The one week and beyond no-spend thread!

[DivaJen]

Re: The one week and beyond no-spend thread!

I've been thinking about this...is $100/wk for a family of 4 really too much? I picked that dollar amount because it fit within the budget and it was less than we were doing before. I didn't want to go to bare bones because I figured we'd never stick with it.

Our family of three shoots for $300/month. I don't think it's up to any of us to say definitively what is too much for anyone else. We all have our budgets, we all have our goals. If $100/week feels good for you and fits your budget, go with it. And when that works and you want to try to trim things, you can go to $95/week, and so on...

[Dido]

Re: The one week and beyond no-spend thread!

Here are some comparison standards: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/...104627,00.html

$400/month for a family of 4 doesn't seem out of line to me. I often enough spend that for just myself (not being frugal; food is my biggest challenge category).

I'll come in to the challenge in some form--maybe like you, buying the prepaid gift cards. What I know is that it would be really good for me to limit my spending to 25 more on gas and 165 more on food/household supplies for the month, and no other spending. (Well, dinner at Musikfest one night, but I have the cash for that in my wallet).

[PrincessPerky]

Re: The one week and beyond no-spend thread!

if 400 is a cut back, go with it for a couple months before dropping lower. At one point in trying to pay off the CC I had ours to about 50 a week..for 4 people (we are now 5) and we now spend about 100 I am trying to remind myself that a house and EF is just as important as paying off the CC..but it is a bit harder.

I tried to get DH on board last time, but it wasn't happening. I am trying to stretch our shopping from weekly to once every 10 days, right now I would settle for once every 8 days.

[Kris10Leigh]

Re: The one week and beyond no-spend thread!

Princess, that is a good goal! I like that idea! It's so simple! Kind of like buy7, get 3 free! Over a months time, you'd save money. Am I making sense? I budget for a 7 week period, but if I shop every 10 days, I'd get 3 "free" days. Interesting. Maybe I should think about this.

Dido, I like the gift cards. I need to check at Aldi's today to see if they have any. It's the same as using cash envelopes, but there is no temptation to spend the money elsewhere, because you can't! And I get a kick out of seeing what last time's leftover amount is and watching it grow.

[Dido]

Re: The one week and beyond no-spend thread!

Dido, I like the gift cards. I need to check at Aldi's today to see if they have any. It's the same as using cash envelopes, but there is no temptation to spend the money elsewhere, because you can't! And I get a kick out of seeing what last time's leftover amount is and watching it grow.

I'm going out now to get one for gas and one for groceries and see if I can survive on those for the rest of the month!

[Ima saver]

Re: The one week and beyond no-spend thread!

I only have a husband and I give him an allowance. He only uses it for gas, so no problem with him spending any money. His only thing is, he likes to eat out, so during the last no spend challenge, I just did not count that. However, we did skip a couple of nights we usually go out.

[Kris10Leigh]

Re: The one week and beyond no-spend thread!

I'm ready! All ready I can see that this is going to be tough!

I loaded up my gas card with $100. If it takes me two weeks to go through a tank of gas like it did this time, then next pay day I will not need to reload with my budgeted amount. I can send that $100 to the CC. Wahoo! So that is an additional goal for me.

I went to Aldi and loaded up on enough groceries for 2 weeks. Of my budgeted $200 I only spent $93, so that is good. I was hoping it would be lower than that though. We have enough in the freezer for 16 dinners, so the $93 didn't even include dinner items. I'm going to have to go over my receipt and really look at what I bought. We're getting ready to start packing school lunches again, so I know I was conscious of that.

[Ima saver]

Re: The one week and beyond no-spend thread!

So you are starting right now, Kristen? I will cash the paycheck,make the liquor run toNorth Carolina, get food and gas and start Monday after I do those things.

[Kris10Leigh]

Re: The one week and beyond no-spend thread!

I do indeed intend to start tomorrow. Already tomorrow I would like to be able to eat dinner out. I am going to visit my mom and brother who live one hour away. I invited myself and I don't want to invite myself for a meal. (I have an odd family...don't ask) Anyway, I'm going to be visiting my brother from about 1:00-5:00 and then I'll go see my mom. I'll tell my brother I am going to eat at my mom's, which is a lie. I know he will want me to stay for dinner, but he just told me that they are skipping the grocery trip this week because they are down to $5.00. So I think I am going to pack my dinner and eat it in the car on the way to my Mom's. Weird huh?

[veronak]

Re: The one week and beyond no-spend thread!

Good luck I can barely make the 5 I did this week...but I tell since I have started and only spend one or two days out of the week I have saved a ton on money so my challenge starts again on Monday

[Dido]

Re: The one week and beyond no-spend thread!

I'm ready too. Mine is no UNPLANNED spending rather than no spending, period, and I'm going thru the end of the month. So I stopped and picked up a $100 grocery gift card, a $50 gas card, and the $14 cash in my wallet is targeted for a $4 library fine and $10 to spend on food at Musikfest on Sunday. I've got food for about 12 days in the house, a bottle of wine in the fridge, and very little money left in my checking account (after bills) as additional incentive.

[Ima saver]

Re: The one week and beyond no-spend thread!

Kristen, I think it is smart of you to take your lunch along when you go visit your family. I have done that a few times on trips because it is hard traveling with a dog, so we eat in the car.

[Homebody]

Re: The one week and beyond no-spend thread!

Heck we probably spend close to $100.00 a week (maybe more) for three of us just for dinner! Well and breakfast and lunch for me and breakfast for YD.

We eat very well though I have to say. DH loves to cook. Grocery prices vary widely all over the country and we don't have the famous Aldi's in California.

I have been tracking expenses since August 1, this is the longest I have kept at it 10 whole days! DH is actually saving receipts for me!

I could easily go two weeks without spending anything, but then DH grocery shops and loves to do it and he has to fillup his truck every week so he couldn't do it if it had to be a household thing.

Good luck with your challenge!

[Kris10Leigh]

Re: The one week and beyond no-spend thread!

I just had the best day! I visited my brother, whom I adore, and we had a great time! I wrote earlier that I wouldn't be eating there, but we ended up nearly having Thanksgiving dinner! My SIL had a turkey in the freezer that my mom had given her. I brought sweet potato souffle which I already had prepared and in my freezer and also beer bread. My mom brought a vegetable and we had mashed potatos. My brother decided he wanted stuffing, so I introduced him to Save-a-Lot. He said he'd been meaning to check it out, but just hadn't. He was really impressed and is trying to convince his wife to shop there.

While there, I caved already!!! We wanted dessert and I didn't want my brother to pay for it. I spent $3.99 on a delicious Key Lime Pie BUT....it came out of the cash in my grocery budget. So although I spent money, it came out of the cash that I withdrew a few days ago. So technically, I think I'm still in the game!

[Kris10Leigh]

Re: The one week and beyond no-spend thread!

I broke the dag-gone challenge again today. We spent $4.99 on toothpaste. That's kind of a necessity. I can't believe I didn't have it on the grocery list. But we were within the cash allotted for groceries. I started out with $107 remaining.
-3.99 keylime pie
-4.99 toothpaste
Remaining: 98.02
I replaced the $4 with change I had lieing around and I found .75 in the laundry. I love it when my family tips me. This brings the total back to 102.77.