No/Low Spend Week 4 & 5 (1/21-1/31)

[Halcyon]

My biggest weakness is picking up food after grocery shopping or visiting my grandmother. There's a Zaba's which is like (but I think better than) Chipotle. I start craving it early in the mornings on Saturday well before I even get there. Today I'm putting some chicken in the slow cooker with some taco spices and sauce and making my own taco bowls tonight.

 

 

Thought you might like these:

 

http://www.chipotlefan.com/index.php?id=recipes

http://savingslifestyle.com/2012/04/copycat-recipe-chipotle-burrito-bowls/

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chipotle-bean-burritos-10000001949753/

[Runningmom80]

Well, grocery has been lower than usual (though I do have to pick up a few items today), gas has been lower than usual because we aren't going anywhere, but I have had a problem with yarn procurement. Must.Get.That.Out.Of.My.System! I'm signing up for February's No/Low Spend Month as well as the March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, and November.

 

 

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :hurray: :hurray: :hurray:

[Runningmom80]

{Week 1}

1/1 - $0

1/2 - $30 copays for sick twins

1/3 - $27 Target

1/4 - $10 moleskin notebook

1/5 - $0

1/6 - $9 snapfish deal!

 

{Week 2}

1/7 - $150 blech

1/8 - $0

1/9 - $5

1/10 - $7 coffees

1/11 - $51 shoes for kids

1/12 - $5 kindle

1/13 - 0

 

{Week 3}

1/14 $15 copay

1/15 - $39

1/16 - $25

1/17 - $3

1/18 - $1

1/19 - $25

1/20 - $0

 

{Week 4}

1/21 - $0

1/22 - $22 Target

1/23 - $0

1/24 - $5 for DS' haircut (We had a $10 off coupon! :hurray: )

1/25 - $0

1/26 - $12 on pizza

1/27 - $74

 

{Week 5}

1/28

1/29

1/30

1/31

 

----

Total for month: $517

[Runningmom80]

Question for those of you joining us next month, should we change the way we post? Do you like seeing the tally's every day? Should we maybe just post our amounts daily, and tally up the week on Sunday?

 

Any suggestions? I'm fine with the way it is, just wondering if we need to streamline it a little bit. :)

[Runningmom80]

Maybe put our weekly tally up once and edit as we add? I've sort of been doing that. I have a weird aversion to lots of long posts. That's just me though.

 

 

This is what I started doing, but then earlier this week, I couldnt edit my post anymore.

[Guest]

Question for those of you joining us next month, should we change the way we post? Do you like seeing the tally's every day? Should we maybe just post our amounts daily, and tally up the week on Sunday?

 

Any suggestions? I'm fine with the way it is, just wondering if we need to streamline it a little bit. :)

 

Yeah, I plan to keep the shorter summary-style I've been doing. I need to buy groceries today, but then I expect I will have my totals for January (even though there's a few days to go), so I plan to put that up in a summary. I don't track my spending by the day ordinarily anyway; I track it by category.

[4kidlets4me]

Well $32 and lots of cursing later I have a working washer again. Luckily nothing got damaged by all the water and most of it is dried up now. I'm turning into quite the little handywoman with my husband being gone.

[Halcyon]

I'm easy! I will continue in any way you like!!

[Runningmom80]

Yeah, I'm fine with whatever. I'm trying to figure out a way to make it easier for myself since I'm usually posting from my phone.

[Runningmom80]

Well $32 and lots of cursing later I have a working washer again. Luckily nothing got damaged by all the water and most of it is dried up now. I'm turning into quite the little handywoman with my husband being gone.

 

 

 

good for you! I should learn some handywork myself.

[Deb in NZ]

I've been holding off restocking some staples until friday, but this weekend the grocerystore I usually go to has 25cents/litre off coupons on fuel F-M & their sale that starts monday has at least 6 items that I really need to restock at a very good price. To get the fuel coupon I need to spend $200+, but as my 2012 normal weekly spend was $250-300, it won't be hard to get to $200. I'm thinking that it makes sense to restock those items we are out of (i.e. flour, sugar, rolled oats, butter, cheese, etc.) on monday when I can get the sale prices and still get the 25cents off fuel. That fuel coupon will save me ~$15 next time I fill up the car. Part of me wants to wait until friday to go shopping to restock our staples, but doing that would cost us the $15 we could save on fuel, so that would defeat the purpose of the Low/No Spend challenge. Today I plan to do a complete inventory of what is left in my pantry / fridge / freezer & make a shopping list of those staples we really need. I'll take a calculator to the shop with me & stop putting items in my cart after I reach the $200 total spend. The rest of the list can wait until February.

[Guest]

Well here are my end-of-the-month totals in a few categories. It's possible something might be bought before the end of the month, but not highly likely. So...:

Food Groceries: $545.35

Non Food and Household: $95.80

Eating Away From Home: $75.90 (This includes dd's lunches at school, but not dh's lunches; he does not track.)

Gifts/Parties: $171.39

Kids Activities and Needs: $572.24 (Good Grief! dd had driver's school, which was $330.00. :svengo: )

Pet Care/Supplies: $54.02

Clothing: -$13.75 (Credit from a return made).

[Runningmom80]

Well here are my end-of-the-month totals in a few categories. It's possible something might be bought before the end of the month, but not highly likely. So...:

Food Groceries: $545.35

Non Food and Household: $95.80

Eating Away From Home: $75.90 (This includes dd's lunches at school, but not dh's lunches; he does not track.)

Gifts/Parties: $171.39

Kids Activities and Needs: $572.24 (Good Grief! dd had driver's school, which was $330.00. :svengo: )

Pet Care/Supplies: $54.02

Clothing: -$13.75 (Credit from a return made).

 

 

You did awesome!

[joannqn]

Well $32 and lots of cursing later I have a working washer again. Luckily nothing got damaged by all the water and most of it is dried up now. I'm turning into quite the little handywoman with my husband being gone.

 

 

Congratulations! I bet you feel good about that accomplishment. I know I would.

[4kidlets4me]

Congratulations! I bet you feel good about that accomplishment. I know I would.

 

 

 

I'm just glad I could fix it and everything is back to normal. I've been spoiled I guess since my DH is so handy he usually deals with stuff like this. I swear my house is out to get me. It's been one thing after another since DH left.

[Runningmom80]

RE How to post in February: I haven't been posting my exact totals because I have an aversion to putting a lot of financial info on the net in general. I think I'll keep posting in general terms if that's ok. I track expenses exactly in a spread sheet thingy. But I'm fine with people listing their tallies out -- whatever works best for individual posters is fine by me.

 

I also have this thread set to send me an email every time someone posts, so it is a good reminder to me when a no/low spend thread post ends up in my email. Sort of like having a little angel sitting on my shoulder when yarn temptation strikes...

 

 

 

I totally understand. :)

 

 

I think I'm going to change how I post too, but only because I'm lazy. ;)

[joannqn]

 

 

I'm just glad I could fix it and everything is back to normal. I've been spoiled I guess since my DH is so handy he usually deals with stuff like this. I swear my house is out to get me. It's been one thing after another since DH left.

 

 

I hear that's the way it usually happens. Husband's leave and everything breaks while he's gone.

[Runningmom80]

Happy Sunday! Anyone else grounding themself in attempt to thwart purchases? :)

 

I've already spent $9 on a Montessori at home ebook. Hopefully that is it for today.

[Halcyon]

I am going grocery shopping today, but mostly just need fresh veggies and fruits, and milk.

[Tammyla]

I need to go back and separate out the spending into categories; right now the list is just a document of every dollar spent including mortgage, car payments and regular household expenses.

 

Ouch...$3925.24

 

Getting my dh to participate in tracking each and every dollar has been very positive.

[joannqn]

I need to go back and separate out the spending into categories; right now the list is just a document of every dollar spent including mortgage, car payments and regular household expenses.

 

Ouch...$3925.24

 

Getting my dh to participate in tracking each and every dollar has been very positive.

 

 

We're pretty close to you...$3632.14, including mortgage and bills. That's not counting two credit cards, DH's gas, internet, and cell phones. Those are paid for DH because they are write-offs for his business; I have no idea how much they are.

[Runningmom80]

Ok, I'm determined to get my grocery budget down. I just went through the past few months and I've been spending 1200 on average.

 

Is there a vomiting smilie?

 

So this month I'm at 960 and need a few things to get us to Friday. I'm hoping to not go far over 1k, which as bad as it is, it's an improvement.

 

I'd really like to be around $800. I asked on a food allergy board and they all spend 800-1k a month, so that makes me feel better.

 

[SunnyDays]

Okay... so I totally fell off the wagon early in the month. There were too many things I bought, and I decided to stick my head in the sand. ;) I got new curriculum for the remainder of this year, started buying for next year, and we had some other decent sized expenditures. But... I'm so glad this will continue for February, because I am going to start fresh!! And I'm *really* hoping that just keeping tabs will get me back on track... our grocery spending is out of control too!! :)

[Runningmom80]

Okay... so I totally fell off the wagon early in the month. There were too many things I bought, and I decided to stick my head in the sand. ;) I got new curriculum for the remainder of this year, started buying for next year, and we had some other decent sized expenditures. But... I'm so glad this will continue for February, because I am going to start fresh!! And I'm *really* hoping that just keeping tabs will get me back on track... our grocery spending is out of control too!! :)

 

 

I need to order curricula too. I'm listing it all out, and crying in my coffee. ;)

[Halcyon]

Okay, so groceries were $80, but about $20 of that was needed cleaning supplies. I still have enough frozen dinners and lunches for a couple more weeks, so I think groceries should stay around 60 a week for a couple of weeks. I hope.

 

Also, because we didn't go out to eat much at all this month, i transferred money from the Dining Out envelope to the Groceries envelope to make up for the extra amount I spent. This is the longest. month. ever. :ack2:

[Runningmom80]

I ended up buying another set of c-rods, a bashed books and 2 more LoF books. So with the Montessori ebook, that's $74.

 

 

[Runningmom80]

Okay, so groceries were $80, but about $20 of that was needed cleaning supplies. I still have enough frozen dinners and lunches for a couple more weeks, so I think groceries should stay around 60 a week for a couple of weeks. I hope.

 

Also, because we didn't go out to eat much at all this month, i transferred money from the Dining Out envelope to the Groceries envelope to make up for the extra amount I spent. This is the longest. month. ever. :ack2:

 

 

We had $52 left in the gas budget, that I moved to groceries.

[Runningmom80]

Has anyone read the expensive groceries thread? I looked at the USDA cost of food chart, and we are average for a "liberal" budget when we spend $1200. Seeing how we have food allergies and a vegan diet to consider, I'm going to cut myself a little slack, and as disgusting as it sounds, just try to stay under 1k.

 

 

We eat out maybe 1 time a month, and dh works from home, so it's literally every single meal for 5 of us for the whole month.

[4kidlets4me]

Nothing spent today. I'm trying to hold off going to the grocery store till Fri but not sure we're going to make it.

[4kidlets4me]

Has anyone read the expensive groceries thread? I looked at the USDA cost of food chart, and we are average for a "liberal" budget when we spend $1200. Seeing how we have food allergies and a vegan diet to consider, I'm going to cut myself a little slack, and as disgusting as it sounds, just try to stay under 1k.

 

 

We eat out maybe 1 time a month, and dh works from home, so it's literally every single meal for 5 of us for the whole month.

 

 

 

I'm spending less than the Thrifty plan and including toiletries and pet food in there. I guess I'm doing a lot better than I thought.

[Guest]

 

 

I'm spending less than the Thrifty plan and including toiletries and pet food in there. I guess I'm doing a lot better than I thought.

 

 

Yeah, me, too. I'm all proud and smug and everything. :coolgleamA:

[Halcyon]

 

 

We had $52 left in the gas budget, that I moved to groceries.

 

 

See, i overspent in the gas department so took money from the Kids envelope!

[Halcyon]

Has anyone read the expensive groceries thread? I looked at the USDA cost of food chart, and we are average for a "liberal" budget when we spend $1200. Seeing how we have food allergies and a vegan diet to consider, I'm going to cut myself a little slack, and as disgusting as it sounds, just try to stay under 1k.

 

 

We eat out maybe 1 time a month, and dh works from home, so it's literally every single meal for 5 of us for the whole month.

 

 

Link?

[4kidlets4me]

Here is the link

[Halcyon]

Here is the link

 

Thanks! I am between thrifty and low cost...yay me!

[TammyinTN]

This weekend we had 100 for food --dh birthday meal budget. We hit Chipotle for dinner yesterday and we also picked up Fat Tire and Corona to go with our food. Then tonight for dinner we had Red Robin. We had 2 dinners for 4 people for 100 birthday bucks...I think that was pretty good. Other than that..no money spent. This week is an at home week and we will reboot our grocery budget on Friday--so no spending and I still have $70 in my budget for groceries...I think I'll roll it over into February to stock up.

[historically accurate]

^{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)}

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

 

^{1/7 -- this was supposed to be a no - spend day, but... $75 for a new car battery & $35 for gas, since DH had to take my car to work this morning. Just found out that DH bought $11 worth of toys from the clearance area while waiting for the car. So adding that.}

^{1/8 -- $0}

^{1/9 -- $25 gift for family member, $36 chess tournament entry fee, $40 gas}

^{1/10 -- $11 medicine, $35 dinner}

^{1/11 -- $20 parking at museum}

^{1/12 -- $12 groceries (donut run by DH), $35 robotics class fee for oldest}

^{1/13 -- $0 (YAY!!!)}

 

^{1/14 -- $108 for groceries & ice melt, $3 shipping (for an ebay sale, so I've been paid for this!), $3 library fine (DOH!)}

^{1/15 -- $0 (Woot! Woot!)}

^{1/16 -- $0 Two days in a row!}

^{1/17 -- $80 science museum membership (planned), $20 art classes for middle dd, $35 gas, $17 pizza}

^{1/18 -- $0}

^{1/19 -- $55 groceries}

^{1/20 -- $13 curriculum (I had a gift card to Amazon that was like a sirensong to me, so I now own WWS and a google earth book)}

 

^{1/21 -- $0}

1/22 -- $40 Delivery for dinner (I'm sick & DH had a bad day at work)

1/23 -- $0

1/24 -- $0

1/25 -- $14 for McD's with girls.

1/26 -- $38 gas, $21 groceries, and $25 pizza (DH ordered when I was gone last night)

1/27 -- $18 water bowl fountain for cat

 

^{Groceries: $374/$600}

^{Eating Out: $148/$125}

^{No Spend Days: 9/10}

[historically accurate]

My grocery budget looks really good, but we bought 1/4 cow a few months ago, and I was able to stock up on chicken at the beginning of the month, so I don't really need much meat, which is so pricey. And yes, I realize that sentence went on forever.

[joannqn]

This month we reduced the grocery budget by $200. The new budget is less than the thrifty plan and seems to be doable. I'm not sure if it is doable long term because we had meat and money left over from last month's higher budget, but it's close.

 

Did anyone look at how the amounts changed over time. November 1994 is shockingly different from November 2012.

[SunnyDays]

That USDA chart is fascinating. Once I adjusted for the fact that our grocery budget includes cat food, litter, and other household non-food items, we fell into the moderate range. Plus, we live in a vacation destination where the groceries are always higher. Not bad.

 

Okay, that makes me feel better. I was looking at the numbers, and thinking we spent a ton, but I hadn't thought about the fact that it didn't include everything *I* buy in groceries.... paper and cleaning products, dog food, personal hygiene, etc. We're probably not doing too bad, all things considered.

 

As fast as groceries have been rising, and as much as the difference is between now and a few years ago... I think we're all going to have to get used to the idea that we'll spend more than we have in the past.

 

Funny moment from this week: I told DH that I found no hormone/no antibiotic ground beef at Trader Joe's for $4.99 a pound. His response: Yeah, but that's a LOT for hamburger!! Um, no honey... that's pretty average these days for decent meat....

[Deb in NZ]

I was going to wait until friday to stock up, but my favorite grocerystore had 25cents off/litre on fuel coupons if you spend $200+ just for this weekend F-M. That coupon will save me ~$15 on gas next time I fill up, so waiting until friday would have cost me at least $15.

 

Today's shopping trip = $206.37 (grocery staples-4.5kg oats, 20kg flour, 7.5kg sugar, 5kg butter, 5kg cheese, etc) + $9.78 (lunchbox for ds#2) + $46.66 (odds & ends at grocery clearance store, mostly treats :o ) + $6 (McD-I left before eating & it's never a good idea for me to shop when hungry ;) )

 

So today's total is $268.81

 

January's totals

Food/grocery =$351.16 = less than 32% of 2012 monthly average (without today's restock of staples I'd only spent 14% of my 2012 monthly average!!!)

Beer/Eat Out = $138.66 = 70% of 2012 monthly average

Fuel = $168.64 = 35% of 2012 monthly average

 

I'll add up the total spend for January on friday, but overall I'm pleased with my spending as it is much, much less than my 2012 monthly average in all areas. Looking at the misc. spending we did throughout the month, I can see that we still have room for improvement. It has been hard, but with what I have NOT spent this month & we haven't starved, it tells me that I was very careless with our resources in the past & I need to stay mindful of where our money goes from now on. Dh reaches retirement age in less than five years so we need to learn to live on much less if we are to enjoy those years.

 

Thank you all for your support this month. I don't think I would have stuck with this challenge if I did not feel the pressure to post what I'd spent. I'll be signing up for the February Low/No Spend challenge with amended monthly goals for me based on what I have learned this month.

 

Blessings,

[joannqn]

Funny moment from this week: I told DH that I found no hormone/no antibiotic ground beef at Trader Joe's for $4.99 a pound. His response: Yeah, but that's a LOT for hamburger!! Um, no honey... that's pretty average these days for decent meat....

 

Wow! I'm so glad we have Stewart's Meat (local place) that sells hormone-free and antibiotic-free beef. Ground beef is $3.59 a pound there. We make a trip there every month and a half or so to stock up on meat.

[SunnyDays]

 

Wow! I'm so glad we have Stewart's Meat (local place) that sells hormone-free and antibiotic-free beef. Ground beef is $3.59 a pound there. We make a trip there every month and a half or so to stock up on meat.

 

 

Oh, that would be nice! No, I haven't found a better price here for that kind of beef, except for the very occasional sale.

[joannqn]

Oh, that would be nice! No, I haven't found a better price here for that kind of beef, except for the very occasional sale.

 

 

Have you tried looking for local farms? I think the prices might be good because they are local. The meat market is owned by the same family that raises the beef. The pork is raised locally by another farm. The chicken is local as well. I've gotten the details for how the beef and pork is raised and what they are fed. The only information I've gotten about the chicken is that it is local. The place is always hopping on the weekends, as in standing room only, bumping into each other as you wait for your number to be called. The usually about a dozen people working, most packaging meat for people but a few cutting it right there in plain view.

[SunnyDays]

I have. It's about the same. We're in the midwest, so it's pretty local!! I keep looking, though. :)

[historically accurate]

I'm working on next month's budget today. It's going to be an expensive one. I'm hosting our co-op for Valentine's day, and I'd like to finish our trim (baseboards and door casings) in the living room at least before everyone comes to see my house. It's my oldest's 11th birthday, and I have plans to corral all of the toys in my younger kids' room -- I'm thinking a trofast system from Ikea for that. And DH's car needs repairs done during the month.

[Halcyon]

I am going to put next month's budget into Excel, I think. I use EEBA, which is GREAT, but it's also nice to see it all laid out and "spread-sheety" LOL.

[Runningmom80]

I am going to put next month's budget into Excel, I think. I use EEBA, which is GREAT, but it's also nice to see it all laid out and "spread-sheety" LOL.

 

We have our budget in google docs.

 

 

It's not broken down into spending categories, maybe I need to do something like that.

 

 

I'm seriously considering doing only cash and seeing if that helps. I'm also going to not buy all organic next month and see how much I save. Mmmm pesticides. Lol

[Jennifer in MI]

Do any of you use programs on line to track spending? Right now, I put everything on our credit card and pay it off every month. Then, I split the cc bill up on paper according to categories. So far it works well, but I wonder about entering it at the end of the month on line somewhere.

[Jennifer in MI]

We have our budget in google docs.

 

 

It's not broken down into spending categories, maybe I need to do something like that.

 

 

I'm seriously considering doing only cash and seeing if that helps. I'm also going to not buy all organic next month and see how much I save. Mmmm pesticides. Lol

 

Look on line for a list of the "clean 15". Those are the 15 cleanest fruits and veggies. I feel comfortable buying those non-organic. Right now (I'm trying to save money for a vacation!), we are living off of those 15.

 

Also look up the dirty dozen. Stay away from those if you are going non-organic.

 

(That's what we do anyway!)