No Buy January

[Siouxstone]

I am loving the suggestions for the No Buy Feb! I really loved "If you can't make it through..." alot! But, I keep thinking, "What if I can't make it through!"

This morning, I ran out early to get my Houston paper to clip coupons and AGAIN there were no coupons! The local paper had the sections, which would've been great if I needed old lady stretch pants, checks, or one of those tomato trees. I've got to tell you I am seriously PO'd about this and am calling tomorrow. So, I spent an extra $1.50 on top of the wasted $1.75!

After the usual Krogering, I tried to go out and spend some money. I really did! I did get my hair cut at Great Clips and it was even on sale! $6.99, so even with tip, I came out under budget by $6! Who even knew they had sales? I've gotten coupons before, but never seen a week with the cuts on sale. Then, I went to use my Kohl's gift card, but after trying on 4 pairs of pants, I just bought some socks and left. I still have some money in the clothing budget and several gift cards, but it's just lackluster in the stores. I may try and hit up Macy's later in the week.

I sadly did not make it to the library today. The hours are just too short on a Sunday. I'm really sad about it because I could've plopped the boys down with the puzzles and such and taken my time looking at books. Also, I really wanted DH to see what I mean when I say that DS turns into an octopus.

KarenAylwood~Girl, I am so sorry that it was that much pain! Congrats on the 20/15! How amazing that must be after a lifetime of glasses.

1/25-$0
1/26-$0
1/27-Groceries w/list, budgeted haircut, & socks on a gift card $3.25 on Sunday papers

 

[smiller]

Okay, so after my dining debacle of Friday night, I redeemed myself with a reasonable lunch on Saturday with visiting DBGF (Best girlfriend? Is that even an abbreviation? Well, it is now! )

1/26 - $11.00 for lunch at fantastic Scandinavian restaurant. Spent a couple of hours in wonderful conversation with a wonderful friend!

1/27 - $2.56 at CVS. Ah, the CVS. I'd say it's my downfall but since it was only $2.56 and I always get a ton of stuff on the cheap I must say it's my saving grace!

As for my monthly totals:

$1.94 left in Grocery
$2.87 left in Going Out (we're *ignoring* that $75 right now... )
$0.33 over in Personal
$0.88 left in Household

So, I've basically got $4.86 leftover, but I've spent $10.85 in miscellaneous CVS charges (and a small Target purchase), so I'm over budget by $5.99. Not bad.

Oh, wait. The $75.

And I'm going out to dinner this Thursday, also at previously mentioned Scandinavian restaurant.



At least it's BYOB!

 

[mmfan53226]

What I thought was going to be a zero spending weekend, turned into a spending weekend.

I had a $100.00 left from my budgeted weekly money and was hoping to turn that over to the bank. But that isn't going to happen...

I ended up spending $16.xx for ice fishing food and additional milk, $10.xx on some shoes and Belle doll for my DD and about $11.xx on misc stuff. I am left with $63 dollars and have to put additional gas in the car today and tomorrow I am going out for lunch. Which should eat up $40 of the $63. So, only $23 will be going in the bank. I did also spend $29.xx at Target for totally unplanned items, but we did have some extra money left over so that isn't too bad.

I can honest say I am getting addicited to saving my money, which is kinda a new thing for me. My DH doesn't like this new thinking, but I sure do.

Krystine

 

[neatokimmo]

I have $42 to last three days, think I can do it? lol

I have been stockpiling like crazy, there are some huge sales going on right now.

I am ready for Feb with my budget, I wonder if I can get anywhere close on it?

 

[TheBigBadWolf]

Well, I didn't do too well this week, either. I hit a 75% sale and fell off the budget wagon so to speak. I hope I can keep from spending so much in February!

1/22 $2.70 DH spent @ work
1/23 $24.27 flashlight -- will get this cash back when DH returns broken one
$20.58 Brake Bleeder (tool)
$39.00 gas
$15.14 horse food & supplies
$94.07 groceries
$13.55 storage ottoman 75% off
$28.08 storage trunks 75% off
$3.78 basket 75% off (gift closet)
$4.54 birdhouse 75% off (gift closet)
$5.38 house plant (used $10 off Lowe's coupon)
$5.36 house plant (used $10 off Lowe's coupon)
$166.58 shop project
1/24 $21.50 driver license renewal
$82.55 groceries
1/25 $1.95 DH spent @ work
1/26 $1.15 DH spent @ work
1/27 $1.15 DH spent @ work
1/28 $0

 

[hhartill]

I am so excited for no buy February! I like the "If you can't make it through the shortest month of the year you're screwed" theme.

How do you guys do your budgets? pen paper, computer, spreadsheet?

What do you do if you have $$ leftover? put it in the bank, pay down debt, I need guidelines. If you tell me there are rules, I'll follow them.

I am soooooo excited to do the Feburary, I purchased a purse today because it's still January. I'll probably regret it but it's sooo cute and I got a free Vera Bradley key fob!

 

[kandeebunny]

$0 day again!!!!

 

[minnie1928]

I think I'll jump in on the February list. Normally we do real well with a budget, but for the past few weeks we've been getting the house prepped so we can list it for sale in a few months (DH relocation). So far all the stuff we've done has been the "biggest bang for the buck" kind of stuff. But, DH and I sat down and reviewed the finances over the weekend and I told him that we really need to tighten the wallet over the next few months in order to really hoard some cash that might be needed for the move.

I used to do the "what have you done to save money this week threads" and I found that simply being accountable every day was an incentive. DH isn't home during the week since his promotion, so I'll make myself accountable to you guys!

 

[smiller]

1/28 - $0 (Thank goodness! )

Had my condo association meeting tonight. I've got a big $$$$ special assessment coming up which I'm not looking forward to, but at least we're looking at financing and I don't have to come up with a lump sum up front.

I'm very much looking forward to No Buy February! Bring it on!

 

[paulasillars]

How do you guys do your budgets? pen paper, computer, spreadsheet?

What do you do if you have $$ leftover? put it in the bank, pay down debt, I need guidelines. If you tell me there are rules, I'll follow them.

I use a spreadsheet with a series of tabs, one for my personal budget forecast, a second for the household bills tally and a third for a forecast for household long term savings goals.

I live well within my income but I do like to give myself a monthly allowance to stop myself going overboard with excessive spending, it ensures I have enough money to put a bit into savings every month. I don't have any debt and I pay my Visa card off every month. I also love to travel, so a fair amount of what I save goes towards mid-term travel goals.

In the past when I've had debt, I've ensured I had a small emergency fund then threw every single cent at the debt to get rid of it. That's how we paid off our mortgage in 6 years. That and the fact we are DINKs.

 

[paulasillars]

Monday 28th - $10 for some stuff for my bike tyres that you squirt in to fix punctures as they occur - if it works it'll save Robert a lot of time and effort and me frustration with getting a flat tyre on the way to/from work all the time
Tuesday 29th - $5 for reflectors for my bike (they didn't have them at the store we went to yesterday)

We are just about to go out to dinner so not sure if I'll be paying that or if it will come out of "eating out" which we are still a few $ under budget this month.

Total this month personal spending - $362.80/$400 - I'm back on track as Robert pointed out the donation(s) I made to Kiva technically I haven't spent as I should in theory get the money back at the end of the loan period. This means I only need to count this if the person receiving the loan defaults. I'm good with that logic

 

[delmar411]

1/28:
$50 in gas (from gas budget)
.89 on a bottle of water to keep the baby happy during ODD dance class (from grocery? budget )

that's it.

Tomorrow 1/29 I will be out doing a bit of shopping as I still have $20 in coupons for Meijer. $5 will go to milk and juice and then the other $15 I think I'll see about getting meat. Probably will go a few cents over in each transaction (can only use 1 $5 off coupon in each one so split orders).

Wed 1/30: I have CVS shopping to do as I have like $30-$40 in ECBs expiring on the 30th. Hoping to roll what I can but transactions will be hard to work as I have no idea what is in stock. I also have a bunch expiring on the 2nd so if I can work those into some deals that would be good.

 

[delmar411]

How do you guys do your budgets? pen paper, computer, spreadsheet?

What do you do if you have $$ leftover? put it in the bank, pay down debt, I need guidelines. If you tell me there are rules, I'll follow them.

I have a yearly budget in a spreadsheet form that has a tab for each month then I have a half worked sheet with my sinking funds broken out on it since I only use the 1 ING acct for everything.

I budget to zero so it's probably a bit different than others might do. Budgeting to zero (not that you don't know but some might not) is that there is no extra money. Every dollar is accounted for right down to fun money.

If there is money leftover (would only be from grocery budget) then I transfer it over into our savings acct. It becomes a part of our instant EF that we keep at the same bank we have our checking at since ING takes a few days to transfer money.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

1/14 $277 (groceries, in budget)
1/15 $10 (notary, unplanned)
$32 (mailing, in budget)
1/16 $0
1/17 $0
1/18 $18 bowling (in budget)
$19 helmet/tire pump (taken from homeschool budget)
1/19 $29 (bowling league, in budget)
1/20 $13 (bowling tourney, in budget)
$10 (arcade & snacks at tourney, in budget)
$22 (McDonalds, in budget)
1/21 $0
1/22 $0
1/23 $22 (homeschool field trip, in budget)
$28 (lunch on field trip, unplanned )
1/24 $40 (4 new grammar books, planned)
1/25 $0
1/26 $16 (bowling league, in budget)
1/27 $0
1/28 $0

It was a snow day today and we're expecting more snow tonight so I won't be going anywhere.

As far as budgeting, I'm an old fashioned pen and paper girl.

 

[Siouxstone]

Ok, Feb is up now. Don't everyone abandon ship at once!

1/28-$0, but out of laziness!

 

[kandeebunny]

1/29 will be a $0 day as I am not leaving the house...I feel awful still/again I'm not sure which

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

What do you do if you have $$ leftover?

I'll let you know if it happens

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Jan. 28 DD9 comes down with bronchitis and is having trouble breathing, trip to the emergency clinic $85, Rx, Claritin and cool mist humidifier $48. Two gameboy games at 50% off to entertain her while sick, 14.99. Dinner from Publix because after a full day of drama (from DD9 and running variety show rehearsal), I'm beat: $40 (and I bought myself a pint of Ben and Jerry's, too!).

Shazam, my $200 over budget just became an additional $188 in one day...

Man, January so can't end quick enough...

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

1/14 $277 (groceries, in budget)
1/15 $10 (notary, unplanned)
$32 (mailing, in budget)
1/16 $0
1/17 $0
1/18 $18 bowling (in budget)
$19 helmet/tire pump (taken from homeschool budget)
1/19 $29 (bowling league, in budget)
1/20 $13 (bowling tourney, in budget)
$10 (arcade & snacks at tourney, in budget)
$22 (McDonalds, in budget)
1/21 $0
1/22 $0
1/23 $22 (homeschool field trip, in budget)
$28 (lunch on field trip, unplanned )
1/24 $40 (4 new grammar books, planned)
1/25 $0
1/26 $16 (bowling league, in budget)
1/27 $0
1/28 $0
1/29 $0

One more day left for me, then Thurs. counts on Feb. for me since we get Feb. 1st paycheck a day early. We had two McDonald's trips this month, that's high for us, I'm going to try to reduce that to one. Overall I didn't do too bad for the second half of the month, I'm starting to get the hang of this.

 

[delmar411]

1/29:
trip to Children's Museum : $0

trip to bank: put in $400 of Feb's money in bank. Already setup the bills to take all that away. LOL
also put in $30.58 of overpayment to gas company.

so up $30.58 until....

Meijer: LOL

5 transactions ~
1st was all impulse:
2 doormats (trying to cut down on the mud at the front door) x $6.99
3 Star Wars figure things (for DH!) x $6.79
total: $36.41 eek!

so used up the 'extra' $30.58 PDQ.

the remaining 4 were all real food and cost like $4 over the $20 in money off I had.
I got:
4lbs pork chops
1 gallon milk
1 bag of apples
1 bunch bananas
10 oranges
1 bag of celery

So that's from the grocery budget...I guess the $5.83 also is going to be coming from the grocery budget!

Still have plenty of wiggle room until Monday when DH gets paid again.

I'm waiting on the gas bill and that's the last bill I need to pay for the month. I have $125 budgeted for that so we'll see what it comes out to. This is the first full month in this house so I'm not sure if it will run the same as the old house.