The big "no buy in July" thread!

[kinntj]

I'm in! June was a bust for me, so hope to keep this in the front of my mind to save for Christmas. I hope to do a July and August no spend!

1- $1.25 for a pop out of vending
$19.99 ll Bean messenger bag for DD for school
2- $

 

[wdwfan16]

7/1 - $0

 

[lougoofy]

I'm in. I have had very few no spend days lately. I will try for 7 this month.

 

[MissBritt]

In again! Shooting for 10 $0 days. I'm not counting monthly bills, as there is no getting around them and they are consistently the same. Today is a grocery day for me... let's see how much I can save.

 

[thebigkahuna]

This is my first post on the dis and I can't think of a better one. July is going to be VERY tight for us so hoping to reign it in. I am shooting for 15 no buy days.

Groceries- $300
Household-$100
Eating out- $50

Hoping to stick to this although my birthday is this month and I have promised my 7 year old we would take at least one "field trip" every week. Thank God for free days at the museums!

Remember, its all at your own pace - you get to make the rules! ( I love that part!)
Good Luck !

 

[charming23]

Today I had to run to Kmart to get new slippers for this weekend (mine are falling apart) and I scored some good deals. The slippers were on sale for $3.99, I got two summer tees on clearance for $3.59 a piece and a pair of black leggings on clearance for $.59, yes $.59. I was shocked to. But they fit great and will be wonderful for fall.

Also did grocery shopping for the weekend but that comes out of the vaction budget.


July Budget:

Grocery- $200
Household- $50
Car/Gas- $50
Eating out/ Entertaiment- $50
Misc- $50/$38.24

Total- $400/$388.24

Goal of 10 no buy days

7/01- $11.76 at Kmart
7/02- Out of town
7/03- Out of town
7/04- Out of town

 

[Tiggerish]

I have to see the neurologist in Chicago this month which means two tanks of gas and a hotel but it will make a nice mini vacation and a chance to stock up on cheaper liquor. Michigan has expensive state controlled prices so whenever I go to Chicago, my Dad hands me a credit card and a list!

Budget for July is $1000 with 10 no spend days.
Auto $60
Eating Out/Entertainment $100
Giving $125
Groceries/Household Goods $300 / $280 leftMedical $265
Misc. $150

No spend days = 10
Coupon savings = $4.50
-------------------------------------------
7/1 Groceries $20

 

[carj]

I have wanted to join for a while and just haven't done it. We have several big expenses coming up. My daughter's birthday party is the 24th and we leave for a 12 day trip to Florida, including 6 days at Disney on the 26th. I need to avoid buying "stuff" just out of boredom or because it is cute. We have too much stuff as it is.

For the purpose of this thread, I am not including regular bills, gas, or groceries. I am including things that I buy that are non-essential.

I think that my goal will be to have 5 "no spend" days, before July 23. I do realize that isn't terribly ambitious but with the birthday, vacation, and being off all summer, I'm trying to be realistic. I'm also hoping that by posting, I will be a little less likely to blow $$ on silly things.

Good luck to everyone!

July 1 $30 haircuts for the kids $15 lunch for all 3 of us $17 birthday party invitations Total $62

 

[SnowWhite607]

I am in this month! We took a cruise last month and I am ready to reign in the spending for July. The only big expense we will have is DD's school uniforms - they put them out in July and I better by them while I can!

July 1 - $6 for ice cream for me and DD

 

[QVCshopper]

After a good no-buy March, April, and May, I went a little crazy in June. LL Bean (who can say no to a $139 cashmere sweater down to $15?) and American Girl sales did me in--plus a bonus trip to Disney. So, I'm back for July.

Goal 10 no-buy days
$800 spending limit

Exceptions: Any super, amazing toy sales at KMart and Lego like I hit last year. Did all my XMas shopping for the kids in July.

7/1 - $2.25 popcorn at free show
7/2 - $3.50 Pretzel Factory; $5 Garden; $2.25 Hallmark; $9.50 B&N; $16 Genuardis; $11 Haircut
7/3 - $6 ChickFilA; $5 LL Bean
7/4 - $10 Farmers Market; $6 Candy Store/Machines; $38 Weis food; $2.50 Dunkin Donuts

 

[SunnieRN]

I am very excited that with a 12 day trip to WDW last month, I still met my goal of 12 "no buy Days!!" You all are the motivation, so THANK YOU!!

July goals:
13 No buy days (after set bills)
Grocery: $400 (My daughter/son in law will put in the same amount!
Entertainment/Eating out: $200

July 1: $0 (and worked on CE at home, so 5 hours overtime at work!

1/13 No Buy Days!

 

[PrncesKMW]

I'm in! Very excited, we just started Dave Ramsey, so I'm going to fill up my envelopes tomorrow and then clamp down! Goal is 20 no-buy days. Today is in the bag - unless I absolutely have to have ice cream after dinner.

 

[annsteere]

Two goals for the month: 10 no spend days, keep unnecessary spending under $100.

July 1- $1.26 McDonalds - But, I was driving to the library where I scoured the shelves and discovered the DVD they claimed I hadn't returned. I found it and they canceled my $38 replacement fee. So, while it wasn't strictly necessary, I figure it was a pretty good day financially.

 

[Mom2Ben02]

I am in! I am off on maternity leave so I need to reign in the spending. Luckily, we have lots of opportunities for free things to do (zoo/arboretum/children's museum memberships, subdivision pool, ymca).

I am shooting for 12 "no buy" days. I have the following budgets for spending:

Groceries - $350/350
Gas - $250/250
Entertainment/Eating out $200/200

No Buy Days - 1/12

July 1st - $0! (Well, I did buy my 2 week old son a sun hat and sunglasses before heading to the pool - but we had a Babies R Us gift card so that was "free".)

 

[breammom]

Count me in this month. Goal 10 no buy days.

 

[tinkarooni]

I'm in again. June was so so for me. I went slightly over in the food budget but not by too much which is a big accomplishment. Usually I am WAY over . So this month I want to be a little better.

I don't really have a $0.00 day goal, I'm just happy to see them and stay on budget.

Budget Goals:
$900 grocery budget
$120.00 allowance
$100 Fun Money

July 1 - Ran some errands and spent $5.00 on the kids for bottles of water and fries from Wendys. I never ever go there and the kids thought it was a big treat. Seriously have not been to a fast food joint in probably a year. But.....I have to do a better job of having snacks for the kids in the car. We live pretty rural so to drive to the mall to run an errand is about 40 minutes one way. By the time we get there and do what we have to do it's running into meal or snack time. I have to manage this a little better but I'm glad we didn't eat dinner out.....small steps...

Remaining:
$900 Grocery budget
$120 Allowance
$95.00 Fun money

Here we go

 

[thebeesknees]

Aagh! Was going to make it a $0 day, but then the LL Bean backpack sale got me and I ordered one for DS for the fall. His backpack from back in kindergarten is just too small to handle the stuff he'll be bringing home in 3rd grade. Shall try to do better tomorrrow.

7/1 $22.95 LL Bean

 

[tinkarooni]

Okay, I have to know how you guys get away with your monthly grocery bills so low! We spent a minimum of $150 a week for a family of 5. (One infant included in that.) We use only organic milk, and buy a ton of fresh produce. Not too many convenience foods, but I don't feel that I'm a fancy cook by any means. I kind of think our eating is way boring, frankly!

How do you do it???

VP

I am not sure how some folks do it....I envy them but we are $900+ per month family of four with DS12 (eats a TON) and DD9 (lactose intolerant) DH and me. What are you including in your budget? Some people don't count cleaning products or health and beauty, some people may not count meals eaten out sometimes including school lunch. My goal is to get the budget as low as we can. In my budget I include most of our eating out, all cleaning, haba and pet food. We too buy organic milk and a lot of organic fruits. That does increase the costs a bit. Just do what you can, I'm trying to do better this month than last. Good Luck!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

I am back! I used to do the $0 Buy threads but I drifted away.

I have been doing a great job of tracking my spending the last few months, but it's still a bit too high. I had 12 $0 days in April, 11 $0 days in May, and only 5 $0 days in June. In June, I was out of town for 15 days and I had friends in town for 5 days. Made for a tough month for $0 days!

I am going to include the following categories: gas, food (groceries & eating out), and miscellaneous. The goal is 15 $0 Buy days and no more than $500 for those categories.

01 - $0!

Totals:
$0 Buy: 1/15 7%
Spending: $0/$500 0%
Days in Month: 1/31 3%

 

[QVCshopper]

I am not sure how some folks do it....I envy them but we are $900+ per month family of four with DS12 (eats a TON) and DD9 (lactose intolerant) DH and me. What are you including in your budget? Some people don't count cleaning products or health and beauty, some people may not count meals eaten out sometimes including school lunch. My goal is to get the budget as low as we can. In my budget I include most of our eating out, all cleaning, haba and pet food. We too buy organic milk and a lot of organic fruits. That does increase the costs a bit. Just do what you can, I'm trying to do better this month than last. Good Luck!

I spend about $300 on groceries and $100 eating out/month for a family of four. I buy a lot of the about to expire meat ($1 for 1.3 lbs of ground turkey, for example) or $1.99 boneless skinless chicken breast and stretch it for a few meals. I buy a lot of veggies at the farmers market now, and have my own garden. I shop a lot at Wegmans, and stock up on snacks and cereal when they are super cheap (.88 for a bag of goldfish), and never buy out of season fruit. Other than that, I don't stockpile, so we use everything we buy and waste very little. I coupon a little, but not as much as I did before kids. I don't include soap and cat stuff, b/c that's not food. But, I have such a personal care stock pile from vacation extras, the Pier One .10 soap, etc. that I don't need much.