2019 Controlled Spend/No Spend

[shanendoah]

3catslady - *hugs* I am sorry everyone in your family appears to be having a tough time right now. Hopefully the mortgage company will be willing to work with you.

[shanendoah]

Wednesday and Thursday were both spend days. On Wednesday, since BFFIL had to leave the country at the last minute for her job, I came over to hang out with BFF and paid for our dinner so she didn't have to cook. On Thursday, we went to CostCo to get me a new monitor for the office computer set up. We got C a new monitor, as well, making it a spend. And since we were at CostCo, we got a few things from CostCo. Friday after my massage, I didn't feel like grocery shopping, so that happened on Saturday.

This week will be pretty busy. We are dogsitting for a friend for a week. Her dog gets dropped off tonight. On Thursday, we've got a birthday dinner for a friend at a super fancy restaurant. On Friday another friend is coming for dinner. We haven't decided if we're cooking or if we want to go out. Sunday I have my next hair appointment.



Last week's (planned) v actual spending:
Monday: (Starbucks, Maid, MD Copay) Starbucks, Maid, Copay
Tuesday: (Dentist, Lunch, Office Computer) Dentist, Lunch
Wednesday: (----) Dinner
Thursday: (Starbucks) Starbucks, new Monitor x2, CostCo, Gas
Friday: (Massage, Groceries, Gas) Massage
Saturday: (----) Groceries
Sunday: (----) ----


This week's (planned) v actual spending:
Monday: (Starbucks) Starbucks
Tuesday: (----)
Wednesday: (----)
Thursday: (Starbucks, Dinner)
Friday: (Groceries, CostCo, Gas, Dinner(?))
Saturday: (----)
Sunday: (Hair) 

Current Month - (P)vA Running total	NS	CS&HS	Spend	Notes
July	(2)2 (2)2 (2)3 (2)1 (1)	(3)3 (3)5 (3)4 (3)4 (1)	(2)2 (2)0 (2)0 (2)2 (1)	(Current Planned - 31 days) Current Actual - 28
August	(1)	(2)	(1)	(Current Planned - 4 days) Current Actual - 0

Year long tracking:

Month (P)vA	NS	CS/HS	Spend
January	(8)6	(19)13	(4)12
February	(6)9	(13)12	(9)7
March	(8)9	(14)16	(9)6
April	(10)9	(16)14	(4)7
May	(10)13	(11)8	(10)10
June	(9)7	(12)14	(9)9
July
August
September
October
November
December

[geenamercile]

Well I have 20 dollars left in the spend account.  So we aren't spending much this week.  That being said there isn't anything to spend on either so unless I run the girls out for happy hour milkshakes (1 dollar each) sometime this week we are at home.  

[moneysquirrel]

No surprise that the handyman did not show up.  Talked to him and will reschedule.  Avoided HD as well.  Only spending this past week was a trip to the grocery.  Still need to get a few items but it I can I will postpone for a while.  Started doing a little tutoring again and that will help with getting a few postponed items and to put some aside for upcoming expenses.  One of the ladies that I gotten to know when I tutored in the past decided to retire from it and recommended me to pick up a few of her regulars.

[TheOtherMe]

I have put myself on an austerity budget.  That means only buying necessities (especially from Amazon), along with an entertainment allowance.

Yesterday, I ordered hearing aid batteries for my dad from Amazon.  I will be reimbursed for those.  

I'm going to keep track of my Amazon spends because that is my weakness.  I do well at the grocery store and elsewhere not spending, but Amazon is too easy.

August 2019   Amazon  No Spend 1
                                       Necessity for me 
                                       Necessity for dad 1

[geenamercile]

We are going to be on a necessities only budget too this month.  Once the spend account settles from everything this week and back to school shopping it is going to be sad.  I did get ODD her early birthday gift of a new computer and booked the camping site at the beach for her birthday trip this month.  We do have a six flags trip planned for the 24th (season passes but still need to do the locker rental) and on the 17th dinner with some friends who are coming over.  The kids will all make slime and will need to get some supplies for that.  Have some left over from YDD's birthday party in June..  That is it for fun spending.  

[Rukh O'Rorke]

I'm trying to cut down on my spending to pay more towards debts.

Yet once again, running out of the house late without having any breakfast nor packed lunch....

Will have to do shopping at lunchtime.

[TheOtherMe]

August 2019, as of Aug 6 

Amazon No Spend 4

Necessity for me

Necessity for dad 1

Non-Necessity   1   bought a calendar

[nikiz628]

We are also planning for a necessities only spend month here. Once school starts on Wednesday for DS1, we should be able to "start" our month. 

Upcoming "Necessary" Expenses (that aren't regular expenses) 

1. School fundraiser participation- I budget $40 for this each year. Our school only does 1 selling fundraiser a year, and as the PTO secretary, I make sure we participate. 

2. DS1's birthday party- his birthday is Sept 7th but I will purchase supplies/decor/etc this month. 

3. DS2's birthday party- his birthday isn't until October, but I plan to start shopping for it if I find good deals. 

4. Christmas- I always start shopping early, but this will be the first year DH doesn't get a Christmas bonus at the end of November, so in an effort to ease anxiety about running out of time/money. I am starting to deal scout now. If an item is too good of a deal to pass up for someone on our list, I will purchase it (provided we have the extra funds at that time). 

The only eating out we plan to do for the rest of the month is our weekly "Taco Tuesday" date with our friends and their kids. $1 taco night at our local Mexican restaurant- we usually get out of there for under $20 including the tip. 


Also,  now that H has received his correct paycheck from his new job (first check with his added salaries figured in PLUS deductions for health/dental), I know what we are working with bi-weekly now. The check amount should be consistent from here on out. This was a major cause of anxiety for me with his job transition. After 15 years of knowing what your check was every week, waiting to properly budget on his new salary was killing me. Now I can go through the rest of the year, make adjustments as needed, and finally ease my brain. 

[shanendoah]

Yesterday I got to the office, read my email, and then started working on budget projections. I didn't look up until it was time to eat my lunch and then run off to a 2.5 hour meeting to end my workday. And then at home, I barely touched the computer. So here I am a day late in doing my update and planning, but it is what it is.
We have spent the week dogsitting for a friend. She was supposed to bring the dog to us last Monday, but her schedule went crazy at the last minute, so we made the drive to pick her dog up. Timing was super bad for dinner, so we each grabbed something off the dollar menu at McDs to tide us over. Our friends did not ask for money on Thursday for what I know was a crazy expensive dinner for B's birthday. So when M gets back, I need to poke her about making a contribution toward it. We made dinner at home to hang out with our other friend on Friday. But that did put us in a time crunch, so we only went to CostCo
On Saturday, while looking for my gardening sheers (which I still haven't found), I found the hanging brackets for the curtain rod I want to use to hang curtains over our laundry closet. That meant that I finally went in and bought the curtains we had chosen over a month ago. I also went ahead and ordered a new filter for the water dispenser in our refrigerator, as the one we have should have been replaced a few months ago. Sunday, I got gas and groceries after my hair appointment.

For this week, I paid for the next month of Yoga last night. It should be fairly quiet. I am having a minor medical procedure done on Friday. They tell me I'll likely be uncomfortable for a few days afterward. (Friends who have had the same procedure vary on how long they were uncomfortable, from less than 24 hours to 3 days, so I am planning for the long end.) I don't know how that will effect our grocery shopping or errands this weekend. We don't have any other plans, at least, and I took next Monday off, so I can be cranky and uncomfortable in bed as long as I need to. I am giving myself an extra spend day this week as part of that.



Last week's (planned) v actual spending:
Monday: (Starbucks) Starbucks, McDs
Tuesday: (----) ----
Wednesday: (----) ----
Thursday: (Starbucks, Dinner) Starbucks
Friday: (Groceries, CostCo, Gas, Dinner(?)) CostCo
Saturday: (----)House Stuff (Amazon)
Sunday: (Hair) Hair, Gas, Groceries


This week's (planned) v actual spending:
Monday: (Starbucks, Yoga) Starbucks, Yoga
Tuesday: (----)
Wednesday: (Dinner)
Thursday: (Starbucks)
Friday: (CostCo, CoPay)
Saturday: (----)
Sunday: (Groceries)

Current Month - (P)vA Running total	NS	CS&HS	Spend	Notes
July	(2)2 (2)2 (2)3 (2)1 (1)2	(3)3 (3)5 (3)4 (3)4 (1)0	(2)2 (2)0 (2)0 (2)2 (1)1	(Current Planned - 31 days) Current Actual - 31
August	(1)0 (1)	(2)4 (3)	(1)0 (3)	(Current Planned - 11 days) Current Actual - 4

Year long tracking:

Month (P)vA	NS	CS/HS	Spend
January	(8)6	(19)13	(4)12
February	(6)9	(13)12	(9)7
March	(8)9	(14)16	(9)6
April	(10)9	(16)14	(4)7
May	(10)13	(11)8	(10)10
June	(9)7	(12)14	(9)9
July	(9)10	(13)16	(9)5
August
September
October
November
December

[TheOtherMe]

I decided to give DN3 $50 as the school year starts.  He has been such a help to me whenever I have contacted him.  

Working where he did the last three years, he didn't have to prepare a classroom for teaching.  He made so much less money working at that school.  Now he reports on Monday and will have to prepare his classroom for the first time and I wanted to make a contribution.

First, he told me no, but when I explained my reasoning (and that he lost so much work time when a student assaulted him), he agreed to accept the money.  

I have sold two concert tickets I should not have bought in the last two days, so that money will more than fund this.  I also received $50 back from my escrow account.  I have decided they don't like me paying an extra $25 per month towards escrow so I opened a savings account for that reason and will pay any escrow shortage next year.

[TheOtherMe]

August 2019, as of Aug 9



Amazon No Spend 5


Necessity for me 
1


Necessity for dad 1
(dad has repaid me)


Non-Necessity 2 

[moneysquirrel]

Handyman showed today as scheduled but located a problem that he cannot fix. Plumber called and should know more next week.  This one will be expensive I think.  Will call the handyman back once the pipes that are the problems have been fixed to replace the sheetrock that needed to be cut out.  Leak is between floors. 

[TheOtherMe]

Aug 8, 2019 18:53:58 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

August 2019, as of Aug 9



Amazon No Spend 5


Necessity for me 
1


Necessity for dad 1
(dad has repaid me)


Non-Necessity 2 

1 item returned today

As of August 15:

Amazon No Spend  10
Necessity for me 1 (it is the wrong size so will be returned on Tuesday)
                         1  cat food

Necessity for dad 1 (dad has repaid me)

Non-Necessity  2

[shanendoah]

My excuse for running a day behind this week is that I had my medical procedure last Friday, and so I took yesterday off, just in case I needed another day to recover. I didn't really need that day, but I pretty much laid around and read all day, barely getting online. And it was glorious.
I did pretty well last week. I did have a straight up spend day on Saturday. 
This week and next week should be pretty quiet. But things will pick up the last week in August and go through the first two weeks of September.



Last week's (planned) v actual spending:
Monday: (Starbucks, Yoga) Starbucks, Yoga
Tuesday: (----) ----
Wednesday: (Dinner) Dinner
Thursday: (Starbucks) Starbucks, Groceries
Friday: (CostCo, CoPay) CostCo, Gas
Saturday: (----) Main/Pedi, Safeway, Dominoes, Dog Tub
Sunday: (Groceries) ----


This week's (planned) v actual spending:
Monday: (----) ----
Tuesday: (Starbucks)
Wednesday: (----)
Thursday: (Starbucks)
Friday: (Groceries)
Saturday: (----)
Sunday: (Breakfast)

Current Month - (P)vA Running total	NS	CS&HS	Spend	Notes
August	(1)0 (1)2 (2)	(2)4 (3)4 (3)	(1)0 (3)1 (2)	(Current Planned - 18 days) Current Actual - 11

Year long tracking:

Month (P)vA	NS	CS/HS	Spend
January	(8)6	(19)13	(4)12
February	(6)9	(13)12	(9)7
March	(8)9	(14)16	(9)6
April	(10)9	(16)14	(4)7
May	(10)13	(11)8	(10)10
June	(9)7	(12)14	(9)9
July	(9)10	(13)16	(9)5
August
September
October
November
December

[moneysquirrel]

Have new pipes between the floors.  Cost was what I thought.  Had enough in my sinking fund for house items to cover it.  Handyman is scheduled to start working on sheetrock repair next week. Think I have enough in the house items fund to pay for most if not all of that repair.  Then to start replacing my cushion on that sinking fund.

Other than these cost the rest of the week has been usual items of food and gas.  Quarterly payment for supplemental insurance is scheduled for later this week. Next month's car payment is also scheduled.  

Trying to finish things around the house as much as possible.  Also need to get in gear and get a few of my items made before craft show season gears up next month.  Almost finish two major projects for me to keep and hope to get them done by the end of the month so that I can focus more on the items for the shows.  One of my projects should be finished later this week.

Decided to take a little out of my money market account to open a CD with a decent interest rate.  Have one coming due later this month that will go back into the money market.  Figured that I would sort of replace the one coming due (meant to renew it) while the interest rate was still good.  I think that the banks will be lowering the rates soon and wanted to get the higher rate while it was still available as no idea what the rates will be at the end of the month.

[TheOtherMe]

Aug 15, 2019 9:11:18 GMT -5 moneysquirrel said:

  I think that the banks will be lowering the rates soon and wanted to get the higher rate while it was still available as no idea what the rates will be at the end of the month.

I think you are correct about the interest rate.  The interest rate on my credit cards is decreasing .25% this month--not that I pay it.

[TheOtherMe]

As of August 20:



Amazon No Spend 13

Necessity for me 2 (it is the wrong size so will be returned on Tuesday)

1 cat food
1 ink for the printer  Printed today and it is out of ink



Necessity for dad 1 (dad has repaid me)



Non-Necessity 3

  On Aug 16, I bought two Kindle books and toilet paper, which is a necessity.  Toilet paper was a bargain because I had a $3 gift card, $1 coupon and over $11 in points to reduce the price for a case of toilet paper to $19

[shanendoah]

Last week went mostly well. I planned on using my work ID to pay for lunch on Tuesday, but then got the the checkout counter and realized I didn't have it, so had to actually pay. But, it worked out because then I ended up having lunch on Thursday with a friend/coworker, and I had the money on the work ID card to pay for that.
Saturday we had a friend call us late that afternoon and ask if we wanted to go out to dinner. We did.

This week, I have PT on Wednesday, so expect a copay there. We are doing our annual staff outing for lunch on Thursday. My BFF is coming over to spend the weekend. We'll be smoking ribs and chicken on Saturday. We're considering going to an Elizabeth Warren town hall on Sunday. If we do that, we'll likely end up getting lunch out.



Last week's (planned) v actual spending:
Monday: (----) ----
Tuesday: (Starbucks) Starbucks, Lunch
Wednesday: (----) ----
Thursday: (Starbucks) Starbucks
Friday: (Groceries) Groceries
Saturday: (----) Dinner
Sunday: (Breakfast) Breakfast, Groceries


This week's (planned) v actual spending:
Monday: (Starbucks) Starbucks
Tuesday: (----)
Wednesday: (Copay)
Thursday: (Starbucks, Lunch)
Friday: (Groceries, Gas, CostCo)
Saturday: (----)
Sunday: (Lunch)

Current Month - (P)vA Running total	NS	CS&HS	Spend	Notes
August	(1)0 (1)2 (2)2 (2)	(2)4 (3)4 (3)3 (3)	(1)0 (3)1 (2)2 (2)	(Current Planned - 25 days) Current Actual - 18

Year long tracking:

Month (P)vA	NS	CS/HS	Spend
January	(8)6	(19)13	(4)12
February	(6)9	(13)12	(9)7
March	(8)9	(14)16	(9)6
April	(10)9	(16)14	(4)7
May	(10)13	(11)8	(10)10
June	(9)7	(12)14	(9)9
July	(9)10	(13)16	(9)5
August
September
October
November
December

[TheOtherMe]

Paid the bill for the electrician to fix the ceiling fan.  The light in my bedroom is a necessity.  As I figured, all it cost was one hour of labor, which is their minimum.

[shanendoah]

Today became a spend day. I got Pop Tart's volleyball schedule and booked a couple of trips to go see her play.

[moneysquirrel]

Repair is scheduled to start next week.  Will be very glad when the room will no longer have all furniture covered and out of place.  So far this week I have not spend anything.  Staying in as much as possible helps.  Will need to get some perishables soon as I am running low on essentials.  Also a few cleaning supplies are getting to the end of my stash and will need to get additional.  Basically focusing on the needs. 

[TheOtherMe]

As of August 30:

Amazon No Spend 22


Necessity for me 3 (it is the wrong size so will be returned on Tuesday)

1 cat food

1 ink for the printer Printed today and it is out of ink

1 computer mouse died


Necessity for dad 1 (dad has repaid me)

Non-Necessity 4


On Aug 16, I bought two Kindle books and toilet paper, which is a necessity. Toilet paper was a bargain because I had a $3 gift card, $1 coupon and over $11 in points to reduce the price for a case of toilet paper to $19

[shanendoah]

Not a single no spend day last week. I have no regrets about that. I never know exactly when I will get Pop Tart's game schedule (school starts today, practice started last week, so other Mom got it to me as soon as she got it), so I have no issues with changing the spend plan to book all my travel for the next couple of months when I get it.
Then, when we were at CostCo on Friday, we noticed they had a 7cu.ft, chest freezer on sale for only $130. We didn't move the chest freezer we'd had for 15 years when we sold the last house, so we have been without the entire time we've been in this house and have definitely noticed. We have been wanting a new one but weren't quite sure where we'd put it. Well, since a chest freezer that size won't fit in our car, we figured we would go home, see if we could figure out space, and then order it through the website. On the website, the chest freezer was $270. So on Saturday, we borrowed friend M's SUV (in exchange for loaning her a heating pad) and went and got the chest freezer. For a savings of $140, it was worth it. That is house stuff, which I have been counting as controlled spend, and I will this one, too, because we've known from the beginning we were going to get one, just not exactly when.
Sunday, we did not go see Elizabeth Warren. I went out and mowed the front lawn that morning and realized that we had a very large number of blackberry vines making their way onto the front lawn from around the base of one of the trees. I have been searching for my pruning shears to deal with blackberries in the back yard, but haven't been able to find them. On Sunday, with the front yard issue, I just gave up and went to the store to buy new ones. While there, I came across really thick work gloves, better than any others we have, and good gloves are a necessity for working with blackberries.
Then, out to lunch and off to target for some yoga supplies. I have been enjoying my yoga class, and so having some of my own supplies (blocks and strap) make sense. And the strap will help me with some of the PT exercises I now have to do. I also got a large foam roller, based on the one melt class I had, and I can use that to help relax my back in the evenings.
And then, because we were next to the book store, we went to the book store, and we bought books.

And the next few weeks are not going to be much better. Though this week I think I have a better handle on when I will be spending money. Wednesday is Pop Tart's birthday, so I got all of her gifts ordered and scheduled for delivery. I am going to the Seahawks/Raiders game on Thursday night with BFF & BFFIL. Friday is our anniversary, we we'll be going out to dinner for that. We might go out again on Saturday night. Sunday I have my writing group and will likely get breakfast wherever we are.
Next week starts with the holiday Monday. On Tuesday, I fly over for one of Pop Tart's volleyball games and come back on Wednesday. On Sunday, our friend arrives from Sweden for vacation. We'll almost certainly do sushi Thursday night. That Saturday we'll have people over for jambalaya.
And the week after that, I am on vacation all week. My mom flies in on Wednesday, and she and I will take a rental car up to the coast to hang out for a couple of days. We'll come back on Friday. We will have ribs. On Saturday, I will put my mom on a plane home. I will come home to have a farewell lunch with friend from Sweden, as he flies out that evening. And after lunch, I will drive across the state so that on Sunday morning, I can go to the county fair where Pop Tart is and see the pigs she raised for 4H.

So if you don't see me a lot over the next few weeks, that's why.




Last week's (planned) v actual spending:
Monday: (Starbucks) Starbucks
Tuesday: (----) Pop Tart travel purchases
Wednesday: (Copay) Copay
Thursday: (Starbucks, Lunch) Starbucks, Lunch
Friday: (Groceries, Gas, CostCo)Groceries, Gas, CostCo
Saturday: (----) chest freezer
Sunday: (Lunch) pruning shears & gardening gloves, lunch, yoga supplies, books


This week's (planned) v actual spending:
Monday: (Starbucks, Pop Tart birthday gifts, fish oil) Starbucks, Pop Tart birthday gifts, fish oil
Tuesday: (----)
Wednesday: (----)
Thursday: (Starbucks, Football game)
Friday: (Groceries, Gas, CostCo, Dinner)
Saturday: (Dinner?)
Sunday: (Breakfast)

Current Month - (P)vA Running total	NS	CS&HS	Spend	Notes
August	(1)0 (1)2 (2)2 (2)0 (2)	(2)4 (3)4 (3)3 (3)5 (2)	(1)0 (3)1 (2)2 (2)2 (2)	(Current Planned - 31 days) Current Actual - 25
September	(0)	(1)	(0)	(Current Planned - 1 days) Current Actual - 0

Year long tracking:

Month (P)vA	NS	CS/HS	Spend
January	(8)6	(19)13	(4)12
February	(6)9	(13)12	(9)7
March	(8)9	(14)16	(9)6
April	(10)9	(16)14	(4)7
May	(10)13	(11)8	(10)10
June	(9)7	(12)14	(9)9
July	(9)10	(13)16	(9)5
August
September
October
November
December

[shanendoah]

Today is a spend. I set my phone/wallet on top of the car last night. I then got distracted and drove off. Came back 10 minutes later, couldn't find it anywhere along the route. So today, I am replacing my phone, sim card, and phone case.

[moneysquirrel]

shanendoah -- Sorry about your phone.  Don't know if you are one to have cc or ids in phone case but if you do then you have to report/replace those as well.

TheOtherMe -- Keep up the good work.

I have keeping on track.  Some progress on the home repairs but still have to finish up.  Trying to work around the schedules cause some delays.  Yesterday was a spend.  I finally got tired of one of my craft storage areas falling apart on a regular basis and picked up a cart that I have been eyeing while it was on sale and was  able to get a little discount on it also.  

[TheOtherMe]

Had to go to town today.  The grocery store where I haven't been for some time had loaded $15 off if I spent $45 on to my loyalty card.  I bought $47 worth of groceries and paid $32.  

Won't need anything when I take dad on Thursday.

[shanendoah]

moneysquirrel - 2 credit cards, a starbucks card, and my drivers license were in the case. The credit cards were both with citibank and reported lost within 30 minutes of my losing the phone/case. No extra charges were on them. Because these were my two most heavily used cards (and they could see that), they decided to overnight new cards to me. Those couldn't go out until this morning, but I will have them tomorrow.
The starbucks card was even easier to deal with. I went online, reported it lost, they instantly cancelled the auto-refill, and transferred the balance to another card which is on it's way to me. I changed the password on the account, too, so whoever has the phone can't open up the Starbucks app on it and use that to pay.
And in WA, if you are not near the renewal date for your drivers license, you can just go online, report it lost, pay $20, and they send you another one in the mail. So that's been done as well.

Tonight when I get the new phone and sim card, I'll transfer my phone number/account to that, and the old phone will then only be good on wi-fi. None of the apps on it had any ability to pay anything except the Starbucks, so it should all be good.

[TheOtherMe]

Final for August, 31 days 

I will keep this up.  It does hold me accountable.  

Amazon No Spend 23

Necessity for me 3 (it is the wrong size so will be returned on Tuesday)

1 cat food

1 ink for the printer Printed today and it is out of ink

1 computer mouse died

Necessity for dad 1 (dad has repaid me)

Non-Necessity 4

On Aug 16, I bought two Kindle books and toilet paper, which is a necessity. Toilet paper was a bargain because I had a $3 gift card, $1 coupon and over $11 in points to reduce the price for a case of toilet paper to $19

[moneysquirrel]

Managed to get a few groceries and stocked up on a few items that I was low on. Cashed in a reward certificate of about $18 to get a some of these and got a few others while they were on special. 

I am continuing to get a few items made as I have several upcoming craft shows.  I am using craft items from my stash to complete these items therefore trying not to buy anything unless necessary.  Also gives me the opportunity to be creative with what I have on hand.