pvp Low/No Spend September (and half of October) (:

[Darciana]

Hello Friends!

 

Starting a continuation of the No-Spend Summer the lovely @Sovalis put together. This one will also coincide with the current challenge which will last until October 14th. Feel free to join now or when the challenge officially starts on September 10th.

 

This challenge is for those who wish to have support reducing spending in whatever way you need in your life.

 

If you want to reduce you grocery bill, great!

If you want to limit mindless splurges, we're all here to support you!

If you're here to try to pay down debt, we'll cheer you on!

The possibilities are endless, so long as you're supportive to everyone here 🙂

 

I, personally, will be focused on limiting spending. I will be spending as little as possible on wants or mindless items that can wait. Any wants will be converted to loot and put on my loot list. Any extra money I have will be put towards debt.

 

I have a credit card I'd like to pay off by the end of the year so that will be my primary focus. Second, I'd like to focus on my no-interest account. I'm on track to pay it off by maintaining my current payment plan but I'd love to pay it off early and use that payment for something else.

 

[Darciana]

Tagging those who showed interest in the previous challenge to continue:

 

@Jarric

@Heidi

@Loveable_Bouncer

@Sepherina

[Heidi]

Here to continue the Financial Freedom Fight and support!

 

My goals are to continue making strides on credit card debt. The goal of a zero balance by the end of the year, and down to 25% of the total limit as soon as possible. It's at 32% right now and creating a drag on my credit rating.

 

Also, increasing my savings balance.

 

All this while tuition takes a major bite out of the budget means reining in mindless and convenience spending.

[Sepherina]

Here as well.  I have some credit card debit I want to pay down and tuition that we need to have saved for two minions college. I hope to do this by reigning in our grocery bill, cutting out how much we eat out and not spend money on things we really don’t need. 

[Loveable_Bouncer]

I am here. I am here to have a system with my Conscious Spending Plan. Last challenge I have become aware how much eating out on my own or other splurges add up. 
My hope is to have a system in place of money awareness. Knowing how much I need to work to breathe (I have an opportunity to stay out of the red right now with work hours on 2 jobs). While coming up with a system that I can maintain. 

 

Here for accountability, this week I will spend time seeing what I did in August for money. And see where my money is at so far with September bills. 

[Snarkyfishguts]

I love this idea, and am happy to join in this time. I really want to limit frivolous spending, and that means really limiting my online spending, and my chocolate spending.  My plan is to wait 24 hours before buying anything, and ask myself "Do I need this? Where will I put it? and Am I willing to clean this every week?" and if I don't need it or know where it will go, I'm not buying it. And I'm just going to stop buying chocolate. It's really cramping my weight loss goals and it's so pricey! I'll live without it and other sweets/junk food that is also super pricey and keeping me from my healthy goals. I'm going to keep track of how much I don't spend and put it in an excel spreadsheet and see how much I have saved up and put it in my savings for whatever emergency will inevitably come up later down the road  

 

[Rebel Pilot Gar]

Hello all. My partner and I just bought our first house. We will be both adapting to a new monthly budget and (since we previously rented from family and are leaving many basics behind with them) will have to buy some stuff to set up the new place. 
 

We  took advantage of some US Labor Day sales but now it’s time to buckle down and focus on necessities for a bit. Goal for this week is to narrow down a number for monthly spending - especially groceries - and finalize costs for any required contractor work (electric/plumbing mostly) for the new place vs what we estimated after home inspection results.

[Darciana]

11 hours ago, Rebel Pilot Gar said:

Hello all. My partner and I just bought our first house. We will be both adapting to a new monthly budget and (since we previously rented from family and are leaving many basics behind with them) will have to buy some stuff to set up the new place. 
 

We  took advantage of some US Labor Day sales but now it’s time to buckle down and focus on necessities for a bit. Goal for this week is to narrow down a number for monthly spending - especially groceries - and finalize costs for any required contractor work (electric/plumbing mostly) for the new place vs what we estimated after home inspection results.

Congrats on the new house! My partner and I bought in March of last year (our first as well). We are finally getting around to doing remodeling. We just finished the guest bathroom (it had an old-folks tub that was broken and leaked.  We put in a normal tub and shower, painted, etc. Still have some work, but it's together and functioning again as of yesterday). We are completely remodeling our bathroom here soon but needed a place to shower and such first, hah!

 

All that to say, it's a lot! As a recent first-time homebuyer who rented and needed to leave a lot behind like microwave, washer/dryer, dishwasher, fridge, etc I completely understand and glad you've found us! Also, great timing with the Labor Day sales, I hope you got the essentials to get you through until the next big sale of things you need

 

Here's to delightful new homes! 🍾

[Heidi]

11 hours ago, Snarkyfishguts said:

Where will I put it? and Am I willing to clean this every week?"

This!
I swear that living in fewer than 400 sq ft (with stuff for both me and my daughter!) has made all the difference in my spending habits. Even my daughter is all "but where will it live, though?" when we are out and get impulsive. 

 

What's really neat is that by carving out dedicated space (a dresser, or a bookcase) we know what does have room for more and what absolutely does not (any kitchen equipment, of any kind, even so much as a measuring cup -- we're packed to the gills on kitchen equipment!).

[Heidi]

11 hours ago, Rebel Pilot Gar said:

My partner and I just bought our first house.

Congratulations!

[Snarkyfishguts]

43 minutes ago, Heidi said:

What's really neat is that by carving out dedicated space (a dresser, or a bookcase) we know what does have room for more and what absolutely does not (any kitchen equipment, of any kind, even so much as a measuring cup -- we're packed to the gills on kitchen equipment!).

This is wise. I would like to have more intention in my spaces. The spaces that have purpose make me feel at home, and the ones that don't feel toothy and uncomfortable. 

[Darciana]

1 hour ago, Heidi said:

What's really neat is that by carving out dedicated space (a dresser, or a bookcase) we know what does have room for more and what absolutely does not (any kitchen equipment, of any kind, even so much as a measuring cup -- we're packed to the gills on kitchen equipment!).

I, too, need to think more like this. I've been working on reducing my space usage (certain areas feel incredibly cramped) and I think it'd really curb my silly spending if I had to think about it's living space.

[Heidi]

3 hours ago, Snarkyfishguts said:

This is wise. I would like to have more intention in my spaces. The spaces that have purpose make me feel at home, and the ones that don't feel toothy and uncomfortable. 

Toothy and uncomfortable is it exactly.

 

2 hours ago, Darciana said:

I, too, need to think more like this. I've been working on reducing my space usage (certain areas feel incredibly cramped) and I think it'd really curb my silly spending if I had to think about it's living space.

The first time I went through a major reorganization and downsizing/minimalism retooling, I literally took everything out of the house and only started moving things in that "worked" for me and for the space. One of the first things I did was get a finite number of hangers for my closet (I think it was 50 or whatever, but the number didn't matter as much as the limitation.) I could only hang one item on a hanger, and when they were full everything else had to go. I started making some Very Important Decisions about what clothes I kept, and quickly came to understand that 90% of what I owned rarely got any use (and this was before the pandemic, when we all converted to wearing our favorite two sweats outfits in rotation.) 

 

We don't own stuff.

It owns us.

❤️ 

[Darciana]

21 minutes ago, Heidi said:

Very Important Decisions about what clothes I kept, and quickly came to understand that 90% of what I owned rarely got any use (and this was before the pandemic, when we all converted to wearing our favorite two sweats outfits in rotation.) 

 

We don't own stuff.

It owns us.

❤️

I went through my closet recently. I have a few shirts I wanted to toss/donate but I kept as they're perfect to wear during our house remodel. I made that conscious decision to keep them so I wasn't ruining the good things that made it to the "keep" list. I did, however, limit the number of "okay to destroy" significantly. I also decided to put my work clothes (for when I travel to site) in the storage trunk I kept from school. I don't have a good place for the trunk, but with this remodel, I don't have space to hang the clothes, either so it'll have to do. I cannot toss them - Fire Resistant clothing is far too expensive to replace when 95% of those clothing items have never been worn. I also went through my workout clothes and tossed (donated) whatever didn't make me feel happy or good when wearing them. It was a tough thing to do, but it made room for the cozy sweaters/long sleeves loot I earned and feel happy about.

 

I suppose I should do something similar to what you did for my office space. It's getting quite cluttered.

[Heidi]

14 minutes ago, Darciana said:

I went through my closet recently. I have a few shirts I wanted to toss/donate but I kept as they're perfect to wear during our house remodel. I made that conscious decision to keep them so I wasn't ruining the good things that made it to the "keep" list. I did, however, limit the number of "okay to destroy" significantly. I also decided to put my work clothes (for when I travel to site) in the storage trunk I kept from school. I don't have a good place for the trunk, but with this remodel, I don't have space to hang the clothes, either so it'll have to do. I cannot toss them - Fire Resistant clothing is far too expensive to replace when 95% of those clothing items have never been worn. I also went through my workout clothes and tossed (donated) whatever didn't make me feel happy or good when wearing them. It was a tough thing to do, but it made room for the cozy sweaters/long sleeves loot I earned and feel happy about.

 

I suppose I should do something similar to what you did for my office space. It's getting quite cluttered.

Keeping the stuff in a trunk is wisdom. I also like the intentionality with which you approached the Remodeling Outfits -- this si going to be necessary! I hope you find one or two really amazing and cozy sweaters that give your just the right amount of soft warmth. I have a couple that are many years old, and were expensive at the time but have held up amazingly well.  You're doing so well!

Keep me posated on the desk clutter -- I always struggle with how very handy anything might be.  

[Sovalis]

Thanks for getting us up and running for this challenge, Darciana! 

 

I am back. My goals are general mindfulness and paying off the credit card. I am limiting my discretionary spending (particularly on coffee now that I work at a cafe), but trying to forward plan for some purchases (work shirts and another pair of jeans for work, mostly). Dave and I decided that we are not doing the West Fence before winter as we had our first night of frost last night and the ground might be too hard to work with when Dave gets home in October if this keeps up. I make a tiny bit of tip money at the cafe, so might start saving that towards a loot drop of some kind. 

[Darciana]

8 hours ago, Sovalis said:

Thanks for getting us up and running for this challenge, Darciana! 

 

I am back. My goals are general mindfulness and paying off the credit card. I am limiting my discretionary spending (particularly on coffee now that I work at a cafe), but trying to forward plan for some purchases (work shirts and another pair of jeans for work, mostly). Dave and I decided that we are not doing the West Fence before winter as we had our first night of frost last night and the ground might be too hard to work with when Dave gets home in October if this keeps up. I make a tiny bit of tip money at the cafe, so might start saving that towards a loot drop of some kind. 

Welcome back, dear Friend!

 

May your tips be ever bountiful!

[Darciana]

To start off zero week:

 

I get paid tomorrow and it's my first paycheck since Big Bills [mortgage, vehicle insurance, electricity and a few other smaller ones]. I realized I have some extra leftover despite my loot spending so I paid ahead on some other bills, including one loan and one credit card (yay for knocking down interest). Next paycheck includes a lot of small to medium bills but they add up quickly leaving me with very little buffer/extra room. Granted, I did err on the high side of grocery estimate (2 trips I have budgeted at $500 and I should, if the last few trips proves to be consistent, be under $375) and fuel costs but I'd rather not rely on those two high estimates alone. The other credit card I want to payoff comes out next paycheck and I'm waiting to put any extra in a lump with the minimum payment due to it taking so long to hit my bank balance (3-7 business days - it's easy to forget it's still pending after that long!). Plus, it's due at the end of the next pay cycle (2 days before next paycheck with no other bills between) so I may have even more excess from next paycheck to put towards it! The other card payments will hit my bank account by the end of the day since I did it with enough time before "closing". Plus, those are minimums anyway since all my excess is going to this other card. 

 

I moved the final "excess" over in the form of $150 to go towards groceries on Friday. I need to get to making a menu so I can make my shopping list. The less I have to put towards groceries from tomorrow's paycheck, the more goes towards debt paydown!

 

In addition, I reduced my phone bill by $15. It's not much, but every little bit counts and honestly, it has zero impact on me. I don't need unlimited hotspot, I don't even hit 2GB and the plan I moved to allows up to 3GB. I don't lose any unlimited calling/texting/data. The only difference is that I during times when the network is bogged down, I don't have priority and my data will be slower. Oh well. Not worried about that. The Man is maintaining his phone plan and that tier also maintains our Max subscription (the HBO streaming service).

 

We will be going to a concert on Saturday so I'll need to temper my spending at that. I've seen this band several times so there's no need to buy any kind of merch or items such as that. It will simply be food and drink. We'll be driving the hour-hour and a half home from the concert after so I won't be drinking much (maybe a drink at dinner and maybe one at the show itself early on, maybe only one all night to ensure I'm good to drive) but waters still add up at those types of events.

[Rebel Pilot Gar]

On 9/5/2023 at 8:48 AM, Darciana said:

Here's to delightful new homes! 🍾

On 9/5/2023 at 8:55 AM, Heidi said:

Congratulations!

Thank you!!!
 

22 hours ago, Heidi said:

One of the first things I did was get a finite number of hangers for my closet (I think it was 50 or whatever, but the number didn't matter as much as the limitation.) I could only hang one item on a hanger, and when they were full everything else had to go.

Oh I really love this idea, especially now that we are in process of moving and making decisions on what to keep.

 

[Jackdaw]

You put so much thought into it, you're a true saving pro! 

 

Have fun at the concert! What kind of music do you like?

[Rebel Pilot Gar]

7 hours ago, Darciana said:

We will be going to a concert on Saturday so I'll need to temper my spending at that. I've seen this band several times so there's no need to buy any kind of merch or items such as that. It will simply be food and drink. We'll be driving the hour-hour and a half home from the concert after so I won't be drinking much (maybe a drink at dinner and maybe one at the show itself early on, maybe only one all night to ensure I'm good to drive) but waters still add up at those types of events.

 

Enjoy your concert! Merch is sooo expensive.

 

I recently survived a concert of my favorite band without buying merch by telling myself that all the shirts were ugly and resisted buying long enough to just enjoy the music lol. But food and drinks (even water!) are still stupidly expensive. For saving on water it could be worth seeing if the venue lets you bring in an empty reusable water bottle that you can fill up at the tap for free. Some of the ones I've been to have started doing that. (But it also depends on if you are concerned about the cleanliness / hygiene of the drinking water fountains. Sometimes it's just worth the overpriced plastic water bottle....)

[Darciana]

16 hours ago, XBlackWidowX said:

You put so much thought into it, you're a true saving pro! 

 

Have fun at the concert! What kind of music do you like?

All kinds. This is southern rock. Austin Meade. He's growing in popularity, but still a niche group. Super sweet guy, talked to him a few times. He and his wife just had their first baby a few weeks ago and he brought them with to the venue already so maybe we'll even catch a glimpse. It's super exciting to see his social media being filled with him doting on those two ladies in his life. I love down to earth artists like him and his music is good, too.

13 hours ago, Rebel Pilot Gar said:

 

Enjoy your concert! Merch is sooo expensive.

 

I recently survived a concert of my favorite band without buying merch by telling myself that all the shirts were ugly and resisted buying long enough to just enjoy the music lol. But food and drinks (even water!) are still stupidly expensive. For saving on water it could be worth seeing if the venue lets you bring in an empty reusable water bottle that you can fill up at the tap for free. Some of the ones I've been to have started doing that. (But it also depends on if you are concerned about the cleanliness / hygiene of the drinking water fountains. Sometimes it's just worth the overpriced plastic water bottle....)

I have a bunch of merch from this guy already (including signed stuff) so really there's absolutely no need. The only thing I'd be remotely interested in would be shirts and I just cleaned out my closet - no need to refill it except with the pre-planned long sleeves/sweaters.

I'm not sure on tap, I've never been there before for a concert (I've been to it, but only the beer garden was open outdoors during covid lockdowns and I was only passing through). It's the oldest continuously operated dance hall in Texas and not much has changed since being built in 1878. No clue on if the water is safe or not so I may not risk it and suffer the cost of buying water.

 

[Rebel Pilot Gar]

Fair, clean drinking water and not getting sick is important. Enjoy the concert! I’ll have to check his stuff out. I’m a big rock/metal person and my partner is more rock/pop/country so he might be a good combination of our tastes. 

[Snarkyfishguts]

On 9/6/2023 at 11:29 AM, Darciana said:

We will be going to a concert on Saturday so I'll need to temper my spending at that

Ooh have fun!!

[Heidi]

Weekly spending was very limited -- I didn't need groceries this week. I have a vegetable and egg subscription at a local farm, and a subscription with a local dairy, so those things arrive once a week, and I make my bread, so that's also not a grocery store need. 

 

I bought a Kindle book, and also took a leap and signed up for a payment plan for some future travel. Very exciting, but all the more reason to stay strictly low-spend on other fronts and get the cards paid off as soon as possible.