2017 controlled Spend/ No Spend

[Blonde Granny]

Another year for a fresh start.

[zibazinski]

I'm going to buckle down and seriously save

[Blonde Granny]

Try using YNAB and turn it into a game. No cheating though, and even if YNAB tells you that you take money unspent money from one category and put it in another, my DH (former CFO) said absolutely NOT. Not having the ability to cheat like that tends to keep my spending in line.

[zibazinski]

What is YNAB?

[Blonde Granny]

It stands for You Need A Budget. People here have been using it more than 5 years.....I've only been using it for about 3 years. Ask MPL, she's used it for years....in fact she's my got to person when I have a question about it.

If you decided to d/l it, get YNAB 4 it's easier to use. I'll even get on the phone with you and walk you through everything till you get a good knowledge of how it works.

[zibazinski]

Thank you. Do I need a computer?

[Blonde Granny]

yes, don't know if they have a tablet version or not. They may have an app or something.  Yes they apps for iPhone, iPad, android phone etc.  

[zibazinski]

I'll have to get one, a computer. 

[Blonde Granny]

Personally, I think it's much easier on a desktop or laptop. makes everything easier to see and understand. OH, and you get a 34 day free trial.

[zibazinski]

I've only an iPad. But I'll work on getting a computer 

[3catslady]

My goal for January is 15 NSD, 16 CSD.  So far there is 1 NSD and 0 CSD,

I am not going to the grocery store without a list.  When I do, I usually forget something and/or get things I don't need.  For the year, I am going to get 1 grocery gift card and 1 WalMart gift card a month.  I will withdraw $10 a week for me and $20 a month for the laundry.  My $10 is my money for what ever catches my eye, usually a skein of yarn I don't have, not that I need another skein.  I have 125 that I have counted so far and still one tub to count.

[moneysquirrel]

Good morning and Happy New Year.

I'm in again.  So far I have 1 CSD and no idea what today will bring.  I have no plans to leave the house as the weather is supposed to be another stormy one.  I think that will make at least three consecutive stormy days.  I had to get a few items from the grocery yesterday as I needed stuff to take for lunches the rest of the week.

I use Excel to track my budget.  I have multiple worksheets in my spreadsheet.  Budget, checking registers, saving categories, annual predicted expenses, etc.  I have been using similar tracking for the last ten+ years.  The saving categories page is similar to the online wir savings thread but my own version of it that I developed for me prior to being aware of WIR.  Also once something is in a category that is the purpose of that area.  I do not touch it for any other reason.  I know it is there in case of a real emergency but I also have an EF category that takes care of those for the most part.

[shanendoah]

Hey all, I am back again. As you may have seen elsewhere, we are slowly going back into debt. For the moment, there's not a whole lot I can do about that. We have an ongoing family legal crisis, and lawyers have to be paid. But my goal is to get my spending under control so that when the legal crisis is over, our debt is as small as it can be. And I truly am the problem.
The only specific NS/CS/Spend goal I have for this month is that I want to achieve 4 NSDs - so one day each full week where I don't spend any money. Mostly, though, I simply want to get back to tracking. I have found that tracking- making myself write down when I spend helps me spend less.
I have fallen into the habit of getting a $6 chai from Starbucks every weekday morning. I don't think about the cost because I pay on a starbucks card that just automatically refills itself. My goal for January is to drop from 5x/week to 3x/week (or 2x, on 4 day weeks).
I also have been having $40 taken out of every paycheck and put on my University card for random spending -so $80/month that's been going mostly to food - snacks, lunch, etc. I filled out the form this morning to cut that back to $20/paycheck. I don't need to buy lunch on campus more than 1/week, or spend what I have been on snacks. Hopefully, this will help me cut back on that. However, it can take up to two pay periods for them to make adjustments, so that might not go into effect until February.
Still, if it were to go into effect this month, combined with lowering my Starbucks intake, it will save me $94 for the month, an d $88 for the month of February.
I hate that at this point in my life/career, not quite $100/month can make such a difference, but it does. So back on the wagon for me.

	Starbucks	Spend	Controlled	No Spend
Week of Jan 1	1	3
Week of Jan 8
Week of Jan 15
Week of Jan 22
Week of Jan 29
Total	1	3
Goal	11			4

[CCL]

Jan 2, 2017 8:16:33 GMT -5 3catslady said:

My goal for January is 15 NSD, 16 CSD.  So far there is 1 NSD and 0 CSD,

I am not going to the grocery store without a list.  When I do, I usually forget something and/or get things I don't need.  For the year, I am going to get 1 grocery gift card and 1 WalMart gift card a month.  I will withdraw $10 a week for me and $20 a month for the laundry.  My $10 is my money for what ever catches my eye, usually a skein of yarn I don't have, not that I need another skein.  I have 125 that I have counted so far and still one tub to count.

Keep a list on your phone. I use an app called Inkpad. It's so much easier to stay organized with it.

[shanendoah]

I am going to try and do a (week)daily check in, as it helps me keep accountable.
The good news is, with the exception of Starbucks, I didn't spend anything else yesterday. And this morning, I skipped Starbucks. And while I have two big deal meetings today, they are both in my building, so no walking by Starbucks on the way/way back to tempt me.

Today should end up a CSD. I have a therapy appointment this afternoon and will have my copay for that, but there shouldn't be any other spending.


In the helping keep myself accountable vein, here are my rules for me to how I count Spend/CS/NS:

1) Because the nickel and dime stuff is what kills me (vending machines have long been my weakness), any spending counts. Even the $2.50 that was the only spending I did on 1/1 (Steam sale, bought a game I love) makes that day a Spend day. $1.10 on a 20oz soda counts.

2) If I plan on spending, then it's a controlled spend. Like with my copay today, or when we grocery shop. I don't always know the exact day we'll grocery shop - sometimes Fridays, mostly Saturdays, but grocery shopping counts as a controlled spend. I am making a couple changes to that this year:
a) The "extras" we pick up at CostCo. If we go in with the plan that we need new socks, or C needs new jeans, that's fine. But if we walk in and find a new Star Wars sweatshirt that we just have to have, it will become a spend. 
b)) Monday-Thursday grocery shopping - We do our grocery shopping on weekends, so if I'm running to the store for something on Tuesday night, it's because we didn't plan/think ahead. This year, those will become spends.

3) Things that are necessities, but can't always be planned in advance, such as gas, vehicle repairs, or medical/veterinary expenses always count as controlled spends.

4) Bills don't count at all. Paying off the credit card doesn't count - pulling out the credit card does (with the exception of using the credit card to pay the lawyers, because that's really a bill).

5) If I have a free drink from Starbucks, that doesn't count against spending or Starbucks (as the goal for that is the not spending part). If I get something from Amazon and pay completely with credit card points, that also doesn't count, because there's no spending.

That's it for now. There might be some additions/clarifications in the future, but I think this mostly covers my rules.

[3catslady]

cheesecakelady:  I don't have net for my phone so it has to be paper.

[moneysquirrel]

Update: 2 NSDs and 2 CSDs

Shen - Welcome back.  Sorry about the struggles you are facing at this time.  You are a strong woman and I know that you have the self-discipline to work your way through this.  

[shanendoah]

Got my first CS as the only spending yesterday was on my copay for therapy. Copay went up $10/visit this year, which is another thing I have to remember in the budget, as between C and I, we have a therapy copay every week.
Plan is for today to be my No Spend Day this week. I got up a little early this morning in order to catch an earlier bus that gets me to campus BEFORE Starbucks opens. That makes it easier not to stop in there, because I just head right to my building instead of waiting in the cold for their building to open up. So no Starbucks this morning. No meetings today that will take me past the Starbucks. And the office is still full of junk from the holidays. (Though I do think I need to pick up a cheese plate so that we finish off all the crackers sitting around.) So I think I should be able to avoid going and buying myself a snack.
But there was the realization that if I wanted a No Spend day this week, it really needed to be today, as tomorrow is Friday, and there's always a higher chance of spending on Fridays.

I am making one minor change to the chart below - just adding <> signs to remind myself that less than 11 Starbucks this month would be fine. And more than 4 no spend days would also be good.

	Starbucks	Spend	Controlled	No Spend
Week of Jan 1	1	3	1
Week of Jan 8
Week of Jan 15
Week of Jan 22
Week of Jan 29
Total	1	3	1
Goal	<11			>4

[shanendoah]

Yay! Got my NSD yesterday.
Realized today that by the rules I posted, since I plan on the Starbucks expenditures, those days should be controlled spends (as long as I don't go off the rails elsewhere). So Tuesday got reclassified as a CSD, since the only thing I spent on was Starbucks.
I have already classified today as a spend. I got Starbucks, so that's on there (but I did keep myself to the 2 for the week that I planned on - baby steps), but I also decided to be lazy this morning and not prep a lunch, so I'll be buying lunch on campus today. Since that wasn't "planned" until this morning, it doesn't count. There's also the fact that there is a VERY good chance we'll go out tonight for one of my best friend's birthdays.  

And because I can't leave well enough alone when it comes to tables, I changed the color of the Starbucks column in order to remind myself that it is counted separately from the Spend/CS/NS. 

	Starbucks	Spend	Controlled	No Spend
Week of Jan 1	2	3	2	1
Week of Jan 8
Week of Jan 15
Week of Jan 22
Week of Jan 29
Total	2	4	1	1
Goal	<11			>4

[moneysquirrel]

Update: 5 NSDs and 2 CSDs

Not planning to leave the house today therefore a NSD.  Weather has been miserable so I have been to work and home without any stops.  Helps with NSDs.  Will need to get gas soon and light bulbs.  Used the last ones up this morning.  Wanted to use up all I had to hand.  Did not realize that I was on the last one.  Therefore a trip to HD is in order soon.  

[3catslady]

January update: 4 NSD, 3 CSD.

Tomorrow is laundry and grocery day so that will be a CSD.

[shanendoah]

Friday did end up being a spend day, but not too bad: less than $4 for lunch, and we didn't go to dinner with friends, just got a drink at a free concert. I did, however, spend $50 on a foot massage. I have plantar fasciitis in one foot, and for the most part it's under control, but on Thursday night, I got shin splints (frickin shin splints - I am 41 years old) in the same leg as the plantar fasciitis and it messed with the muscles in that leg badly enough that I spent all Friday in pain - so I went to a spa and got a foot/calf massage. Given the level of pain before and after, its $50 well spent.
Saturday we went and played some board games with friends who live about an hour south of us. On the way home, we stopped by our "old" CostCo to do some shopping. This CostCo is a restaurant supply location, so they have a ton of options that we got used to in the 10+ years we lived right next to it, that we don't have in our new CostCo. We needed dog food, and since we were driving by, we took the opportunity to pick up edamame and french fries (as well as other needed options). We got gas, but no impulse buys, so it was a controlled spend.
Sunday I had my writing group. This happens every 2 weeks, and I plan on getting breakfast there, so that spending was planned. And that was it for the day.
I did get my Starbucks this morning, so I've counted that already.

	Starbucks	Spend	Controlled	No Spend
Week of Jan 1	2	3	3	1
Week of Jan 8	1		1
Week of Jan 15
Week of Jan 22
Week of Jan 29
Total	2	4	1	1
Goal	<11			>4

[shanendoah]

Just the Starbucks yesterday, so a controlled spend. I start Tuesdays at an off-site meeting. I did get Starbucks this morning, but used a free drink on my card (I can't use the free drinks at my normal campus location), so it doesn't count. Hoping today will be an NSD.

	Starbucks	Spend	Controlled	No Spend
Week of Jan 1	2	3	3	1
Week of Jan 8	1		2
Week of Jan 15
Week of Jan 22
Week of Jan 29
Total	3	3	5	1
Goal	<11			>4

[shanendoah]

Yesterday was an NSD! Today should be a CSD - I got my Starbucks, and C has a therapy appointment, so a copay there.
There is the possibility it will turn into a spend, as one of my best friends fell yesterday and broke her wrist. I am probably going to swing by her house tonight with some sweaters/tops that are big enough to go over her cast, and have asked her wife if there's anything else they need that I can bring by. If they need something from the store, I'll pick it up on my way over.

	Starbucks	Spend	Controlled	No Spend
Week of Jan 1	2	3	3	1
Week of Jan 8	2		2	1
Week of Jan 15
Week of Jan 22
Week of Jan 29
Total	4	3	5	2
Goal	<11			>4

[shanendoah]

CSD yesterday, with my Starbucks being the only spending. Today is already a spend day. Last week, my old iPhone 4 stopped working. A friend gave me her Galaxy s3 to replace, which works, but, it turns out, needs a new battery. It has been unplugged (after being plugged in all night) for less than 2 hours and is at 80% battery power already. Plus it seems to keep turning itself off and back on again. So on to Amazon to order a new battery for it (less than $5), as well as a wallet case for it (about $20).

	Starbucks	Spend	Controlled	No Spend
Week of Jan 1	2	3	3	1
Week of Jan 8	2	1	3	1
Week of Jan 15
Week of Jan 22
Week of Jan 29
Total	4	4	6	2
Goal	<11			>4

[Blonde Granny]

This is day 12 with no spending that is not included in my monthly budget. Yippee!!!!!! Impulse I want it spending has always been my downfall. The excuse of "I can afford it" isn't working for me anymore.

[moneysquirrel]

Update: 9 NSDs and 3 CSDs


Only got gas this week.  Will need to get a few things this week -- groceries and meds come to mind.  Still need to get the items from HD but not sure when I will stop there.  

[MJ2.0]

Hi.

My name is MJ2.0 and I have a budget problem.

[Blonde Granny]

Jan 13, 2017 13:41:55 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

Hi.

My name is MJ2.0 and I have a budget problem.

You have come to the right place.

[shanendoah]

Welcome MJ2.0! I don't necessarily have a budget problem - I'm great at creating budgets - it's sticking to the budget that is my problem.

I'm working from home today, so don't have my spreadsheet up, but numbers shouldn't have changed, since I had already counted yesterday as a spend.
Expect today will be a CSD, as my mom flies in for the weekend tomorrow, so we'll probably do grocery shopping today.