Uber Frugal January

[pachnik]

I think I've blown my UFJ out of the water over the weekend.  On Friday, I forgot part of my lunch at home and so went into a coffee shop to buy a scone to supplement.  The shop sells art as well and I saw a beautiful painting.  It is abstract flowers on a deep blue background.  Anyway, I did want 48 hours and then I went back and bought it for $450.00.  I went to pick it up at the artist's home and we had a lovely little chat.   

I used my Christmas bonus money from work to purchase it.  Can't believe that I am typing this here.  And I just love the painting.  It just pops with colour on my dining room wall. 

[I'm a red panda]

Monthly Reoccurring Bills paid: $96.42 (phone) $20.00 (barkbox)  ____(internet); _____(gas) _____ (electric) _____ (water/recycling) ______(mortgage/taxes)
1/1: $0
1/2: $0
1/3: $30.37 (me)  and $17.08 (DH)
1/4: $3.56 (me) and $7.42  (DH)
1/5: $0.60 (me) and $6.93 (DH)
1/6: $0 (me) and $30.35 (DH)
1/7: $34.15 (me) and $0 (DH)
1/8: $0
1/9: $45.14 (me) and $27.97
1/10: $44.88 (me) and $0 (DH)
1/11: $13.97 (me) and $0 (DH)
1/12: $4.99 (me) and $65.87 (DH)
1/13: $0
1/14: $120
1/15: $0

Yesterday was a no spend day and today I'm not leaving the house. DH will stop by the grocery store on the way home from work though. I think the list is pretty small, eggs, flour, and I need lemons as I'm getting sick and my throat is killing me.  Our dog gets a spendypants BarkBox and that shipped, so that is a $20 reoccurring charge. However, we haven't been able to find toys that last for at least a week for less than $12-15 each, and theirs tend to, so it is a good deal. The dog is destructive without toys. When he does rip them, I mend them so some have lasted a month or two!  Plus we get treats for the other dog, so I think it works out.

[Captain and Mrs Slow]

I think I've blown my UFJ out of the water over the weekend.  On Friday, I forgot part of my lunch at home and so went into a coffee shop to buy a scone to supplement.  The shop sells art as well and I saw a beautiful painting.  It is abstract flowers on a deep blue background.  Anyway, I did want 48 hours and then I went back and bought it for $450.00.  I went to pick it up at the artist's home and we had a lovely little chat.   

I used my Christmas bonus money from work to purchase it.  Can't believe that I am typing this here.  And I just love the painting.  It just pops with colour on my dining room wall.

Yeah can relate, when we were on holidays we did the same, wife feel in love with some art, we got it on sale 150€ from 450€ so that's a win. Guess we had an excuse as we hadn't started officially the UFM. Unfortunately I did fall off the wagon. Sunday we drove to church and had to pay for parking as we had the dog, 6€, than we grabbed a snack afterwards than we stopped at Micky Ds not just to a coffee but a quick bite to eat. Worst of all we then ate at the hotel plus dessert!!!!! Talk about falling off the spending diet wagon

Faceslap LOL

Good news the wife has a lot of team lunch/team dinners this week so she have those meals covered. For the 3 days I planned on 90€ and I'm at 55€ so I think I'll be over.

Tonight 0 nuke some food in the room
Tuesday lunch 10 dinner 10
Wednesday lunch 20 dinner at home

Hmm might just break even!!!!!

[Tick-Tock]

This weekend wasn't particularly frugal as we had a long-planned trip to Disneyland for a race weekend (5k, 10k, and half-marathon).  But we stayed across the street at a motel instead of at the expensive Disney hotels, used gift cards and travel credits to our advantage, took Uber from the airport instead of renting a car, and watched our meal spending.  So it wasn't as expensive a trip as it could have been.

[horsepoor]

I think I've blown my UFJ out of the water over the weekend.  On Friday, I forgot part of my lunch at home and so went into a coffee shop to buy a scone to supplement.  The shop sells art as well and I saw a beautiful painting.  It is abstract flowers on a deep blue background.  Anyway, I did want 48 hours and then I went back and bought it for $450.00.  I went to pick it up at the artist's home and we had a lovely little chat.   

I used my Christmas bonus money from work to purchase it.  Can't believe that I am typing this here.  And I just love the painting.  It just pops with colour on my dining room wall.

Would love to see a photo of your new painting!

[Bracken_Joy]

1/1/17- gas, $33
1/2/17- groceries, $18
1/3/17- gas, $20 and groceries $51, general household $14, dog nails clipped $13
1/4/17- $0
1/5/17- $0
1/6/17- $0
1/7/17- $45.53 groceries, $18 pet food

1/8/17- $0
1/9/17- $25.07 groceries, $18.88 general household
1/10/17- $75 work jacket for DH
1/11/17- $3.68 groceries, $4.78 general household
1/12/17- $0
1/13/17- $23.53 gas; $20.49 groceries; $9.79 Beer for evening with friends; Amazon S&S: $49.28 dog food, $31 protein powder for DH, $13.24 general household, $22.73 prenatal vitamin
1/14/17- $8 car wash

1/15/17- $5.01 groceries

Re: today's email on frozen meals. I personally take a different approach, but in the same spirit. We always have boxed chicken broth in the pantry, and eggs in the fridge (I buy them by the 5 doz at costco). So my emergency meal is egg drop soup, or if I need more oomph, egg drop soup with rice in it. Sometimes if I'm feeling fancy I'll toss whatever veggies are on hand in, but it's not a requirement.

Anyway, figured I'd give our non-pizza alternative for people who don't eat that, or a non-frozen alternative for people with little freezer space.

[I'm a red panda]

We don't keep freezer meals (they seem really expensive to me.)  But we always have canned chili in the pantry, which provides 3 servings. We dump it over fries, potatoes, or chips depending on what we have.  Or I'm always up for cereal for dinner.  And we almost always have mac and cheese, which CAN be made with water instead of milk in a pinch.

I'm having to do better planning with the GD diet though- but even still, I can just eat a variety of ingredients instead of meals if needed.

[recklesslysober]

I try to keep chili or soup in the freezer. Another quick one is ramen - I like using miso paste and then adding whatever random vegetables that are in the fridge.

[recklesslysober]

Mid-month check-in:

This does not include bills or debt payments.

1 - $0
2 - $51.75 groceries
3 - $0
4 - $31.05 groceries, vitamin D supplement
5 - $0
6 - $0
7 - $0
8 - $0
9 - $0
10 - $14.38 date night - 2 movie tickets
11 - $0
12 - $0
13 - $0
14 - $0
15 - $21.72 friend's birthday dinner

Total: $118.90

[Captain and Mrs Slow]

Enjoying everyone's posts here, the good the bad and the ugly!

Anways just updated my YNAB numbers and I'm at 300€ so far. I removed 150€ that was part of holidays. Budgeted 800 everyday spending and looks like I'll come in on track. This is about half of what I've been spending !!!!

[nessness]

Well January is turning out to be very un-frugal - just found out we need a $13k sewer repair. Ugh. Emotionally I'm tempted to be like, "why bother with saving $5 here and there when an unexpected $13k expense could just wipe out all that savings?" But logically I know that small decisions add up, and that small decisions I've made in the past are the reason I can easily come up with the cash rather than having to take on debt.

But still, ugh.

[pachnik]

Well January is turning out to be very un-frugal - just found out we need a $13k sewer repair. Ugh. Emotionally I'm tempted to be like, "why bother with saving $5 here and there when an unexpected $13k expense could just wipe out all that savings?" But logically I know that small decisions add up, and that small decisions I've made in the past are the reason I can easily come up with the cash rather than having to take on debt.

But still, ugh.

Yes, absolutely ugh re: sewer repair!  But good for remembering that small decisions add up.  Just for sport, why don't you take one of your small decisions and add it up for say one year?  See how much money it is.

[I'm a red panda]

Oh that sucks.
But saving on the little things is what allows you to afford these big ones without breaking the bank.

[tortoiseshell]

Day 1: $10.00 (church offering)
Day 2: $0
Day 3: $2.00 (DH coffee)
Day 4: $27.93 ($9 groceries, $18.93 OTC medication)
Day 5: $0
Day 6: $85.75 (internet: the price was raised this month; I have to work on getting it down.)
Day 7: $23.75 (groceries, including cat food)

Week 1 Total: $149.43

Day 8: $10.00 (church offering)
Day 9: $7.04 (eggs and loaf of bread)
Day 10: $4.25 (cat treats and DH coffee)
Day 11: $22.55 (groceries for DH lunches, vitamins, shoe polish)
Day 12: $39.49 (electric bill and DH coffee)
Day 13: $0
Day 14: $33.53 (groceries)

Week 2 Total: $116.86

Day 15: $106.41 (cell phone bill, anniversary dinner, church offering)
Day 16: $35.00 (prescription medication for cat)

[frugalkristen]

Trying to get on track as I'm not too happy with how things are going so far.  I need to buy a shop vac this week too but am doing some research to get only what I need...


1 - $57.58 (groceries), $5.35 (Family Dollar - needed paper to print my resume! and a pocket calendar to get organized)
2 - 0
3 - 0
4 - 0
5 - 0
6 - 0
7 - $21.80 (Walmart - mostly groceries), $14 (Lowes - finishing project), and $27 Takeout (my son dropped by unexpectedly so...fail)
8 - 0
9 - $30.56 (groceries)
10 - 0
11 - $17.44 (beer...)
12 - $11 (tampons - on sale with a coupon and should last a few months)
13 - 0
14 - 0
15 - $67.24 (groceries - including cat food and litter.)
16 - 0

Total so far - $251.97

UGH.

[Sailor Sam]

Ha! Frugal win. I was in want of AAA batteries, and I happen to possess a gift card to Target. Target.com had a 24 pack for $9.99; a nice 42 cents per battery. But when I drove over, the physical store only had 20 packs, for $12.49. That's 63 cents per battery!

I showed a (very nice and helpful clerk) the online package. She went into the back, found the right package, and sold it to me at the sale price. All for the extra cost of a smile and a sincere thanks.

The $2.50 difference didn't seem all that big, until I calculated it out by battery. But I still might have just bought the more expensive pack, without the help of UFJ spurring me on.

Spending
1/09:  $0
1/10:  $0
1/11:  $0
1/12:  $8.40 on groceries
1/13:  $38.86 on 13 gallons of primo gasoline
1/14:  $64.62 on groceries. First big grocery shopping for 2017. I'm using the receipt as the blastocyst of a price book.
1/15:  $4.56 on coffee shop for me n' friend.
1/16 - $0 (but $10.95 using a gift card)

Challenge - zero spending during work week.

[Fresh Bread]

Well January is turning out to be very un-frugal - just found out we need a $13k sewer repair. Ugh. Emotionally I'm tempted to be like, "why bother with saving $5 here and there when an unexpected $13k expense could just wipe out all that savings?" But logically I know that small decisions add up, and that small decisions I've made in the past are the reason I can easily come up with the cash rather than having to take on debt.

But still, ugh.

I feel your pain! Also found out this month we have earthenware sewers and they run along a line of trees and bushes....the roots are all through them. We are looking at $20k but we have a few months before it's absolutely necessary. I think it's an extra hard expenditure because it's something you don't see or think about (until it starts backing up!)

[EngineerYogi]

Wins:
Hosted people for football rather than go out and baked two cakes rather than buy pre-made!

Mr. Yogi turned down an invite to go out for drinks (he can't handle the "just have one drink" advice).

I have a need to meet with a colleague and she suggested tea out, I agreed but then told her about the challenge and that I'd be bringing my own beverage. She was supportive and not worried about it at all.

Challenges:
Grocery bill is still high, skipping all eating out is part of the reason. I'm hopeful we can keep costs down the rest of the month. This month is definitely partially growing pains as we adjust.

[jesse_runs_far]

Week 1:
Day 1 (Sun, Jan 1): $0
Day 2: $40 (groceries), $43 (unlimited yoga for the month)
Day 3: $0
Day 4: $0
Day 5: $0
Day 6: $45
Day 7: $250 (Costco, Bulk Barn, helmet for son)

Week 1 total: $342

Week 2:
Day 8: $13 - snacks at movie theater
Day 9: $270 ($200 will be reimbursed - concert tickets for next summer, gift from MIL)
Day 10: $70 - Textbook for school
Day 11: $51 - gas for my car - this should get me to the end of the month, or pretty close
Day 12: $42.5 groceries - ($40 + $2.5 lane swimming)
Day 13: $0
Day 14: $0

Total: $446.5

Week 3:
Day 15: $5  - public swimming for me and my son. Cheap and good physical activity when it's -stupid outside!
Day 16:$40 - groceries

Upcoming challenge - Dinner out on Thursday night at a not so cheap restaurant. It is with a women's networking group and should be very good for my career based on who's on the invite list. I'm budgeting $40 for the night.

[snacky]

This month i'm feeding three humans, two dogs, a cat and three rats for $9.50 per day. Watch me strut.

[Sailor Sam]

This month i'm feeding three humans, two dogs, a cat and three rats for $9.50 per day. Watch me strut.

You feeling okay, Snacky? All your neurons firing okay? You've got this weird shimmy in your walk. Doesn't look good....

[snacky]

This month i'm feeding three humans, two dogs, a cat and three rats for $9.50 per day. Watch me strut.

You feeling okay, Snacky? All your neurons firing okay? You've got this weird shimmy in your walk. Doesn't look good....

Correction: It looks very good.



Edited to add: ok, realistically more like

[HappierAtHome]

But saving on the little things is what allows you to afford these big ones without breaking the bank.

I feel like this is the real secret of frugality; the thing you don't get when you're stuck in the spendy cycle. There are a lot of people in my life who *cannot* see that NOT spending $5, $10, $20 bucks on a regular basis is how I can spend $1000 or more on an 'emergency' without blinking; it's still magic to them.

[MonkeyJenga]

I've spent almost nothing so far. Maybe $35 on food, thanks to some free meals and pantry-stuffs, <$10 on meds, my monthly Metrocard, and $15 on laundry and detergent.

But I might be spending $500 on dental work. Maybe $100. Or maybe $50. Why should I know? It's not like my insurance company should have documents somewhere on their website explaining my dental cost-sharing structure... Or a contact form that actually lets me submit a question.

Grr.

Grrr, I say.

[Bracken_Joy]

But saving on the little things is what allows you to afford these big ones without breaking the bank.

I feel like this is the real secret of frugality; the thing you don't get when you're stuck in the spendy cycle. There are a lot of people in my life who *cannot* see that NOT spending $5, $10, $20 bucks on a regular basis is how I can spend $1000 or more on an 'emergency' without blinking; it's still magic to them.

Heck, this is me too, and it's still magic to ME. Last year, we thought it would take ~1.5yrs to save up our downpayment. Raises coinciding with 3 uber frugal months in a row? BOOM, 12% downpayment saved. I have all the numbers and it STILL baffles me how fast that happened.

[Captain and Mrs Slow]

I feel like this is the real secret of frugality; the thing you don't get when you're stuck in the spendy cycle. There are a lot of people in my life who *cannot* see that NOT spending $5, $10, $20 bucks on a regular basis is how I can spend $1000 or more on an 'emergency' without blinking; it's still magic to them.

That is a really good reminder, as I mentioned we kind of fell of the wagon this weekend. I'll still be able to make my numbers by the end of the month but need to be careful.

Heck, this is me too, and it's still magic to ME. Last year, we thought it would take ~1.5yrs to save up our downpayment. Raises coinciding with 3 uber frugal months in a row? BOOM, 12% downpayment saved. I have all the numbers and it STILL baffles me how fast that happened.

Whoot Whoot exciting isn't it. For the wife and I It's making the lump sum payment on our mortgages this year!

[marielle]

Jan 1: $526 rent + water
Jan 2: $37 Aldi groceries + dustpan
Jan 3: $0
Jan 4: $8 pool league, $5 toothpaste
Jan 5: $25 gas
Jan 6: $0
Jan 7: $0
Jan 8: $2.33 groceries
Jan 9: $25 electric from Nov 14 - Dec 14
Jan 10: $0
Jan 11: $21 gas
Jan 12: $0
Jan 13: $16 gas for bf's car
Jan 14: $40 monthly donation for local parrot rescue
Jan 15: $22 two oil filters and oil wrench, $23 car insurance
Jan 16: $28 groceries, my turn to buy (bf bought last week, we don't live together but we split food and cook enough for the whole week)
Jan 17: $17.50 Internet

Total $772.83

Goal for the month: $1000

$227 left to spend in 14 days, should be doable since all rent/bills are paid for January.

I probably lose UFJ for the $40 parrot donation. And spending SO MUCH on gas (long commute :( and I'm an idiot for living in a HCOL area and commuting to a LCOL area).

[I'm a red panda]

Checking in again:

Monthly Reoccurring Bills paid: $96.42 (phone) $20.00 (barkbox)  ____(internet); _____(gas) _____ (electric) _____ (water/recycling) ______(mortgage/taxes)
1/1: $0
1/2: $0
1/3: $30.37 (me)  and $17.08 (DH)
1/4: $3.56 (me) and $7.42  (DH)
1/5: $0.60 (me) and $6.93 (DH)
1/6: $0 (me) and $30.35 (DH)
1/7: $34.15 (me) and $0 (DH)
1/8: $0
1/9: $45.14 (me) and $27.97
1/10: $44.88 (me) and $0 (DH)
1/11: $13.97 (me) and $0 (DH)
1/12: $4.99 (me) and $65.87 (DH)
1/13: $0
1/14: $120
1/15: $0
1/16: $0 (me) $33.05 (DH)

DH bought more groceries. Mostly fresh fruit, and some eggs.

[Juslookin]

1-1 $0.00 spent
1-2 $0.00 spent
1-3 $0.00 spent -
1-4 $0.40 spent.  CC Balance
      $10.37 co-pay for a medical bill
1-5 $0.00 spent
1-6 $0.00 spent
1-7 $21.00 gift from DH 
      $109.50 dog meds. 
      $39.59 quarterly garbage collection bill
1-8 $51.54 Costco -
       $8.21 Aldis
1-9 $0.00 spent
1-10 $5.00 co-pay for prescription
        $2.99 grocery store,  DH picked up one item

1-11 $0.00 spent
1-12 $0.00 spent
1-13 $0.00 spent
1-14 $0.00 spent
1-15 bad, bad day
Gas $40.25 (although this was my only gas this month.  It was only needed because we had to take DS back to school.
food $205.84  Big stock up, trip to Aldis and regular grocery store
RX co pay $4.00
Online driving class for DD $100.00.  This will reduce my auto insurance bill, so a worthy expense
Netflix $10.59
Phone - internet - Direct TV - $182.78  This expense is a constant battle between DH and myself.  I would shut it all down, but DH won't give up his sports package so that he can watch hockey.  Its really hard for me to win this battle because this is pretty much his only extravagance in life.
$30.00 tickets to DD talent show

1-16 - Massive veterinarian bill.  I have a very sick 100 pound dog.  After blood work, cultures, medicine, special temporary food my bill totalled $458.00.
I had to sit down when they told me that. So I am trying to come up with ways to pay for this that do not require my taking "real" money out of my budget.  I have a $100.00 Visa gift card that I received as a gift going towards it and I have DH hustling on Swagbucks, we have about $102 in cash out money we will use for this as well.  To clarify, we have the money to pay the bill.  I just have a psychological barrier to taking it out of my regular budget and screwing up Uber Frugal January.  So the expense won't bankrupt us, I'm just trying to be creative in finding ways to pay it.

Wins:
1. No eating out
2. No extracurricular shopping
3. Driving is way, way down.  I used to spend over $100. a month in gas. 
$. Cooking from scratch, using up leftovers.  I made a turkey this week and we were able to get 9 meals out of it including the soup servings and turkey bolognese I put into the freezer.

Challenges
1. I am still spending too much on food.  I have freezers full of food.  I am going to refocus my energies on that.  I have a meal plan and try to stick to it, but stuff happens, extra people, extra kids, last minute errands so I find myself picking up fresh meat instead of using what we have. 
2. Struggling with the unknown expenses, mostly related to my daughter's extra curricular activities.  I'm not sure what to do about this. Paying for them herself really isn't an option, she can't get a job until she gets her license.  I give her an allowance and make her budget for her social things, basketball games, dinners out, movies.  What I am still paying for is the fee for the talent show, fee to participate in musical etc.

keep trucking along, have to be pleased with my progress.  The not shopping is saving me a fortune.  I transferred a big pile of money into savings this week.

[marielle]

Ringplus currently has an add-on that gives $205 MB of LTE data for $0.27 a day. I was seriously considering buying this then I did the math...that's almost $100 a year on something I don't need. I already use my phone way too much anyway.

I'll stick to my 750 MB data/750 minutes/unlimited texting for $7.50/month. Used to have a free plan with 6 gigs of data a month so it's definitely been an adjustment.

I probably would have bought this add-on if it wasn't for UFJ. It's a lot harder to justify an expense when you have to post it for the world to see!

Edit: Decided to get the add-on only on certain days, like right now during weekdays to be able to monitor traffic. I would otherwise only have 60 MB to use in the next 9 days. Next month I probably won't use the add-on at all if I manage the data usage better.

[Bracken_Joy]

Man, some BIG expenses have been thrown at people this month! I love the attitude I'm finding though- 'this is why the little things matter, then' and 'how can I creatively solve/pay for/avoid this'? I know it sucks when it's timed like this, but I feel like UFMs are even MORE powerful when things go wrong- a slap in the face reminder of why we do this!

(My second UFM I ever did we ended up with a vet bill of $790.... ouch!)

Small, silly UFM challenge. I am making my pricebook, as I have mentioned. A challenge I face is GUILT! I don't want to go in and wander slowly and annoyingly through a store and then not buy anything. But I don't have stuff I need to buy each time, and I want to get the price book done sooner rather than later! It's a small grievance, but not one I had foreseen.

[marielle]

Small, silly UFM challenge. I am making my pricebook, as I have mentioned. A challenge I face is GUILT! I don't want to go in and wander slowly and annoyingly through a store and then not buy anything. But I don't have stuff I need to buy each time, and I want to get the price book done sooner rather than later! It's a small grievance, but not one I had foreseen.

I just did this for the first time last Sunday during my grocery trip! I used the Price Cruncher app. I probably looked like an idiot walking around staring at my phone not picking anything up while my bf actually collected all the groceries. Haha.

[Bracken_Joy]

Small, silly UFM challenge. I am making my pricebook, as I have mentioned. A challenge I face is GUILT! I don't want to go in and wander slowly and annoyingly through a store and then not buy anything. But I don't have stuff I need to buy each time, and I want to get the price book done sooner rather than later! It's a small grievance, but not one I had foreseen.

I just did this for the first time last Sunday during my grocery trip! I used the Price Cruncher app. I probably looked like an idiot walking around staring at my phone not picking anything up while my bf actually collected all the groceries. Haha.

....there's an app? =o

I've just been using google sheets!

[tortoiseshell]

Day 1: $10.00 (church offering)
Day 2: $0
Day 3: $2.00 (DH coffee)
Day 4: $27.93 ($9 groceries, $18.93 OTC medication)
Day 5: $0
Day 6: $85.75 (internet: the price was raised this month; I have to work on getting it down.)
Day 7: $23.75 (groceries, including cat food)

Week 1 Total: $149.43

Day 8: $10.00 (church offering)
Day 9: $7.04 (eggs and loaf of bread)
Day 10: $4.25 (cat treats and DH coffee)
Day 11: $22.55 (groceries for DH lunches, vitamins, shoe polish)
Day 12: $39.49 (electric bill and DH coffee)
Day 13: $0
Day 14: $33.53 (groceries)

Week 2 Total: $116.86

Day 15: $106.41 (cell phone bill, anniversary dinner, church offering)
Day 16: $35.00 (prescription medication for cat)
Day 17: $11.05 (groceries for DH lunches, DH coffee)

I'm both pleased and a little embarrassed by how boring my UFM reports are. They're not very exciting, but that's really the point, isn't it?

[Mezzie]

Eating out of the pantry this week. Should make up for some earlier splurges.

[Bracken_Joy]

1/1/17- gas, $33
1/2/17- groceries, $18
1/3/17- gas, $20 and groceries $51, general household $14, dog nails clipped $13
1/4/17- $0
1/5/17- $0
1/6/17- $0
1/7/17- $45.53 groceries, $18 pet food

1/8/17- $0
1/9/17- $25.07 groceries, $18.88 general household
1/10/17- $75 work jacket for DH
1/11/17- $3.68 groceries, $4.78 general household
1/12/17- $0
1/13/17- $23.53 gas; $20.49 groceries; $9.79 Beer for evening with friends; Amazon S&S: $49.28 dog food, $31 protein powder for DH, $13.24 general household, $22.73 prenatal vitamin
1/14/17- $8 car wash

1/15/17- $5.01 groceries
1/16/17- $10.91 gas; $43.23 groceries (costco)
1/17/17- $0

Sorry I do such frequent updates, but it helps me stay on track! Topped up the car so DH has a full tank when he goes on his next work/school trip. And I combined it with a Costco run for some staple items. Opted for broccoli instead of brussel sprouts since it's cheaper. And it's good to mix it up once in a while. (I mean, "mix it up", they're the same plant haha).

At $241 for groceries, which is just incredible for us. Unfortunately not sustainable as is, because we're purchasing no meat this month- just eating down the freezer. Still, good to see how low we can go. And once completed, I'm hoping the price book will help. I've done 2/5 stores I want to compare. Slow going, but I'm working on it!

[Sailor Sam]

Argh. My goal for zero spending during the work week has taken a hit. I forgot about my appointment downtown. I ended up paying $4 for parking.

Spending
1/09:  $0
1/10:  $0
1/11:  $0
1/12:  $8.40 on groceries
1/13:  $38.86 on 13 gallons of primo gasoline
1/14:  $64.62 on groceries. First big grocery shopping for 2017. I'm using the receipt as the blastocyst of a price book.
1/15:  $4.56 on coffee shop for me n' friend.

1/16 - $0 (but $10.95 using a gift card)
1/17 - $4.00 on travel

[I'm a red panda]

Checking in again:

Monthly Reoccurring Bills paid: $96.42 (phone) $20.00 (barkbox)  ____(internet); _____(gas) _____ (electric) _____ (water/recycling) ______(mortgage/taxes)
1/1: $0
1/2: $0
1/3: $30.37 (me)  and $17.08 (DH)
1/4: $3.56 (me) and $7.42  (DH)
1/5: $0.60 (me) and $6.93 (DH)
1/6: $0 (me) and $30.35 (DH)
1/7: $34.15 (me) and $0 (DH)
1/8: $0
1/9: $45.14 (me) and $27.97
1/10: $44.88 (me) and $0 (DH)
1/11: $13.97 (me) and $0 (DH)
1/12: $4.99 (me) and $65.87 (DH)
1/13: $0
1/14: $120
1/15: $0
1/16: $0 (me) $33.05 (DH)
1/17: $4.05 (me) and $0 (DH)


Thought today was going to be a no-spend day, but had to send a paypal payment to cover shipping on something someone returned to me because I didn't describe it well :(  Which means that the almost $4 I spent earlier in the month to ship it out there was also a waste.  $8 down the drain.

[Fresh Bread]

Wins - I have (almost) secured a brand new toilet for half what we would have paid retail for our bathroom reno. Last week we picked up a 2nd hand BBQ for less than half of a new one. Both were planned purchases and we've spent a lot of time looking for the right deal (we've owned this house for 4 years!) Did a top up grocery shop for $28 with a $25 gift card from online surveys. Lastly,  I have made a successful warranty claim for a part for a kitchen item that I was going to sell but realised was a bit broken. So now I can sell it 'as new'!

Fails - the aircon had been on way too much as we've had a run of v hot days. I could probably manage but the poor old dog can't regulate his temp. I've done zero spending this week apart from groceries but a box arrived for hubby with parts for his bike (necessary) and out popped  all this other stuff :/

[Captain and Mrs Slow]

I just did this for the first time last Sunday during my grocery trip! I used the Price Cruncher app. I probably looked like an idiot walking around staring at my phone not picking anything up while my bf actually collected all the groceries. Haha.
[/quote]

....there's an app? =o

I've just been using google sheets!
[/quote]

I do it mostly in my head, I'm pretty good at knowing prices. Biggest win for me was not going in to buy 1 item and leaving with 10. First time I did it, felt sooooo weird like I was missing things.

Don't know why but really enjoying this thread😃

[jesse_runs_far]

Week 1:
Day 1 (Sun, Jan 1): $0
Day 2: $40 (groceries), $43 (unlimited yoga for the month)
Day 3: $0
Day 4: $0
Day 5: $0
Day 6: $45
Day 7: $250 (Costco, Bulk Barn, helmet for son)

Week 1 total: $342

Week 2:
Day 8: $13 - snacks at movie theater
Day 9: $270 ($200 will be reimbursed - concert tickets for next summer, gift from MIL)
Day 10: $70 - Textbook for school
Day 11: $51 - gas for my car - this should get me to the end of the month, or pretty close
Day 12: $42.5 groceries - ($40 + $2.5 lane swimming)
Day 13: $0
Day 14: $0

Total: $446.5

Week 3:
Day 15: $5  - public swimming for me and my son. Cheap and good physical activity when it's -stupid outside!
Day 16:$40 - groceries
Day 17: $250 - Costco, including a dr-recommended probiotic for my husband ($50)

So, if nothing else, this challenge has me tracking what I spend on groceries. I'm not necessarily looking to reduce it but I don't track it, so it's eye-opening. We're just under $600 and we're only 2.5 weeks into the month (WTF!), and that includes little meat (we buy a quarter cow each fall, so freezer is packed with beef).

Inspired by others in UFM, I've started to make a price book (google doc) to be sure that I'm getting the best unit price. I'm in Canada though, so I think our prices are higher for most everything (?)

[horsepoor]

Forgot to bring my travel mug home last night.  Briefly considered going to Starbuck's near the office this morning.  Instead I had a cup of coffee before leaving home, and made green tea when I got to work (yes, I have high caffeine requirements).  It helps that my homemade coffee is better than Starbuck's.

Last night I went by the gym I considered joining while I'm here in DC.  Month to month memberships are like $129+.  Got totally turned off by the trendy vibe I got just looking in the front lobby.  I like a bare bones gym where I can get my workout done and get out, so this morning I submitted a request access for the office fitness center and will make do between that and running. 

[katscratch]

I was replying to Mrs. Frugalwoods' homework in the facebook group but the layout is not as nice as a message board, and I have a bad habit of forgetting I'm not talking to people that know me... I offended someone earlier this week and was reminded of why I restrict my own facebook page to only people I see regularly in person-- it eats at me for days and days when I think I'm being diplomatic then realize I didn't read my audience right.  That action of mine is hands down the thing bothering me the most in this challenge, which logically is silly but that's how I'm wired.

So! It makes more sense for me to respond to homework here anyway because I can be wordy as all get out :)


Getting over the "treat myself" mentality last fall was probably the biggest shift in terms of my getting on a better financial path.  For years I'd been getting a latte "but only on paydays" or eating a big cafeteria breakfast before big cases (this one even got to the point of being a tradition with some of our vendors).  The payday latte habit started years ago when I had literally nothing extra and ate rice, beans, tuna and eggs every day.  I'd save my change over two weeks and use it on payday to feel like I was splurging, and the act of sitting in a coffee shop reading a book while my kiddo drew pictures was so ridiculously luxurious.  Especially in the winters, that "treat" was an emotional lifesaver.  My problem was that once my job situation changed, the treats became habits instead of treats and turned into more frequent purchases. 

It took a long time for me to realize that those little things made a really big difference to my monthly bottom line - it wasn't really noticeable when I cut down, but cutting out entirely? Yep, that I noticed. Even though until last summer when I dug a debt hole I could technically "afford" them as part of my monthly spending budget, Mrs. Frugalwoods' point that those little spends add up to weeks or years of a working career was sobering.  I don't remember when I first read that post, but between their blog and MMM my mindframe around consumer spending has changed so much in the last six months I would be horrified to look back at how much I could have socked away over the past five years ;)

I think that's part of why I'm doing really well on the spending part of this challenge -- My relationship with money has changed pretty drastically and I actually have financial goals other than "don't be broke ever again," ha.  I also know about myself that I have to set the bar at zero spending, or my psyche will find ways to sneak a little here and there. 

-----------------------------

horsepoor that's awesome!  That is often one of my biggest hurdles - maintaining a proper caffeine level in my bloodstream :)  I too like barebones gyms - when I still had a membership, my favorite was a chain gym that was full of hardcore powerlifters during the time I went (I, on the other hand, am a scrawny weeny) - these guys would be deadlifting 450lbs for reps and would free up a squat cage for me to lift my 80lbs haha.  I LOVED it because it was impossible for me to feel self conscious (which shocked me at the time) - we were in such different worlds regarding our capabilities.  Plus they knew their stuff and were crazy respectful- commented on my form every now and then, but mostly were focused on their own thing.  The gyms I've felt the weirdest in were the gyms marketed towards women.  I'm not there for the smoothies or to look good, because I look terrible and grunty and sweaty :)

[pachnik]

Well, here I am again sitting in front of the computer at home drinking my cup of coffee.  This UFJ has definitely broken the buying coffee on the way to work habit I had developed over December.   When I am recognized by barristas, I know I am in a bad way.   :0

I went to the optical shop last night and priced out new reading glasses.  I paid $300 for two pairs of them all in.  There was a minimal discount for using my old frames so didn't do that.   No wins here yesterday but am carrying on today.

[monstermonster]

When I am recognized by barristas, I know I am in a bad way.   :0

This is funny to me - I have had a lifelong dream of being recognized by the baristas/bartenders and getting to order the usual, but I haven't since I worked as one.  I'm too cheap so I never get to be a "regular".

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

I am normally so frugal, there wasn't much else to do. And I ate lunch in a restaurant like a grown up Monday because my boyfriend took the whole day off work to hang out with me and we wanted to go Out. (Breakfast and dinner I made, and we went to the Botanic Gardens, which was free.)

I did, however, make an extra batch of yogurt. Usually I buy a carton and only make 1 batch of yogurt from it, then buy another, but this seemed pretty thick, so I made yogurt from the homemade yogurt. That's about it so far for uber frugal.

[pachnik]

When I am recognized by barristas, I know I am in a bad way.   :0

This is funny to me - I have had a lifelong dream of being recognized by the baristas/bartenders and getting to order the usual, but I haven't since I worked as one.  I'm too cheap so I never get to be a "regular".

That is exactly my point!!!!    I don't want to be there enough to be a "regular" cos too much $$$ down the drain.   

[Bracken_Joy]

Ugh. Sometimes, being a socially anxious person is the WORST. I got my courage up today, and headed out to Trader Joe's early, so I could price book before it got slammed (super narrow aisles, so it's hard to be slow in there!) And it went really well, but toward the end I just like... panicked? And had written the price of beef, and thought "DH really wanted tacos! I'll make him tacos" and grabbed the beef. Never mind my plans to buy no meat this month. =\

So... win on the price booking front, fail on the "oh god what if they judge me ack BUY" front.

When I am recognized by barristas, I know I am in a bad way.   :0

This is funny to me - I have had a lifelong dream of being recognized by the baristas/bartenders and getting to order the usual, but I haven't since I worked as one.  I'm too cheap so I never get to be a "regular".

...I'm still facebook friends with 4 past baristas who I was a regular for. And had a bartender know me by sight in college and give me my 'regular', because I would drink Irish coffees while working on papers. One coffee shop (I always worked there when I was in online classes) was to the point that other regular knew me, and I could put drinks on my 'tab' and top it up periodically (basically they held a GC behind the counter for me, lol), and the owner would randomly give me like lasagna and stuff he had cooked. Not even on the menu- just gave me random free foods.

It's been quite a journey to frugality for me in several respects, haha.

[SingleMomDebt]

Ugh. Sometimes, being a socially anxious person is the WORST. I got my courage up today, and headed out to Trader Joe's early, so I could price book before it got slammed (super narrow aisles, so it's hard to be slow in there!) And it went really well, but toward the end I just like... panicked? And had written the price of beef, and thought "DH really wanted tacos! I'll make him tacos" and grabbed the beef. Never mind my plans to buy no meat this month. =\

So... win on the price booking front, fail on the "oh god what if they judge me ack BUY" front.

Try making lentil tacos w a packet of taco seasoning. They are a very good substitute for meat tacos.

[Bracken_Joy]

Ugh. Sometimes, being a socially anxious person is the WORST. I got my courage up today, and headed out to Trader Joe's early, so I could price book before it got slammed (super narrow aisles, so it's hard to be slow in there!) And it went really well, but toward the end I just like... panicked? And had written the price of beef, and thought "DH really wanted tacos! I'll make him tacos" and grabbed the beef. Never mind my plans to buy no meat this month. =\

So... win on the price booking front, fail on the "oh god what if they judge me ack BUY" front.

Try making lentil tacos w a packet of taco seasoning. They are a very good substitute for meat tacos.

I do think I need to cut the meat with beans to stretch it some. Might give that a try tonight. (And we make our own taco seasoning. I don't like the random stuff they add to the packets)