Mine is going to be modified to be no-spend Lent #catholicproblems
No spending beyond household necessities. $20 per week for discretionary items (parking, swimming class with Avery, if I run out of shampoo or something, etc). I have done this every lent for the past 4 years and it's good
Post by jessiespano on Feb 1, 2016 10:59:24 GMT -5
Me! No unnecessary items. The only exception will be our high chair, but I'm selling things to raise money for it. And I'll have to get brakes for the car, but that goes in the necessary column because they are about to go out.
No unnecessary items. Fancy coffee has been a weakness for me lately so I'm only allowed to use what it on a gift card from Christmas for that. Stick to grocery budget. Limit clothing purchase for the kids to $50, unless I consign items and can spend the credit. Limit eating out to once per week. I love for it be less but with our work schedules this is more realistic. Stay in budget for our remodel (so far so good as).
1. My grocery budget was $120/week in January, but was consistently at $145-$155 each week. I signed up for some items on subscribe and save, so the goal is to really get down to that $120/week this month. The way I plan to do it is to make a list with any ingredients I need, and only buy those items. My giant is good for organic meat and produce because they have a store organic brand which is the sameish cost of the regular brands non organic. Also TJ's has good prices on organic meant and produce. That seems to be a budget buster for us. I plan on shopping at three different stores to get under budget. My gas is free since I have a company car. Also will avoid Wegman's because I come home with too many artisinal cheeses and meats and breads that my waist or my wallet don't need.
2. We have a date night planned in February. We are going to the city and getting a sitter. We did really well in January not eating out. I want to do restaurant week with a friend though. So I am thinking these two scheduled outings will be it for eating out. I noticed more money in January from not going out 1-2 times per week.
3. Biggest challenge - not buying myself or DD clothes. She is inbetween sizes right now. 6 months is a little big, 3 months is way too small. I am going to wait until March and then make a clothes budget to spend on each of us every month. My no spend will definitely be no clothes for anyone in February!
I’m taking a bit of a different approach for this. If this isn’t going to fly feel free to tell me to GTFO. I need kind of need a fiscal Marie Kondo thing to reset back to where we were before all the moving / baby / holiday spending to get back into good habits for the rest of the year and this is what I came up with:
Shopping: DS1 needs a new swimsuit and we’re going to FL the first weekend in March, so that will have to happen, but otherwise no clothes. Try to de-clutter closets and set aside items to donate during weekly pick-ups and weekly clothes planning. No impulse Amazon prime purchases. No new wraps unless the price drops on the Tekhini I’ve been eyeing for FL because my gira is too hot for 80 degree weather and we aren’t lugging a stroller with us.
Eating: Stick to weekly grocery list / budget. 1 take-out day allowed per week for lunch, otherwise no eating out. Attempt to eat all leftovers every week, and do a weekly pantry/fridge/freezer clean out to use what we’ve got.
Activities: DH and I need to stick to the free fun and spend time completing projects that we’ve been putting off instead of finding other stuff to do / buying stuff. I’m giving myself a blanket exemption for weekend family outings because DS1 no longer has fieldtrips at daycare (wahhhhh!) so we are trying to be more active with kids on the weekend.
Not spending related but two additional goals for the month: 1) spend an hour a night sorting / shredding / scanning files before just moving all of our financial paperwork into the new filing cabinets we bought and 2) get our wills/trusts updated to include DS2.
mandy522 do you think instead of no-spend you'd do better giving yourself a cash allowance? With that many details it might be easier to set targets like "I will only buy a carrier if it hits X price" or "no family outings can cost more than $30".
Post by swbrigadoon on Feb 1, 2016 16:51:47 GMT -5
My goals/rules for this month are to not spend money on unnecessary items, (particularly Amazon and Target) and to try and stick to our newly brushed up budget for various categories.
I get a biweekly "allowance" for fun money. So my goals are to stick to a budget with that and not use any charge cards this month.
To achieve this I will not shop. No target. No malls. No online shopping. No buying lunch. I have a bad habit of throwing away perfectly good leftovers lunch because I don't feel like eating it.
I do well curbing my spending when it's from our joint account. I need to implement the same restraint on "my money."
The hard part will be: Starbucks/Dunkin donuts/wawa coffees. I go to Weight watchers every Sunday and treat myself to Starbucks on the way. Plus I work in the city, they tempt you on every block!
My #1 challenge will be not using a credit card this month. There's no reason for it, I just get sucked into the rewards.
I'm proud of myself. I got up a little early to make DHs lunch. He's usually pretty good but when he gets rushed he won't make one and then puts food on his credit card. So my goal is to make sure he doesn't buy lunch in all of February. Let's see if I can do it.
I'm proud of myself. I got up a little early to make DHs lunch. He's usually pretty good but when he gets rushed he won't make one and then puts food on his credit card. So my goal is to make sure he doesn't buy lunch in all of February. Let's see if I can do it.
We have the same issue! I put together DH's lunch the night before and just stick it in the refrigerator for him to grab the next morning...if we didn't do this he would forget it probably 1-2 times a week from being rushed and then go buy chick-fil-a.
I would love for him to be able to get his lunch together himself in the mornings but knowing him and how scatter brain he can get, it probably won't always happen like that. I'm joining in on your goal if you don't mind lol.
Post by andtheheartbreakers on Feb 2, 2016 22:30:54 GMT -5
I need to stop buying frivolous things every time I go grocery shopping. Make a list and stick to it.
I need to stop going grocery shopping hungry because it always results in fast food.
I'm giving up my lululemon monthly allowance because we just signed the papers for our HELOC to purchase house #2.
I need to get it through my head that I'm on mat leave and we don't have funds like we did previously. We have so many monthly payments that are manageable but we won't be able to pay down our HELOC that we used for the down payment on house #2 if we don't cut back. Our goal is to have the HELOC (20k) paid off by move in in September!
Rules: Following meal plans for breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks. Sticking to grocery lists, this is huge for us considering that rarely happens. We have also said that if we waiver and talk about cheating (ie going out to eat, buy extras at the grocery store etc) we will put whatever money we would have spent in Mila's piggy bank.
Biggest challenge(s): Sticking to the grocery list and not buying anything for Mila.
emejay Do you have Amazon suscribe and save in Canada? I get my diapers monthly and save 20%. If you get 5 or more items delivered monthly (don't have to be the same items every month), then I get 15% off those items.
I just signed up for diapers, toothpaste, carpet fresh, dishwasher and laundry detergent, aver no face wash and baby wash, vitamins etc etc.
Made it through the first week and did well! I was under the grocery budget by $10 and that was with buying food for the Super Bowl, a few toiletries, and some Valentine's Day candy. We only ate out once too! It's hard but I'm learning I really can do without a few consciences to help save money.
First week was great except for the grocery store. I spent a ton of money replacing our fridge staples like mustard, mayo, etc as well as some odds and ends we needed.
Post by southernpeach89 on Feb 10, 2016 7:21:41 GMT -5
Ok....sooo we maybe buying a car on Friday. We received our settlement check this week for my car that was totaled and it's enough to buy a nice used vehicle. We really need another car since DH has been borrowing one of my parent's vehicles now for almost two weeks. I would LOVE to throw that money into savings but it would be impossible for us to be a one car family right now with our work schedule.
Post by jessiespano on Feb 10, 2016 8:10:12 GMT -5
When you are on a spending freeze and your favorite baby clothe store sends you an email saying free shipping and extra 50% off clearance! Gah. I will not buy anything but this is a big deal for me. I'm tempted to make a cart and then put that amount in my savings instead.
As lent begins today I am joining you on no-spend! I do this every year, with slightly different parameters each year. This year I am practicing my "SAHM with no income" skills.
The parameters for this lent are I give myself $40 per week. This has to cover everything. Anything I want to do, any non-groceries I want to eat (takeout, wine, junk food), anything I want to buy for A. It sounds like a fair bit of money, and it should be if I am smart about it. It can vanish fast. A meal at McDonalds is almost 25% of my weekly allocation, a good bottle of wine is 50%. It will also mean prioritizing activity spending with A. For example, nursery swim is only $2 but a mommy and me movie is closer to $20 because popcorn.
I will let any leftover money roll over from week to week, because this is what I am hoping to do over the next few years as a SAHM.
I'm struggling with what is a need vs a want. I went from 85 degrees with 60% humidity to 40 degrees and dry as hell. I think we need humidifiers but I know I could also just boil some water on the stove to up the moisture.
I'm struggling with what is a need vs a want. I went from 85 degrees with 60% humidity to 40 degrees and dry as hell. I think we need humidifiers but I know I could also just boil some water on the stove to up the moisture.
Throw some fruit or spices in there to make your house smell nice!
I'm struggling with what is a need vs a want. I went from 85 degrees with 60% humidity to 40 degrees and dry as hell. I think we need humidifiers but I know I could also just boil some water on the stove to up the moisture.
Throw some fruit or spices in there to make your house smell nice!
Just in case y'all were wondering if you leave the boiling water on the stove make sure you don't fall asleep while your kid takes a nap on you or you'll have a giant mess.
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