nicer at work over there than we do here, so I need to invest in some. I'm borrowing converters and such so I don't have to buy them. I don't know how much this will cost but I guess $100 for all pre-UK stuff?

Today I'm stopping at Michael's because I have a friends and family coupon and need a few things for the house. This will come out of the "house" fund

I'm going to post what I spend each day as well to get a better handle on my current habits.

 

[kindra657]

DH called today. He said he has 7 vacation days left for '09 and has to use them. No biggie...we have a lot do around the house. Then he reminded me that DD has a 4 day weekend at the end of Oct. 31-nov 3 and he brought up the idea of going to the promise land for a quick weekend trip. We have DVC points to use so we'd have to pay for flight and food. I didn't think I'd find any good flight deals for that weekend a month out, but I decided to give it a shot. Found 3 flights out of Detroit on the 30th (am) returning on the 3rd (pm) for $400.00 all taxes and everything included!!! Now I don't know what to do!!!! We could possibly go to disney for 4 days for less than $600!!! (we have AP's)...but my budget doesn't call for it! I wouldn't have to charge the trip, but I would be putting $500 LESS in savings this month!!

I am so on the fence with this one!!

Other than me debating on whether or not to spend $500, I did save some money today! I went to the dr's today and expected to pay a $15 copay...they said I had a $15 credit so I didn't have to pay it! Every dollar counts!

 

[kindra657]

Hey all, I haven't been around No Buy since maybe... May or June of 2008 I think??

A LOT has changed since then in my life! I broke up with my DBF (was living with him) and had to splurge on all new furniture, a TV, etc. A good point is that I wouldn't have been able to afford all of that without good saving habits and the No Buy threads I joined starting in 2007! Also as therapy I started photography... great hobby, EXPENSIVE hobby. It's become somewhat of a passion over the last year and I've spent a few thousand on it I've recently slowed down with purchases, and created a photography fund in my ING account

I've also recently moved in with a new DBF I started dating this past winter (let's call him the better, 2.0 version) and he owns a house. In the process of making it "ours" instead of "his" I've spent a lot of money on paint, frames for my pictures, a new mini fridge, etc. I've slowed down on that and created a "house stuff" fund in ING

Also, I have attended 7 weddings and was in one in July. So I've spent over a thousand dollars on that this summer as well. Next summer there are 4 weddings on the list (two are out of town, one is a destination wedding in FL). So... I've started a "wedding" fund in ING (I think this may be a trend).

And finally, my company has decided to send me to the UK in December (I just found out last week). So I'm taking a few days to spend in London- which will be pretty expensive. I need to save up for that pretty quickly!

The plan is to spend as little as possible on "me stuff." Extras for this month include:

$20 - rock climbing on Saturday
$20 - donation to volunteer in ALS walk
$25 - wine festival
$75 - road trip to Savannah to see DBF's brother come home from a year in Iraq
$100 - out to eat fund
$50 - Halloween

I also need to buy some new pants and a new tote for my trip to the UK. They dress nicer at work over there than we do here, so I need to invest in some. I'm borrowing converters and such so I don't have to buy them. I don't know how much this will cost but I guess $100 for all pre-UK stuff?

Today I'm stopping at Michael's because I have a friends and family coupon and need a few things for the house. This will come out of the "house" fund

I'm going to post what I spend each day as well to get a better handle on my current habits.

omg you are busy!! good luck with the 2.0 version!!

 

[sylvenmaid]

I went to CVS today to get the coke/movie deal. I spent $15 from misc. I also bought Taco Bell for me at $3.21 but I still had $15 left in spending money from last month. So the $3 doesn't count for this month.

Misc- $75-15= $60 left for the month. I don't count the change so I round up since I save all our change. All the change will pay for Christmas this year. Luckily we already have all of ds's gifts paid for from last year. It's all Bionicle sets that we got cheaply on clearance. We have around $100 so far in change plus I redeemed a $50 check from my rewards at my bank. I have $150 to pay for Christmas this year.

 

[neatokimmo]

Ok so I have $1510 going towards things that are fixed that never change.
DD already has all of her winter clothes. Yard sales are winding down. We aren't going on a big vacation next year (adopting another DD woohoo!) and I want to trim eating out. So this is my OCT budget:

Groceries - 86/200 (bought groceries yesterday)
Eating Out - 25
Cats - 30
Gas - 60
Consignment Store - 40
DD Loot - 20
Baby loot - 20
My loot - 40
My birthday - 50
Cloth Diapers - 70
Baby gear - 75
HBA - 30

That leaves $330 that I'd like to save. I am having a yard sale on Saturday, I hope to sell enough to cover the cloth diapers and baby gear (stroller or pack and play).

Oct 1 - zero
Sept 30 - Groceries, $86

 

[KarenAylwood]

omg you are busy!! good luck with the 2.0 version!!

Thanks! DBF would kill me if he read that.

Haha yes, I'm busy. Re-reading that post I was thinking "omg how do I even have time for anything??" Right now I'm just thankful that wedding season is over!!!

 

[pixie921]

Well, so much for my planned first day of no spending.

Ds' homeschooling videos and books arrived today ... SIX boxes worth!! And we had nowhere to store them ... his bookshelves are already full. So we ran out to find a cheap bookcase. We even stopped at a garage sale (they had a funky old one for $15) and Salvation Army (nada) before giving up and hitting Target and getting one for $20. He's sitting on the floor building it right now.

Then on the way home we were thirsty so we ran through the Wendy's drive-thru for pops. Almost $6 for the 3 of us! Ugh! This is EXACTLY the kind of stuff we need to stop doing to plug the leaks in our budget.

On the upside, dh is doing extra work for 2 clients today so that will more than make up for what we spent.

 

[lougoofy]

Oct. 1: $2.63 sandwich and coffee, $1.50 bus fare, $2.44 strrong iced americano and $22.85 groceries

 

[kindra657]

oct 1st- $420 for plane tix ..i gave in
I guess this month is shot (i justify this by reminding myself that i used to spend this much a week dining out ...dh really had to twist my arm too!! )

other than that...oct 1st $0

time to make dinner

 

[Mom2Ben02]

I am going to join in on this! We have a big hunk of our trip to pay for, so we need to trim the budget to pay for it!

I did start out badly today - stopped at McD's for lunch. Oh, well - we will make up for it. I am aiming for 15 $0 days!!! I do have my kid's bday party this month, but I get an extra paycheck to make up for that!

1st - McD's - $10.63

 

[PixiePlanner]

Additional goal this month...spend less than $400 on groceries: $80 per Saturday.

10/01 0.00

 

[sylvenmaid]

I may spend a little more since yard sale season is really picking up. Yes we have more fall yard sales than summer. It's just so hot in the summer not to mention the humidity. I'm really leaning towards going on Sat. I haven't been in months. Gas is so much more affordable. I really don't need anything, but I have been thinking about listing some stuff on ebay to start generating a small income. I would really love to get out the house for a couple of hours by myself. I did get rid of some extra cable channels and the DVR. I really love it, but I also love the extra $42/mo we'll be saving. That will buy a lot of paint.

 

[wdwfan16]

10/1 - $0

 

[Tiggerish]

I am in again and my total budget for October is $775 for:

Groceries - $200
Automobile - $350 / $332 left
(insurance, plate & drivers license renewals all this month)
Giving - $50
Medical - $35
Eating Out - $15
Misc. - $125

Then I have a separate budget for Christmas - $400 / $267 left
==========================================================

10/1 Auto -$18 drivers license renewal

 

[albertamommyof4]

i am starting off October with a budget sheet on teh computer so i will really stick to it.
I will have the kids pictures coming out of the account this month although it was in last months budgetit was $16 x3, also with halloween this month i have money set aside in teh budget for this i think it was $50
I am going to try to do as many $0 days as possibel and while i am writing this hubby just broke our garbage can
, so today was going to be a $0 day but not now lol. will update after it is bought and also a broom as the kids took it outside and it ended up getting broke lol.

 

[annsteere]

Stopped for lunch at McDonalds. Kept it to a double cheeseburger and drank the water in my nalgene bottle, so it was only $1.29. But, it is only the first and I've already missed having a cold-turkey-NO-spend month.

Maybe I'll start October tomorrow

 

[Debbie]

I'm in! Just waiting for RL to give me some more time on the computer. I'll post the budget on the weekend! So here is the (growing) plan, with what I have left registered on each:

home repair- pool closing, reshingle the shed and paint 1 bedroom $75/$400
automobile- gas, change to snow tires, oil change $134/$250
Christmas: flights for DD to come home $356/$650
gifts for 5 kids (just starting) $463/$500
Finishing up birthday gift for my mother $50/$50
groceries (DS25 has returned home) $292/$600


1- $8 milk (2-4L bags)
2- $0
3- $25 groceries
4- $35 groceries
5- $35 M&M Meats + $40 gas
6- $190 home repair (shingles/nails) + gas $40
7- $0
8- $10 groceries
9- $30 gas + pool closing $135
10- $37 Christmas + $91 Costco + $10 No Frills (both groceries)
11- $3 potatoes and eggs
12- $0 It's Thanksgiving, and all of the stores are CLOSED
13-$31 gas + $35 groceries
14- $5 raincheck on soup
15- gas for lawnmower $5 + $39 Shoppers Drug Mart
16- mother had surgery $5 for tea and doughnuts for sister and me
17- LCBO purchase $9

 

[kindra657]

I'm in! Just waiting for RL to give me some more time on the computer. I'll post the budget on the weekend!

1-$8 milk

$8 for milk!?!?! OMG!!!

 

[albertamommyof4]

i am starting off October with a budget sheet on teh computer so i will really stick to it.
I will have the kids pictures coming out of the account this month although it was in last months budgetit was $16 x3, also with halloween this month i have money set aside in teh budget for this i think it was $50
I am going to try to do as many $0 days as possibel and while i am writing this hubby just broke our garbage can
, so today was going to be a $0 day but not now lol. will update after it is bought and also a broom as the kids took it outside and it ended up getting broke lol.

Well i spent $15.73 for a broom and garbage can, and $1.05 for a gift bag for my daughters friends birthday tomorrow night.