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No Spend/Low Spend January week one check in (1/1-1/6)


Runningmom80
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Today was pretty good. .75 at library book sale and 2.16 to help son with video game purchase. He traded some games in and was just a little shy of what he needed.

 

1/1 2.99 Les Mis kindle book

1/2 0

1/3 129.64- eating out, groceries, misc purchases

1/4 0

1/5 2.91 video game, book

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Ok...today's update.

 

1/1: $0

 

1/2: $208 (groceries and gas)

 

1/3: $0

 

1/4: $6.94 for 99 photos from Snapfish

 

1/5: $4.00 for this week's Project Life photos from Target, $8.00 for whatever needed to be replaced in the master bedroom toilet to stop it from running 24/7, $24 for groceries I couldn't get at Winco on 1/1, $4.50 for postage stamps. $40.50 grand total.

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Saturdays are my grocery shopping day.

 

1/1: $0

1/2: $0

1/3: $20 (paid for a field trip)

1/4: $0

1/5: $299.10 within budget: ($60 gas), ($126.83 groceries), ($91.68 Costco groceries, OTC meds, cat food, dish tabs), ($10.68 lunch) ($9.63 groceries not at first store)

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I'm late to the game, but I'd like to join. I'm not doing so well yet.

 

I'm looking for 10 no spend days, as well as groceries under $600 & dining out under $125.

 

1/1 -- $0 (Yay me!)

1/2 -- Walgreens $9 (various Xmas clearance)

1/3 -- Groceries $83, Children's Place $38 (leggings for under skirts & hat for middle dd)

1/4 -- DH wanted pizza, and I am weak... $17

1/5 -- Groceries $66, Pet Supplies $7, Children's Place $7 (needed to return 1 item from the 3rd and I picked up another pair of leggings)

 

Total Spent: $247

 

Groceries: $149

Eating Out: $17

No Spend Days: 1/10

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I'm late to the game, but I'd like to join. I'm not doing so well yet.

 

I'm looking for 10 no spend days, as well as groceries under $600 & dining out under $125.

 

1/1 -- $0 (Yay me!)

1/2 -- Walgreens $9 (various Xmas clearance)

1/3 -- Groceries $83, Children's Place $38 (leggings for under skirts & hat for middle dd)

1/4 -- DH wanted pizza, and I am weak... $17

1/5 -- Groceries $66, Pet Supplies $7, Children's Place $7 (needed to return 1 item from the 3rd and I picked up another pair of leggings)

 

Total Spent: $247

 

Groceries: $149

Eating Out: $17

No Spend Days: 1/10

 

 

I like your ideea of having a certain number of no spend days. I almost did a no spend day today, but not quite. I will shoot for 5 no spend days.

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Not doing so well here, but still, LESS than we would have been spending, so I guess that is something. I'm going to c&p what I already posted so I can update.

 

 

We are going for low spend, as we already know it will not be a no spend. We have some big expenses this month coming, that are planned, and so we are trying to minimize other expenses to offset that.

 

1/1 - $0

1/2 - planned eating out, still unnecessary, though. $35 for my RX, $24 for a new crock pot (mine is defective) Neither of those necessary I guess, but I really need the RX and the crockpot will help me eat at home instead of out, I shopped for the one with the best ratings and the lowest cost I could find.

1/3 - um, this was REALLY BAD. We ended up buying a new car. We had been discussing it and it was in the plan, I just hadn't planned on it being now! We ate lunch out after we got the car, because we spent all freaking day at the dealership and I was done.

1/4 - $0

1/5 - Planned outing today $30, Dinner out (also, planned, but still not a great idea) $45

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*Sigh* Amazon wins again. $9.95 for episodes of "Once Upon a Time" that aren't showing in reruns. The kids and I watched the whole first season on Netflix, and the network is rerunning five of the ten season 2 episodes. So, I had to buy the others on Amazon. I HAD to, I tell you! HAD TO!!!!! *sigh*

 

So, I am now $38.10 in the hole already this month. *sigh*

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Week 1 went OK for us.

 

1 Jan---$0

2 Jan---$0

3 Jan---$6 (2 x 2 litres milk) + $0 to get some reading books (including GTD) @ library

4 Jan---$0

5 Jan---$2 sausage at sausage sizzle for DH+ $28 lotto tickets for us & mil+ $8.90 fish bait for ds#2

6 Jan---$0

 

Weekly total = $44.90

January subtotal = $44.90

No Spend days = 4

 

Looking at what we spent, $30 (the sausage & the Lotto tickets) did not fit in our "No Spend" month. The fish bait $ was balanced with the 5 nice size (12"+) fish that ds#2 brought home over the week that supplemented our Pantry/Freezer menu. Staying out of the shops definitely is key to not spending $ for me.

 

My goals for January:

#1---Spend as little as possible as estimated monthly income is $0.

#2---Eat mainly from our pantry / freezer / garden.

#3---Learn to make do or do without whenever possible.

#4---Use our month of summer holidays to help instill healthy habits.

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I am doing the no spend January, but only for me not for the whole family. I am not doing it for groceries or bills, but for things like books (gasp!), curricula, makeup, etc. Stuff for me that I would normally buy without a second thought. I can think of over $30 worth of stuff I haven't bought since December 31st. :)

 

Thanks for the idea!

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Well, I did buy the curriculum, as well as a Kindle book. (Zen to Done, from the organization thread.)

 

1/1: $0

1/2: $0

1/3: $45

1/4: $0

1/5: $100 (Kindle book and curriculum came to this almost exactly.)

 

Tomorrow or Monday I need to do grocery shopping. I also like the idea of having certain no spend days. I think I will aim for 15... it might be a stretch, but that means half the month, and if I try hard I can manage! :)

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1/1: $0

1/2: $12 takeout (& $30 in groceries I'm not counting)

1/3: $39.22 in getting baby announcement photos & album printed on snapfish (free shipping deal)--announcements are going in my now very late Christmas cards to save postage.

1/4 $0

1/5 $0

1/6 $6.52 for a pizza (didn't plan ahead well for lunch)

 

January total: $58ish

no spend days: 3

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I am doing the no spend January, but only for me not for the whole family. I am not doing it for groceries or bills, but for things like books (gasp!), curricula, makeup, etc. Stuff for me that I would normally buy without a second thought. I can think of over $30 worth of stuff I haven't bought since December 31st. :)

 

Thanks for the idea!

 

This is what I'm doing as well. I think I'll try a more rigid approach in the summer, when I have a little more time to research cheaper options.

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I'm late to the game, but I'd like to join. I'm not doing so well yet.

 

I'm looking for 10 no spend days, as well as groceries under $600 & dining out under $125.

 

1/1 -- $0 (Yay me!)

1/2 -- Walgreens $9 (various Xmas clearance)

1/3 -- Groceries $83, Children's Place $38 (leggings for under skirts & hat for middle dd)

1/4 -- DH wanted pizza, and I am weak... $17

1/5 -- Groceries $66, Pet Supplies $7, Children's Place $7 (needed to return 1 item from the 3rd and I picked up another pair of leggings)

 

Total Spent: $247

 

Groceries: $149

Eating Out: $17

No Spend Days: 1/10

 

 

1/6 -- Groceries $29, Curriculum $5 (had $15 in TRU rewards and bought a CSI kit for $20)

 

Groceries: $178/$600

Eating Out: $17/$125

No Spend Days: 1/10

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Jan 1: $57 for Lively Latin Book 2 on sale.

Jan 1 cc: $1.99 kindle book (fun money)

Jan 2 $4.65 date stamp for project life (fun money), cc: $19.99 monthly nytimes sub on kindle, cc: $75 ymca monthly family membership,cc: $52 next week's afterschool care fees

Jan 3: $9.42 toothpaste, water for office and gum.

Jan 4: $12.05 for shipping of free Project Life stuff from a friend, vet: $143.50. $1.99 on cc for kindle book (budgeted in fun money)

Jan 5: $7.65 for 120 photo prints on snapfish, $2.00 for Project Life Photos at walgreens

Jan 6: $2.00 acid free pen for Project Life.(fun money) Resisted massive sale at Michael's and just bought this. Go me! $130 Groceries $40 gas

 

Total so far cash: $230.62

Total spent so far credit card(paid off monthly): $329

Amount transferred to savings: $50

No Spend Days: 0/5

Fun Money: $23

Eating Out: $0

Nothing outside of budget so far.

Grand Total for Week 1: $559.62

 

 

For the first time in our marriage, I got DH to agree to a (sort of) budget. I took the average of our Amex bills over the last year, reduced it a bit to account for the fact that I think we overspent last year, and made that our budget for the month (we put 90% of our expenses on the Amex which has rewards, and pay it off monthly). Anytime we are UNDER budget, the money will go into savings. He hates the idea of a budget, and I have been trying to convince him for years that we need to put something into place to save, and he agreed to try it.

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It's not even noon and I already know today's going to be a spendy day. DH took DS and his friend to the Top Popcorn Sellers Party at the Great Wolf Lodge. Even though the waterpark and pizza party are covered by BSA, I know there will be the locker fee, snacks, and drinks. Additionally, since DD didn't get to go (DS opted to take his friend), I told her I would take her to lunch at her favorite restaurant (a little Pho place up the road) so that will be another $15. I'll adjust my totals when I know exactly how badly we did today.

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Not doing so well here, but still, LESS than we would have been spending, so I guess that is something. I'm going to c&p what I already posted so I can update.

 

 

We are going for low spend, as we already know it will not be a no spend. We have some big expenses this month coming, that are planned, and so we are trying to minimize other expenses to offset that.

 

1/1 - $0

1/2 - planned eating out, still unnecessary, though. $35 for my RX, $24 for a new crock pot (mine is defective) Neither of those necessary I guess, but I really need the RX and the crockpot will help me eat at home instead of out, I shopped for the one with the best ratings and the lowest cost I could find.

1/3 - um, this was REALLY BAD. We ended up buying a new car. We had been discussing it and it was in the plan, I just hadn't planned on it being now! We ate lunch out after we got the car, because we spent all freaking day at the dealership and I was done.

1/4 - $0

1/5 - Planned outing today $30, Dinner out (also, planned, but still not a great idea) $45

1/6 - Lunch Out, bought used coffee table $10, maple tree $4, sold $25 worth of clutter in my house :), and groceries $74 (stocked up on chicken breast that was on sale, our groceries are normally $50ish a week)

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I spent $0 today, although I meant to get a newspaper, but I didn't because I'm a recluse and didn't want to drive all the way out, just to get a newspaper. ;)

 

In other news, I put Quicken on our new laptop, thinking that this is the year I will divorce my spiral notebook expense keeper. I am so frustrated with the darn thing. Maybe I'm just too old-school. I want to be able to enter my expenses as they happen and I like PRECISE categories. So, I want to put in my Aldi's purchases, which were cash. HOW can I freakin' do that? I don't see any way that I can enter it except writing a check or putting it in as a bill. It's making me nuts. I think I'm going to have to go back to my humble spiral notebook because I do know exactly how to use a pen to write down exactly what I mean into the right category.

 

If anyone has any help with this, feel free to share.

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I spent $0 today, although I meant to get a newspaper, but I didn't because I'm a recluse and didn't want to drive all the way out, just to get a newspaper. ;)

 

In other news, I put Quicken on our new laptop, thinking that this is the year I will divorce my spiral notebook expense keeper. I am so frustrated with the darn thing. Maybe I'm just too old-school. I want to be able to enter my expenses as they happen and I like PRECISE categories. So, I want to put in my Aldi's purchases, which were cash. HOW can I freakin' do that? I don't see any way that I can enter it except writing a check or putting it in as a bill. It's making me nuts. I think I'm going to have to go back to my humble spiral notebook because I do know exactly how to use a pen to write down exactly what I mean into the right category.

 

If anyone has any help with this, feel free to share.

 

You could try setting up an Excel spreadsheet. You could use it almost just like Quicken, but you could keep a separate sheet and/or a separate column where you can designate cash purchases versus card or check.

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I spent $0 today, although I meant to get a newspaper, but I didn't because I'm a recluse and didn't want to drive all the way out, just to get a newspaper. ;)

 

In other news, I put Quicken on our new laptop, thinking that this is the year I will divorce my spiral notebook expense keeper. I am so frustrated with the darn thing. Maybe I'm just too old-school. I want to be able to enter my expenses as they happen and I like PRECISE categories. So, I want to put in my Aldi's purchases, which were cash. HOW can I freakin' do that? I don't see any way that I can enter it except writing a check or putting it in as a bill. It's making me nuts. I think I'm going to have to go back to my humble spiral notebook because I do know exactly how to use a pen to write down exactly what I mean into the right category.

 

If anyone has any help with this, feel free to share.

 

You could try setting up an Excel spreadsheet. You could use it almost just like Quicken, but you could keep a separate sheet and/or a separate column where you can designate cash purchases versus card or check.

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I spent $0 today, although I meant to get a newspaper, but I didn't because I'm a recluse and didn't want to drive all the way out, just to get a newspaper. ;)

 

In other news, I put Quicken on our new laptop, thinking that this is the year I will divorce my spiral notebook expense keeper. I am so frustrated with the darn thing. Maybe I'm just too old-school. I want to be able to enter my expenses as they happen and I like PRECISE categories. So, I want to put in my Aldi's purchases, which were cash. HOW can I freakin' do that? I don't see any way that I can enter it except writing a check or putting it in as a bill. It's making me nuts. I think I'm going to have to go back to my humble spiral notebook because I do know exactly how to use a pen to write down exactly what I mean into the right category.

 

If anyone has any help with this, feel free to share.

 

 

 

You can create another checking account in quicken and call it CASH. When you pull out cash, transfer the money from checking to CASH (to do this log the transaction in checking and for the category select your CASH account). Then you can log cash transactions in CASH as you spend with cash.

 

You can also add/edit categories in Quicken. Go to Tools -> Category List and you can edit, delete or add categories.

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You can create another checking account in quicken and call it CASH. When you pull out cash, transfer the money from checking to CASH (to do this log the transaction in checking and for the category select your CASH account). Then you can log cash transactions in CASH as you spend with cash.

 

You can also add/edit categories in Quicken. Go to Tools -> Category List and you can edit, delete or add categories.

 

Awesome! Thank you so much!

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1/1: $48 on FIL's birthday present

1/2: $0

1/3: $0

1/4: $0

1/5: $30... DH left the house and bought Popeye's chicken for everyone and a cigar for himself

1/6: $72... DH: BSA trip to the Great Wolf Lodge resulted in a $10 locker fee and $35 in food. Me: MIL bought lunch so that was free but I spent $10 at Chuck E Cheese and $17 at Yankee Candle (room sprays were 75% off so I bought 8... They are the only kind that kills the stench of our flatulent boxer).

 

I'm not counting regular expenses like the mortgage, power bill, etc... I can't not pay the bills. I'm just trying to be more accountable for our groceries, entertainment, and other random purchases.

 

No spend days: 3/6

Entertainment and dining out: $85

Groceries: $0

Random: $62

Total: $147

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Checking in for the week. Again my goals are to stay on budget (it is much stricter this month - it will be the end of the month that I really feel it) and to not eat out.

 

Happy to report that so far I am under budget across the board. And that we have not eaten out even once. Though I do admit to almost going out for lunch yesterday but then decided to just pick something off the dinner list and deal with a cheap meal (or abundant leftovers one night) later this month. I am quite proud of myself for that one. I usually choose to just go out (especially on the weekends) and deal with not eating out tomorrow ;)

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