no money for a week...voluntarily???

[Ima saver]

Re: no money for a week...voluntarily???

I am amazed at all the milk you people drink. I think it is great. I love milk, but most the kids I know won't touch it. They all want soda to drink. I am glad your kids all like milk, just sorry it is so expensive. I don't buy it; I buy the low carb stuff and it lasts me about a month.

[getforfree]

Re: no money for a week...voluntarily???

My kids and Dh love milk. I want the kids to drink a lot of milk, bcause I want them to be taller than me and Dh. They are tall for their age.

[jodi]

Re: no money for a week...voluntarily???

A few comments pf previous posts...I, too, have a picky cat. I tried to switch to shredded newspaper one time and she found a new place to do her business - the bathtub. So the expense for kitty litter is worth it to me.
We also drink a lot of milk - 2-3 gallons every few days for 4 adults and 2 children. But we live on a dairy farm, so we may be a little biased I attribute my lack of cavities (until I was in my 20's anyway) and strong bones (never broke one) to all the milk we drink. It does a body good!
Now for my progress today:
Aside from the garage sales (I'll get to those in a minute), no money spent. I had a dinner to go to tonight and made "carrot cake surprise" (has a ring of cream cheese in it - delicious) with ingredients I had on hand. I also made a veggie tray using cukes and peppers from the garden and carrots from the fridge (why did I buy a 5 lb. bag?? I have to remember that buying in bulk is NOT a savings if I throw out half!). Normally I would have stopped on the way to the party to buy a container of dip, but due to the challenge, I searched online until I found one I could make with ingredients on hand - not easy when you don't have sour cream. I finally found one made with cream cheese and feta. Estimated savings today due to the challenge: $2.50 (dip)
Total savings: $9.50

Now for my garage sale finds, which I have chosen (solely out of convenience to me) to exclude from the challenge due to the once per year nature of the event:
Kids' clothes, including 3 sets of like-new pajamas, which are notoriously hard to find used: $4.60
Clothes for me - one pair of shorts and three shirts: $4
Clothes for Dh (three nice dress shirts and two silk ties): $3.75
5 books for the kids: $1.75
2 puzzles for the kids: $.60
Fun items: $.25 for a porcelain dog (I have a collection), $2 for a like-new purse, $1 for a Buzz Lightyear toy for ds1
Total spent: $17.95
I wish I could have shopped longer, but the 90 degree humid weather got to me. Since I left my cell phone at one of the sales (luckily, they found it and called me!), I may have to go back out tomorrow....


Hopefully I can realize enough total savings to cover my garage sales costs this week.

[Bookie]

Re: no money for a week...voluntarily???

Day Four: "I'm singin' in the rain, just singin' in the rain. What a glorious feeling" -- Not!

Greeted by a leaden sky when I awoke this mornig and the promise of rain. Which promise was fulfilled as I set off for work, pointedly ignoring my dry, comfy, inviting car. Whose crazy idea was this anyway?

Halfway there the heavens opened, overwhelming my umbrella. Took refuge under the fuel pump canopy of a convenience store. The clerk probably thought I was panhandling. Right, a man in business casual with briefcase and umbrella panhandling!

I need to go spend money to calm my nerves. I think I'm starting to crack up.

Aside from the novely to an aquatic commute, nothing to report. Produce is starting to run low. Anybody have an idea on how to keep lettuce from browning?

[veronak]

Re: no money for a week...voluntarily???

1. No discretionary spending... (ie eating out, grocery shopping, entertainment, clothes etc...)
2. Back and forth to work only for driving....we have no 'bus' system here
3. Normal 'bills' are allowed as they come up...
4. No AC - this will be hard...grrr....heat wave in the west...
5. No stockup -- thus the surprise
6. No 'reward' spending or splugering when done what's the point if you save it and then spend it.
7. All money saved or 'left over' at the end of the month gets transfered to savings.
8. Time frame (for me for it to be 'hard') is 1 week.

Ok Boe stated earlier the following and think I like your idea so I am sticking with the plan, howevre, note the changes to number 8, my week will start each Friday, Only beacuse I have to get gas atleast once a week and I do my grocery shopping once a week
This is day 1 for me and no money spent

[jodi]

Re: no money for a week...voluntarily???

Bookie, I don't know where you live, but can you garden? I planted mesclun mix lettuce this year - it probably only took 2-3 weeks to be ready from the time of planting. I cut it fresh for salads and let it regrow. Continual fresh lettuce, as long as the weather allows.
Other than that, though, I don't have any more ideas.

[Bookie]

Re: no money for a week...voluntarily???

Only if it grows on a window sill. Not only am I an apartment dweller, I'm at the top of the heap.

Usually, I just toss and replace (tsk), but that's not an option for the duration.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[jaksilee]

Re: no money for a week...voluntarily???

Jodi, How do you get your salad mix to grow, I have been trying since may and mine gets leggie and stops growing! I water daily and have a self water in the box to keep it from getting dried out. It gets light all day and direct sunlight mid morning to early afternoon. I need hints cause I just can't get it to grow! I have eaten one batch as micro greenes and this last batch I think it has gotten to hot for. Lord know I should be able to grow this...I have 1 hot peper and 4 tomaotes growing in a bagout a window in my top floor apartment!

[jaksilee]

Re: no money for a week...voluntarily???

Ok I'm lumping my weekend spending in one post here so goes....

Total saved so far $36.80

Normaly on the weekends I go to one movie (matinee) with a water and gummy bears, that I won't be going to today. Also I go to the bookstore and get a few books for the next couple of days.

so starting savings $36.80
No movie $12.00
No books $25.00
total savings so far $73.80

Well I always said I didn't sepnd that much money....looks like I was a little wrong if I could save $70 in 4 days!

[Kris10Leigh]

Re: no money for a week...voluntarily???

Jess, it's amazing isn't it? It's very eye opening to watch what we didn't spend.

My boys are making this difficult. I do usually say "no" to them, so I probably would have said "no" to their requests even if I wasn't following the challenge. However, we just started yesterday and already my oldest son has begged to go to McDonald's and my youngest son popped a balloon yesterday and has been crying (real tears!) for me to buy a new one. I should count their litte requests as money saved. I wonder how many times I say "no" to them.

[Bookie]

Re: no money for a week...voluntarily???

Day Five: Hmmm. This is becoming serious. Today is Sunday, and I am without a newspaper. I let my subscription lapse when I moved and just buy the Sunday edition for the comi . . coupons. Yeah, that's it, the coupons. Thrifty.

Anyway, no spend = no buy = no newspaper. Not a great loss, but I now realize how anchored my Sunday routine is to leisurely reading through the newspaper. The day feels weird without it.

Cooking today. Refrigerator triage. Use it or lose it. Sad confession time: I routinely toss wilted, unused produce on Sunday and restock on Monday. Thus far I've pretty much coasted on my last Monday's grocery run. Tomorrow the Challenge starts to get challenging.

Almost forgot: $2.00 not spent on newspaper.

[Ima saver]

Re: no money for a week...voluntarily???

You are all inspirational to me!! I don't think I could make it two days!!

[Dido]

my report and thoughts on produce

I'm on my second no-spend day (given that I've allowed myself to drive and use the A/C, both of which I've done). Not a challenge so far, although I *would* have gone to the grocery store and gotten more fresh produce--and some ice cream!--if I hadn't been doing the challenge.

One thing that I've found that helps a LOT with preserving produce are Evert-Fresh bags. You can find them on the web. The lage bags are REALLY large; I wouldn't get those. Mostly I use the small size ones, which are about the size of a standard brown-paper lunch sack, and occasionally the medium size ones which are about 50% bigger than those if I have a long head of romaine lettuce or celery stalks or a big bag of nectarines. They do make the produce last considerably longer--I'd estimate about 3x as long--but not forever. They're definitely worth the expense once you're out of no-spend mode!

I've cooked both weekend days and have 4 meals' worth left of chicken and tuna noodle casserole. The freezer has been beginning to look a little scant but its far from empty yet. I'm pretty sure I can make the week without hitting the grocery again, but as I said, I'm missing my fresh produce. Even WITH the Evert Fresh bag, my leftover cucumber went after 2-3 weeks, and I already ate up virtually all the salad ingredients, so the only fresh veggies I have for the rest of the week are carrots and celery sticks. Everything else is frozen.

[Ima saver]

Re: no money for a week...voluntarily???

Lucky for me, I never buy fresh fruit or vegetables cause I don't eat any!!

[Dido]

Re: no money for a week...voluntarily???

Lucky for me, I never buy fresh fruit or vegetables cause I don't eat any!!

You don't eat any?!?!?! I must say you're missing out. I hope this is by choice and not a health problem that prevents you. My mom can't eat fruits or veggies because of a long-ago intestinal surgery; I had a similar surgery 6 years ago and was absolutely terrified I wouldn't be able to eat fruits or veggies again. Thank god the surgical technology is better and I have virtually no problems. Not being able to eat fresh fruits and veggies would seriously impair my quality of life!