January No Buy: Let's Start the Year Right!

[alabamagirl]

I'm in! DH and I also decided to make and stick to a budget as our resolution. It is appalling the amount of money we spend on food. Anyway...since it is my first time I will set a goal of 12 no buy days.

 

[QVCshopper]

I'm back, just because. We're thinking about a new home or baby or car, so we need cash if any of those happen. Feeling like 2011 is the year for change. Or, maybe a DVC of our own if none of the above mentioned changes happen.

Anyway, shooting for 12 no-buys because 10 is too easy for my. Funny thing, though. My DD6 cried when I told her it was a no-buy a few days ago. Guess she's learning.

 

[Pumpernoodle]

I'm in! I tried this in October, but I fell off the wagon in November when I started Christmas shopping. I think I went a little bit overboard on Christmas, so I DEFINITELY need this! I'm going for 15 no buy days to start. My mom and brother both have birthdays this month, but otherwise, I'm in the clear. Here goes nothin'!

 

[Holly324]

I'm in! I failed miserably this past month but am so ready to get back on track. Starting this months goal small, trying for 6 days!! Need to save some money for our trip!

 

[MiniGirl]

I'll give it a go, too. Our biggest weakness is eating out. Dh loves to have lunch out. However, he travels for a living, and I told our girls on those days we were going to eat in. We'll see how that goes. Anyway, I'm going to shoot for 10 days.

 

[Virgderon]

Thanks 3GoofyBoys for starting the thread. To all the new folks, welcome! EKW, we are so glad to have you! 23 days is a really tough goal, and you might get frustrated. No buy can be harder than it sounds.

2011 is going to be an interesting one. My renter in Chicago wants to stay another year. It will be a year of reducing debt to prepare for buying a house in Tampa next year.

I have a lot of family coming to visit this year, and DD coming home from Japan to start law school. My other DD is studying abroad in London and then moving to Orlando to work at Disney and finish her last year of college there.

The family visits end up being budget killers. I will be working hard to save as much as possible on months when I don't have family visiting.

I still don't do as well on grocery shopping as others here, so we will continue to work on that.

Happy New Year everyone...

Running Total: Spent $
$900 budget...$
$0 Days:
Goal is 8 or more!
coupon/sale savings :

Groceries budget- $250

 

[patsal]

I love this because I am so much more accountable when I keep track here. Last year I stopped in the spring thinking I had it together, but by Decemeber I was a spending machiene! Here's to 2011 and no big ticket purchases that can be avoided. Hoping for 10 no buy days.

1/1 $0
1/2 $132 groceries
1/3 $2 lunch and $5 carwash
1/4 $20 cello lesson, 2.00 lunch
1/5 $0
1/6 $67 dinner for DH's Bday, 2.00 lunch
1/7 $0
--------$230-------3 no buy days
1/8 $0
1/9 $87 Aldi
1/10 $2.00 lunch
1/11 $17.00 Breakfast foods for my students taking the Regents exam today, $20 DD's cello lesson
1/12 $0
1/13 $7.00 whole wheat rolls and veggie chips at Aldi
1/14 $3 copay for DD's antibiotic
--------$136 plus $230= $366------2 no buy days plus 3= 5 no buy days

1/15 $56 at ULTA, $51 Old Navy, $88 6pm.com
1/16 $78 ALDI, $34 TOPS,$76 Unjury
1/17 $0
1/18 $20 Cello Lesson for DD
1/19 $40 copays at Dr.
1/20 $0
1/21 $0
--------$443 plus $366= $809------3 no buy days plus 5= 8 no buy days

1/22 $0
1/23 $107 groceries
1/24 $0
1/25 $2.80 postage with del confirm, $44 gas, $20 DD's cello lesson
1/26 $12 for lunch
1/27 $17 misc. neccessities from Aldi
1/28 $20 for lunch and $25 for dinner
-------$809 plus $248= $1057-------8 no buy days plus 2=10 no buy days

1/29 $0
1/30 $0
1/31 $34 at Wegmans, $55 at Tops, $44 at ALDI--between a potluck at work and dinner for my parents the food budget is a little over $44 for DD to get some new Vera accessories
------$1057 plus $177=$1234------10 no buy days plus 2=12 no buy days

Woohooo I exceeded my no buy days goal! I was hoping to keep spending at or below $1500 and came in well under that!

 

[Carnie]

This is my first one, so I am going to start small.

There is no reason in the world I need to buy breakfast or lunch "out". So I am starting officially tallying a No Buy policy on these two things. Every time I hit the donut shop it's five bucks. It's a, frankly, stupid way to blow 15 - 20 bucks a week.

I live across the street from work, so rather than just running to the cafeteria or driving down the road, I will go home if I forget to pack something.

1/1. 0
1/2 0
1/3 0
1/4 0
1/5 0
1/6 0
1/7 0
1/8 0
1/9 0
1/10 0
1/11 0
1/12 0
1/13 0
1/14 0
1/15 0
1/16 0
1/17 0
1/18 0
1/19 0
1/20 0
1/21 0
1/22 0
1/23 0
1/24 0
1/25 0
1/26 0
1/27 0
1/28 0

 

[nunzia]

I had a rough December too..Christmas shopping gets me all the time! I hate CC debt, so pay it off, but it hurts to take from savings to pay for that! So, this year I am finally using an account I have but rarely use as a Christmas shopping account to pay for all this stuff I know I'll buy for Christmas gifts. Even though I buy all year, with a big family I still end up buying a mess of stuff in Nov/Dec. So, I'm increasing all forms of savings more this year, and adding more to the monthly extra on the mortgage. I've vowed to not buy stuff just because it's neat or on sale. I'll use the paychecks from my little second job as spending cash for our trips and anything I make on Ebay will go toward paying off our final DVC add on. I won't count bill paying as days of spending since I have no choice at that, but every other day is fair game. I'm going to DLR in a couple weeks so those days will be definate spend days, so for January I'll aim for 14 days of not buying stuff. (also, I will not count the dollar here and there I spend at thrift stores finding stuff for Ebay, since that is income producing, not depleting.)

 

[Mermaid02]

I'm in- although I'm not sure how I will do this. I guess the grocery store is where I spend WAY too much and we throw away WAY too much.

How does everyone handle their grocery budget- right now there are 4 of us (dd will be going back to college in a couple of weeks)- I'm on Weight Watchers so I will need to buy fresh fruit and produce a couple of times a week. I will use up what is in the freezer and try to not buy meat for a couple of weeks.

Suggestions appreciated!

 

[msmama]

Not counting bills, which will be paid whenever they're due, I'd like to do 20 No Buy Days.

I know it's starting high, but I need to be really gung-ho about the budget thing.

I've already planned my month of meals and have 2 big shops planned. And I'll need smaller shops the other weeks to round out stuff that doesn't last that long.

I want to REALLY stick to just my shopping list (and my other list of "frequent buys" like milk, etc).

And every time I drive by a Starbucks and don't go in when I normally would have, I'm going to take that $5 and put it into a "fun" fund that I get at the end of the month if I meet my No Buy goal.

 

[Tiggerish]

Wow! I am impressed with all the enthusium that these new posters have. I am inspired by msmama to drop $2 in the "going to disney" jar every time I resist buying a coffee to drink in the car from a drive thru.

The January budget is $1200 with 12 no spend days.

Auto $70
Eating Out/Entertainment $50
Giving $10
Groceries/Household Goods $200
Medical $100
Misc. $50
Set bills $420

No spend days goal of 12

Coupon savings $
Semi-Annual Neurology eval in Chicago budget is $300

--------------------------------------------------------
1/1 $0 A good start to the month.

 

[billwendy]

I have a question - I see some people list "giving" - what is that? Also, would people mind mentioning their family size for us newbies? We are starting the year with a zero dollar day today!! Anyone else?

 

[ronnmel]

Ok, let's start the year right. I'm aiming for at least 15 No Buy days, but would love to go above that. My biggest problems are eating out, and always forgetting until the last minute that my car needs gas. Also, I spoiled myself enough last month so no more gifts to myself.
Finally, there will be a lot of wedding and Disneymoon related expenses in the next few months, but I won't be counting those because they come out of a special budget set aside specifically for that. We're keeping track of those in a seperate excell file.

Of course, stores are closed today so no spending!

No Buy Days : 1/15
Gas : 0$ (max 100$)
Groceries : 0$ (max 250$)
Eating out (and snacks) : 0$ (max 100$) (got gift cards, should use them)
Non-necessities : 0$ (max 200$) (trying a lower max, to offset what I spent in December)

01/01 : 0$

 

[Tiggerish]

billwendy, for me "giving" covers things like a neighbor collecting for American Cancer Society or similar or giving a person begging a dollar or putting a dollar or two into a free will offering at a "free" event or buying stuff for the local food pantry. I actually budgeted more for giving in December because I could never pass a Salvation Army kettle without putting in a dollar. I also volunteer mentor a first grader and sometimes buy things for that from giving.

And yes, I know the person begging will probably use it for drugs or alcohol. But I decided it is not my place to judge but rather err on the side of giving.

My regular church collection I include in set bills because I have comimitted to tithing and found it was easy to just think of that as my first bill every month.

 

[3goofyboys]

My goal for January is 15 no buy days.
Christmas is done, my DS's birthday is done. We have a few birthday parties to go to, but other than that, we don't have any big expenses coming up in January. I'm ready to get back on track after all the crazy holiday spending

January 1 $0 We're in for the day, so I'm calling it early. Hoping the $0 for today is a sign of good things in 2011!

 

[billwendy]

billwendy, for me "giving" covers things like a neighbor collecting for American Cancer Society or similar or giving a person begging a dollar or putting a dollar or two into a free will offering at a "free" event or buying stuff for the local food pantry. I actually budgeted more for giving in December because I could never pass a Salvation Army kettle without putting in a dollar. I also volunteer mentor a first grader and sometimes buy things for that from giving.

And yes, I know the person begging will probably use it for drugs or alcohol. But I decided it is not my place to judge but rather err on the side of giving.

My regular church collection I include in set bills because I have comimitted to tithing and found it was easy to just think of that as my first bill every month.

Ahhh, okay - got ya!! Great idea!!! Our tithing is built right into our budget as well but little things like that we can never pass up either - lol!!! Thanks for helping me think through the budget!!!!

I have a super hard time not wanting to shop in the beginning of January - all the post Holiday sales and stuff - I love that!!!!! lol...but, I have enough wrapping paper to last a life time, tons of gift boxes I bought a few years ago that I still havent used up, and I never use the bags of bows I purchase that then get squished - lol!!! So, I can do this!!!!!!

 

[A.Mickey]

I am Back! After being in Disney for 16 days in December it was just to much to report and I fell off the wagon and have some credit card debt that I want all cleared up from the trip by February. We ended up buying a new TV last month too, since our TV decided to stop working the beginning of November. I have been doing No Buy off and on since Oct 09, mostly on. Still need to work on eating out....I do have a lot of restaurant.com certificates that we need to start using when we feel like eating out. I do tend to eat out about twice a week, when we are watching it.

Our son starts preschool this year so that will be another expense. Also, hoping to be credit card debt free this year and start saving for our 1st home.

Running Total: Spent $3.98
$0 Days:0/10

Groceries ($100-$3.22/day)- $
Eating Out ($200-$6.45/day)-$
Misc. (Shopping/Entertainment) ($500-$16/day) $3.98


Decided to start a weekly budget, maybe this way I won't get too discouraged

WEEK 1:
Groceries- $25.76 left
Eating Out- $51.60 left
Misc.- $124.02 left


WEEK 1 BEGIN:
1- $3.98 (Artscow.com-Misc.), Jewel, Dollar Tree
2- Ultra Foods
3- No Buy?
4- McDonald's
5-
6-
7-
8-
WEEK 2 BEGIN:


Budget: $800....
Month: 1/31: 3%

My savings from coupons and sales: $14.98

 

[3goofyboys]

I have a question - I see some people list "giving" - what is that? Also, would people mind mentioning their family size for us newbies? We are starting the year with a zero dollar day today!! Anyone else?

Hi Wendy! Good to see you!

We are a family of 4. Me, DH, and our two little boys. But, DH and I are runners and it takes a lot of food to fuel our bodies, so we eat more like a family of 6-8.

 

[billwendy]

Hi Wendy! Good to see you!

We are a family of 4. Me, DH, and our two little boys. But, DH and I are runners and it takes a lot of food to fuel our bodies, so we eat more like a family of 6-8.

Good to see you too!!! I feel like I havent seen you on the disboutique thread for a while!! What 'cha been up to?

Thanks for letting me know your numbers. When its just the 2 of us, its hard to know how to guage things!! lol