2022 Controlled Spend and No Spend

[laterbloomer]

Feb 21, 2022 16:27:17 GMT -5 Blonde Granny said:

A couple of my friends have told me to get rid of ATT Uverse for TV and Internet. In looking at my latest bill, the ATT Uvers is @133/mo and the internet is $55/mo. I know nothing of getting rid of ATT then getting something on the TV that requires You Tube and other things that will require 4 new TVs to get things using APPs.

Egads, do I really need to go through with this just to get my ATT Uverse bill lowered??

If you call and threaten to do it they will put you through to retentions and offer you better terms

[Blonde Granny]

I've done that just about every years...and it just expired a couple months ago. Supposedly if I cancel ATT Uverse, I can transfer all this TC stuff that is not thru the cable TV, it's all done some other way. Rather like Netflix and others etc.

[nikiz628]

We are still doing better than previous months on the spending level. Very few impulse buys, cooking 95% of the meals at home (we haven't ordered out in over a week). Both of my grocery trips this month have been strictly from my list and only my list (minus $1 that I spent on some clearance valentine cards that I picked up for DS2 to use next year). 

[startsmart]

I'm at 15 NSD for the month, which is what I managed last month. Today I picked up some items at the local auction and filled up my truck with gas. I do need to get some groceries before the end of the month and maybe also do laundry but shouldn't have other expenses. 

Next month I am going to start seeds for the garden upstairs. I have heat lamps and mats and already the soil and seeds so I am hoping there are no additional expenses there. 

[Iggy aka IG]

Hello everyone!

Appliance savings alert!  As mentioned in a different thread, our clothes dryer finally failed.  The washer and dryer came with the house, so we know they are a bit old.  DH installed a replacement part several years ago, which has also now failed, so we decided to finally buy a new set.  (We wanted to go back to a top loading washer anyway.)  Home Depot is having a President's Day sale, so we got 35% off our order.  A head's up if you use their website to save you a lot of time and headache:  It is much more efficient and easier to utilize it from a CPU vs smart phone.  

[startsmart]

Looking ahead to March, the month is very busy with client work and still ugly weather. So I’ve decided to meal prep as much as possible since the last 2 weeks of the month are the busiest.

Planning a grocery trip tomorrow to get all the ingredients I need to meal prep for 35 days (breakfast, lunch and dinner) which is the most ambitious cooking weekend I’ve ever done. Todays prep is cleaning the fridge, freezer and kitchen so I’ll be ready.

If I can pull this off I won’t need to cook most days until April since so much can be frozen. I’ve only eaten out 2x in February so it’s been good to cut back on restaurants and take out.

[Iggy aka IG]

startsmart, I cannot wait to read about what you made.  

[seriousthistime]

That sounds very interesting, startsmart . 

When I make certain soups and casseroles, I freeze individual portions in the bowl I will eat them from.  Once frozen, I loosen the soup or pasta (just a minute or two out of the freezer) and pop the individual servings into separate Ziploc bags and back into the freezer.  Then I can take a portion out of the freezer, pop it into the bowl, thaw it in the microwave, and then heat it up to eat it. 

I learned that trick when I was preparing for foot surgery.  I knew having to be non-weight bearing for two weeks would be difficult so I had to minimize the time spent on one foot and crutches. This trick kept my upright time in the kitchen to a minimum. 

It also saves room in my freezer. I can stack the frozen bowls of soup without extra air space. If I use a plastic Ziploc or Glad container, it rarely is filled to the top and if it is, that means more than one serving is in it. 

[laterbloomer]

$21 for 3 tank tops for layering.

19/28 $659 NBS

[moneysquirrel]

This was a good month for me.
19/28  No Spending of any kind.
7/28    Monthly Bills, Grocery and Gas
2/28    Non-Essential spending Total was less than $50.

This upcoming month has a few additional expenditures that I know of:

Sam's trip -- I only do this one occasionally
Annual Premium -- 


ETA: Plumber just left.  Will have to return as could not pinpoint the problem.  Not looking forward to getting the resulting diagnosis and the upcoming bill for this issue.  

[catsareme]

February Totals:
NSD/CSD - 19/28
NES:  $284.95

[Iggy aka IG]

Wrapping up February.  Since my mid-month post, there were two additional liquor store stops, one takeout supper, and movie tickets for two.

Month end total non-essential spending $379.40

I did buy birthday gifts and a card for the grandnephew, and a few other cards, but I'll consider them essential.

[startsmart]

20 NSD this month - today I had to pay my annual vehicle tags, do laundry and pick up at the auction. Overall a really good no spend month.

[laterbloomer]

$101 for 2 pairs of jeans I'm going to hem for my Dad as his belated birthday gift. He's a 26 inseam. The hemming is the real gift.
21/28, $760 NBS
This is more than I was hoping for but everything I got was very intentional. Here's hoping I can get it way back down for March.

[catsareme]

Feb 28, 2022 15:24:18 GMT -5 moneysquirrel said:

This was a good month for me.
19/28  No Spending of any kind.
7/28    Monthly Bills, Grocery and Gas
2/28    Non-Essential spending Total was less than $50.

This upcoming month has a few additional expenditures that I know of:

Sam's trip -- I only do this one occasionally
Annual Premium -- 


ETA: Plumber just left.  Will have to return as could not pinpoint the problem.  Not looking forward to getting the resulting diagnosis and the upcoming bill for this issue.  

I feel your pain moneysquirrel.  We have a plumbing visit coming up this month too.  We know the issue but not the cost. 

Great job on your Non-essential spending.  I wish my February EOM number had been as low.  

[seriousthistime]

It's a new month.  I'll see if I can get into the habit of keeping track of my expenses here. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Finally getting to February totals: 


$977.09 unnecessary spending. 
There were two weekends away--one with children, one without. 

I did not buy myself any clothing this month, which makes two months in a row of not doing that.
(Clothing for myself was a specific line item I wanted to control this year.)

Seven days during which we made those purchases. 

[laterbloomer]

6/31

But I'm really battling the urge 2 order 2 pair of $15 jeans from Old Navy and 2 $10 Cardigans from Giant Tiger. I really don't need any more clothes.

[catsareme]

Not a great start for the month of March:  3/31 

NES:  $106.36 DH is to blame for $60.75 of this amount.  He has an ongoing love for new cookware.  I did make him remove the old, but still serviceable, skillets from the kitchen cabinet.  They will most likely will end up going to Goodwill.

I hear you laterbloomer on buying more clothes.  I'm fighting the urge to buy more Irish knits from the Irish Store catalog.  Oh, the siren song of sales.... 

[moneysquirrel]

Plumber located a second problem.  It will be several thousands of dollars to repair both issues as they have to tunnel under the  house.  Will be dropping off a deposit to get the work scheduled so that my life can get somewhat back to normal.  Really hope that they can get the first issue fixed this way otherwise they will have to cut into the wall.  

Got most of the items on the list at Sam's -- it was a short list.  But could not get several.  Need to get a few perishables tomorrow so I hope that I can find the missing items at the grocery. Also need to pick up one of my vitamins tomorrow as I will be running out of them in a few days.  

So far this month all of my spends have been essential items and I hope to continue that trend.  The first of the monthly bills will be coming in sometime this week.  

All of you have been doing really well! Keep up the great work !

[vetswife]

Still haven't got my "emergency fund" where I want it but am making progress.  I just returned from a trip to visit DGD and DS1, spent about $70 on that for 5 days-they wouldn't let me pay for anything.  Trying to do better this month, although gas will definitely increase.  I paid $3.60 per gallon yesterday in the DFW area.  Fortunately, I don't drive a lot.  I'll be having company later this month so extra groceries, plus my DD's 50th birthday.  So far so good on unnecessary spending.

[seriousthistime]

My DS and DDIL came to visit for the weekend, which required me to buy food and drink sufficient to host them.  

I'm starting my "month" of CS/NS today, the 7th. So I guess my spending this month will be based on the remaining 25 days of March.

[Iggy aka IG]

Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend.

Week one non-essentials included the liquor store, lunch with friends, and supplies for an upcoming party.  Total MTD $63.44

I did have to renew my driver's license last week, but I consider that essential.

[TheOtherMe]

Driver's license renewal is definitely essential.

[laterbloomer]

I returned the pair of jeans I got last month for $33 and ordered the 2 pair for $31. I'm going to leave that as last month's spending.
7/31

[startsmart]

5 NSD so far this month. This week I also have to get some dental work done so that’ll be a spend but hopefully no more needed for another week. I have plenty of groceries at home and fabric to work on my quilt.

Only thing to decide is if I can cancel amazon prime which renews this month. I have maybe 8 orders in the last 6 months but need to look at the last 12. I have a feeling I’d save money if I just paid shipping on a few orders throughout the year and I don’t watch their shows enough to keep it for that reason.

[Deleted]

Mar 7, 2022 22:47:57 GMT -5 startsmart said:

Only thing to decide is if I can cancel amazon prime which renews this month. I have maybe 8 orders in the last 6 months but need to look at the last 12. I have a feeling I’d save money if I just paid shipping on a few orders throughout the year and I don’t watch their shows enough to keep it for that reason.

I'm not on this section of YM often but just saw this and wanted to comment.  I don't have Amazon Prime.  I think it makes it too easy to spend and you may do less price comparison since shipping is "free" and, well, you paid for the membership so you may as well use it.  They're also very skillful at suggesting additional items to buy.  

I use Amazon occasionally but figure I save money overall buy ordering less.

[catsareme]

I cancelled my Amazon Prime last month and have not regretted my decision.  Price comparison shopping on-line costs nothing but time.  There are also many free shipping options available on other sites.  Just my two cents worth....

[laterbloomer]

I bought a beautiful bathing suit at Costco for $17 today.
9_31, $17 NBS

[moneysquirrel]

7 No Spend days
1 Essential spend day
1 Non-essential spending day

Plumbing deposit made and work is scheduled to begin in the middle of April.  Earliest I could schedule it. Placed the deposit on the CC so that I could get the points which I will later turn into cash back.

Placed the first order for the kits needed for the first craft retreat (I have two that I am doing -- one in person and one Zoom).  Money is in a sinking fund for it and any extra will be rolled over into next year's retreat expenses.

Monthly household bills will begin today and most will arrive next week except for that one late one at the end of the month.

All of you are doing well.  Keep up the great work!