Saturday, January 21, 2012

NO/LOW Spend January - Week Three

This week I only managed 2/7 No Spend Days. But I don't think I did any frivolous spending - you can give me your opinion as always.  This has been and will continue to be a quiet weekend. Both Michael and I have been diagnosed with the detestable "gucky throat" syndrome which is accompanied by the ever present "dry hack" or "wheeze" depending on your point of view.  Thus we are staying put and resting our weary bods. Well, at least I am. Michael is working today unfortunately but did take a day off yesterday. Last night we decided to give Netflix a try...well, at least we're giving their "free month" a try and we'll decide after that. I'm keeping close tabs on our "internet usage" and the movie we watched last night used just under half a gig. We get 60 gigs a month with our current package and I want to make sure we don't go over or we'll have to pay so much per extra gig.


Without further ado let's get to this week's spending. You'll not likely remember but last Saturday I had $20 in my wallet and $155 in the bank which included $50 car insurance $$ from Kazi. Not a lot at that point with 17 days left of January and now I have a lot LESS!!


  • Sunday, Jan. 15:  We went to Starbucks/Chapters (my downfall) and I spent $11.38 for a card and a small gift for Michael - did I need to buy him anything more? No, but I saw a really cute metal case with a small notepad (yup, fell for another notepad but not for me this time!!) that locked when you slid the cutest little pen through the closing apparatus. I also had a coffee but used my gift card. I put the change into my sealed post when I got home ($3.62) So I was left with $5.00!  Then Kazi gave me her insurance money in cash so I added that to my wallet giving me $55.00 and I immediately turned around and stuffed the $5.00 into my sealed pot.  If I run out of money before the end of the month it'll be because I LOVE stuffing money into my sealed pot!! Money in my wallet now - $50.00
  • Monday, Jan. 16:   NO SPEND - Hallelujah!!
  • Tuesday, Jan. 17:   took Michael to Chaucer's pub for a glass of wine followed by a specialty coffee which cost me $30.00 including tip - YIKES!!  But yes, as you all know...he's so worth it!! So now I have only $20.00 in my wallet.
  • Wednesday, Jan. 18: Good grief it's date night!! We met on the 18th day of April so every month on the 18th we do something for date night. So I picked Michael up after work and we went to Coffee Culture before going to see a movie (Contraband - really really good!) At Coffee Culture I had a soup and a coffee for $6.00 including tip.  The movie was $9.00 leaving me with $5.00 which I tucked into my sealed pot when I got home - see what I mean??? In my wallet now?? Nada! Nothing! Zippo!
  • Thursday, Jan. 19:   NO SPEND!! Well of course - I had nothing in my wallet!
  • Friday, Jan. 20: withdrew $40.00 on my way to work so I could get a coffee - my Friday treat for $1.80.  After work I spent $11.41 at No Frills on a few items we needed - not only did I stick to my short list but I decided a few things could wait! Then I spent $13.03 on quinoa at the Bulk Barn - why is that stuff so damn expensive?? Well, it was 20% off so I bought more than usual. I used my debit for both of these purchases, not cash.  When I got home I put my change into the sealed pot. After I ate I drove back to No Frills because I had promised Michael some gingerale for his poor throat and tummy and I had forgot the first time. I paid cash and put my change into the sealed pot leaving me with $30.00 cash from my original $40.00.
  • Saturday, Jan. 21: drove Michael to work and bought my coffee and newspaper for my usual Saturday morning routine. I live for my Saturday mornings! Cost - $4.80.  Because I like to live on the edge I tucked $5.20 into my sealed pot! I now have $20.00 left in my wallet.

As of today, including food and gas money I have $136.00 left in my chequing account plus $20.00 in my wallet to get me through the next 10 days. That seems a bit challenging in my estimation (gulp) but I am super motivated. I also have another $300+ in my account that I've set aside (in my mind) to pay for the "pipe" bill next month related to The Flood and replacement of my hot water tank. So if I had to I could dip into that but my intent is to forget it's even there and live on the $156.  The car needs gas but it's Kazi's turn to put some in so that will help. We'll just have a low key week and keep plugging away. I'm not going to add any cash to my wallet - I can easily make it through with just my $20 (no birthdays or other unusual expenses on the horizon) and use the $136 in my account for groceries if we need any. We pretty well stocked right now but I'm sure we'll need milk and lettuce at least. 


So that's my highly detailed spending for the week. I feel really good about the results - we had fun, we celebrated but all within reason. I love keeping track of my daily spending - it really helps me be more mindful of what I'm buying or not buying as I seem to pick up a lot of stuff but almost always put it back on the shelf. I'm very clear in my mind what we need and don't need and right now I can't think of a darn thing we need!

Upcoming posts: a response to one of Judy's posts, A Room of my Own, February's Budget, Clean Eating

Hope your week of No/Low Spending was successful.....was it??

11 comments:

  1. Jane, I would love if you could tell us how the Netflix works out for you. Jody has been bugging me to get it but when I've looked at them I haven't been impressed with their movie selection (currently I use Zip, via post which is slow but has fantastic selection). Had not even considered how much internet use it would take so that will be another consideration for me.

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  2. Geez... Your sealed pot is going to get obese!! ;) You're doing great & have tempted me to dump all my change into my sealed pot even though it will bring our balance down quite a bit!! Eek!

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  3. Your *sealed pot* was the inspiration for mine! Sounds like a fantastic week, LOVE your Saturday morning routine...sounds like my Sunday mornings! Only I make my coffee at home and watch taped shows...

    It looks like we'll both have 'not so much' to spend this week...we.can.do.it!

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  4. You are the sealed pot queen. You could be the pot queen but you would get less done. With the new meds I am the pot queen but we won't go there.........flush

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  5. Marguerite - I'll keep you updated...the price is right at 7.99 per month but whether there will be enough selection remains to be seen.
    Carla - I admit I am being a little reckless with my Sealed Pot but it does make me more careful with spending as I have less to spend!
    Sharon - yes, I wondered about that as your pot did remind me of my own though I think you did a neater job!
    Kim - ROTFL!!! Why do I have the giggles and the sudden craving for a snack??

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  6. Hope you both feel better soon! You ladies and your pot savings crack me up!! We also save any lose change at the end of the day in jars to donate the week of Christmas to a local charity. Picked up the idea from the book "A Christmas Jar" Figure we saved up around $600.00 in just change. Your pot saving should give you a great treat!!

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  7. Oh, Jane, I've just read out your post to Mr Sft and we giggled all the way through about you adding to the SEALED POT! You go girl! I am announcing you the Queen of the Sealed Pot for sure.

    I know exactly what you mean about being mindful about spending, it feels great to be in control.

    Hope you and Michael feel better soon, that's so sad that you're poorly.

    Looking forward to the up and coming posts.

    Big Hugs

    Sft x

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  8. Jane at the rate you're going you'll need 3 of those sealed pots to handle ALL that money you're putting into it! WOW, impressive. can you believe I've not going yet ???

    You had a great week... you're the best example of doing great things on the cheap. You find ways to keep your spending to a minimum while still living a great life :-)

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  9. sounds like a great week (other than getting sick that is!) I took Judy's advice and put a piggy bank by the washing machine - heck I already had over $1 on the laundry shelf and the hall bath is upstairs as well and I had more change there that went into Snoopy! now to clean the change out of the car! my spending has been a bit off :-( but overall not too bad
    still waiting for the vision board posts LOL! I started going through old mags for pics and words for mine...
    susanna

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  10. @Debbie - if I have $600 by Christmas I'll be thrilled!! Not 100% sure what I'll do with it yet!
    @sft - Kim also suggested that I am the sealed pot queen - I think it's a game I'm playing with myself - how much can I put in and still stay withing budget:) I have so many ideas of what to do with the money in December - I don't want to commit myself yet!
    @ Canadian Saver - that is the intent - enjoy life to the fullest while spending very little. It helps to focus me on what really is important in life - and it's not THE STUFF!!
    @ Susanna - I've done my post of my vision board and soon Michael will do a guest post with his. It was his idea so I'll tell him to explain how he came up with the idea originally. So glad you're going to do one of your own:)

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  11. yep I saw yours and am waiting for michael's - get him better so he can write his post! looking forward to doing mine!

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