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

[cashqueen]

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

every year, the last weekend in July, there is a 50-mile long garage sale which starts ONE MILE from my house.

a 50-MILE garage sale......salivating.......I'm SOOOOO jealous. There's no way I could pass that up either.

[Dido]

Ready or not

I put gas in the tank so I can get to work next week, stopped at the grocery for perishables (milk, yogurt, turkey, fruit), replenished the nearly empty dog food store and begin the challenge now.

I will, however, run the A/C and keep the furnace servicing appointment I have for tomorrow.

[jaksilee]

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

Ok so yesterdays total was......

Total saved so far $ 26.16

Today I made a return that I most likely wouldn't have made if I hadn't been doing this challange thus giving me back $15.00. But I did realize that I was out of cat litter and I desperately, in this heat, need to change the box in my unairconditioned apartment! So I will be taking the $15 I got back and buying some cat litter. Unforutnately I have a very picky old cat that will only use one litter, so I have to get it or I will be paying more to have carpets cleaned. (I am hunting for a coupon though)

I did not go get my normal tea again today so that is a little more.

So for today :
Begining total $26.16
7/28 no tea $1.08
7/28 return $15.00
Total saved so far $42.24

(I will subtract what I have to spend on the cat litter tommorow. )

[veronak]

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

I say let's get the party started I am going to stock up today. I say I am not spending any money on discretionary goods for example: gas, movies, food etc

[Bookie]

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

Day Three: Oops! Encountered the first of the gotchas this afternoon. How could I have forgotten about -- Laundry?

My apartment complex has a laundry room for each residential block. Easy, convenient, and coin-op. Uh oh. Well, it's not the first time I've washed and dried my socks in the bathroom. Soldier on.

Like Broken Arrow, I seem to be haunted by a lot of things I need to/mean to/want to buy. Nothing of any significance, and maybe I think this way all the time, but the Challenge really highlights it.

Laundry savings - $1.50

[jodi]

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

Yeah! No spend day #2. I normally would have rode along with my mother to a local store where they have fantastic Pennsylvania peaches, not to mention any kind of bulk item you could ever want, but I decided to stay home due to the challenge. So I am going to chalk up a modest $5 savings here (is it cheating to eat the peaches that my mom bought? )
DH and I didn't leave the house today, so no chance to spend any money. Tomorrow, though, I am postponing the challenge for a day (cheating, I know, but I will add an extra day on the end) so that I can hit the 50 mile garage sale near my house. I am limiting myself to the cash I have on hand - no trips to the ATM. Darn my bad timing!
Total savings: $7

[Kris10Leigh]

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

I've hit my first snag and I hadn't even intended to start until tomorrow! I went grocery shopping as planned and was quite proud of myself! I budgeted $200 for two weeks and I walked out of Aldi having spent $122 feeling as though I have plenty for the next two weeks. I was bragging about my success to my DH when he said that he had volunteered me to make a cherry-chip cake for his mother's birthday. I didn't exactly have those ingredients on my list!! I'm going to have to get very creative with that one.

I have $100 budgeted for gas for two weeks. I spent $49 today which will get me through the challenge.
The kids got hair cuts.
I spent $122 on groceries.

I'm ready to go!

[Kris10Leigh]

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

I forgot to mention one thing. We had a big dinner tonight, welcoming DH home from his extended work trip. We had a pork roast, mashed potatoes, broccoli, beer bread and corn on the cob. I have enough pork roast for one more meal and enough potatoes for two more meals. So I put them in the freezer. With this addition to my freezer I now have three "covenience meals" ready for any day that I may not feel like cooking. This means I have a meal plan to get me through every day of the next two weeks AND three meals in the freezer besides. I'm feeling confident!

[getforfree]

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

Ok so yesterdays total was......


Today I made a return that I most likely wouldn't have made if I hadn't been doing this challange thus giving me back $15.00. But I did realize that I was out of cat litter and I desperately, in this heat, need to change the box in my unairconditioned apartment! So I will be taking the $15 I got back and buying some cat litter. Unforutnately I have a very picky old cat that will only use one litter, so I have to get it or I will be paying more to have carpets cleaned. (I am hunting for a coupon though)

I did not go get my normal tea again today so that is a little more.

So for today :
Begining total $26.16
7/28 no tea $1.08
7/28 return $15.00
Total saved so far $42.24

(I will subtract what I have to spend on the cat litter tommorow. )

We have a kitten, and we are using plain sand/dirt from our backyard. I put it in a rectangular plastic bowl. The cat likes it. I change it every evening. I would never spend money on cat litter.

[getforfree]

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

Day #5 update (going for 14 days):

Today I bought 2 gall of milk, spent $3.99, I cheated and bought 2% one, hope Dh won't be that mad. So now I have $9.82 in my milk budget left. Hope, it will last until monday. This week I bought 4 fall total + 1and half leftower from last week. So this week we stretched less than 6 gall instead of normal 7-8. I hope to survive on 4-5 gall next week.

I didn't cook anything today. We are finishing up yesterdays leftovers. I still have soup, lentiles, meatballs and pasta in the fridge. I will cook something new tomorrow afternoon.

Tomorow early morning me and Dh are planning to go fishing, hopefully we will get som free fish and berries. But will spend about $4-5 on gas. Wish me luck.

[jaksilee]

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

We have a kitten, and we are using plain sand/dirt from our backyard. I put it in a rectangular plastic bowl. The cat likes it. I change it every evening. I would never spend money on cat litter.

You may not have to but I must.... My cat, Jaksilee is very old, 15 this year and she would have a fit to stand on anything but cat litter! I like her to go in the box, and not on my carpets. Also I live in a apratment in the middle of chicago and do not have a backyard to get dirt from.

First all of what are "tags"?

Sorry I just saw this. Tags are the sticker you have to get from your state to renew your car license plates every year.

Laundry savings - $1.50

Wow that is a good price! I pay $2 for a little washer and $4 for a large, and that is just washing no drying!

So for today:

Total saved so far $42.24

Begining total $42.24
7/28 catlitter purchase $5.44
Total saved so far $36.80

[Kris10Leigh]

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

Pets are funny. They do get used to certain things, don't they? I know we could probably switch to a cheaper, generic brand dog food, but our dog has eaten the same diet for 8 years and I can't imagine what his little system would do if we switched him. He's only a little 6 1/2 pound thing, so feeding him certainly doesn't break the bank! One large bag of dog foods lasts him at least a year! However, though I've never owned a cat, I imagine switching kitty litter would be difficult.

Good news for me! First of all, today is my first day in the challenge and I haven't spent anything. DH and the kids went to Grandma's for the day, leaving me with free time all to myself! (Now THAT, my friends, is priceless!) She fed them lunch, so I only had to feed myself. I looked up what ingredrients I need for the cake, and low and behold, I have everything I need! I couldn't believe it! The only problem is that I need a full jar of marachino cherries and just a few days ago I gave three each to my two children, but I still have 3/4 of a jar and I will just make do. I am really excited about that!

This entire thread is really amusing me.

[Gruntina]

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

The cat litter topic is funny to me! I have an almost 2 year old cat and even though he is still quite young, make it clear what he wants. He loves to play outside but every time he needs to go to the bathroom, he comes in the house to use the litter box and then right back outside!

I am still seeing flea issues at the house I work/live at 4 nights a week. This might make me break my challenge as fleas are something that just can not wait! Getting rid of them is costly.... I have to vacuum everyday because a chemical really does not kill the eggs. It would mean tossing out the vacuum bags after each use so they don’t hatch in the bag!

Sigh...... This also means washing my blankets and sheets often... My cat is no longer at the house and is at my other home at the apartment... No fleas there and no fleas on the cat because I have been giving him advantage and brushing him often. He is a happy camper while my client dog is in a scratching frenzy... I am convinced I am going to quit this job as they are not going to exterminate the home and I am allergic to fleas. I have several bites but taking Rx to prevent more swelling. I was hoping to stay at this job so I can be debt free in 8 or 9 months but I think I need my sanity.

[kashi]

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

Doing well here...except for the fact that SO didn't eat at all yesterday until dinner because he didn't want to spend anything. I wasn't too happy about that. I think we will be making lunches the night before to prevent it from happening again.

I repotted a bunch of plants this morning...just woke up from a nap...so far this no spending is working out well.

[lrjohnson]

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

I just checked...last I spent money was the 24th: groceries. On the 22nd: groceries. The 19th was the last purely optional, rechargeable batteries and DVD player. I think that my disliking of shopping helps me here.

(Two shopping trips in three days? Yeah-fancy cheap beer-had My Guy taste the russian porter before I bought him a case. He doesn't mind paying 3-4 dollars for microbews, but I can't not be frugal, even when the expense isn't mine. The porter was great according to him and now he has a lot.)

I think I could go a week pretty easily, however tomorrow I belive I go by a fruitstand. I am a sucker for fruitstands. And I don't want to miss garage saling. So perhaps I'll watch this challenge until garage sale season is over.