No money for a full week!

[Kris10Leigh]

My husband is away on business close to New York City. I went to visit him with our two children and we spend quite a bit. Now I am back home, he is still there, and our funds are dwindleing! I promised I would try to not to spend anything leaving him with $350 to get through the week in one of the most expensive areas of the country! His company will reimburse him, of course, but not for another month. We have just recently committed to paying down a rediculous amount of CC debt and I just don't want to blow it on this trip! So...

Here I am with two small children and no money. Already we need toilet paper! Unfortunately, that is something I just can't creatively get around. The problem is, if I go to the store just for that, I may have to pick up the ice cream I am craving, among a few other things. So right now, we are down to just two rolls. One bathroom is out completely, so we just aren't using it! LOL!

We are members of the YMCA and the local museum, so entertainment is "free", or at least already paid for. So we will be going to the parks, the Y to swim and to the museum. I just have to watch my gas tank.

Could you make it one full week without spending a dime? How much is toilet paper, anyway?

[Ima saver]

I have about 100 rolls of toilet paper. I stock up. I do not think I could make it a whole week without spending a dime.

[sweeps]

Look at the bright side, since you won't be eating as much, you won't need as much toilet paper.

If I knew in advance that I couldn't spend money for a week, I could do it, otherwise probably not.

[beebop25blue25]

Gosh, It would definately be hard. I always need something whether it just be milk and bread. Having a large family is what is hard. I, myself, could be fine with not spending a dime in a week, but when you have kids, something always comes up, whether it be for school or milk for cereal, or whatever. Good Luck, i'm sure you can do it!!! Call him and tell him that you need to just spend $10.00 dollars for necessities. And make that toilet paper and whatever else is necessary, and maybe one treat, and stretch it for that week!

[Ima saver]

Hate to say it, but I would not have spent a lot of money on a visit if I did not have some emergency savings. Your first priority is to fully fund an emergency fund.

[GoodBuyGirl]

You can get 4 rolls for a $1 or less. You can probably fish that much out of your couch.

[Kris10Leigh]

It's more of a difficult choice than a necessity. I have $30 cash and I do have savings, though not much. But having lurked here for nearly a month, I am motivated to do my best not to resort to savings or CC's. I certainly will go to the store for T.P. if I can't get through the week. I just don't want to be tempted by everything else in the store!

We had an awesome time in New York, and our boys learned sooooo much! They've never experienced a subway train or any other kind of train, and we did both. The trip cost us only gas and food since DH's hotel is paid for. Actually, I drove with the boys by myself and it was a 15 hour drive! I am very proud of myself for having done it! The most I've driven before is two hours! We could not have gone on this trip without DH doing it on business, so I don't begrudge the fact that we went. I can certainly go a week without spending anything in exchange for the wonderful experience of New York! What a terrific city!

[Ima saver]

Sorry Kris, I think a trip like that was worth the money then. I did not mean to come down on you so hard!! I thought you were completely penniless. How about you go to a dollar store just for toilet paper and don't look at anything else?? When you get your husband's reimbursement back, maybe you can add that to your savings??

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Could I go a week without spending? In most circumstances, no problem. My husband does do most of the grocery shopping, so do we count that or not? But really, I think the last time I bought anything was about seven weeks ago when I bought some hairdye. Oh, I just remembered I did buy some garden seeds and bread about four weeks ago. I don't shop for entertainment and I have what I need right now. Kids need some clothes, but they are old enough that they shop for themselves. :-)

[34saving]

I could do it no problem, but I'm not a big fan of shopping anyway! Two reasonably complete rolls should be fine for a week. What is it? The 3 square standard? If you have to go to the store to pick up some toilet paper, make the older of the two kids (or both of them if they're both old enough) hold you accountable. "Today when we go to the store Mommy is only going to buy toilet paper. Can you make sure that Mommy only buys toilet paper when we go to the store." (Or some age appropriate equilvalent -- I have a 2-year-old. You can probably tell )

[Kris10Leigh]

Great suggestions! Yes, my oldest son would love to hold Mommy accountable. He's six, and he understands quite a bit.

I am not a shopper either. I do not enjoy shopping in the least, but the grocery store is difficult. It is just all the little things that add up to so much. For instance, last night as a treat I threw some ice cubes, milk and chocolate syrup into our blender and it came out quite like a Wendy's frosty. (If you try it, I actually used a "magic bullet". Not sure if it would come out the same in a regular blender.) Anyway, I'm curious to know if I used half and half instead of 2% milk, would it come out exactly like a Frosty? So if I went for T.P., I'd want to pick up some half and half. The half and half is right next to the yogurt which the kids would want and it is healthy, so why say no?

Anyway, I have been home five days now and have only spent $2.00 on milk. It's a fun challenge, really. We're trying to be as frugal as possible right now. The ultimate plan is to put DH's entire reimbursement check toward the CC, which will pay off half of one card. Prior to this trip, we were living over our budget. Now, I am rather pleased that we made it all the way to and from New York within our budget! That means we CAN live within our budget AND have some left over for debt.

Food is easier with DH gone. He doesn't mean to, but sometimes he sagotages my efforts to use up what we have. When dinner rolls around I mention what we're having, he gives me a look of "huh?" and I say fine, order pizza! LOL! We have to get better about that when he gets home.

[FrugalBachelor]

i don't think I could make it a whole week. I'm always running out of something, coffee, milk..whatever.

[JoyJoy]

I have lived a full week without buying something, but that was before I was married in 1996. I love to read and at times watch television. One week I read two books and watched all of the Halloween movies which were a free offering by the cable company to keep the trick/treaters off the streets for Devil's Night and Halloween. At the end of the week I realized I hadn't even gone out for anything and had to start my car to make sure the battery wasn't dead. It's much easier when you're alone, I think, not to spend.

Regarding toilet tissue, my brother-in-law actually takes a roll of two-ply tissue and rolls one-ply on an empty toilet roll and that makes him have two rolls of toilet tissue off of one roll. He reuses or recycles everything and has done it for years. He is frugal and very well to do.

[Bookie]

A week without spending would be no problem for me, but I live alone now and stockpile most of my necessities as a result of frugal buying. The diet would probably be a little bland, but its certainly doable.

Actually, as the price of gas has stayed so high, I'm better stocked than usual because I try to limit my use of the car. Oh, the local Dollar Store is the low price on tp, $1 for a four-pack.

[jodi]

I could probably go a week without spending anything. I only do big grocery shops about every two weeks, but we have to get milk several times a week (2-3 gallons every 3 days or so). Other than that, no problem.
Sounds like you'll be out and about a lot - make sure everyone goes to the bathroom before you leave the Y and museum and maybe that will cut down on the tp use at home

[Kirbycruiser]

Good Luck! Sounds like you had a great time. Make your list and stick to it. Although I would probably have to say ok to the ice cream IF it was on sale. I like the idea of going to the dollar store instead of grocery.

[getforfree]

I wouldn't be able to do whole week without going to grocery store. We use 7-8 gall of milk a week, and I go to the store about 3 times a week. Wow, 30% of our grocery cost is milk! And we buy whole kind only. My kids drink milk at least 3 times a day, Dh does a lot too, and I make sure I get at least one cup. I stockpile on most of the stuff, except perishables, so most of my trips are milk only.

[Kris10Leigh]

Whoa! That is a lot of milk! When the kids were little, we used to go through 5 gallons of milk in a week and I thought that was bad! Now we go through 3-4 gallons in 2 weeks. It can certainly get expensive!

[PrincessPerky]

barring emergency I could go a week

we limit the kids (and us) to 4 gallons..but they are not a need, milk is mainly a luxury...

But I don't want to..I want chocolte, I want english muffins, I want milk, and I want peanut butter

To the OP, being almost out, tends to keep you stingier..so even if you wont go with soft rags to replace the TP you will prolly make it much further than you think...which is why they now have the 'mega roll' full roll you use more, mega roll looks fuller longer so innte frugality won't kick in..making the company more money...all the while making people think they have a 'great deal'

[abowers]

We went grocery shopping last Tuesday. I could make it a week right now without buying anything else grocery/food-wise, but my gas tank is a little below 1/4 right now and I will use up the rest of the gas just going to work and back this week (probably before the end of the week). We have a dog now, but no kids. But we have everything we need for the dog right now, and entertaining her is cheap -- walks and her stuffed toys.
We have enough bread, peanut butter, and leftovers from meals over the weekend to last for all our meals this week.