Uber Frugal June - Save All those Dubloons!

[Road42]

I mean, rhyming is hard.

Rules:

1. Think about each purchase before making it.
2. Limit extras as much as possible.
3. Don't go crazy.

Ok, I need this thread badly. May was very spendy since we shelled out for a new (well, new to us) car after our precious 15 year old Rav4 decided to kick the bucket.

[Road42]

Challenges coming up this month for me:

- the kids will be out of school and it's summer time, so I know I'll be tempted to take them out for ice cream or treats or whatever. I think the solution has to just be buying cones & quarts at the grocery store rather than avoiding ice cream altogether.

Motivating goals:

- the hubs has a three month long sabbatical coming up, and we are trying to figure out if we can swing a summer in Europe somewhere. It would be an amazing opportunity to actually soak up another culture, but it means saving extra for a while.

What challenges and motivations are driving you guys?

[Beegee]

We have had a horrendously expensive year thus far thanks to a basement renovation, and I hope to keep all non-reno-costs down in June  to compensate for 2017's spending to date.

Challenges will be:
-a friend's wedding out of town one weekend (hotel expense plus gift)
-one of my kids is turning 7 so we will have some level of bday-related expenses there

Motivations:
-looking forward to dumping several thousands of dollars into savings opposed to renos.  It will be so refreshing to get back on track.

[Juslookin]

I am joining for June. We have set a stretch budget in general and didn't make it in May. Recommitting for June to make this budget work. Some necessary spending is requiring that I cut some extras out if I want to achieve the budget numbers. We have an end goal here, so buh bye extras.

[SquirrelStache]

I'll bite.

Major challenge for me is a week long staycation with hubs. We will probably sit around the house but the temptation to go out and eat is always there. We are planning a road trip one of the days, but that shouldn't be much more than just gas and a meal (hopefully).

On the other hand, I am REALLY trying to focus on putting every dime towards debt as possible. I've only just got into MMM-ness, so previously I was of the "what help is 5 bucks going to make?" crowd, but now I'm raiding the sofa for lost change ;-)

[Kerowyn]

Arrrr, mateys! We be boardin' the USS Savings! Don't get in the Davy Jones' Locker of debt!

Goals for June:
* <$350 on food. Our CSA starts this month, and that's all pre-paid, so most of our vegetables should be free. However, this is the first time we've done a CSA, so who knows who it will go.
* Spend as little as possible on everything else.
* We'll get our usual fun money allowances and that won't be tracked for Uber Frugal purposes. However, we should save as much as possible for the upcoming Renaissance Festival season, since we'd rather spend our money there!

Challenges:
* I have a doctor's appointment coming up, and I'm trying to get my husband to see a doctor and a dentist. My copay should be $0, but I have no idea what his copays/costs will be like. I'll guess $50 for medical.
* The cat has a vet checkup. I'll guess $50 for that too.
* I may purchase new glasses. That could be anywhere from $50-350 depending on how the prescription glasses websites deal with my prescription and whether I get prescription sunglasses too.

I'll try to figure out some more numbers later, when I actually go through and do the budget for June.

[Morning Glory]

I am in: my spending needs to be way less than what it was in May if my FIRE number is going to be less than 1 million. Here is my May breakdown (thinking about doing a case study):

Mortgage: 1589 (542 principal, 718 interest, 329 tax and insurance)
Health insurance: 274
Monthly bills: 251
Irregular bills: 533 (1 year of trash collection and 6 months of car insurance)
Spousal mystery fund: 1100 (does anyone else have this?)
My discretionary spending (groceries, pets, medical supplies, household):287

Total= 4034: this is with no clothes, restaurants, or any extras

 Monthly average needs to be 3333 or less if my FIRE number is going to be less than 1 million (including home equity).

 I can't ditch the spousal mystery fund because it would be more expensive to pay a babysitter for the overlap between our work schedules. It is cheaper just to pay him to stay home on the days I work. I transfer him $500 every 2 weeks, plus extra if he needs to make a large purchase for a house project. He pays for most of the groceries and household supplies, his phone bill, and gas, parts, and oil for our cars and the mower.

[Bart1ma3u5]

I am in for June! It did not go well in April and May was also a pretty big spending month. Hopefully we can do better in June.

Goals:
Eat out once a week or less (We have been having problems with this as we both get home late and cooking doesnt seem as fun or easy as going out)
Hopefully we can do better with this as we joined a CSA and will have most of the veggies we will need. We are also hoping to meal prep better so that later nights aren't as hard to stay in.

Not go crazy on other spending categories  and not break our budgets.

Challenges will be the late nights and not wanting to cook. I also may need to purchase a new set of tires this month, but that might be able to wait until next month, and in any case that has already been budgeted for.

[Road42]

Arrrr, mateys! We be boardin' the USS Savings! Don't get in the Davy Jones' Locker of debt!
...
However, we should save as much as possible for the upcoming Renaissance Festival season, since we'd rather spend our money there!

I literally just came upstairs from working on a set of leather bracers for my daughter's dryad warrior Ren Faire costume. Anachronism nerds unite!

[Road42]

Spousal mystery fund: 1100 (does anyone else have this?)

I used to have this because DH would just get cash out of the ATM and then have no idea where/when he spent it. Our solution was for him to use a credit card as much as possible (he didn't before because of some kind of vague privacy paranoia or something). He still spends whatever he spends - very little, he's naturally quite frugal - but it's much more obvious where the money went. Would a credit card only system work to demystify the mystery for you guys?

[recklesslysober]

I'm in. Mostly going to try eating out less and keep the grocery budget down.

[Morning Glory]

Spousal mystery fund: 1100 (does anyone else have this?)

I used to have this because DH would just get cash out of the ATM and then have no idea where/when he spent it. Our solution was for him to use a credit card as much as possible (he didn't before because of some kind of vague privacy paranoia or something). He still spends whatever he spends - very little, he's naturally quite frugal - but it's much more obvious where the money went. Would a credit card only system work to demystify the mystery for you guys?

He uses mostly credit cards but I can't tell if he is buying gas or energy drinks at the gas station, or food vs other crap at Walmart. Also Harbor Freight seems to be a big one where I am not sure what he buys or if it is necessary. He is less frugal than I am, and I find we get along better if I don't analyze all of his spending, so we have separate accounts. The amount transferred was decided pre MMM.

[rawr237]

I'm in. Last month's spending was YIKES because I splurged a lot on restaurants while traveling.

Challenges:
-upcoming out-of-town weekend for a wedding ~ lodging is paid for, but gas, eating out, and gift spending will happen
-the fabulous weather makes me want to have drinks and meals out
-I have a dentist and a doctor checkups next week, which could incur unexpected expenses

Motivation:
-This year's spending is tracking higher than I expected, and I want a better number for my FIRE calculations
-Not enjoying my job right now

Random Notes:
-may be paying the engagement/wedding photographer this month (I know, I know, not mustachian. SO and I are having the big wedding but spending less than half of the wedding $ from parents.) but that's a planned expense, so the only difference is paying now vs later.

[Juslookin]

Good day here. I figure out my planned miscellaneous spending for each month and this month my two dogs need their annual appointment at the vets for their shots. I can't let DH go because they guilt him into all this crazy stuff. I went with one dog today and asked for the price and the why for everything they wanted to do.  I got out of there for $153.00 total and I feel that I did well by my pet with reasonable care.

It can be tough to know where to draw the line with our pets, but I was able to figure it out. I feel good about it and I will be able to stay in budget.

[Stimpy]

I think I'll jump in this one.

Goals:

• No new video games (unless they are Free!) Estimated Savings ~50
• No Eating out (at all) Estimated Savings ~50-150
• Drive my Car only to work  ~ Estimated Savings ~0-20
• Bike everywhere else ~ Estimated Savings ~Infinite
• No fancy last minute ingredients to make something else/add to meal purchases.  Eat what I already have.  Estimated Savings ~ 50-100
• Cut Alcohol consumption in Half or more ~Estimated Savings ~36

[Road42]

Good start to the challenge today. Spent $41.54 at the grocery store to replenish essentials, but avoided any other purchases. This week's goal: at least 2 no-spend days.

[janelikes]

I'm in! Trying to keep my groceries down (sigh) and keep extra spending to within $100. Last month was super spendy so I want to get back on track.

[Well Respected Man]

In for June; will add details later.

Edit:

May was pretty good, so looking to continue in June. It's a nice test for how low we can get our expenses in retirement, and the results are encouraging. We're taking a long, fairly expensive vacation in July, plus some big home improvement bills, so eliminating unnecessary spending is critical at the moment.

June goals:

< $600 groceries
Continue reduced alcohol spending/consumption
$20 restaurants/coffee shops (not counting big date night already prepaid)
$0 clothing, house projects, yard work, garden
$0 nails, massages, etc.
$0 books, craft supplies
Get auto/home insurance quotes - this decision has caused me a lot of anxiety over the years, as I like to patronize local businesses. However, business is business, right? I think our combined annual insurance cost is over $6k :-O
List a few more items on eBay; encourage DW to list some items on eBay
Cash in that change jar leftover from May

[westtoeast]

 I'm in, with a new approach. I'm not going to set a spending goal but I'm going to try to not make any purchases that are not actually needed, and challenge myself to look for non-spending solutions to problems first.

My motivations are: I've had a lot of travel this year and I've got more coming up at the end of the month. I need to balance that out. Also I'm a teacher and I've set aside a bare bones summer fund that I really want to stick to. Of course I could pull from my short or long term savings but I really don't want to.


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[RetiredAt63]

I mean, rhyming is hard.
/quote]

Uber Frugal June - Save Every Dubloon! ?  Gets rid of the "s"

June should be OK, May was expensive (dog vet costs).  But still watching the nickels and dimes (and loonies and toonies).

[SAfAmBrit]

I am in although I can run this from the 12th - 11th. I am pretty excited because I will have the house all to myself - so I can see how well i can do. For the most part I have been doing MMM by myself quietly in the background - and now that I have almost paid the house hubby has kinda caught on.

So my challenge:

$200 (50 per week) on food, gas for hybrid etc. If I hit $50 or less each week I will put $100 in savings.
Cut the electric bill by 1/4 - I am excited for this - I have the electric dialed down to $60 except June - Sep, then it jumps to between 180 and 240. (we live in the desert. I am not a fan of ac by my SO loves it!) -We have to have it sometimes in the summer - but not permanently in the 70's.

[SingleMomDebt]

so weird it's already summer. Which is always a challenging time in my books. The sun comes out and I want to play. It's usually expensive in my books. Joining, so I can stay in tack.

[boy_bye]

I'm gonna join in this one because after several months of my husband's unemployment, we have run through the buffer we had in our checking account. By my calculations if we lock a few things down we can stop the bleeding.

Most of this is on me, I think, because part of the problem is that I get stressed about money and then spend money to make myself feel better ... which makes NO sense whatsoever ... but here we are. So I've got to (a) adjust my attitude from feeling stressed about money to actively doing stuff to save money, which will enable me to (b) stop stress-spending.

Because the truth is, we don't really need to be stressed -- we're doing fine! We are very close to living within our means while also still maxing out all available retirement accounts, so there's no objective reason to be stressed out.

Another part of what's been going on is that I've been traveling for work a lot -- almost every other week for several months now -- and it's not like I'm totally spendthrifty about it ... But I'm certainly not exercising my frugal muscles while traveling, which makes it harder for me to slip back into frugal mode when I get home.

I'm leaving on another 2-week trip Sunday, and I'm going to try to keep my frugal core engaged instead of going out for fancy meals every night. I'm staying in an airbnb with a kitchen for half the trip, and a hotel without one for the other half, so we'll see how it goes ...

Just made a fresh start in YNAB with lean but doable totals in all our various budget categories. We can do this!

[Rosy]

Well-hell - it isn't even the 2nd of June and I'm already feeling the pinch:)

Uber-frugal - yup, that is what I am striving for this month. Starting with my decision to not handle last month's $637 new computer purchase via the emergency slush fund after all.
I paid off the credit card charges with my remaining funds at the end of the month plus I used my bill budget as well as my own discretionary funds for June to pay it all down to zero - without touching the EF.

That leaves me with $150 for the month in my operational funds. Shudder - this gives me hives, yeah, I know I'll probably do just fine with it, but it feels a little like punishment when I don't have at least $300 a month plus available to me.

1.First action - return jewelry purchase (already paid for-but did not like-this came out of my own discretionary funds in May) -
- approx $200 - mailing back today. That will bolster my July budget - yay:)
2. Challenging myself to bring in some extra money via mini side gigs. So here we go:
So far
 $6.29 RH
 $3.68 AMT
Like they say, every $ counts.
3. Plan to open one new cc for account opening bonus ($200) 
Food budget is mostly Mr. R's dept (we keep separate finances) - should be on track. Going out to eat - will shoot for 2-3 times max this month.

I only expect good surprises for this month! 

My biggest goal this month is to not touch my SS income at all - sent straight to savings, just like I had been doing, but it was tough to pull that off this month. Somehow I got off track and worse, my discretionary spending got out of hand, which meant no extra savings either.

Why is it so easy for some of us to become unraveled and veer off course? I managed to re-focus in May, but I am reeling a bit from the financial impact of slacking off with my savings goals. Approx. $3K plus potential savings lost to overspending since Jan. Dang - bad Rosy!

June will be full throttle damage control mode ....... by next month I should be back to saving a solid $2K again - SS inc plus extra savings.

Good luck with your finances everyone!

[RetirementDreaming]

Goals:

<$500 spent on food and eating out (this is 50% savings)
<$100 spent on gas (this is 50% savings)
Complete house projects we have put off.  Most just require elbow grease and inexpensive supplies (which are likely in the garage already).
Don't go crazy are garden supplies and decorations.  Buy only what is needed ie mulch.
Don't sign kids up for anymore camps or activities during summer. 

Challenges:
Husband and I are on sabbatical this summer.
Kids are out of school which means entertainment could get high (movies, eating out, shopping, etc).
Tahoe vacation planned in June

Spending Goal June: $5000
Normal Spending: $6000

[TartanTallulah]

Yeah, why not? I've only just found this thread, so I'll write off the ice cream popsicles I bought because they were on special offer yesterday. The price was very good, but ice cream popsicles are not in the spirit of Uber Frugality.

My husband and I are both paid on the 20th of the month, and last month I skimmed around 40% of our total income into the interest-bearing cash account linked to our checking account just after payday. I'm aiming to live off the remaining 60% till next payday. We might be a bit touch-and-go for that but I can always sweep a few coins back into the checking account if necessary.

Some bills have already come out and we now have around $1500 to last until 20th June. I have a suspicion that this month is when the twice-yearly water bill comes in, in which case that definitely won't be enough. My car is due a service and MOT, but I'm not anticipating any expensive shocks. I've told my husband he can buy a replacement bike workshop accessory that he needs. If we manage to get by on that $1500, I'll be very pleased. I plan to shop only to replenish perishable foodstuffs.

EDIT Well, within 12 hours of writing the above, we were notified of the water bill. That's us down to just under $1000 for the next 17 days. A workmate owes me a small sum as his share of a joint purchase I made on behalf of colleagues at Christmas and I might be more motivated to ask for it because it will have an impact on whether I win or lose at this challenge. We're also selling stuff on eBay, but I'm determined not to let the proceeds melt into household expenditure.

[Morning Glory]

Planned expenses:
Power bill is only $150 this month- lower than average, but I know the vampires are just hibernating
Mortgage:1589
Spousal mystery fund:1000-covers most of our grocery, household supplies, vehicle expenses, projects, his phone, etc.
Internet:57
Republic wireless:13
Netflix: 9
Health insurance:274
=3092
No irregular bills coming up that I know of.
Goal is $3333 for the month.
This leaves $241 discretionary for me

[MissPiggy]

Hi everyone,

I'm in on Uber Frugal June!

How is everyone's penny-wise June going now that we're 4 days in?

[frooglepoodle]

A bit late to the game but I'm in!

This month's big challenge: We have an 8-day vacation this month. Accommodations are paid and two activities have been paid in advance through the purchase of Groupons. The challenges will be gas and food, but the timeshare we're staying at has a kitchen so the goal will be to eat 2 meals per day there and make the meals out count (focusing on local restaurants and avoiding tourist traps as much as possible).

Other considerations:
* Our toddler turns 2. I'll buy food for a small gathering (7 people) and make cupcakes but no gifts from mom & dad.
* I've already committed to hiring a painter to repaint a room back to the original Rental Beige while we're out of town in advance of our move at the end of July. Need to pay her and buy paint.
* Father's Day - will make cards and need to chip in $30 or so on a group gift for my dad with siblings.

Specific goals:
1. Eat down the meat in the deep freezer and power it off.
2. Absolutely zero food waste.
3. Make some extra $$ selling things we don't need and don't want to move.
4. No purchasing of clothing or household items.
5. No hobby spending beyond small items needed to finish a project (thread, etc).

[Kerowyn]

Spending so far:
$1.281.49 on rent and utilities
$88.85 on food
$15.53 on gas

[alewpanda]

I am 2 days late, but I'm in.  I need to balance out the money we are spending on building a new deck.  We are building it ourselves with help from others, but the expense of lumber and whatnot still adds up.

On the plus side, so far this month we have cooked at home, found a cheaper source for the lumber (yay!), and husband will be gone for nearly a week of business days for work related trips.  This CAN be good (no need to feed him, no gas out of pocket, etc) as long as he doesn't get spendy in the process (forgot something he just has to have or buys beers each night).  Without him here, however -- I can heavily limit AC usage and food usage. 

I am going to focus on avoiding eating out and take out, limiting excess gas usage, and limiting any spending that isn't bills, groceries, or gas.  Our anniversary is this month, so we may eat out for that.  I also don't plan to buy any alcohol.

[Mongoose]

I'm in starting today. Last week I succumbed to parent pressure (why is this even a thing?) and bought some stuff for the yard...actually a lot of stuff for the yard which has steep sections that we are trying to turn into no-mow areas (without anything getting over 8 inches).

We don't need to spend much. I got a full load of groceries this week for $92.49. Still trying to hold the grocery budget to between $500 and $700, preferably closer to $500. My other goals are no mindless spending and limiting eating out (1-2 times max).

[Road42]

The four day tally for me:

6/1 - $41.54 (grocery), $15.68 (DD's doctor copay), $1.24 (sold something on Etsy)
6/2 - 0
6/3 - $29.86 (toilet paper sale! I think we are now covered for the summer), $17.75 (weekly CSA)
6/4 - -$80.81 (cash back from Citi card - a negative spend day!)

And what has DH been up to?

6/1 - 0
6/2 - 0
6/3 - $36.30 (grocery), $58 (sucked into a lame event by friend peer pressure.... Ugh, but this is not a typical situation.)
6/4 - $102.09 (grocery)

So, overall, some good and some bad.

The good - look at all those no-spend days! Hopefully we can keep that up all month long. Also, none of these are impulse buys.

The bad - well, obviously there was no reason to blow 60 bucks on this "family fun" thing, and we obviously should have gone to see the amazing (and free) fireworks at our college reunion instead, like we do every year. I guess the positive is that everyone agrees on that and we are all still on the same aspire-to-be-frugal page together. Also, how are we at $197.68 for food already on the fourth day of the month? We did have a picnic with another family, so we bought a little extra food than normal for that, but still. I'm going to keep an eye on this.

[Road42]

On the plus side, I'm having another no-spend day. On the minus side, just had to shell out the rest of my kids' camp $ for the summer. I totally forgot that I had only paid the deposit.

[frooglepoodle]

Things are going alright in the our house. Groceries are high but we needed to restock on a bunch of ingredients so I'm okay with that, though we did go out to dinner last night. It was within the budgeted amount, we just won't be able to do it again this month.

I bought my husband a Father's Day gift, sort of on impulse. He has wanted a larger day pack for hiking for quite a while (his is great for 1 but not big enough to hold water and snacks for the 3 of us), and I was near REI today, so I ended up walking out with a $70 REI-branded pack. Not money I planned to or needed to spend, but at least it was something that will get used. And it might encourage him to ride his bike to work more often as well, which would definitely be worth it. :-)

[syednaeemul]

I'm in with a couple caveats:
-Car registration and insurance are up this month, so two annual payments will be done
-Is it cheating if it's Ramadan? Fasting means yuuge savings on eating out for lunch.

[Bart1ma3u5]

I am in for June! It did not go well in April and May was also a pretty big spending month. Hopefully we can do better in June.

Goals:
Eat out once a week or less (We have been having problems with this as we both get home late and cooking doesnt seem as fun or easy as going out)
Hopefully we can do better with this as we joined a CSA and will have most of the veggies we will need. We are also hoping to meal prep better so that later nights aren't as hard to stay in.

Not go crazy on other spending categories  and not break our budgets.

Challenges will be the late nights and not wanting to cook. I also may need to purchase a new set of tires this month, but that might be able to wait until next month, and in any case that has already been budgeted for.

One week in and I'm already starting from behind. We managed to only have one night out this week, which is a step in the right direction.

As far as not going crazy in other budgets, i blew that out of the water by agreeing to go on a deepsea fishing charter on sunday. As something I've always wanted to do and have not done, and with the fishing reports of catches going crazy right now, I found it too tempting to say no. An additional silver lining is that hopefully this will fill my freezer for the next several months. Even while I am very excited for the trip I hope I manage to make this my only blunder of June.

[Rosy]

So far so good - Binge reading financial blogs and re-structuring some of goals and plans is helping me stay on track. Planning always has a calming influence on my mind and strengthens my resolve.
Actually didn't go out to eat at all so far, but ordered pizza last night. Everything is under budget at present.

Good luck everyone - only good surprises are allowed this month:)

[westtoeast]

Week One:
Necessary Spends:
$55, bus pass
$35, food while traveling with my students (I also brought a lot of food from home but without fridge access it was hard to avoid a few meals out-- also no choice in where we ate)
$37, super sale on my fav underwear (yes, I really needed these)
$60, Groceries
$25, BDay Gift for SO
$30, probiotics
$8, body sunscreen (I'm a lobster without)
$30 (allergy translation cards-- pricey but didn't want to risk messing this up)

Luxury Spends:
$6, Hulu (I have this right now for Handmaid's Tale)
$7, Wonder Woman
$5, Wine
$8, Book (wanted for a plane ride, library had long hold)
$25, sunhat (I could have looked for this secondhand)

Goal for next week is to shrink that luxury list! Also I'm open to folks telling me that my necessary spends are not so necessary.

[Road42]

Total spent so far this month on non-housing related things: $1058.44. That doesn't sound too great given that it's only the 9th. But, $760 of that was for my kids summer camps, and the rest breaks down ok:

- groceries - $145.19 (no eating out at all so far)
- unavoidable medical bills - $85.42
- a sheet of stamps - $9.80
- EZ Pass replenishment - $50
- super sale on toilet paper - $29.86

Feeling on track!

[rawr237]

Challenges:
-upcoming out-of-town weekend for a wedding ~ lodging is paid for, but gas, eating out, and gift spending will happen
-the fabulous weather makes me want to have drinks and meals out
-I have a dentist and a doctor checkups next week, which could incur unexpected expenses

Motivation:
-This year's spending is tracking higher than I expected, and I want a better number for my FIRE calculations
-Not enjoying my job right now

Ugh. Not going well so far. I think I'll have to only track my discretionary spending because while fiance is fairly frugal, he doesn't think about it as much as I am.

6/1: $6 groceries
Wedding weekend: $88 food, $30 alcohol, $38 gas, $136 hotel, $60 gift = $347
6/5: 0
6/6: $40 yoga Groupon, $30 groceries
6/7: $15 Pact penalty for not working out, $38 groceries
6/8: $45 bike ride registration
6/9: $15 lunch out

Counting my share of the wedding and groceries
Total = $325

In general while traveling, my favorite part is eating out - so subsisting on snacks from home didn't sound appealing at all. We will get part of the hotel $ back because we split the room with a friend. The fitness spending is all mine, but I don't feel regretful about it (except the Pact penalty). The bike ride came with 5 free spin classes at a studio I like.

I inadvertently cancelled my tithing for the month, but I'll just start it back up next month. That puts my bills/fixed spending at ~$600. Would like to keep my total under $1500 for the month. So have $900 for discretionary. Tracking pretty close...but we're planning to buy flights for September...and if we wait they'll just get more expensive. :/

I gave blood yesterday and got a free pint of ice cream :)

[Stimpy]

I think I'll jump in this one.

Goals:

• No new video games (unless they are Free!) Estimated Savings ~50
• No Eating out (at all) Estimated Savings ~50-150
• Drive my Car only to work  ~ Estimated Savings ~0-20
• Bike everywhere else ~ Estimated Savings ~Infinite
• No fancy last minute ingredients to make something else/add to meal purchases.  Eat what I already have.  Estimated Savings ~ 50-100
• Cut Alcohol consumption in Half or more ~Estimated Savings ~36

Welp, I failing, but not as bad as I could be.
My Fails:
1 car trip for groceries.  (Unfortunately what I needed wouldn't fit on my bike!)
Eaten out twice: 17 (Both times = working lunch! so....)
Paid a sprinkler repair guy to get a system going.  140  (Should have done more to figure out what was wrong.  Big **** up for me.)

My semi-Planned/not so easy to cut expenses
Car payment - 650  - (Technically half of this is cause I was too lazy to send my second normal payment,  Still doesn't count against me!)
Pills - 48  - (Usually this is less but I ran out of generic allergy stuff so half of this is that cost and that will last for at least year.)
Gym - 45  - (Face punch me if you want but to me, it's worth it.  Plus I get $20 back for working out 12 times, which = easy button)
Internet, groceries and household items: 60+38+23 = 122  (which is meh, probably could be have been a little cheaper but I think I am mostly done grocery shopping for the month, and the household stuff will last at least 6 months (or more) before I need to rebuy.)

Wins:
Haven't paid for any games.  I think I can keep this up.
While I technically haven't bike anywhere yet, it's cause I haven't been anywhere other then to work and home.
My work schedule screwed up what I was going to make for meals the week.  So I am eating hotdogs on toast instead.

Challenges:
This weekend will see if my free will keeps me from buying more alcohol.  Shouldn't be hard.
It's hot, and windy (Think 30+ mph) so it will make biking places interesting.

[Mongoose]

$47.31 at the grocery store today. That brings our monthly total to $139.80. Our "month" has two weeks left. This is awesome spending for us! Part of the small number is because we were gone some (other people were feeding us). If we include money spent during travel, we're at 207.63. Still great for half a month. Super excited! Part of the reduction is probably due to increasing our activity. For some reason, exercise is an appetite suppressant for me.

[Kerowyn]

Spending so far:
$1,281.49 on rent and utilities
$88.85 on food
$15.53 on gas

$1,480.41 on rent/utilities/other bills (my husband paid his cell phone bills for last month and this month, which is fine, except that it screws up the numbers...)
$173.63 on food
$50.98 on gas
$10 giving
$14.48 medical (about a third of that is shipping--when I see my doctor this month and get an opinion on the particular vitamin I'm taking, I'll either switch this to every three month delivery for cheaper shipping or switch to a different vitamin)
$6.99 household (mouthwash)

[SAfAmBrit]

I am in although I can run this from the 12th - 11th. I am pretty excited because I will have the house all to myself - so I can see how well i can do. For the most part I have been doing MMM by myself quietly in the background - and now that I have almost paid the house hubby has kinda caught on.

So my challenge:

$200 (50 per week) on food, gas for hybrid etc. If I hit $50 or less each week I will put $100 in savings.
Cut the electric bill by 1/4 - I am excited for this - I have the electric dialed down to $60 except June - Sep, then it jumps to between 180 and 240. (we live in the desert. I am not a fan of ac by my SO loves it!) -We have to have it sometimes in the summer - but not permanently in the 70's.

So today is day 1 - 3:30 am call to put son on one plane and SO on another 2 hours later -no spend - Challenge - try not buy food - come up with creative ideas for what is in the house.This will be interesting - I returned from DC last night after a week and hardly any fresh food in the house.

[Morning Glory]

Planned expenses:
Power bill is only $150 this month- lower than average, but I know the vampires are just hibernating
Mortgage:1589
Spousal mystery fund:1000-covers most of our grocery, household supplies, vehicle expenses, projects, his phone, etc.
Internet:57
Republic wireless:13
Netflix: 9
Health insurance:274
=3092
No irregular bills coming up that I know of.
Goal is $3333 for the month.
This leaves $241 discretionary for me

So far I spent $21 at Walgreens but got $14 back in rebates and points, and then $13 at Target but got back a $2 rebate. We ended up staying in Illinois longer than planned because my mother in law passed away, so I had to buy some diapers and wipes for the little dude. I will probably have to donate some extra money to the spousal mystery fund because gas for the trip as well as the funeral itself went on his credit card. We have eaten at restaurants a couple of times but I was able to use some gift cards that I got for Christmas. We are staying with family so no extra expense there.

So I have spent $18 of my $241 so far.

[Rosy]

Wonders never cease - June is still on track, just a bit tight.

We did go out to eat - twice.
One lunch $20 cash incl tip, the remainder was in GC's.
Then, we discovered a delightful new place for dinner. Not cheap, but their German food was great with plenty to take home for a second meal. Worth it. May go back when they have Russian music.

I spent $44 at B&N, out of my $150 - so I'm down to $106 remaining for discretionary spending. We'll see how it goes.

There is a birthday party for one of my best friends next week, but I already have all her gifts, purchased over time. I do plan to take her out for lunch this coming week, so there is that.
There is still a lot of month left - good luck with your budget everyone!

 

[SAfAmBrit]

I am in although I can run this from the 12th - 11th. I am pretty excited because I will have the house all to myself - so I can see how well i can do. For the most part I have been doing MMM by myself quietly in the background - and now that I have almost paid the house hubby has kinda caught on.

So my challenge:

$200 (50 per week) on food, gas for hybrid etc. If I hit $50 or less each week I will put $100 in savings.
Cut the electric bill by 1/4 - I am excited for this - I have the electric dialed down to $60 except June - Sep, then it jumps to between 180 and 240. (we live in the desert. I am not a fan of ac by my SO loves it!) -We have to have it sometimes in the summer - but not permanently in the 70's.

So today is day 1 - 3:30 am call to put son on one plane and SO on another 2 hours later -no spend - Challenge - try not buy food - come up with creative ideas for what is in the house.This will be interesting - I returned from DC last night after a week and hardly any fresh food in the house.

Day 2 - Gas $29.82

[rawr237]

So far I spent $21 at Walgreens but got $14 back in rebates and points, and then $13 at Target but got back a $2 rebate. We ended up staying in Illinois longer than planned because my mother in law passed away, so I had to buy some diapers and wipes for the little dude. I will probably have to donate some extra money to the spousal mystery fund because gas for the trip as well as the funeral itself went on his credit card. We have eaten at restaurants a couple of times but I was able to use some gift cards that I got for Christmas. We are staying with family so no extra expense there.

So I have spent $18 of my $241 so far.

Sorry for your loss. Tough times are the best times to have that money in the bank.
Also, I am impressed by your Walgreens value managing skill. Whenever I try to get into the coupons/points stuff my eye/brain connection refuses to cooperate.

[rawr237]

6/1-9:  $325

6/9: $105 Birthday dinner for Dad - we went somewhere
6/10: $82 new bike tire, tube, installation
6/11: $3 coffee, $40 groceries
6/12: $57 groceries
6/13: $20 gas

Total (my share): $584

The birthday dinner wasn't planned at the beginning of the month, but I consider it my gift to him (also pays back the debt of free DVD player from parents) - we got to try somewhere new, Dad brought a fancy bottle of wine ($10 corkage), Dad/fiance each had a cocktail but I abstained because I didn't want to pay for it...the wine was plenty. Afterwards we went back to my parents and played pool and drank more wine. A great evening, and Dad really enjoyed dinner so it was worth it to me - a drop in the bucket compared to how much my parents have given me.

Sunday's bike ended up being more expensive than planned because I pumped my tire up Saturday and...it blew. I brought it to the local cyclery, assuming I'd just need a new tube, but it turned out to be the tire and the tube. Could have saved by buying online and/or doing it myself, but I was in a rush due to the Sunday ride. On the upside, after the ride I got another 5 free spin classes as a surprise reward from the spin studio. And now my tires should both be set for a while (replace the other one last year).

After the bike ride there was a celebration festival, but I was alone and fiance+Dad invited me to brunch. I scarfed down a bunch of free food, and just had coffee at the restaurant. Fiance and Dad split the bill, so I'm just accounting the menu price for my coffee.

Groceries are high...there's beer for fiance and wine for me in there. I have a closed bottle in the fridge that I'm trying to save for the weekend. I also bought fiance some protein bars and meat sticks in the interest of him eating healthier.

This month is just looking normal for me instead of Uber Frugal, whoops. At least it is revealing, since I'm taking a closer look at things than usual.