September Budgeting/Savings Challenge Week 1

[Deleted User]

Hey everyone. I'm really excited about this challenge. I think it's going to be much more productive than the no spending challenge. I think that it'll be more of a challenge for me personally. It'll force me to look at the bigger picture instead of just moping around for a few days until I can spend again.

DH and I plan on putting an extra $100 in our make a baby fund. In order to do that we're cutting down on quite a few extras. We're eating out less, no random amazon shopping sprees for me, no extremely unnecessary trips to Cabela's for him. We're also going to rent out part of our land next weekend to get a little extra cash flow.

What areas are you going to cut back on to get the extra money for savings? Remember your savings amount can be whatever number is good for you.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

[Deleted User]

nonniedee said:

We're saving to buy a home within the next 3 years (I'm so excited). Honestly my h is the problem with this. He acknowledges that he's terrible at saving, so he puts a lot of responsibility on me to keep him focused. I told him the budget for this week, but he's already slipped up. I feel like his mom, but I told him no more spending this week. (I start counting the week on pay day) He agreed, so hopefully it's smooth sailinggfrom here.

Good luck! Have you tried budgeting for his shenanigans? I leave a little wiggle room in my budget just because I'm impulse shopping habit. I'm trying to ween myself down little by little.

[Deleted User]

nonniedee said:

Lol yea I give him wiggle room, but he doesn't wiggle, he quakes. He's better than he's ever been though, so that's something.

Tell him to act right!

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

LBib

Our goal is $300. I plan on using some work mileage reimbursements to help us get there. Grocery trips will strictly be from a list and we're not buying any alcohol this month; relying on our stashes instead. We realized that a lot of the home improvements we put off this year have to be done next year when DS2 is a full on toddler. DH is the worst when it comes to Amazon daily deals and Woot.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

DareB11

My H and I recently sat down with the last 3 months of bank statements to figure out what we were really spending our money on. Turns out, the daily trips to the gas station and coffee stops was taking out over $200 a month! So we decided that has to stop and the extra money can go to our student loans. It's crazy how quickly a couple bucks adds up over a month. 

LBib

I baked banana walnut muffins instead of buying granola bars this week.

credcat7

We have a Vegas trip and camping trip planned. To compensate we are doing no grocery shopping this week, will make meals from freezer and pantry. Booked cabana time in Vegas to keep me out of the casino and entertained. Also we are staying her in Montessori in Norbert and it's 650/Month. Since they need it all on the first I am setting up the first months payment by saving it in increments between now and then. Since SO usually pays weekly this will allow him to keep that going in November by putting his monthly into savings each week and be ready for a full payment December first.

[Deleted User]

We add eating out into our grocery budget. There isn't a lot to do for entertainment here but we put $200 aside for our monthly trip into the city. That includes gas. We usually a fancy lunch and date night. I also tend to do a lot of personal shopping while I'm there. Whatever is left over rolls over to the next month's trip.

fitmama418

Glad I found this! I was about to ask if a post for the week had been started yet since I've been MIA.

Websites I opened today: Aerie, Carters, Zulily, Tula, Diapers.com, Amazon

Number of websites I shopped on today: ZERO!!

At the end of August, I ordered curtains for DD's room off PBK, some football apparel for her, and then that was IT. No more shopping except for essentials. This marks our first month of doing a monthly budget sheet thanks to the recommendations by you ladies on here. It may take two or three months to get into a "groove" with it to see how much we can save, but my goal of setting aside at LEAST $300 this month for our Christmas shopping still stands.

MrsT0514

I think I need to start with baby steps. Money is really right for us, so I'd really like to start putting between 10-20 bucks a week into savings.

[Deleted User]

@fitmama418 You're awesome. I'm so happy for you. It seems like you're in such a different place than you were just a few weeks ago. You're doing such a great job.

@MrsTo514 Baby steps is a good idea. It's less about the amount and more about the mentally of saving. At least that's what I'm trying to tell myself.

[Deleted User]

Do you guys budget monthly for medical expenses?

Unknown

This content has been removed.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

[Deleted User]

We have our recurring prescriptions and a shit ton of IF related bills. Anything IF related we take out of our make a baby fund. It seems to work but I'm not sure if we need a better system or not.

[Deleted User]

Regal Mama said:

I'll join!

I'm not going to lie though, I've already failed today.  I forgot to take a frozen meal out to defrost so I was going to make pasta.  Then our daycare lady told me she fed the kids pasta.  I ended up ordering Chinese food to make my life easier.  It will feed us for lunch and dinner tomorrow though so the $45 will be stretched pretty far.

Does anyone have a good app for budgeting and entering expenses?

Welcome! We use mint.com. It works well for us.

fitmama418

Went to the grocery store and Target today and STUCK TO THE LIST!! I didn't even buy anything pumpkin because it's pumpkin season and the second I see the word "pumpkin" on anything from September-November my panties drop.

*fist pump*

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

[Deleted User]

MotherOfPearl85 said:

How much money can I save with my bread machine?

It depends. We eat a lot of bread products (pizza dough, sandwiches, toast, bagels) so it does save us a bit of money. I also like the peace of mind from knowing what's in my food. If you don't eat a lot it might not be cheaper. I'm on mobile so I can't pull it up right now but one of the frugality sites that I like broke down the cost. A decent loaf of bread is about $2 here. In a week we would spend $10-$15 on bread products. Each loaf I make cost around 75 cents.

[Deleted User]

mkquinnwedding said:

What is it about Target?!? Im the same way! I told DH we could probably save a few hundred bucks just by avoiding Target for a month.

Everything is out there and just so appealing. I always feel like I'm getting a great deal on something even if I know I'm not really saving.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

erikaja6

Like some other posters, I use www.mint.com. I find it really helpful to see exactly where my money is going each month. We plan to sell our apartment in the city and buy a house in the next two/three years. So, I'm really focused/motivated to save. My husband and I revised our monthly budget last week. One change we made is to 100% commit to sticking to our grocery/eating out/entertainment budgets by using individual envelopes filled with cash for these categories. We won't use our credit cards for these categories and once the cash is gone, we're done for that month. When I do use my credit card and purchase items online, I always check to see if there are any coupons available for that purchase and I make the purchase through a website like Upromise, for example. If I am going to spend money, I might as well make a little money on the side that can go in my son's college education fund! In the next week, I will also probably start meal planning so I can reduce our overall grocery budget and stop wasting food.

Unknown

This content has been removed.