Maximum Mustache July

[CNM]

Hey all!  I'm planning to do a Maximum Mustache July.  The idea is to cut discretionary spending.  I did one of these in March and had a lot of success.  If you wish to join me, please do! 

My parameters are as follows:

- spend no more then $250 for groceries
- spend no more than $400 on my credit card (I put everything but the mortgage and utilities on my cc, so this covers my gym membership, any entertainment, household supplies, baby supplies, etc.)

July is just one week away! 

[StaceStache]

I'm in! Actually my husband and I were going to be doing something similar for July. This will be a good place to keep us accountable.

Our goal specific to us is to spend less than $400 on our credit card, which we use for everything: gas, groceries, toiletries, pet stuff, entertainment, miscellaneous, etc. We usually average 700-900 on all these so this will be cutting it in half. Our groceries usually run us 200-250, but I'm hoping to stay to about 100 this month (buying only fruits/veggies and milk). We have plenty of stuff at home that can be the bulk of our meals to tide us over (rice, pasta, frozen veggies, canned veggies, frozen chicken, etc)

Good luck to you and your Maximum Mustache July!

[Zamboni]

Okay, I'm in too.  Good idea!

Same goal as you:  limit CC to $400.  I too have a cash rewards CC and just use it for everything.  Not sure I can do it, especially with a one week vacation/family reunion in July that involves a looong drive, but it will be fun trying!

[Zamboni]

It's still June, right?  Because I just had a pet who needed emergency surgery today.  $359 on the card wouldn't have been the best start towards only spending $400 in July; good thing it's only June ;-) 

I'm going to count sewing up a big wound and the painkillers and antibiotics and anti-fungals that are needed along with it as necessary for the health, well-being, education, and maintenance of the Zamboni household (and yes I agree that pets aren't very Mustachian, but the dragon stays.)  At least I have the sense now to pass on anything the vet offers as "optional," like oh while he's here let's just go ahead and do some bloodwork and measure his blood pressure.  They seem to immediately understand my farmgirl mentality on that.

[StaceStache]

Oh no! Sorry for your pet. Poor guy (girl?). I have 2 cats myself so I understand the love of pets.

You're right, though - good thing that was in June ;-)

[Herbert Derp]

I'm in. Let's see if I can cut spending to $650 out of the $700 that I allocated for July.

[dweebyhawkeyes]

Aw nice! Since I live with my parents and they handle the groceries, I'm going to cut my goal to $150. There's no excuse for me using much of my discretionary. I spent about $350 in June, so this should be a nice little challenge.

[marty998]

Yep, I'll join in too. I'm always in shock and awe at the level some people can get it down to (Herbert Derp are you there?)

Leave the wallet at home and its easy.

[CNM]

Nice to have comrades over the next month.  Anyone else?  Tomorrow's the first day!

[BC_Goldman]

I'm in! I'm currently unemployed so it works with my current financial picture. My goal is to spend 400 or less, including utilities. Might as well make it hard. :-)

[Lord Cashmoney]

I duly accept this noble undertaking! I live alone and pay all my own bills and utilities, but this will go nicely with cutting down on cable services and getting rid of clutter... the other goals of the month. :)

[Taffy]

I'm in. My aim is for full-throttle frugality: a discretionary spend of $0.00. Last month was spendy (dental work, car tax and insurance) so this month will be one of spartan self-denial.

[Scooter H]

I'm in!! Great idea.

[dweebyhawkeyes]

I'm in. My aim is for full-throttle frugality: a discretionary spend of $0.00.

Ballsy! I love it!

[Zamboni]

Hi everyone!  This gauntlet is good for me as it made me go back and look at my credit card spending so far this year.  To be fair, it's one of those cash back cards, so I put everything on it (groceries, gas, internet, netflix, phone, travel & other daily purchases) and the card company pays me ($15-40+ per month) to use it.  I pay it off in full every month without fail, but I can and should buy less!

So, how much have I been spending?  This year my monthly bill has ranged from $1150-$3000.  June's bill was ~$1300.  over $500 of that was "unexpected" vet bills, but obviously there is something like that every month.  That means ~$800 was gas, groceries, clothes, entertainment, etc.

$400 will be cutting that in half. 

Yesterday I spent $26.80 filling my gas tank and $1.25 on M&M's from a vending machine (Whoops!).  If every day's expenditures match yesterday, my bill will be $869.55 this month.  So, that means I can't spend ANYTHING today!

How are you doing one day in?

[anastrophe]

Yes. June was awful for me due to vacationitis, I can't believe what I let myself buy just because I was traveling. July needs buckling down.

I'm going to plan for $20 discretionary expenses and limiting groceries to $250. After planned expenses, I should be able to save approximately $1,000 net but I rarely do--in July I am going to hit that! One exception is that I may have some wedding-related expenses, those are exempt.

[dsteele713]

This sounds like a good plan. I'd like to keep food and discretionary spending under $500 for the month.

[StaceStache]

One week in and I'm on target! Haven't had to spend much on groceries, though both my husband and I had to fill up our cars already. Just have to keep up the good work!

[CNM]

First week down!  My spending has been terrible!  I somewhat unexpectedly was out of town for a few days which resulted in some meals out that I had not anticipated.  All that means is that I've got to buckle down for the rest of the month!

So far:
Restaurants- $35.90
iTunes- $5.26 (these I actually purchased last month but was charged this month, so I'm counting it towards July expenses)
gym- $162.00 (yes, I am aware it's a ridiculous amount.)

Total= $225.96

That leaves me with $174 left in spending and $200 left for groceries for the month. Time to scour the pantry!

[anastrophe]

First week down: $17.45 in discretionary spending, all of it in coffeeshops. The No AC challenge has got me spending more time out than at home;)

Doubt that I will manage to stay to my (incredibly low, arbitrary) discretionary limit, so I'm going to change it to $50. That would still be pretty decent for me.

[Herbert Derp]

$552 spent so far, $500 of which is rent/utilities. This leaves me with $100 for the rest of the month. I think I can do it.

[dweebyhawkeyes]

Forgot about school textbooks and such.. so my spending is already $58! The horror!

[MsSindy]

gym- $162.00 (yes, I am aware it's a ridiculous amount.)

Wow, at that rate they ought to work out for you!  Hee, Hee!
Is that really for the sheer pleasure of walking in their doors? Or does it at least include some personal trainer time?

[CNM]

gym- $162.00 (yes, I am aware it's a ridiculous amount.)

Wow, at that rate they ought to work out for you!  Hee, Hee!
Is that really for the sheer pleasure of walking in their doors? Or does it at least include some personal trainer time?

Yeah, it's almost all personal training.  But I'm going to cancel it.  I've been going a long time and love it, but it's really just too much for me to justify anymore.

[BC_Goldman]

Well, we've reached the halfway point of the month. How is everyone doing?

I'm on track so far. Monthly spending to date:
$37.31 for replacement parts for a bathroom sink
$40.00 on gas (first time I've had to buy gas since the end of May)
$45.82 gas/electric bill (204 kWh, 1 therm of gas)
$36.27 charitable contributions
$ 1.06  birthday card
$ 3.98 food (I was going through all my stock to use up old stuff)
$ 7.80 for soda contributions to a 4th of July party I attended
===========
$172.24 total

In addition, I spent $304 to pay two months of HOA dues for a grand total of $476.24 this month to date.

[dweebyhawkeyes]

Well, we've reached the halfway point of the month. How is everyone doing?

$81 so far. Some much of it was stupid, but I did donate a bit to the 44-Cent Cure last week. Worth it!

[CNM]

Well, I cancelled my gym membership.  I know it seems trivial- and in the grand scheme of things it is- but it took me a long time to come around.  Now, after this month ends, there will be no more expensive gym membership!  In fact, preliminary inquiry shows that there's another gym with all of the features I want (kettlebells, kickboxing, and long open hours) that will cost only about $20/month. (It's subsidized by my health insurance!)

In other news, still on track.  My grocery spending has been about $100.  Had an unexpected expense, which was updating my computers' antivirus software that had expired.  Still hoping to come in under $600 for the month.

[BC_Goldman]

I may end up dropping $2k tomorrow. Working on making arrangements to go look at a Ninja 250. If I buy it, it means I can put my Pontiac G6 up for sale so I can get rid of my car payment. Then I just need to find a nice used Civic or something for the times when I won't be able to ride the motorcycle.

[MsSindy]

Well, I cancelled my gym membership.  I know it seems trivial- and in the grand scheme of things it is- but it took me a long time to come around.  Now, after this month ends, there will be no more expensive gym membership!  In fact, preliminary inquiry shows that there's another gym with all of the features I want (kettlebells, kickboxing, and long open hours) that will cost only about $20/month. (It's subsidized by my health insurance!)

$162 each and every month is NOT trivial!  Congrats on making the decision....you know it was the right one.  The thing about making a good decision like this, is that it leads to other good decisions.

[CNM]

Well, I cancelled my gym membership.  I know it seems trivial- and in the grand scheme of things it is- but it took me a long time to come around.  Now, after this month ends, there will be no more expensive gym membership!  In fact, preliminary inquiry shows that there's another gym with all of the features I want (kettlebells, kickboxing, and long open hours) that will cost only about $20/month. (It's subsidized by my health insurance!)

$162 each and every month is NOT trivial!  Congrats on making the decision....you know it was the right one.  The thing about making a good decision like this, is that it leads to other good decisions.

I meant that being or not being a member of a gym is trivial. I had grown very attached to my gym, my friends there, and the outstanding training.  The reality of it is, though, that I have enough training now that I can do it on my own.  And YAY for more money!  It is Maximum Mustache July after all.

[Taffy]

I'm in. My aim is for full-throttle frugality: a discretionary spend of $0.00.

OK, haven't quite managed this. The pool in our community opened this month, so I spent about $20 on swimming gear for myself and my daughter. A friend's birthday drinks tomorrow will put me out another $20. So $40 in total is still not too bad, but I'll have to roll over this zero spend target into Austerity August.

[Zamboni]

I'm going to miss my goal by a little bit, but overall this has been a pretty good month.  Just keeping the goal in mind has made me stick to essentials that are needed without being a tightwad.  I hope it's going well for everyone else!

[frugal_bugg]

I wish I saw your post earlier but I'm in! I had actually already been planning the same as you and posted my success in another section
https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/share-your-badassity/back-to-back-buy-nothing-months/

July isn't officially over but my statements are from the 21st to 20th month to month so I'm already celebrating a victory.
My goal is actually to repeat again in August.

My inspiration came from one of MMM's earlier posts (2011) where he mentioned one of the advantages of being single is the freedom to have back-to-back buy nothing months.

When you reach your goal at the end of July you should join me for August ;)

[StaceStache]

Heading toward the final weekend of July, I feel very happy with the month. I think I will exceed my $400 goal, but not by much (maybe $60 or so). And I definitely didn't feel deprived at any point during the month. So I would call Maximum Mustache July a success!

[dweebyhawkeyes]

Never mind, bought a $270 (including tax) laptop and $8 Microsoft Office from my school. My long-suffering wardrobe decided to rip and tear and stain all at once, so I went on a $50 clothing trip. This means I'm up to $409 this month and officially FAIL. :c Ah, well...

[Zamboni]

^Enjoy your new laptop (that's a good price!)

My July could have been much worse.  I didn't make my goal, but still spent less than I do most months even with buying gifts and going on vacation.  All in all I'm calling July a WIN (but not epic winning.)

[Herbert Derp]

Well, here's how I did for July. I managed to spend $757.74 over the course of a six-day business trip, which has been reimbursed. Overall, I had a lot of fun in July and spent very little. Let's see if I can carry this trend on into August!

Rent: $500.00 (includes electricity/water/sewage/trash/internet)
Other: $831.50 ($757.74 was reimbursed)
Total: $573.76