January 2011 Controlled/No Spend Thread

[notallwhowander]

Today was a CS (bought a book of stamps) and yesterday was a NS.

So 2 CS, 1 NS.

[startsmart]

red_wagon- oh boy would you NOT enjoy this work, trust me!

I have a strong individualization strength so catering answers for each customer is something that I can do easily - the problem right now is that I'm overwhelmed with so many requests. But I may begin the startsmart empire because I've had 7 people come to me and ask if I could work for them. Including one more yesterday. So the work isn't slowing down, and even if I increase my pay I'm really limited in terms of time off and billable hours. Only so many hours in the day!

[mrslynch]

yesterday was a controlled spend. i went grocery shopping and came home with $7.53! there were some really, really good deals at the supermarket so dh and i decided that we were going to take the remainder and stock up some more on them. we're going to do that today, but since it's leftover grocery money and it's going to food, i'm still counting it as a controlled spend. i have no intention of buying anything today that's not budgeted for so that will make 3/25 controlled spends. we've also been working month #2 of an all-cash budget and man, do i love it!
startsmart--i, too, am open to working for the startsmart empire. i'm a fantastic employee!

[redwagon]

startsmart - well, if you need any help and there's something you can delegate, I'm here! For a price, of course.

Today is already a CS, at least, and will end up being a spend. it's fish day at work, and since I can't eat at my desk and it's too cold to bring and eat outside, I'll be going out for lunch. Mad at myself for forgetting already that I want to drink work coffee on Tues and Thurs from now on. oops. So there's $2.75 gone already...

I'm trying to come up with more realistic savings goals, knowing that we want to power through our credit card debt this year. I still want to keep up saving for baby, and we need to keep setting aside money for car insurance and future oil bills (which are killer). But I guess I won't save for vacations? Except we have never NOT gone on a vacation... This is so hard prioritizing! I suppose if we just STOP adding to our cc debt that will help in paying it off, so that's a good first step. ;D

[sheilaincali]

To prove how graceful I really am I will admit what happened yesterday. Only I (and my mom whom I inherited my gracefulness from) could fall down the stairs while touring the new gym while a crowd of people stood at the bottom of the stairs and watched Stood up, made and joke and kept on walking but man did I hurt. Woke up this am and everything hurts today. So yeah- really hoping when I go to the gym to work out no one remembers my less then graceful dismount off the stairs!

Today should be a no spend if I can stay strong. DS and I are enrolled in a cake decorating class at Michaels that starts tonight. Already paid for in 2010 so it should be just a matter of show up, learn stuff and leave. It's the leaving right after class part that may be difficult- all those pretty new crafts and papers and things that I don't need but lust after.

[redwagon]

P.S. That $2.75 included a large coffee and 2 donuts. Tomorrow my WW week/points reset so I had to get my indulgence in before then. I'm so bad...

P.P.S. .5/15 exercise hours done!

[azmom]

2 NSD
I just finished reading a pamphlet titled "Puberty in Girls" Calgon please take me far far away!! The last time I tried to have the "talk" with my dd I asked if she knew what her period was and she said "YES!" and when I asked her to explain it to me she said, "you know like in sports 1st period, 2nd period...." All I could do is laugh and concede that she truly is my dd and give up. She spent last night on the phone with friends coordinating their outfits for tomorrow. SERIOUSLY!! I am so not ready for this. I write notes everyday in her lunch box and today I wrote, "I love you for being you!" I really don't want her to get mixed up in the inevitable pressure and drama of 4th grade girls but it appears that it is upon us. It has also made me realize I need to start saving for all the "extras" girls require!
Dakota: Ha I had to wait a week for the boxes to make it inside! I finally was able to corner my DH on Sunday!! He is training this week-poor him- fancy paid for dinners every night and a round of golf tomorrow...I'm hoping it is gone by Monday!
Todays To-Do List:
Run 4 miles
Clear off Desk - baby steps
Play Candyland with Reckless Abandon
Finish 4 pages in MIL Scrapbook
**I agreed to let the kids walk home from school today for the first time EVER...and I am already nervous! My plan is to walk half way and "surprise" them until I can build up the courage to let them grow up but that may require me to stop watching the evening news**

[dakota4600]

3/20 NS/CS 3/20 NEO

Mini-d is keeping things down now, but still not sleeping well. I rocked him twice before I went to bed at midnight. DH swears he got up 5 times with after that, but I think it was more like 3.

The little one being sick does help with the NS days though.

red- The first year being married is tough both emotionally and financially. I'd say if you need some vacation and funds are tight, plan a shorter trip or two and camp. (At least I think you are one who likes to camp, maybe blue doesn't?) My DH & I paid off the second mortgage, DH's car and had new windows installed in the 10 months after we got married. Then we took a couple trips with the extra money we had being paying on the mortgage. But our situation was different, since we truly combined households when we got married and did reduce our overall expenses when that happened. Getting married eliminated about $850 a month in expenses, when you add up his rent, utilities and a few other expenses that we were able to reduce or eliminate when we got married. Having Mini-D eliminated a lot of that excess, just insurance and daycare is about $700 a month, so our budget it a lot tighter now.

azmom- Letting the little ones walk home from school. I agree that it would require not watching the news. There was a book that my mom read to me before I hit puberty. I think it was called "my body, myself" It explained puberty and reproduction. She insisted that we read it together, then she was able to explain her expectations of me as I hit puberty. My mom grew up thinking that you could get pregnant by kissing a boy and seriously thought she was dying when her period stared, so she wanted me to have the facts and understand that what was happening was natural.

[redruby]

It's the 4th and I have 2 NSD and hope today will be number 4. I'm frustrated because DH and I think so differently when it comes to owing money. I hate it and he is like we will always owe because life happens. It does and it has happened to us too much and I'm trying to undo a lot of the uncontrolled spending we have done in the past and be more frugle. He doesn't see it that way. He feels I am freezing the NOW.

Any who I'm going to do my part. I did book my vacation. I haven't had one in three years and I have GOT TO have one or I'm going to go nuts. I will pay all CASH though.

SES:Spread sheets. I don't feel I am using them to my best advantage and would like to see how some people set theirs up and color code etc. How can I do this?

[3catslady]

spruby; I forgot to mention that tomorrow is your birthday also. Have a happy day and may you have many more. I don't know if I sent you a gift because it doesn't say so in my book. I would be happy to send you something and I see I have your kitchen colors. Please let me know if I did or not.
DS's mouse broke on his computer and since he is not working, AGAIN, and he fixed mine so I could use it, I will end up buying him a mouse today or tomorrow because he wants a wireless with a white light, not red.

[shanendoah]

DH starts school tonight (or at least goes to the first class and asks the professor to let him in) and I think I'm more excited about it than he is. I plan on making him his favorite cookies while he's gone so that he comes home to a reward.
I may fail at making today an NSD. It was too cold last night to go fill up the gas tank. (We run biodiesel and the nearby place that carries it has above ground tanks, so temp matters.) I'll call DH at lunch and find out if we still have a couple backup gallons in the garage, otherwise, the tank needs to be filled before DH drives down to school. (It will be over 100 miles round trip.) It is supposed to be warmer today, at least.

azmom: I remember "Are You There God, Its Me, Margaret" being a great book to read around that age. It dealt with being a girl of that age really well, not just the girl stuff, but all the questioning that comes with being a pre-teen.

Angel: Ooh, maybe that would be a good book for your DD, too? I don't remember it being super long, maybe its something you could read to your DD over the course of a couple weeks, giving the two of you some dedicated time, and being a jumping off point for questions?. Just a thought.

redruby: I use color coding for all of my expenses - groceries in one color, medical bills in another, etc. Because I don't have a generic template for my budget spreadsheets, I'm not willing to post them directly on the boards, but I'd be willing to send you a copy if you wanted.

[ses]

Dakota--I just emailed you my 4 most favorite bread recipes. The Whole Wheat is delicious. I use my Kitchenaid to make and knead them. If you wanted just a few at a time and time is an issue i think I would go the "brown and serve" route, due to the thawing and raising issues. However you might be able to let some thaw in the fridge during the day to bake in the evening. Check the instructions on a package of Rhodes rolls for the needed timing issues.
Let me do some more research, i know i have read something about freezing bread doughs in the past year or so--now just to remember where it was.
Red Ruby--I can email you a copy of what I have set up, I think, but Shanen is the one who figured it out and got me started. And Moneysquirrel knows so much about it! Send me an email addy if you want a copy of mine.

[dianartemis]

Update: 2/15 NSD, 3/15 NEO, 3/15 MOAN & 1/4 QUs

It's so cold here this week. I think we'll make the low above freezing by Friday (which is the 2nd time this winter, sub-freezing temps already hit here in Nov). But it with the weather so dry & cold, my exercise will be curtailed in the mornings, because my asthma will kick in w/o warning and my inhaler doesn't control it well in these conditions. So I'll be MOANING tonight...unless the temps drop too low.

[ses]

Dakota--I just did an internet search for "freezing bread dough" and got lots of hits and info. Still can't remember where I read about it recently though.

[redwagon]

dakota - I think we got most of our "growing pains" out last year, our first year living together, before we got married. Not a lot is changing financially for us now, since we'd already combined finances a while ago. We added him to my insurance, which saves us about $60 a month, and we bought the second car, but we have no big purchases planned for 2011. No new furniture, no more new cars (if mine dies we'll go back to being a one-car family for a while). We have a lot of weddings coming up so I'd say our biggest outside expense (not bills) will be wedding gifts, but that is budgeted for already. I'm keeping an eye on a cheap cruise, since we didn't go last year and it's such great bang for your buck. If I can find one under $1k we might do that. Camping is nice but not always relaxing, although I'm sure we'll do a weekend trip this summer again. We'll see what we find. We'll have to pay cash for whatever vacation we do take, though. No more CCs for us! I think we're set up to do some really good pay-down of our debt, which is super exciting for me. Plus he's expecting this offer any day now (they told him they'd be calling after new year's with an offer) and hopefully it'll provide a nice bit of extra income that we will throw at debt and a bit to savings. And hopefully I'll hear from that job I was looking at before the holidays... and I wish daycare and insurance would be $700. We're looking at around $1500 a month just for daycare once we have a baby... not fun. Hence, paying off debt first...

I keep writing in Quick Reply and then remembering you can't format and having to copy into the real reply. Driving me batty. But I guess I'm just glad to still have the group!!

I've been pondering my future career path. I don't see my current path as a lifetime career, especially since it'd mean working in Manhattan and being away from home 12 hours a day, like I am now. That doesn't fly for me when we have kids. I originally went to college for teaching, but switched halfway through sophomore year because I just didn't feel mature enough to tackle affecting kids' lives. But the more I think about it now, the more it appeals to me again, especially from a family point of view. I'd have those vacations to spend with our kids (thus eliminating child care during those times), I'd be home earlier (although I know I'd have work that needed to be done in evenings, such as correcting and planning), and I think it'd be more emotionally satisfying. Unfortunately, the market for teachers on LI is oversaturated and positions are few and far between. Granted, it'd be a few years before I was certified and ready to apply for jobs, but still... not terribly encouraging. The point is to work close to home so I wouldn't want a job in Manhattan. Things to ponder. Plus, it'd be a major switch of career for me, would involve going back to school hardcore, and would put my dream of owning my own business on hold for even longer, I would imagine. but, it would give me time to write again.... sigh. Just wanted to get my thoughts out there. Thanks for listening...

[azmom]

Red Ruby: Hang in there...DH and I have had and still have our fair share of disagreements when it comes to money. When I first started I was determined not to spend a dime and get out of debt and well, I can admit now that I went a wee bit overboard and over reacted when DH wanted me get sour cream and it was not on our list and we didn't NEED it to enjoy tacos it was a want-on his part because I don't care for the stuff. Anyhow, it has taken 3 years and we are just now starting to gel when it comes to money and spending, although we still don't view money 100% the same. We use the Dave Ramsey Spending Plan and for whatever reason that works for DH I suspect the word spending versus budget. He gets his fun money-even if it is only $10 or $20 a pay check but he can buy whatever he wants without having to have it "reported" or "judged" His biggest gripe when we first started was that he worked his tail off providing for us he should be able to enjoy the fruit of his labor. I would argue we already enjoyed it 10 fold and now it is time to pay up!! For us our balance has been getting out of debt and saving while still living in the present. For the sake of our marriage and our sanity we have made a list of things that are important to us now that cost money-vacations, the kids sports, the kids bible study group, Cardinals Season tickets and we still indulge in these things BUT WITH CASH ONLY. We refuse to add more debt. In fact we have not used a CC in a 1.5 years. BUT while outsiders would say we are foolish to indulge in these things while we still have debt we have to do what is right for OUR family. We are snowballing debt and have paid off several accounts, we are now paying off bigger accounts and that is taking a while and we know that if we skipped a vacation or any of the other things we could pay it off faster BUT the eventual turmoil from the deprivation of these things may have a greater deficit on our marriage and life. So in a nutshell our compromise has been that we both agree that paying off our debt and savings is a priority AND we can still live our life today but in CASH if we can not afford it (our bills-including debt come first) then we will not do it. Hugs..it is a process and everyones journey is different and you have to start with yourself. DH and I have had many, many, many "discussions" regarding money and in all honestly I do not think we will ever agree completely on how to handle our money but that is why I manage it
Shannen: That is so funny you suggest that book. (I love it and I have been keeping DD from reading it until I could have "the Talk" with her) Anyhow this morning I thought of starting a blog called " Are You There God? It's Me Margaret's Mom!"
**Edit** In fact I did start a blog on word press...okay start is relative since I just created the title but I think I will document this journey...

[dakota4600]

SES When I'm off work for a week, I forget about my built in resources. Our chef here worked in a bakery for years. His recommendation is to freeze after 1 rise, then thaw overnight in the fridge and let rise in a warm place for 2 hours, then bake. Which means that it isn't a quick process and requires planning. He didn't think the brown and serve way would give a good product in the end, but I may play with the first batch and freeze one set after the first rise, one after the 2nd and one set bake and freeze. Then we can decide which tastes best and decide if it will work for us.

[startsmart]

azmom- you reminded me of a story when a man was sitting on the train, reading his newspaper. Another man approached and asked about "a C-section" so this guy, who had two kids, gave all the details about birthing via C-Section. After a long pause the second man asked "may I have the sports section?"

[ses]

Dakota--Your chef is absolutely right. The brown and serve way creates a heavier bread, the ONLY advantage is a slight time advantage.

Go to the library and check out the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg. The idea is to make a big batch of dough about once a week, store it in the fridge and form and bake it daily. I tried it once, but it didn't work so well cooking for one. It might be just what your DH is looking for.

ETA-- the book gives a variety of flavors and styles of breads using this technique..

[redwagon]

Yup, definitely a spend day. Got subway for lunch and then got hair curl gel (my new haircut means my hair curls more, but one side needs a bit of help to hold all day) and toothpaste (got $1 coupon for walgreens so really only cost $1.18). I've been reading the Grocery Thread and it all seems a little intense. Who has time to monitor prices for all your house's staples?... we'll see how much I try to keep up with them. They just have more energy than I do when it comes to shopping, I think!

[shanendoah]

azmom: Send me the link, please.
blogging: For my blog roll, could all you ladies who have blogs post or send me the links? I have startsmart's and mrslynch's. That way I have a single place to look and keep up with you all off the board. And since there's a CS/NS blog somewhere too, I'd love the link to that.
In addition, I am now doing a weekly feature on my daily blog about the boards here. Every Friday I'll link to a conversation here or on YM that I find really interesting. Since I just started last week, last week's entry was on WIRR, and these week's entry is on this group. (Its only 100 words long, so it doesn't go in to depth.) I know its not much, but I'm trying to do my part to keep bringing new blood in.
To go along with that, I would like to link to the blogs of the ladies here (if it is ok with them) on my main blog.

[redwagon]

shanen - if you google dreaming of debt freedom you'll find my blog. I need to update more often though...

[redwagon]

Investing question for those knowledgeable. Blue has essentially handed reins to his 401ks to me. The one from his old job is around $4k and is in 9 different funds (!). That seems like way too many. His percentages break down to 23% in short-term reserves (which is cash, right? Which is way too much). 8% in bonds (shouldn't it be closer to 10?) and the rest in stocks. I'm thinking of making it more 10% cash, 10% bonds, and 80% stocks, with one-third of that in foreign investments. Thoughts?

His other, current plan is in a lifetime plan, which automatically adjusts, but since it's 62.5% in stocks, that doesn't seem aggressive enough. Advice welcome.

My own plan is needing rebalancing, with almost 90% in stocks (a third of that foreign), 8% bonds, and the rest in cash reserves. I also contribute 1% to another plan (I can't contribute to the one my company funds, for some reason) which is split between real estate and a mid-cap fund. I was up about 20% in 2010, and so far in 2011 I'm up 1%, so I was thinking of modeling blue's on mine, but with vanguard's funds as opposed to fidelity.

I appreciate any and all advice. Oh - his two plans are with vanguard so we didn't roll them together. Do you think we should? And should I do the same thing to both of them, or have each invested in something different?

[gldnluvly]

Where and how is R2B2?

[singlemomky]

Gldn - R2B2 was on vacation last week and lived it up w/the snow she received. She said that the snow on her patio was taller than she was. She is back to work this week and of course is majorly busy after being off. I do know that she said she was going to try re-connect soon and has the link/access to this site when she has the time.

So far I've not gotten off to such a good start this year w/spends 2 days and will probably spend tonight when I go to the UofL women's basketball game. I got tickets (5th row) from work but will most likely buy some munchies for Lil' Smokey while we are there.

[MittenKitten]

Controlled-nospend.blogspot.com is the addy

[Deleted]

I am here! I am shooting for 24 NS days. Hubby got a job! He will be driving for an auto parts company delivering parts. I t is starting at only three days a week but it beats no days a week.

[sheilaincali]

I honestly don't know why I even try anymore. I am going to go hide under the covers until spring. Got home and DH did that "I have good news and bad news" "good news is I will have plenty of time to paint the basement" "bad news is I got laid off and next Friday is my last day". Fan-freaking-tastic. I was somewhat prepared for the possibility of him getting laid off for the month of March. But one of the big projects cancelled and the guy that was senior to him was left with no work so he trumps DH and took his projects for the winter. So awesome. Remember that lovely budget I did in which we would have $1000 left a month? Yup that's out the window. UE will be "ONLY" about $200 a month less then COBRA. So that's great. Rather than a surplus I have a deficiet again.

Just once I would like for us to both be employed for 12 consecutive months. And that hasn't happened since 2007.

[shanendoah]

lumberlady: Congrats to your DH
sheila: Hugs to you and your DH

[mizbear]

I have a question to throw out to everybody- I usually stock up on all of my stuff that I can (vitamins, OTCs, toothbrushes, etc) at the beginning of the year when there are lots of coupons and sales. It means more spending the first 2 or 3 months, but I can put more away later because I don't have to buy much the rest of the year (I have awesome storage in my little apartment). I only have to purchase groceries and a few odds and ends. I even purchase things like pasta when they go on sale like that.
My mother- who is not a coupon clipper- or a budget maker- says that it doesn't make any sense to her- it makes perfect sense to me.
Any input?
Btw- no no spend days yet- but I have saved over $100 in coupons, store savings and B1G1F products that I am stdoing my beginning of the year stock on.