No Buy January

[reginaastralis]

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!

I kinda do two things. I have my monthly budget written out on plain old pen and paper. I try really hard to remember everything I need for it, and that's what I post on here.

Then, I have an excel spreadsheet that is broken down to the day. I am a server, so I make sure to have each day written on it to be able to track my tips. It's been great at keeping me on track with my spending.

This month (Feb), I am going to do something different ... I am going to keep a total each week of what is spent. I am also going to give myself a $20 allowance per week ... and anything "extra" from that is going to be thrown at my debt!

UGH ... I am sick again, but picked up a shift at work today. It was a $0 day, even though I was incredibly tempted to stop for pizza or something for Juliette ...

 

[kandeebunny]

OK So I ended up leaving the house today...my dog is staying overnight at the emergency vet's office and they are doing more tests. She is 9lbs and has thrown up 8 times, to the point where its all bile. They aren't sure whats wrong with her, shes shaking and dehydrated and so sick.

So overnight at the Vets...$800

We have to transport her to her normal vet in the morning...I miss my puppy

 

[smiller]

kandeebunny - I'm sorry about your puppy! Pets are wonderful to have - I wish yours the best!

1/29 - $0 + $2 I put in towards a cab for work (went to a mtg. with supervisor) but should probably get back but if I don't it's not really worth it for me to bring up. Oh, well. I'll let it slide this time but not again!!!

I've been getting very good at saying no to several friends that want me to go to a certain event this Saturday night. I've been offered free entrance tickets but would still need $$ for drinks and maybe some dinner (I could always eat at home first but it could end up being a long night). I'm considering it, but it's not the most important place to spend my money.

And that's exactly what I say: Usually I say I can't afford it, and then I catch myself - I say that's not what I choose to spend my money on. It would be a fun event, but I can think of other places I'd rather spend my money.

Oh, you'll all find out Sunday morning what I actually ended up doing!

 

[Siouxstone]

Oh no, sick puppies and sick mommies! Hope everyone feels better soon!

Today was definitely a spend day. I drove DH's Saturn the other day and was horrified by his brakes. So, after looking at the Feb budget and the leftover money from January, I decided to rip off the bandaid. I figured it was all trashed, and yep, I was right. But, it's got almost 195K miles and after talking to my DSis (they bought the car new, so it's handy to know everything that's been done to it before) it's never had anything but the usual pads & maintenance done before now. So, after $475, it's all new. Everything, caliphers, rotors, brake lines and on and on. But, I refuse to be sad because I just paid for it. No savings withdrawal, no credit card, no worries! Hmmm, it's still odd to do this: after paying out $475! Before my new lifestyle, I definitely would've put it on a credit card and scrimped (read as: mandatory super freak out no buy) until it was paid for, or been angry about pulling out of our meager savings account.

We also spent $16 at Lowe's to fix DS's little red wagon. Um, not the real one, the figurative one. He's discovered how to pull the pin out of the baby gate at the end of the hall (we have a large industrial strength metal one there) and I can't hear anything at that end of the house unless it is super loud. Last week, I woke early thinking, "Who's vacuuming?" and it was DS! (I do realize that someday, I will desire this!) We also bought new locking hardware for his closet as the electrical panel is there and it's been nagging at me for a while. So, we have new closet locks and a new BOLT instead of a pin in the baby gate. If DS wants to vacuum at 6 am, he will have to wake up mommy first. This will come out of the leftover Household/Grocery money.

Tomorrow, I will have to make a milk and fresh veggie run to the grocery store as it was what I was too lazy to do yesterday!

1/29-$491 brake job & hardware

Keep your chin up everyone, February is almost here!

 

[vegasnative]

Adi12982, Siouxstone, paulasillars, reginaastralis, mmfan53226 and McDuck...thank-you for your kind words and thoughts!

Kickapoo, I see you are responsible for our Feb. theme/motto.....loving it!!!

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Ha ha, I'm still in my jammies!!!

Kandee, I hope Tinkerbelle feels better, she's so adorable looking. My mini poodle gives your chihuahua a furry hug.

Jan. 28 $188 (doc, publix, best buy)
Jan. 29. $45 gas

Today I'm returning stuff to party city that I didn't use for DD's birthday, so maybe it can be a positive cash flow day for me...

Two.More.Days!

 

[neatokimmo]

I am here to confess my Jan totals lol

I would of be WAY over if I hadn't had that giftcard. I bought a lot of birthday party supplies, I had no idea they cost so much. I am going to be stocking up on pink and red valentines day stuff this year on clearance for next year to save some major $$.

I have some errands to run today and only a little bit to buy. My CVS doesn't have the concentrated Purex in stock like advertised and I have coupons! So I'll spend $7 something on detergent and another $2-3 on fruit. I have to pay my county and city property taxes. I also need to pick up my car tag renewal sticker.

Groceries
Alloted - $160 Spent $103 (-57)
Eating Out
Alloted - $40 Spent $42.85 (+2.85)
Cleaners
Alloted - $40 Spent $7 (-$33)
Baby Loot
Alloted - $40 Spent $136.58 haha (+$95.68)
HBA
Alloted $40 Spent $8.01 (-31.99)
Target Wipes Deal
Alloted $50 Spent zero always out of stock (-$50)
Misc
Alloted $174 Spent $278.13 (+$104.13)
Total spent including my errands today $575.57. I overspent by just $31.57, that makes me happy. Before I started writing everything down, I would "loose" hundreds of $$s a month- just have no idea where it went!

On to Feb!

 

[reginaastralis]

OK So I ended up leaving the house today...my dog is staying overnight at the emergency vet's office and they are doing more tests. She is 9lbs and has thrown up 8 times, to the point where its all bile. They aren't sure whats wrong with her, shes shaking and dehydrated and so sick.

So overnight at the Vets...$800

We have to transport her to her normal vet in the morning...I miss my puppy

Oh no! I hope your poor puppy is doing better soon. My daughter really wants a dog *as well as a baby sister and brother LOL*

Siuoxstone - LOL. I think our children might be seperatd at birth. I didn't even tell you guys about how my daughter got a couch cushion off the couch, into the kitchen, put her stool on top of that and climb on the counter to get down acrylic paint. YEAH. I was upstairs trying to spend money on disneyshopping (I knew I shouldn't have been doing that) and I thought it was really quiet, so I came downstairs ... and ... Julie was redecorating our dining room table. WOW. She was PURPLE. She had used 4 bottles of paint. FOUR! LOL. I almost died ... right there.

 

[delmar411]

1/30:
spent $.09 and $3.20 @ CVS ~ got back $10 in actual cash though from an ECB not printing. I'm going to tuck that into my Disney fund though. (used $10.98 ECBs and $24.95, got back $18.29 and $36.29)

DH just went out though and isn't telling me where he is going...I'm feeling money being spent!

ok, he went to blockbuster to use his $10 GC ...so $15.43 above that and he's out the door. I can't even pretend to complain as he spends no money at all on impulse...he even called and asked if we were ok for him to spend extra. :thumbsup:

Someone came and bought the boxes of books I had up on Craigslist for $15 ~I tucked that into the Disney fund

I went to another CVS and spent $2.82...used $11 in ECBs and got back $34

then went to Kroger and spent $48.02 on a bunch of groceries...saved $86.91 and also got back $5 since my oyno cpns didn't print out.

 

[minnie1928]

Well, today I went to Home Depot and only bought what was on my list ($17). Unfortunately $5 was to buy caulk for the shower since the stuff I bought the other day was wrong. I hate it when I make stupid mistakes!

DD and I stopped at the grocery store and bought what we needed...and 2 packs of kissables (they were 3/.99, so atleast they were cheap ). Total bill was less than $7, so that's ok.

Tomorrow the kids have dental appointments, so that will cost. But, we have money for that in the flexible spending account so no cash flow there. Hopefully there won't be any "issues" that need to be dealt with (cavaties, etc).

 

[reginaastralis]

Today I was planning on a zero day, but I decided to go to Target and buy more groceries. I am aiming to make it through most of the month of Feb without buying any groceries, so let's see if this works. I also bought cookie products for my baking project with Soldier's Angels. I spent $90 But it includes wipes, tons of baking products, Valentine's Day things, groceries .... like, everything I need.

I have to get all the baking done before the 15th and ship it out. I figure while I am baking for the troops, I will send some to my angel, and also to my brother who is stationed in Iraq. That's a LOT of cookies, and a LOT in shipping. I wish it was cheaper to mail stuff to Iraq.

And then ... since I obviously completely lost my stinking mind ... I had to pay a $20 late fee for daycare. This is the first time I have ever been late, and I can guarantee I will not be late again. Heck, last week when Julie was sick and missed Mon and Tues, I made a special trip on Tuesday just to pay it. I'm so angry with myself ... but ... lesson learned. Don't be late, they mean business.

 

[smiller]

1/30 - $0

I think I'm purposely avoiding picking up my coat from the cleaners just so I don't have to spend any money!

Tomorrow is my dinner out - again, I know - so I'll need to pick up a bottle of wine. I'm getting three buck chuck (or the equivalent) at Trader Joe's. I can probably keep dinner to around $25.

Since Friday brings a new month, I think I'll spend my weekend grocery shopping! Nothing like dragging out the pink suitcase and heading to the Aldi...

 

[kandeebunny]

Today was $0, transported Tink from vet to vet, she stayed the day and came home with me tonight. He redid her bloodwork and the pancreas was inflamed due to the vomitting, not pancreatitis. He is concerned about her trachea, so she is going back in the morning. She still has her IV line in and a cast over it, and a cone on her head, poor thing looks miserable and her paw hurts she won't put it down. Vet did not charge me today, will tomorrow though.

 

[paulasillars]

Wednesday 30th - $0
Thursday 31st - $0

Total this month personal spending - $362.80/$400 and thats me done for the month as its the evening of the 31st here in New Zealand so I'm outta here and full time over in February

 

[mmfan53226]

kandeebunny ~ I am so sorry to hear about your dog. Here to a fast recovery!

Well, the budget went down the toilet last night (and I am not lying either). Tuesday our toilet wouldn't flush. DH snaked everything he could no problems, turns out the toilet needed to be replaced, so with everything it was about $200, had to put that on the CC. So even through I haven't used it for food/gas/misc, I have had to use it for big ticket items. Which I guess could be worse if I had to use it for the other items.....

Oh, well tomorrow is another month and another budget, I will just see if I can tewk it to make it up.....

See everyone on the February board!!!

Krystine

 

[delmar411]

forgot yesterday I bought some coupons on Ebay for a sale next week. So just under $4 for those coupons. Will be able to get 20 bottles of shampoo/conditioner for free with those.

 

[tinkarooni]

OK, I sort of lost track of all of the little things. This was hard for the first month, I have a better plan for next month to be able to post.

I know however that my bottom line is fabulous! I did not overspend because I have an envelope system. Food budget $600. with $3.00 left over. This is for all of our eating out, food, school lunches, cleaners paper products etc. Also I am stealing a little bit of this each month to put aside for DD Communion party coming up. Also used some of it to pay for seed potatoes, onions and some vegetable seeds. So I am VERY pleased with myself this month.

I also give myself $40.00 allowance per month (yes per month) and I was able to put $20 of that into my envelope to save for new family room furniture. (Long term want)

On the super duper plus side I have $450 left over in my checking account this month. Just left over. I paid all of the regular bills, put my regular amounts into savings. This is LEFTOVER! I simply can't believe that we were leaking that much money. I have been working hard on the budget for about a year but this month I took a very hard line approach with the family and this is what I have. WOO HOO!

This money is going towards paying off our final CC (o% interest but still) and now we are working towards paying off our one car loan and than we are going to beat down our home mortgage. We set a personal goal of paying it off for my 40th BD. (I am 36) May be a little aggressive but you never know until you try.

Thanks no-buy disboarders. I am a happy, happy disser! Off to February!

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

Oh no! I hope your poor puppy is doing better soon. My daughter really wants a dog *as well as a baby sister and brother LOL*

Siuoxstone - LOL. I think our children might be seperatd at birth. I didn't even tell you guys about how my daughter got a couch cushion off the couch, into the kitchen, put her stool on top of that and climb on the counter to get down acrylic paint. YEAH. I was upstairs trying to spend money on disneyshopping (I knew I shouldn't have been doing that) and I thought it was really quiet, so I came downstairs ... and ... Julie was redecorating our dining room table. WOW. She was PURPLE. She had used 4 bottles of paint. FOUR! LOL. I almost died ... right there.

Reminds me of the time my two kids covered every square inch of their bathroom with conditioner. I didn't notice it until it dried! It was a ten dollar huge costco sized bottle of pantene, and let me tell you, that stuff DOES NOT COME OFF when it dries on a mirror, the toilet, the sink, the window, the doors, and *all*over*the*floor*. I got the official Bad Mommy Medal that day! They were 2 and 3 when they did it-I now know that quiet=bad!

Oh yeah, Jan. 30 I returned 17 bux worth of party supplies, so a good day for me!

Today Jan. 31. Mooching lunch off the boss! woo hoo!

Longest.Month.EVER!

 

[Siouxstone]

Let's see. Last night, I finally got around to the milk/bread run to the grocery store. I couldn't put it off much longer as DS finished off his milk with dinner. I also stopped at Ross and spent $32 on two blouses for my work wardrobe. So far, I have spent $58 out of this month's clothing budget. I also still have several gift cards from Xmas. But, it's horrible to shop right now. There are some great deals, but wow, some of it is so horrible, you couldn't pay me to take it. I also topped off DH's tank because I was on the other side of town and that Kroger had reasonable gas. The extra .10 a gallon from my card made it $2.76 a gallon. Lately, I've been excited to find $2.88. He would've needed gas tomorrow anyway.

1/30-Groceries w/list, clothing budget & gas

 

[Siouxstone]

I now know that quiet=bad!

My favorite bumper sticker ever was on a minivan with 4 car seats in the back. (After I read it, I had to check.) It said, "Silence is Golden, but Duct Tape is Silver." In my house, silence is usually anything but golden.