Low-Spend August

[clarkai]

I'm really pleased with our food budget - we're about a third of the way through the month, and we've spent less than a quarter of our budget! Which means I can buy a box of peaches to preserve.

Awesome job!  How do you preserve the peaches?

We freeze some, and dry some. Dried peaches are really good!

[alleykat]

I don't have a tally but so far, I am well within my budget.  What is interesting is that when you are paying attention to your spending, it is amazing how many purchases would have been made without even thinking about it. 

[Physicsteacher]

I'm starting to think we will fail this challenge; we're at $1507.45 spent thus far, and DH hasn't yet called about taking his car to the mechanic. I've done my planned stock up on classroom supplies and used a sizable portion of my pocket money for the month. DH needs to drastically cut his rate of consumption of pocket money (and hence beer and snack foods) if he wants to stay within his allowance, but I don't know if he'll actually bother. He went grocery shopping solo yesterday, and we now own $54 worth of various types of nuts since he decided he wants to make trail mix. I'm going to have to get creative with what's in the pantry and freezer if we are to have any hope of remaining within our grocery budget for the month.

[Classical_Liberal]

I'm starting to think we will fail this challenge; we're at $1507.45 spent thus far, and DH hasn't yet called about taking his car to the mechanic. I've done my planned stock up on classroom supplies and used a sizable portion of my pocket money for the month. DH needs to drastically cut his rate of consumption of pocket money (and hence beer and snack foods) if he wants to stay within his allowance, but I don't know if he'll actually bother. He went grocery shopping solo yesterday, and we now own $54 worth of various types of nuts since he decided he wants to make trail mix. I'm going to have to get creative with what's in the pantry and freezer if we are to have any hope of remaining within our grocery budget for the month.

I'm hurting at this point as well, $446 total spent at the halfway point, which is about 25% above budget!  My overages are mainly the result of an old friend coming into town for an unexpected visit (which equated to a couple of spendypants restaurant & museum visits), coupled with a few unexpected dates with a beautiful young lady who I'm becoming more keen on with time.  Neither are bad developments, but I need to get a grip here if I want any chance!!

[monstermonster]

I'm starting to think we will fail this challenge; we're at $1507.45 spent thus far, and DH hasn't yet called about taking his car to the mechanic. I've done my planned stock up on classroom supplies and used a sizable portion of my pocket money for the month. DH needs to drastically cut his rate of consumption of pocket money (and hence beer and snack foods) if he wants to stay within his allowance, but I don't know if he'll actually bother. He went grocery shopping solo yesterday, and we now own $54 worth of various types of nuts since he decided he wants to make trail mix. I'm going to have to get creative with what's in the pantry and freezer if we are to have any hope of remaining within our grocery budget for the month.

I'm hurting at this point as well, $446 total spent at the halfway point, which is about 25% above budget!  My overages are mainly the result of an old friend coming into town for an unexpected visit (which equated to a couple of spendypants restaurant & museum visits), coupled with a few unexpected dates with a beautiful young lady who I'm becoming more keen on with time.  Neither are bad developments, but I need to get a grip here if I want any chance!!

Y'all can do it! I believe in you! At the very least, even if you don't meet the goal you set, you'll still reduce spending under your usual amount and that's a win!

[sis]

Well, we are at just over half of the month's spending for food.  We ate out last weekend with my older brother.  We have our anniversary dinner coming up this weekend.  I'm hopeful that we'll make it, but eating out last weekend was a bit damaging.  We've actually been getting a lot of takeout that doesn't count against our budget because DH's office reimburses meals when he bills over a certain number of hours.

[Shor]

Budget: Aug (so far) vs July
Food + Grocery: 54 / 100
Gas: 40 / 60
Eating Out: 50 / 60
Rent + Bills: 1k (fixed)

Hmm.. compared to last month, everything is pretty much right on track (which makes a pretty poor performance at a "low-spend August").
Just gotta hold it together. Eating out is clearly already at a tipping point.. Pay once for the whole table's dinner, and it wrecks the whole month.. That's okay, I'm lunching out less on workdays to compensate.
Last month was probably a bit non-food grocery heavy. Fridge is stocked for a good week, so projecting $75 at the end of the month.
Gasoline is pretty stable consumption at the moment, more bike commuting could reduce this slightly about $4 per workday. Currently sitting at half tank, refills about once every 10 days. Good enough for the month, a bike commute here or there can be fitted in.

It's not bad, but I don't see much else to cut. I think if I cut out meat from my grocery budget for the last week, just buy veges and eat beans + rice + eggs, that will save about $10 in food.
Hey you know what would work great for cooking beans? A brand new pressure cooker!
No, shut up brain!

Also, I realized I have a beach BBQ coming up this weekend. Snacks are already added in, but I should bring something more main course, we'll see if I can pull from grocery money for some bbq money.
That's not how Low-Spend works.
Shhh...

[alleykat]

I have to sit and do a tally but so far so good.  I know I am well within my budget because I have avoided so many purchases already. Although, I may need to breakdown and buy a driver side visor for my car.  I was going to wait until Sept but it may not be a good idea. However, I would still be within my budget.

I will do a tally this week. I am so curious as to where I would fall. 

[monstermonster]

I'm doing well for halfway through the month. Mildly concerned about this weekend as I'm traveling for work and while we theoretically have per diems, they're very unofficial.

Necessary: $707.12

Rent: $550
Groceries: $87.01
Water/Gas/Sewer/Garbage: $33.13
Internet: $20
Household Goods: $16.98

Non-essentials: $162.69

Fitness Membership: $79
Haircut: $57
Coffee: $14.69 (higher than normal -treated my colleague)
Restaurants: $10
Bars: $2

Total so far for August: $869.81
Left in budget: $130.19 ($72.99 groceries, $29 electric, $20 food/drink, $10 charitable)

[amyj05]

I'm not doing very well. I only have $199 left for the month. And, I still have to pay the light bill and gas for the rest of the month :/

[clarkai]

We're pulling right along, and I'm pretty happy with how we're doing. Here's the barebones budget I made up at the start of the month:
Expected:
Rent:   950
Water/Garbage:   100
Electricity:   100
Cellphone:   80
Aerial/Handstands:240   
Loan: 489.05
Food: 200
Pets:   30
Household stuff:   20
Transport:   32

Actual expenditure so far:
Rent:   950
Water/Garbage:   94.15
Electricity:   46.93! WOOOOOOOT!
Cellphone:   80
Aerial/Handstands: 0   
Loan: 489.05
Food: <100
Pets:   0
Household stuff:   0
Transport:   ~10
Fingerprinting for new job: 83

Off-budget items:
Our car was hit while parked outside our house a few months ago, and we just got the funds from insurance: $3,400 (it was totalled). We put that directly into the school loans. I knew this was coming, so I didn't account for gas, and we paid insurance by 6-month period. Also, my husband went and bought some tea with our credit card (because he didn't know which envelop to take the money from and for some reason we didn't make a misc. budget...), so I won't know how much exactly that was until the bill comes, because he has a terrible memory.

In other news, my biking places habit has gotten so strong that even when I intend to take the bus, I find myself completely ready to leave on my bike, and decide not to bus after all 100% of the time.

I'm also really enjoying meeting our food budget, and I can't say that I miss spending more. I have been digging into our stockpiles, which is a good thing. However, that does mean that maintaining this level of spending on food will be much more difficult in the future. I also really want to plant a garden to reduce food expenditures. It's been really fun meeting this challenge, and I'm going to try to maintain this budget or close to it for the rest of the year.

[sis]

We currently have $36.57 left in our food budget for the month.  I'm heading to trader joe's now to buy some bare essentials.  I'm hoping to keep the trip under $30 so that we can have 6 bucks left for various things.  We definitely have enough food in the house to last the rest of the month if we are willing to just eat plain pasta, lentils/split peas, and not have fruit or veggies... but that isn't how I eat so I'll get at least some frozen veggies, fruits, and almond milk.

[rubyunrailed]

Late-august update!

So far I'm doing surprisingly well, despite not feeling too many times like I've had to cut back on going out to bars and such. (Bars are my easiest to reduce spending category) There have definitely been a few times I've decided to not go out, or order something cheaper or skip having another drink, but overall it hasn't been too inconvenient. Here is my breakdown so far:

Fun Categories
Coffee	$31.72
Bars	$103.20
Eating Out	$47.93
Liquor Cabinet	$57.61
Rent, Groceries, etc
Rent/Utilities	$1040.80
Groceries	$142.88
Zipcar and Biketown	$31.00 (annual $25 fee)
Household	$8.99
Kitten	$24.19

Low-spend August goal: $1980.00

Total spending as of August 25: $1488.32

I'm posting this now because I'm heading to Las Vegas for a work trip next week. I haven't decided how much of the food+drink I will end up buying there should count against my personal budget or come out of my business account. (Of course only 50% of that will be tax deductible so maybe I should count half of my food expenses next week here?)

[alleykat]

Hate to call defeat but I am out of this race.  FAIL. I will definitely try again in September.

[clarkai]

Still trucking along. This last week just seems to drag- maybe because I am so eager for school to start? We're doing well, especially in food. But, that's not going to keep happening after this month, because the reason our food budget has been so low is because I've been gleaning and foraging for a lot of our food- easily $20/week. That said, we still do have $46 to last us until the end of the month, which averages out to $9/day, which is very doable.

Expenditure so far:
Rent:   950
Water/Garbage:   94.15
Electricity:   46.93
Cellphone:   80
Aerial/Handstands: 0   
Loan: 489.05
Food: 154
Pets:   0
Household stuff:   0
Transport:   ~15
Fingerprinting for new job: 83

Looking forward to September, I'm getting a CSA share; here they're about $30/week, so that would leave $80 of our $200 food budget for grains, legumes, oils, spices, peanut butter, and so forth. I think it may be doable. There aren't very many weeks left in the season, so it's a good test run, and will help me decide if it's worthwhile for next year.

[alewpanda]

I didn't see this post till now...can we do a low spend September?  I need it...badly.  Particularly after having family in town and traveling for most of the summer months ....$$$$

[Classical_Liberal]

Hate to call defeat but I am out of this race.  FAIL. I will definitely try again in September.

+1 Ill post my final numbers but they will be well above goal.  In addition to my carefree spending, I also had an unexpected visit to the walk in clinic, two Rx's later this hit my budget a bit.   On a positive note, I'm also sure I will end below my "normal" spending levels.

I didn't see this post till now...can we do a low spend September?  I need it...badly.  Particularly after having family in town and traveling for most of the summer months ....$$$$

Fire up the thread and I'd be in with the same goals, I MUST hit a 90% savings rate for at least one month while my housing is free.

[sis]

Well we definitely failed, but not too terribly.  We probably normally spend ~$700 out of pocket each month on groceries/going out to eat/drink.  This month we set a goal of $400.  I think we'll wind up somewhere just south of $500.  A couple instances of social eating out threw us off.  We did a pretty good job of eating through the food in our pantry so I can't complain too much.

[Physicsteacher]

Our two person household is at $2100.40 total spending for August so we'll be within our $2300 goal barring some catastrophe in the next few days. DH has still not taken his car in for repairs, but that's due to procrastination, not an attempt to avoid spending.

[amyj05]

I'm at $1720 so far for this month, $85 under my goal. Keeping my fingers crossed for these last few days.

I didn't see this post till now...can we do a low spend September?  I need it...badly.  Particularly after having family in town and traveling for most of the summer months ....$$$$

I'm in for September, too! I'll keep the same goal I had for August.

[Physicsteacher]

I'm out for a September challenge. I have car insurance due, and medical bills from my check up with my oncologist will likely arrive as well. My goal is actually a normal spending month; I'll try to cut discretionary spending enough to keep our overall costs in the normal range despite these lumpy expenses.

[clarkai]

I'm also under budget for the month, and I'd like to have low-spend September, too!

[monstermonster]

I may redefine my goal for Low-Spend September, but I'm in.  I just quit my job and could use accountability to  stick to a reasonable budget for my month between jobs.

[akzidenz]

i've been lurking this thread and it's been encouraging me to cut expenses for august. since finding MMM i've made a ton of positive changes to my spending and these threads have really helped. i have a huge problem with high discretionary costs (even though my other costs are low, e.g. no car)

some history of what my spending looked like before…

april: $2,594

may: $2,167

june: $2,222
found the MMM forums and started feeling guilty about my spending, although i didn't make too many changes right away

july: $1,748
notably lower expenses (20% lower!) even though the month started off expensive, with a trip to NYC and lots of brunches and nights out with friends. i became steadily more frugal towards the end of the month.

august: $1,322!
what really made a difference in august is that i ate out MUCH less. i normally spend far too much on eating out, and i live in a high COL area and have been tempted far too many times to get an appetizer, and a drink, and a dessert, and drinks after…truly ludicrous stuff that most mustachians would find abhorrent. i'm not perfect yet, but i'm working on getting better, and really pleased at my progress so far. i also have an unfortunate appetite for luxury goods, but started to explore buying things secondhand (like designer shoes off of ebay, instead of buying them in a store right away).

i'm on for september! my goal is to go no higher than august. i have some medical expenses that will be ~$200, so i'll have to make cuts in some of my other unnecessary spending (i hesitate to say this…but i spent $100 in makeup in august. so there's definitely room to cut more…)

[monstermonster]

2 days left for the month! How is everyone doing? Are you going to make it?

I have $28 left for the month ($972/$1000) and don't expect to spend anything else, maybe $3.50 on coffee at some point. Pretty proud that I still had some splurges this month (haircut, fitness membership) but managed to keep the spending under my goal. A good balance of luxury and frugality - spending on what I value!

Even if you didn't make your goal, what were your victories this month?

[clarkai]

We've got $7 left in the food budget, and $300 left over all in our budget. Food shouldn't be an issue (I keep having to tell myself that) because we've got plenty of bare ingredients to use. I'm going to use some of the left over $300 on the 31st because we'll be going out to dinner with friends. My personal goal will be to share one meal between the two of us.

Victories:

- Used little enough water that we're on the lowest fee for storm water treatment from our utilities.

- Foraged and gleaned well over $100 worth of food.

- Didn't eat out once (yet).

- Put the $3000 insurance payout from our car directly into paying of school loans.


September won't be as easy, because I really put off a few purchases that I need to make: bike lights for my commute, a used couch for our bare livingroom, a used waterpick if I can find one, etc.

[Classical_Liberal]

Well, I can safely place my totals at this point as all of my autopays have hit the account.  I work long shifts the next two days and never spend any money when stuck at work.

Goal:

I'm totally in!  This is perfect timing!! August is the first month in an arrangement where I eliminated my housing expense.  I was itching for a reason to try and push the limits while this housing thing is in force.  Not including housing my normal monthly spend rate is about $1300.  I wanna try and hit a landmark 90% SR for the month, so goal is $700.  Fixed expenses are:
$60 phone/internet
$85 storage locker
$35 car ins
$20 UPS mailbox
$90 Medical ins
$410 left all the rest.  Piece of cake (which I can not afford in August)

How I ended up:  I dont budget, per se, but do look at my year end CC statement reports. I can safely say the numbers above for fixed expenses were accurate for low spend August.  My total spending was $880.32, honestly better than I had anticipated a week ago.  Some overages were related to a $74 walk in clinic visit ($20 copay, $54 in Rx's) for a nasty respiratory infection I picked up.  Also, I overspent on entertainment as I popped about $80 for some dating related expenses.  Lastly, I had one $129 Target visit, which in retrospect seems ridiculous.  At Target I usually buy toiletries and personal care items and maybe some food if there are appealing loss leaders in the market section, I'm honestly not sure how the trip got so high this month.

Low spend August total $880.32/ normal exhousing spend rate $1300 = 68%  Not bad, but a failure.  I need to cut 25 percent off of that for September to reach goal.  My ideas:  Take more advantage of free food opportunities at work and hotel, nix the dating spending & be more aware when I make my Target run this month.  Totally doable.

Thanks everyone for this opportunity & encouragement!

[2Birds1Stone]

Well, I did it!

I came in at $1799 for the month (not counting the 2 slashed tires I had to replace, which was completely out of my control and quite an emotional rollercoaster)

#greatsuccess

[hoodedfalcon]

I am in!

According to Mint, my average monthly spend is $3201. This includes an $1125 student loan payment.

My August goal is a little skewed bc my annual car property tax bill is due ($369). With that my target August spend is $2900 or under.

I will send savings to student loans.

Welp. I failed. It wasn't wholly preventable though. With the above tax bill, I also had some unexpected pet expenses ($200) and ended up having to put my 19 year old cat down. :(

Might try again in September.....

[amyj05]

I'm sorry to hear about your cat!

I failed this challenge as well. I spent a total of $1935, $130 more than I wanted. I guess that's not terribly bad, though. I'll try again next month, too.

[monstermonster]

Hey folks, if you're in for this month, please join and set up your goals over on Low Spendtember!

[akzidenz]

Welp. I failed. It wasn't wholly preventable though. With the above tax bill, I also had some unexpected pet expenses ($200) and ended up having to put my 19 year old cat down. :(

Might try again in September.....

my condolences. it sounds like a very tough month for you (and your family?). months like that will happen, and maybe money isn't the number one concern at times like that…

best of luck with september!

[rubyunrailed]

My final numbers are in!

Fun Categories
Coffee	$45.78
Bars	$103.20
Eating Out	$51.93
Liquor Cabinet	$78.26
Spotify/iCloud	$10.98
Projects	$32.08
Rent, Groceries, etc
Rent/Utilities	$1040.80
Groceries	$163.89
Zipcar and Biketown	$31 (annual $25 fee)
Household Goods	$8.99
Kitten	$24.19
Health Insurance	$185.00
Cell Phone	$36.23

Low-spend August goal: $1980.00

Total spending: $1812.33

The last couple days for my business trip to Vegas added a bit of spending, but not as bad as I thought and it was more coffee than it was spending money at bars, so that was nice. I also switched to my own health insurance plan this month so that was an unexpected increase in spending. Despite that, I came in under my goal, and never felt too inconvenienced by keeping my spending down so I think that's a win!

[syednaeemul]

Reporting in!

Target: spend less than $2,500 for the month.

I have failed! But digging deeper, I may have passed with flying colours... Breakdown:

Total spending: $5,348.86 (!!!) however $1,308 of it is towards a net positive investment property, and $2,440 went into buying an engagement ring.

By removing the $1,308 (since it's covered by rent) and the $2,440 (one-off) I spent $1,600 for the month.

Now ready for facaepunches and commentary. Main facepunch is spending $363 on eating out.

[sloth bear]

Checking in!

Goal - $2,250.00
Actual - $2,236.91

August Spending (two adults, one dog)
Rent - $1100.00
Groceries - $421.27
Gas (Car) - $68.00
Health Ins - $229.17
Netflix - $9.99
Gym - $69.94
Electric/HW - $66.98
Home Goods - $11.77
Oil (Heat) - $227.80 *filled tank
Fun Money - $31.99

[somers515]

Checking in!

Goal - $2,250.00
Actual - $2,236.91

August Spending (two adults, one dog)
Rent - $1100.00
Groceries - $421.27
Gas (Car) - $68.00
Health Ins - $229.17
Netflix - $9.99
Gym - $69.94
Electric/HW - $66.98
Home Goods - $11.77
Oil (Heat) - $227.80 *filled tank
Fun Money - $31.99

I'm asking this completely out of curiosity - no cost for internet?  No cost for a cellphone?  If zero for both how did you post this?

Also most of the posts in this thread don't have any "gifts" category - has everyone declared gift truces?  I wish I could get my family to go along with that one since there seems to be at least a few times every month that we are spending money on gifts - but hey as long as we are trending in the right direction I'm happy.

I won't throw out my numbers out of embarrassment at this point, but I'll say with my own situation I have categories for real estate taxes, trash collection, home insurance, yard work, home repairs and with 2 kids I have categories for music lessons and sports teams.  As I said trying to gradually reel the spending in because if I do it too quickly I might get a mutiny at home. : )

[sloth bear]

Checking in!

Goal - $2,250.00
Actual - $2,236.91

August Spending (two adults, one dog)
Rent - $1100.00
Groceries - $421.27
Gas (Car) - $68.00
Health Ins - $229.17
Netflix - $9.99
Gym - $69.94
Electric/HW - $66.98
Home Goods - $11.77
Oil (Heat) - $227.80 *filled tank
Fun Money - $31.99

I'm asking this completely out of curiosity - no cost for internet?  No cost for a cellphone?  If zero for both how did you post this?

Also most of the posts in this thread don't have any "gifts" category - has everyone declared gift truces?  I wish I could get my family to go along with that one since there seems to be at least a few times every month that we are spending money on gifts - but hey as long as we are trending in the right direction I'm happy.

I won't throw out my numbers out of embarrassment at this point, but I'll say with my own situation I have categories for real estate taxes, trash collection, home insurance, yard work, home repairs and with 2 kids I have categories for music lessons and sports teams.  As I said trying to gradually reel the spending in because if I do it too quickly I might get a mutiny at home. : )

Hi somers515!

All of my numbers are legit, I promise. :) We do not have internet. My boyfriend has a smart phone that is paid for by his employer, which I used to post my response. I have a dumb phone, and my line is part of a family plan with my parents and siblings. I pay my father my cell phone costs for the year every January (it comes to about $21/month). As a general rule, I only buy gifts at Christmas (so I will not be participating in a low-spend December!).

[somers515]

Checking in!

Goal - $2,250.00
Actual - $2,236.91

August Spending (two adults, one dog)
Rent - $1100.00
Groceries - $421.27
Gas (Car) - $68.00
Health Ins - $229.17
Netflix - $9.99
Gym - $69.94
Electric/HW - $66.98
Home Goods - $11.77
Oil (Heat) - $227.80 *filled tank
Fun Money - $31.99

I'm asking this completely out of curiosity - no cost for internet?  No cost for a cellphone?  If zero for both how did you post this?

Also most of the posts in this thread don't have any "gifts" category - has everyone declared gift truces?  I wish I could get my family to go along with that one since there seems to be at least a few times every month that we are spending money on gifts - but hey as long as we are trending in the right direction I'm happy.

I won't throw out my numbers out of embarrassment at this point, but I'll say with my own situation I have categories for real estate taxes, trash collection, home insurance, yard work, home repairs and with 2 kids I have categories for music lessons and sports teams.  As I said trying to gradually reel the spending in because if I do it too quickly I might get a mutiny at home. : )

Hi somers515!

All of my numbers are legit, I promise. :) We do not have internet. My boyfriend has a smart phone that is paid for by his employer, which I used to post my response. I have a dumb phone, and my line is part of a family plan with my parents and siblings. I pay my father my cell phone costs for the year every January (it comes to about $21/month). As a general rule, I only buy gifts at Christmas (so I will not be participating in a low-spend December!).

Ha Trin - wasn't doubting you - just curious and impressed!

[monstermonster]

Also most of the posts in this thread don't have any "gifts" category - has everyone declared gift truces?  I wish I could get my family to go along with that one since there seems to be at least a few times every month that we are spending money on gifts - but hey as long as we are trending in the right direction I'm happy.

We spend quite a lot on gifts during certain months - July & August are some of those months ;) Family & friend birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, visiting relatives from overseas, etc.... Some of that is treating people we care about to picnics, dinner, drinks, admission to events, etc... 

That being said, we are still very frugal - gift giving aligns strongly with our values and we cut back elsewhere. Our total annual cost of living is about $32,000 CDN or $25,000 USD.

Typically, we try to give experiences or cash as gifts, as we ourselves are what I like to call "minimalist-ish" and don't like the idea of adding more clutter to other people's lives. We are also the recipients of many gifts throughout the year, which I am very grateful for.

I'm not much of a gift giver, as I'm not religious and generally pretty frugal. Definitely on board with the "less clutter" part of gift-giving. My friends mostly got married older, so physical wedding gifts are usually discouraged, so I'll give cash, a donation to charity, or something simple like homemade preserves.   For family (just my mom, dad, and me), I will always give a donation to charity or flowers. Most of my friends need less shit, not more! I spend about ~$100/year on gifts all together.

[monstermonster]

Just to be clear, we are also 100% non-religious (atheist, actually). We just like treating people :) also have a fairly large family, so that is a factor.

Sounds like gifts are a priority for you! It's important to spend money on what you value :-)