These are personal notes from my experience doing a Spending Freeze for the month of November. These few days are VERY detailed (and will make you sick to your tummy) so welcome to our private business LOL. For more info, see our first Blog about it at: SPENDING FREEZE- THE PLAN
Description:
RED is what we spent in excesses or was not "needed"
GREEN was money we brought in or "saved"
ORANGE was free stuff
PURPLE was spending that was necessary to living like bills or groceries
Day 4:
Easy, easy day because I had nothing planned but doing laundry!
Spent today-
- $0
Day 5:
Well, proud of myself today! Once a week I get allergy shots and my son and I have lunch at McDonald's before I take him to school but we made a choice to SKIP it this week.
Activity-
- Went to allergist but they close early on Fridays so missed my window and will have to go again on Monday (supposed to do once a week) so my son and I enjoyed a little drive through town then went to the library to kill time until school started. We WOULD have been on time if I would have not made sure he ate before we left so we didn't have to go to McDonalds! Ahhh...a double edged sword!
- Went for a jog/walk on the trail with hubby while the 5 yr old rode his scooter. I totally advise goofing off on the playground for exercise....my arms are SO sore!
Spent today-
- Middle child went camping for the weekend so sent him what cash I had (with the stipulation I can write the other mom a check if they buy something else) but he didn't spend it so it's a wash.
- Skipped McDonalds on Allergist Day and ate at home so saved $11.00.
- Husband and I scheduled our bills that we pay online for the month (there are a few others that are separate). Oh, it's painful to write............$4012.77. OUCH. This included 2 Dr bills, house payment, credit cards (I know, I know), cell phone for 4 lines plus the home phone, car insurance for 4 vehicles (have new 16 yr old driver!), life insurance for 2 people, union dues, 1 car payment, line of credit (yes, I know), and utilities for gas, water, sewer, garbage & electric.
- By the way, we recently cancelled our cable but watch all our TV shows on the internet so that's a $65 savings each month (had to throw that in there cause MOST of you have cable!). REALLY have to say we're not missing it and we're not freaky weird-o's!
- Husband has decided this month to quite going to the gym through the winter (do NOT recommend this!) because he's supposed to be getting laid off (works in construction). We'll now save $27.00 a month. BTW- at this time last year, I was paying $150-200 a month for a special women's outdoor fitness group until I broke my foot. Ouch on the pocketbook though my clothes fit better ;)
Day 6:
REALLY have to go to Costco if we plan on continuing to use toilet paper, but we slept in so maybe tomorrow. I will have to say, staying home sure saves money LOL but I think I'll go crazy if we don't leave the house and mingle among people that I'm not related to.
Activity-
- Hiked Mt Peak with my husband, 16 yr old, and 5 yr old in the misty fall rain, and then headed home for home-brew instead of going out afterwards for coffee like we normally do after a hike.
Spent today-
- Mt Peak hike with the family FREE
- Skipping going to Starbucks afterwards so saved $18.00
Day 7:
Enjoyed a very nice evening with my hubby. Nice to know we don't have to go "out" all of the time to strengthen our relationship!
Activity-
- Got gas, went to Costco, the mall and then Safeway
Spent today-
- Had to buy gas before heading out $42.00
- Though I don't need another coat, Old Navy is having a 50% off sale on outwear (sigh). Son wanted to ride the kidee toys but when we tried to keep walking, he asked if he could just SIT on one (OK- that's too pathetic to to say we saved $1 LOLOL). Also, skipped buying coffee at the mall- saved $10.00
- At Costco, returned a FAB dress that I guess I don't need (would *sigh* again but I already have the same dress in another color!), and a coat for the youngest (when we brought in the winter clothing, I found a NEW coat I bought for him last year). Saved $43.00.
- Then bought chicken breasts, ground turkey, TP, edemame (YUM), grapefruit, dog food, eggs, Lysol cleaner, and kid vitamins. So, so much we decided not to buy cause we really didn't need- kiwi, pomegranate, muffins, orange chicken (was ON SALE), sweet chili sauce they sampled (was so good). Spent $153.00 (son also bought a $38 toy but used the last of his own BDay money). Made sure we used our coupons so saved $7.75.
- Usually we eat at the food court but instead of a full lunch, hubby and I share a hot dog and kid got a churro. Spent almost $5.00 but saved $3.00
- Popped into Safeway to get hubby's lunch, lb of coffee and some dinner ingredients so spent $46. We were GOING to buy Millstone coffee cause it was on sale but the Safeway brand was even $2.00 cheaper so thought we'd give it a chance. Also, hubby tried new lunch meals because they were a few cents cheaper than his normal meals (too low amount to count but STILL!)
- At Target, spent $16.00 for a birthday present (Corbin is invited to a party- our one big OK this month.). At their food court, he likes to get an ICEE and Cheetos so I let him use the rest from my gift card I had so it was FREE & I saved $2.63. I really, really, really wanted to buy Toy Story 3 but my friend Tawnya F talked me out of it (said it'll go on sale again) so saved about $20.00
- At the mall, my daughter went to a store to blow a little of her first pay check. While there, she spent enough (with a little encouraging from the clerk) to "earn" an $85 bag for free. BUT, they overcharged her by almost $30 PLUS she actually spent another $25 she wouldn't have to get the bag. She was so crushed about not keeping the bag, that we decided that after correcting the over-charge, we were going to buy $30 in extra stuff so she could "keep" the bag (for Christmas- shhhhhh). LUCKILY, when we made the return, they said it was their error and we got to keep the bag for FREE. I could say we "saved" $30.00 here but I guess that would be overdoing it ;) LESSON FOR THE DAY- pay attention to what stores are charging you and NOTHING is really "free".
- Also, had to go to T-Mobile store because our bill didn't have a change we made on it last month. Apparently, they made it for the FOLLOWING bill instead of the previous month. They couldn't fix in store so will have try to change it next week with customer service.
Summary:
Necessities- $4,269.77
Excess- $5.00 (YEAH ME!)
"Saved"- $209.38. WOW.
Weight fluctuation- Lost 1/2 lb. Hmmmm.....skipped all that McD for NOTHING haha. Am hoping such a little change cause the extra exercise is turning fat into muscle! Maybe I should hurry up and eat the rest of the Halloween candy so it's not in the house????
Month To Date:
Necessities- $4733.31
Excess- $19.10
"Saved"- $262.83
Weight fluctuation- Lost 1/2 lb
No comments:
Post a Comment