Maximum Mustache March

[Dave]

(I was going to start my own self-challenge topic, then I read the awesome discussion in March is Mutilate the Mortgage Month and thought I would start the asked-for topic).

Maximum Mustache March!

Whatever your mustachian goal, March is the month for going as big as you can!

Dave's Maximum Mustache March Goal

As I wrote in my latest journal post,  I'm targeting an absolutely minimal spending month to get as much cash into my tax-free 'stash allowance as possible (the allowance rolls over at the end of the fiscal year on April 4th, use-it-or-lose-it).

I'm going to be attacking my discretionary spending as well as making a mighty effort on the grocery front. A couple of specifics (these are highly aspirational, but isn't that what mustachianism is about?):

- strictly no use of the car for journeys under 15 miles each way / 30 miles round trip.
- Total allowance of £50 for personal discretionary spending (spending outside groceries and bills), and to spend under £150 on groceries for the month for both the wife and myself.
- No purchases of alcohol until the end of the month (former employer's closing down party) - we do have a bit of wine in the flat though so this may be cheating ;-)

It's a major ask, but I'll be keeping my fellow mustachians updated here with my progress :)

So, what's everyone else up to?

[velocistar237]

I'll commit to learning how to sell stuff online. I have several items lying around from thrift store shopping, and several other things I want to get rid of. Here's my specific goal, just so I'll know whether I've achieved it: I will sell at least one item each on eBay, Style Forum, Craigslist, and the MMM forum, and I will sell all of the thrift store finds that I bought intending to resell. I don't care if I don't get top dollar, I just need to get out there and learn how the process works, and I need to keep this stuff from accumulating in my house.

[Sparafusile]

I'm planning on not eating out at all next month, to switch to a cheaper cell phone carrier, and selling a few things on Craigslist. Although I was already planning on doing those things before the MMM article, but now I have the kick in the pants to actually do it.

[Guitarist]

No eating out (family is coming up for a weekend and my parents want to take my sister to a specific restaurant while they are here, this was planned over a month ago so this will be my one allowance).

Clean up the office and find 100 things to get rid of

Finish paying off a credit card

No buying groceries "off the list"

[Melissa]

With full time college classes and a clinical rotation I had fallen off the Mustacian wagon with buying too much 'convenience' food (bagged salad and frozen grilled chicken) and eating out.  I had become a complainypants saying that I dind't have enough time, I was too tired, needed to study....you get the idea.

Here are my plans for the month:
-Start a price book for the three grocery stores that are within one block of each other.  I think that aone would help up save money every month on the grocery bill.
-Plan meals for the week ahead and get the kids involve with prep and cooking.  This will give us time to spend together at a family and save on the What Am I Going To Make For Dinner Tonight.
-Cut the eating out budget by 50%
-Save money on electricity by hanging the clothes to dry (I used to do this but have gotten lazy)
-No 'new' clothes.  My oldest recently had a growth spurt though, but I will head to the second hand store with her to pick a few tings out
-Cut down on trips with the minivan.  When we do go out we will drive the Civic Hybrid instead.

I was the one who started the March is Mutilate the Mortage Month but I have decided that the extra money will go into our money market account short term.  The company my husband works for has annouced that cuts and relocations are going to take place.  I would rather have that money accessible in case my husband is one who is affected.

[adam]

In March I am going to pay off the boat ($3000).

[bicycle]

My goals:

• 100% riding bike to work (not sure I've done this for a full month yet)
• No using paper cups for coffee at work - reusable cups only
• Get rid of 100 things
• Five drink per week maximum

[onehappypanda]

Mine is fairly simple:

Right now my grocery spending is about $70 a month higher than I'd like it to be. I tracked my spending in different grocery categories this past month (produce/meat/eggs and dairy/desserts/etc.) and found that while my biggest categories are the basics, my overspending could be eliminated by cutting out more desserts and convenience foods.

To make myself stick with this, I'm taking out my monthly grocery money in cash and using ONLY cash at the grocery store, so I can't go over. I've tried sticking to a grocery budget using my debit card, but it's too easy to "accidentally" overspend. So until I get the hang of my new lower budget, I'm cash all the way.

That's $70 a month I can throw at stupid consumer debt. Woot!

[Parizade]

dang it, one day in and I'm already ashamed of myself. Forgot to bring lunch to work yesterday and bought at the cafeteria instead. At least I used the stairs instead of the elevator ( I'm on 3rd floor and cafeteria is in the basement, and I made 3 separate trips). Then spent too much on groceries for supper, tried a new recipe that was not worth it.

Some of my goals for the month:
Get my doctor to send my annual physical results to my insurance company so I can get the $500 wellness discount
Resubmit my 2010 income taxes on the advice of my accountant, who discovered I could get another $2500 back from Uncle Sam if I do so.
Buy a freezer for food storage. The local grocery is having a sale, buy the freezer for $160 and get $160 of "free" food.
CVS is having one of their good Care Card Cash sales, so it's time to stock up on grooming and OTC medical supplies.

[Mike Key]

My Goals:

Ride Bike 20 miles on Tuesdays and Thursdays
Reduce body fat to 19% currently at 22.7% (you're wondering how this is mustachian huh?)


Finish selling remaining junk in the house on CL or via Garage Sale, donate left overs if still here last week of March.


Get Trailblazer Appraised and then Put it up for Sale


ZERO needless spending, no eating out, no personal purchases, notta


Taking our Food Budget from $350 to $250 this month. We've started off at 108$.


Cook all our own meals.


Find a get $3500 worth of side jobs this month to boost the amount we can spend on a used Kia Soul.


Need to find my wife a Bike, and then my secret mission this month is to get her used to biking and then trick her into biking to her office and convince her it's EASY. (So glad she's not on this forum.... yet :) )


Adding on to her getting a bike, I want us to get groceries via bikes this month.

[kolorado]

We get three checks in March and one goes directly into savings. I forgot I had figured the budget that way this year so that was a nice surprise to see in the ledger yesterday. :)
I'm in ultra conservative mode right now since we're moving across the country in 8 weeks. I want stuff going out not coming in. But we will be buying things/services to make the house ready for listing to sell(paint, exterminator, inspections, gar. Our budget for this is the $500-1000 a month we usually save from our net income plus anything we take in from selling stuff.
In January I sold $200 in stuff. In February, I sold $400. This month's goal is $800.
Before this year I just dabbled in online selling, probably about 200 things over the last 10 years. This year I kicked it up and am doing very well with local sales. I use two Facebook groups, Ebay and Half.com.

[Dave]

March 2nd and a big ouch - we noticed the car had developed a rattle and took it to the garage, £80 for a new coil spring.

When I consider that I've agonised over a broken-down hub gear on the bike that I could replace for less, and I do more miles on two wheels than four - yet one puff of car smoke and you're out of pocket (not that £80 is even a very expensive repair!)

Bah. On the plus side I made ricotta gnocci tonight, about £0.30 a serving and enough to eat for three days (we'll freeze it and have it later in the month though!). Falafel tomorrow. I've got the grocery budget so far tied down pretty good...

[Eristheunorganized]

Awesome goals everyone! Mine include:
Walking/biking everywhere within 3 miles. (modest I know, but it's very hilly here. Biking is far more difficult than walking).
Get back into my weight lifting
Sell excess media (books and video games)
Pay down my stupid consumer debt

[Dave]

Good goals Eris!

3 miles is a fine start, once you get used to it, it will be easy to extend should you choose (Scotland is not noted for being really flat!) and I'd be surprised if you'd still think it more difficult than walking :-)

My March is getting increasingly derailed... we are paying a quarterly energy bill after all (which covers the winter heating!) and it looks like I may be forking out for my share of a new fridge/freezer too.

On the positive side of things, we're still not doing badly on the grocery budget. I made falafel with sauce and coleslaw last night and it was a raging success, cost hardly anything...

[mm1970]

Okay, this is very inspiring.  Here are our goals:

-Cancel cable TV (keep internet).  My husband suggested this (after my suggesting it for years.  I guess there are finally enough "alternatives" for him to buy the 1-2 shows he watches).  I originally poo-pooed it since I'm going on maternity leave this year, and the Food Network was my guilty pleasure last time.

-Eat mostly out of our pantry, and shop only for things we run out of and NEED (fruit, milk).  MY pantry is pretty well stocked.

-Eat out very little.  We likely can't make it zero - we're going on vacation for Spring break and will be hanging out with some friends.  However, I can get far in this one.  We are spending 3 nights in the San Jose area.  Our hotel has free breakfast, a microwave, and a fridge.  Hopefully we will be cooking with friends at their homes for dinners.  We all have kids - it's just easier.  We are spending 2-3 nights in Yosemite, and have rented a duplex.  It is $23/night cheaper than the Yosemite lodge/hotel.  Staying in the hotel means you are stuck eating the overpriced cafeteria style food, or cold food (there is a fridge).  Staying in a duplex means we can cook our meals.  We will be taking our thermo-electric cooler on this trip, and I'll pack sandwiches for the day the boys go skiing.

-Biking to work...we used to bike 2x a week (I ride to work, hubby takes the car and his bike, I drive home, he bikes home).  We drive 20 miles round trip.  The difficulty in carpooling is that we work different hours - offset them due to the school schedule.  Now that I'm pregnant, we've stopped.  But I'm thinking we can do a carpool/bike combo - at least try it out.  Carpool to work and hubby can bike home.  I'll have to work late a couple of days to make up for the lost hours on those days though.  Considering I just spent $43.88 to fill up my CIVIC, I think it will be worth it.

-This is also my son's birthday month.  The birthday celebration is small this year, and easy.  We've rented a couple of bowling lanes and it's in the afternoon, so no need to provide lunch or dinner - just water and cupcakes (which we'll bake, of course).  We will cover the bowling shoe rental on the kids who are invited.  If the parents want to bowl too, they're on their own.

-The gym. I'm not going to cancel the gym.  But I realized that it's a 9 mile round trip, which is $1.50 in gas each time we go.  On Weds and Sundays, when the whole family goes swimming, it's worth it (carpooling!)  But I'm thinking that at least one of my 2 other days, I may have to try packing up all my work stuff and go directly to work from there (it's on the way).  I used to do this all the time.  It just gets to be a pain when I get home on Thursday to unload the car - kids, CSA veggies, work bag, gym bag.  And I'd have to pack lunch AND breakfast on those days.

We'll see what else I can come up with as the month goes on.

[Debbie M]

First week progress: Fail

1) Try four super cheap recipes - I've tried two recipes from Budget Bytes, but I wouldn't call them super cheap.  The baked pumpkin oatmeal has pumpkin in it, and the spinach artichoke-heart pasta has cream cheese, sour cream, and artichoke hearts in it.  They were reasonable, though, and tasty, though a little boring.  I'm searching for beans-and-rice recipes now.

2) Have oatmeal when I'm in the mood for cereal instead of boxed cereal.  The problem is that often what I'm really in the mood for is cookies.  And not soft, mushy oatmeal cookies but crunchy chocolate chip cookies.  I'm going to drop this goal and try making stovetop granola instead.

3) Ride my bike to the library.  I did go to the library, but I wanted to jog there.  Next time I'll be returning a book and checking out another one, so jogging won't be something I want to do.

Well, I still have three more weeks.

[Sunflower]

1) Try four super cheap recipes - I've tried two recipes from Budget Bytes, but I wouldn't call them super cheap.  The baked pumpkin oatmeal has pumpkin in it, and the spinach artichoke-heart pasta has cream cheese, sour cream, and artichoke hearts in it.  They were reasonable, though, and tasty, though a little boring.  I'm searching for beans-and-rice recipes now.

Have you looked around the cooking light website? In each issue they have several recipes that 'feed four for under $10' and are generally quite tasty! http://www.cookinglight.com/food/everyday-menus/healthy-budget-recipes-00400000056656/ If you were aiming for $1/meal then this will get you close and I'm sure you can find some easy substitutions (russet potatoes instead of sweet potatoes, rice instead of quinoa, etc.)

[Debbie M]

Have you looked around the cooking light website? In each issue they have several recipes that 'feed four for under $10' and are generally quite tasty! http://www.cookinglight.com/food/everyday-menus/healthy-budget-recipes-00400000056656/ If you were aiming for $1/meal then this will get you close and I'm sure you can find some easy substitutions (russet potatoes instead of sweet potatoes, rice instead of quinoa, etc.)

I never knew Cooking Light had this feature.  Thanks!  Looks interesting!

[mm1970]

I had a bit of a fail this week too.  I got free lunch yesterday but my husband picked up take-out for dinner.  Had a really upsetting day at work and just didn't feel like cooking (or eating, for that matter).  Didn't eat, didn't sleep...ah well.  Today I'm taking a quilting class, and I'm going to pack some snacks (yogurt, fruit, nuts, cheese) to eat for lunch instead of going out.

[bicycle]

So far so.. okay.

• 100% bike riding to work achieved (so far).  Since March 1, I've put 38 miles on the bike.
• No paper cups - close.  Ended up using one because I subconsciously wandered over to the coffee area without meaning to and my boss was there.  I grabbed a cup of water to save face for my random folly.  Hah!
• 100 things - so far so AWESOME.  We were easily able to find 100 things.  Now we just need to figure out how to write them off/actually get rid of them.
• Drinking - week 1 was good, week 2 was failicious.  Had about 10 over the course of the week.

My goals:

• 100% riding bike to work (not sure I've done this for a full month yet)
• No using paper cups for coffee at work - reusable cups only
• Get rid of 100 things
• Five drink per week maximum

[MountainMan]

Today I sold two items through a local Craigslist-like website for a combined total of $300.  This will go directly into my investment account. :)

[ultrarunner]

I decided to take the "One-Tank Challenge".

I filled up my car on Feb 29th and the goal is to go the month on one tank.  This would normally be quite easy, but due to an illness I'm currently suffering from, I have to see a lot of doctors and medical practitioners... often specialists and often quite far away from home.  That puts me on the bike (for short trips... another side effect of this illness is that I can't ride too far) or walking/running for the rest of the trips to keep the miles low enough.

My son and I have ridden or walked to/from school every day this month.  It's been so awesome... having extra time to talk about his day has been great.  We'll keep this up indefinitely (actually, I love it all so much, I plan to just keep it all up indefinitely). 

Tank: ~375 miles worth of gas
Week 1: 66 miles
Week 2: 44 miles
Week 3:
Week 4:

The only thing that sucks about commuting by bike is the goathead thorns out here.  I've long been a road cyclist, but they weren't a problem on the roads...but wow, on the local bike paths...they are insane.  Kevlar belted tires didn't help.  Slime tubes only marginally helped... but I pulled 70 thorns out of my wife's flat tire this week, slime oozing from every pore.  Anyone in the western states found a way to combat the little devils?



  - Chris

[Dave]

Crikey, nothing like that here! Glass is probably the only thing to worry about... much easier

My own March is not going too well (ambitions too high?) - although I have kept the car use down to 50 miles so far, which is pretty good.

I've bought a couple of things that are relatively expensive... a bike hub and a new-to-me camera, which I'll hopefully offset with a refund on the broken old hub and selling my current camera. (I have a D300 and am hoping to switch to micro 4/3, since it's such a pain to haul the D300 that I often don't bother). We've also annihilated our joint (bills & groceries) account, who knows how!

[adam]

$2200 in savings towards the $3020 needed to pay off the boat.  This is going to happen, but it might need to wait till the 30th (next payday).

[mm1970]

Hubby has been biking a lot, and our eating out has been greatly minimized - except hubby's eating lunch out today.  I gave up watching 2 of my bad TV shows this week, which means we're closer to the "give up cable" step.  Just need to finish the research on that.

I've spent 15-20 mins a day quilting instead of watching TV, in an effort to finish a quilt I am donating to my son's school fundraiser/auction.  I should finish it this weekend DESPITE having a part break on my machine.  I tried to Macguyver it with tape.  DIdn't work, so I subbed a different part and have been going VERY slowly.  I ordered a replacement for 15 bucks.  I *could* have asked for speedy shipping but that added $30!!

[shedinator]

Starting with the paycheck before March (rec. 2/24), we set out to live on only $250/week in expenditures.
What that actually amounts to:
No Rent- We're still in student housing, and that's billed at the beginning of each semester, utilities included.
Standing Bills- $100 phone and internet, $61 credit card (I know, I know, that's the next challenge), and $31 annual vehicle excise tax.
Groceries, Gas, etc.- as little as we can manage.

$500 of each of my bi-weekly paychecks is going into our checking account. The remainder goes into savings, where it's joined by my wife's paychecks, and any tips I get at work. Every thursday, we 0 out the week with a transfer to savings (ie, yesterday we brought it down to $250, next week it'll be to 0). Yesterday was the 3rd Thursday of what will eventually be 6, and it was the 3rd consecutive week where our Thursday transfer amounted to more than $100.
I realize in May, things will change. My wife's job won't transfer as easily as mine, we'll be paying monthly rent and utilities, and we'll be eating meat and dairy again, so I don't expect this change to be permanent, but for a Maximum Mustache March, I'd say it's been pretty successful so far.

[adam]

I just sent $1700.  $0.57/day in interest isn't bad, but why not?

[palvar]

Each month, my wife and I set a budget for ourselves, but we typically go about $50 over.  I am trying very hard to stick to the budget and, half way through the month I've spent less that half of what was budgeted!  My wife has bought groceries the last two weeks, so next week is on me - I'm still confident that we can stay under though.

Good luck to other Mustachians out there!

[Eristheunorganized]

I'm not doing so good on weightlifting. It seems like I've always got a small problem that discourages me from lifting. Example- I tweaked my shoulder in Judo. It is not happy.

On the plus side, I've been doing great at walking or biking to my errands around town. I also got an inhaler for sports asthma today, so biking should be easier.

I've also made around $40 selling stuff. That doesn't seem like a lot, but I've already pared a lot down.

[Debbie M]

Mid-month update:

1) Try four super cheap recipes - I've tried a beans-and-rice recipe and found many things I like about it, though overall I don't like the recipe enough to make it again.  I actually have a lot of food stocked up right now (beans and rice, oatmeal casserole, breakfast taco fixings), so I shouldn't be cooking more right now.

2) Try stovetop granola - not yet.

3) Ride my bike to the library - did not go to the library since my last update.

Extremely mild success, but there's still time.

[adam]

And it is done.  Boat is paid for, that was $3,000 in the month of March.

[arebelspy]

And it is done.  Boat is paid for, that was $3,000 in the month of March.

Well done, sir, and congrats!

[shedinator]

And it is done.  Boat is paid for, that was $3,000 in the month of March.

Bravo!
Anyone else have a final tally to offer?
Barring any unforeseen expenses tomorrow, we spent $705.40 and saved $1815.29 of our take home pay, plus however much went into my 401(k) (probably about $250), for around a 75% savings rate. We also managed to keep our expenses under 150 per full week in March.

[Eristheunorganized]

And it is done.  Boat is paid for, that was $3,000 in the month of March.

Go you!

I had moderate success on all my goals expect weightlifting. I'm definitely getting better at not using my car, and combining trips.

[Adventine]

I'm happy to report I saved 85% of my March monthly salary, up from 50% last February! I don't miss the pricey takeout lunches at work half as much as I hoped I would. I also promised myself I wouldn't buy new clothes this month, and simply make do with what I already had in my closet. It's an amazing feeling!

[MrSaturday]

$686 total spent in March, with the highlight being my under $50 grocery bill due to focusing on using up non-perishables from the pantry.

[Parizade]

Some of my goals for the month:
Get my doctor to send my annual physical results to my insurance company so I can get the $500 wellness discount
Resubmit my 2010 income taxes on the advice of my accountant, who discovered I could get another $2500 back from Uncle Sam if I do so.
 Buy a freezer for food storage. The local grocery is having a sale, buy the freezer for $160 and get $160 of "free" food.
CVS is having one of their good Care Card Cash sales, so it's time to stock up on grooming and OTC medical supplies.

Reviewing my March goals, I only missed one: Still need to find the missing paperwork I need to resubmit my 2010 taxes.

On the other hand, I accomplished some that were not on the list:
 I paid off the only credit card that I've been carrying debt on.
 I set up a Mint account and maintain it weekly
 Got my bike tuned up and "illuminated" for commuting.

Now I need to make some goals for April!

[kolorado]

My goal was to sell $800 in stuff in March. Our yard sale got rained out twice so no income there. But I did manage to sell $340 through other outlets. Yard sale is this weekend and hopefully I can make a few hundred there. :)

[velocistar237]

I'll commit to learning how to sell stuff online. I have several items lying around from thrift store shopping, and several other things I want to get rid of. Here's my specific goal, just so I'll know whether I've achieved it: I will sell at least one item each on eBay, Style Forum, Craigslist, and the MMM forum, and I will sell all of the thrift store finds that I bought intending to resell. I don't care if I don't get top dollar, I just need to get out there and learn how the process works, and I need to keep this stuff from accumulating in my house.

I only got started on this, but I'm glad I did, because it helped get rid of that internal resistance. I listed a running backpack here on the forum, but had no takers, so it goes on ebay next. I sold a file cabinet and changing table on Craig's List. I listed a blazer that I thrifted, and the auction ends today. All in all, not too bad, a good start, but I have a lot left to do this month.