September No Buy - Holidays are Coming!

[tinkarooni]

I didn't set a goal this month because I really have no idea what was a realistic one for us. I'll do one for October if we stick with it.

September 1-4 Vacation (Didn't participate in no-buy on these days.)
September 5-$30.25 at Albertson's for groceries
September 6-$0
September 7-$0
September 8-$20.02 at Albertson's (stocked up on chicken) and fruit stand.

Split chicken breasts were on sale at $.88/lb so I bought 4 family packs (around 16 lbs.) as well as a 1 lb package of dried lima beans at $.99 with a coupon. At the fruit stand I spent $1.93 on two HUGE green peppers and a purple onion. Salad is still too pricey.

Most of the chicken went into the freezer but I used two breasts along with celery and carrots from the fridge and rosemary that I grow on the patio to make a big pot of chicken stock. I used the cooked chicken, some of the stock and 1/2 lb andouille from the freezer to make chicken and sausage jambalaya for dinner. There's enough jambalaya for another meal as well as 2 quarts of chicken stock. I figured a rough estimate of the total cost was around $6.

Your pictures always look so yummy!

 

[charming23]

Playing catch up.

Staying home today as I have a bad cold

9/1- $0
9/2- $0
9/3- $13.44 lunch at work and $17.66 gas
9/4- planned spending for day on Kelleys Island
9/5- $0
9/6- $15.45 ordered lunch at work, I worked an unexpected open to close and $55 grocery store
9/7- $0
9/8- $0
9/9- $0

 

[jsmla]

Your pictures always look so yummy!

I'm playing at pretty pictures trying to convince myself that this could be fun!

 

[tinkarooni]

September 1 - No Buy (day 1/18)
September 2 - scheduled shopping day $75.00/$500. Groceries
September 3- dog food bought
September 4 - Walmart .43. SAMs $34.00 so $108/$500 groceries spent.
September 5 - No Buy (day 2/18)
September 6 - No Buy (day 3/18)
September 7 - No Buy (day 4/18)
September 8 - No Buy (day 5/18)
September 9 - No Buy (day 6/18)

Tomorrow I grocery shop. Really need to keep to the budget this month. Working on the meal plan and shopping out of the freezers before I go to the store.

 

[jsmla]

September 1-4 Vacation (Didn't participate in no-buy on these days.)
September 5-$30.25 at Albertson's for groceries
September 6-$0
September 7-$0
September 8-$20.02 at Albertson's (stocked up on chicken) and fruit stand
September 9-$9.48 at Target on paper towels

So, I didn't plan on running to Target but they had paper towels on sale and we were out. An 8 pack of the jumbo rolls of Bounty was on sale for $9.99 with a buy two/get a $5 GC promo. I had two $1 off coupons and a $10 GC from a cat litter promo and wanted to take advantage of the sale so I went. In the spirit of no-buy I had no overpriced iced Starbucks (there's one inside our store) and went nowhere near the cute Fall/Haloween stuff. I ran in, got my paper towels and left, possibly setting a land speed record for me at Target.

I chose to go to Target because this was a great deal for us and I got burned last week when Winn Dixie ran out of their $.99/lb pork shoulder. No pork shoulder meant that I wouldn't meet the $30 minimum spend I needed to qualify for the $1.50/lb ground chuck. The whole trip was a bust. I was afraid that, if I waited until my next designated shopping day, the paper towels would be gone as well. It seems like, for me anyway, maximum savings will call for more spend days, not fewer.

DH usually picks up a bale of paper towels at Sam's when he goes. I really hadn't been giving the first thought to how expensive those things are! Made a plan to prepare a stock of rags to have on hand in the kitchen.

Dinner was the rest of one pack of the $.88/lb chicken breasts oven barbecued, home fries with peppers and onions and a cucumber, tomato and onion salad. I also used up the the bananas (which were past their prime) to make a couple of loaves of banana bread to have for breakfasts.

 

[tinkarooni]

September 1 - No Buy (day 1/18)
September 2 - scheduled shopping day $75.00/$500. Groceries
September 3- dog food bought
September 4 - Walmart .43. SAMs $34.00 so $108/$500 groceries spent.
September 5 - No Buy (day 2/18)
September 6 - No Buy (day 3/18)
September 7 - No Buy (day 4/18)
September 8 - No Buy (day 5/18)
September 9 - No Buy (day 6/18)
September 10 - scheduled grocery shopping $114 s0 $222/$500 groceries spent.

I'm not really counting my scheduled grocery shop days, but I think I'm going to make it even without adding those it.

I have been so spendy for the past several years that I wasn't sure how this would all go, but so far so good. The one who is really having a tough time is my teenage daughter. She is used to me just bringing home piles of groceries and filling up the cabinets. The problem is that so much of that was wasted, I was throwing away perfectly good money. So now she's always complaining there's no food in the house, just because there isn't the variety of a grocery store. I told her I would buy whatever she wanted (within reason), that she just needed to put it on the list. She just doesn't know what to put on the list. So her available snacks this week are yogurt cups, string cheeses, apples (from our trees), oranges, popcorn and her splurge, tortilla chips and salsa. There is also zuchinni bread in the freezer if she'd like it. But I'm sure that she will still complain there's no food.

These are our dinners for this week. You'll notice leftovers on purpose. I don't have time to cook every night. I do intentional leftovers.

Saturday: City chicken (which is really pork) Potato pancakes, applesauce, broccoli
Sunday: Roast chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans
Monday: Baked ziti with Italian sausage, spinach salad, watermelon
Tuesday: Leftover roast chicken, possibly turned into chicken pot pie, mixed veggies,
Wednesday: Leftover baked ziti, antipasta salad
Thursday: Grilled chicken, rosemary roasted potatoes, steamed fresh carrots
Friday: Home made veggie pizza with grilled eggplant, caramelized onion and zuke from garden.

 

[stayhomemom77]

September

1-No Buy #1
2-spend--dinner out for the family
3-No Buy #2 (staying home and keeping my money to myself!!)
4-No Buy #3
5-No Buy #4
6-spend--dinner out again (had a coupon and money in the family fun budget) and a first day of school treat for the kids
7-No Buy#5
8-No Buy #6
9-spend--pizza delivery which was planned for later in the month but needed last night
10-No Buy #7
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

7/20 days

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Okay, went to WDW and spent less than we ever have. Still spent too much. Not counting food, gas and parking at Universal. I think I am done spending for the month!

1st - No Buy 1
2nd - No Buy 2
3rd - No Buy 3
4th - Keychain for co-worker $8
5th - No Buy 4
6th - $32.50ish wand at HP. $8 - luggage tag at HP $85 - Disney stuff from the Outlet. $20 in new Kindle books.
7th - $65 - new running shoes, $65 - new running/WDW shirts. (I found the most amazingly cool shirts. . .)
8th - t-shirt $32, t-shirt $25
9th - R2D2 - $38ish.
10th - No Buy 5

 

[jsmla]

September 1-4 Vacation (Didn't participate in no-buy on these days.)
September 5-$30.25 at Albertson's for groceries
September 6-$0
September 7-$0
September 8-$20.02 at Albertson's (stocked up on chicken) and fruit stand
September 9-$9.48 at Target on paper towels
September 10-$0

Spent all day doing laundry for a friend whose house also flooded. The clothes hanging in her closet didn't get wet but, boy, do they smell funky! I'll probably need to budget for extra laundry detergent this month.

DH went to the football game, I'll have to check to see if he spent anything. Fortunately, they don't sell beer in Tiger Stadium! We had the banana bread for breakfast and everyone just scrounged out of the fridge for other meals.

 

[tinkarooni]

September 1 - No Buy (day 1/18)
September 2 - scheduled shopping day $75.00/$500. Groceries
September 3- dog food bought
September 4 - Walmart .43. SAMs $34.00 so $108/$500 groceries spent.
September 5 - No Buy (day 2/18)
September 6 - No Buy (day 3/18)
September 7 - No Buy (day 4/18)
September 8 - No Buy (day 5/18)
September 9 - No Buy (day 6/18)
September 10 - scheduled grocery shopping $114 s0 $222/$500 groceries spent.
September 11 - No Buy (7/18) I did my own pedicure today. Saving money is getting serious now.

So I am headed out of town for business this week. Usually I get to work at home, but when I do have to go somewhere I have to travel. So headed out of town until Thursday which means I will be eating on an expense account, and DH and DD16 will follow the menu plan. DS is away at college eating the dining hall out of house and home. So I'm saving big bucks there.

I'll post updates throughout the week. This should be a totally No Buy week so long as DH sticks to the plan.

 

[charming23]

Ended up going to the doctor today, I have bronchitis. So picked up medicine plus some supplies. I also was in no mood to cook so mom picked up Outback takeout

9/1- $0
9/2- $0
9/3- $13.44 lunch at work and $17.66 gas
9/4- planned spending for day on Kelleys Island
9/5- $0
9/6- $15.45 ordered lunch at work, I worked an unexpected open to close and $55 grocery store
9/7- $0
9/8- $0
9/9- $0
9/10- $30 Cvs and $24.58 outback dinner

 

[jsmla]

September 1-4 Vacation (Didn't participate in no-buy on these days.)
September 5-$30.25 at Albertson's for groceries
September 6-$0
September 7-$0
September 8-$20.02 at Albertson's (stocked up on chicken) and fruit stand
September 9-$9.48 at Target on paper towels
September 10-$0
September 11-$0

DH spent $8 on waters at the LSU game. There's really no way around this spend, no outside drinks area allowed into the stadium and it's still very warm out. I explained my no-spend challenge and, believe it or not, he's really not interested in reporting his expenses on a Disney message board


Spent the day sorting through things at my father's house. My mother died last fall and Dad moved into an assisted living apartment over the summer. We're slowly going through the house. The guys watched football while I sorted through a few of the many, many boxes my brother has found in their attic. DH scrounged dinner from the fridge, I wasn't hungry. Going through my mother's things is very emotional for me and pretty much kills my appetite.

 

[rznhal]

Sept 1-6-Disney
7-Had absolutely nothing in the house for lunch lol.....$3 at Subway, $5 for a Hot n Ready pizza for kids' dinner
8-$3 at Target for Halloween Decor
9-$5 for a gift, new boots (curse you amazon!!!)
10-11-Weekend spending (brother and Husband's boss b day) yikes!! but we did manage to keep our eating out confined to $20 on a pizza...ate the rest of the weekend at home/birthday party
12-hoping for a no spend!!! my goal is looking a little dim today......=(

 

[Lady Marie]

1- No Buy (Day 1)
2- T-shirt and cupcake @ Disney Springs
3- Ate lunch out
4- Ate Dinner out
5- Ate lunch out (unplanned.... decided not to leave MK early and ate in the park)
6- No Buy (Day 2)
7- No Buy (Day 3)
8- Purchased gift for family birthday
9- Bought dinner and drinks at a bachelorette Party
10- No Buy (Day 4)
11- No Buy (Day 5)
12 - No Buy (Day 6)
13 - No Buy (Day 7)

 

[snarlingcoyote]

1st - No Buy 1
2nd - No Buy 2
3rd - No Buy 3
4th - Keychain for co-worker $8
5th - No Buy 4
6th - $32.50ish wand at HP. $8 - luggage tag at HP $85 - Disney stuff from the Outlet. $20 in new Kindle books.
7th - $65 - new running shoes, $65 - new running/WDW shirts.
8th - t-shirt $32, t-shirt $25
9th - R2D2 - $38ish.
10th - No Buy 5
11th - 2 raincoats on e-bay $65

 

[tinkarooni]

September 1 - No Buy (day 1/18)
September 2 - scheduled shopping day $75.00/$500. Groceries
September 3- dog food bought
September 4 - Walmart .43. SAMs $34.00 so $108/$500 groceries spent.
September 5 - No Buy (day 2/18)
September 6 - No Buy (day 3/18)
September 7 - No Buy (day 4/18)
September 8 - No Buy (day 5/18)
September 9 - No Buy (day 6/18)
September 10 - scheduled grocery shopping $114 so $222/$500 groceries spent.
September 11 - No Buy (7/18)
September 12 - No Buy (8/18)

I am traveling for work this week. I packed some of my own food from home so I'm able to save some of my per diem $$. I can certainly eat cheaper with my groceries then they pay. Will come out ahead and make a few bucks this week. Yay!

 

[EpiStitch]

It looks like I'll be getting more for the totalled car than I expected, so I should be able to pay almost half the cost of a new car with it!

1-went out to lunch, not the best start
2-No Buy #1
3-went out for drinks
4-paid to have my car towed
5-No Buy #2
6-grocery shopping
7-No Buy #3
8-No Buy #4
9-dinner out
10-the lightbulb went out in my bedroom and I had to buy a new one
11-No Buy #5
12-Uber to pick up my license plate since I have a broken toe

 

[jsmla]

September 1-4 Vacation (Didn't participate in no-buy on these days.)
September 5-$30.25 at Albertson's for groceries
September 6-$0
September 7-$0
September 8-$20.02 at Albertson's (stocked up on chicken) and fruit stand
September 9-$9.48 at Target on paper towels
September 10-$0
September 11-$0
September 12-$0

Home doing laundry all day. We're trying to hang our guests things out in the sun as much as possible-thank goodness for my huge clothes line!

Dinner was black bean taquitos with salsa, sour cream and homemade guacamole with "Mexican" rice. I'm really missing salad!

 

[rznhal]

Sept 1-6-Disney
7-Had absolutely nothing in the house for lunch lol.....$3 at Subway, $5 for a Hot n Ready pizza for kids' dinner
8-$3 at Target for Halloween Decor
9-$5 for a gift, new boots (curse you amazon!!!)
10-11-Weekend spending (brother and Husband's boss b day) yikes!! but we did manage to keep our eating out confined to $20 on a pizza...ate the rest of the weekend at home/birthday party
12-My poor son had to have a tooth pulled so we got Sweet Frog-$5.42. Other than that it was a good day=)
13-Try try again!!!!

@snarlingcoyote how was your trip!?!?!?!?!?!? We had such a great time.....=)

 

[stayhomemom77]

September

1-No Buy #1
2-spend--dinner out for the family
3-No Buy #2 (staying home and keeping my money to myself!!)
4-No Buy #3
5-No Buy #4
6-spend--dinner out again (had a coupon and money in the family fun budget) and a first day of school treat for the kids
7-No Buy#5
8-No Buy #6
9-spend--pizza delivery which was planned for later in the month but needed last night
10-No Buy #7
11-No Spend #8
12-No Spend #9
13-No Spend #10 (calling it early but DH is at work 14 hours today including travel time with our only car so I can't get out to shop and I'm confident I won't be shopping online)
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

10/20 days Halfway there!