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??

Sunday Night Chit Chat...Chit Chat January 8, 2012 Edition

Sunday Night chit chat is back!! Be sure to head over to check out the Chief of Chit Chat - the one and only Carla! Oh, and Carla? Thanks for the handy dandy template!!

My PEI homestead - I really really miss you!

What are you…  

Reading?  

Ha! Funnily enough I'm reading the book Carla loaned me and she's reading the book I passed on to her last week!

This book is a quick and absorbing read - I like the fact that she (like so many of us) learned about personal finance the hard way and developed a series of rules that enabled her to pay back over $100,000 of personal debt and get back on track with her life and future goals.  I'll tell you more about it when I'm finished.

Watching? 

 We started watching this last night but I couldn't stay awake - so I'll finish it tonight...maybe:)

Listening to?  

I'm listening to the ocean with a Toskana overlay which seems to be a few different jungle-type birds chirping - very relaxing indeed! I'm quite taken with this free app!

Cooking/Baking?

Nothing today but yesterday I made up a big batch of chili made with ground chicken so my daughter will eat it (she doesn't eat red meat) plus a big pot of vegetable soup to have for my lunch this week at school. I also cooked some salmon for myself as I'm...ahem...eating fish as part of my attempt to lose 10 pounds.  

Happy you accomplished this week?  

SOOOOOOOOO friggin' happy to have cleaned up the basement after The Flood!

The dastardly hot water tank!

Also happy that the Christmas decorations are put away except for the bare tree which I really hope will have disappeared by the time I get home tomorrow...right honey?

Looking forward to next week?  

I am looking forward to getting back in routine, believe it or not! 

Thankful for today?  

Today I am thankful that Michael and I got to go for a walk in Springbank Park and have a good heart to heart chat and watch the sun setting over the Thames River.  I'm thankful that my partner is also my best friend:)

Sunset behind our house in PEI

Good night all! Hope you had a peaceful and relaxing Sunday!

NO/LOW Spend January - Week One

Well, I'm not buying MUCH! Thanks Carla for inspiring us to keep our spending very very low as you can go during the month of January. After all the carefree spending I did in December it is definitely time to put a tourniquet on the free flow of money exiting my accounts!


One week of January has passed and it's time to assess just how little spending I did.


So here goes.  On January 1st I withdrew $100 from my account plus I had $10 left in my wallet from last month so I started the first week with $110.00 for misc spending.  I spent the following:

• $15.00 for firewood while winter camping (Jan. 2)
• $3.60 for a coffee and a muffin at Coffee Culture on the way home from the Pinery after winter camping (Jan. 3)
• $1.80 for a coffee at Tim Hortons (Jan. 5) 
• $6.34 for Globe and Mail and the National Post (Jan. 7) 
• $13.26 for my Sealed Pot  (oooh I like THAT one!) 

Total money spent during Week One - $26.74 plus $13.26 into my Sealed Pot!!

Not bad, not bad at all!

Money remaining in my wallet - an even $70.00!!  I am issuing myself another challenge - I'm going to make that $70.00 last the rest of the month!! I won't be buying any snacks that's for sure (see The 10 Pound Challenge!)

Other Spending:

$211.88 for Steam Canada re The Flood - instead of taking this amount out of the Emergency Fund I am going to take it out of my Misc spending which means things will be much tighter than usual this month - hence wanting to make that $70 in my wallet last for the rest of the month. 

The $301.07 that I have to pay for the up-to-code "pipe" for the new hot water tank won't be coming off until February's Reliance bill so deferred for now.

Gas - budgeted til the 15th $100.00; spent so far $0.00 (my awesome family has been helping to pay for gas!!)

Groceries - budgeted til the 15th $200.00; spent so far $168.34 leaving $31.66 in the food budget. I just did my first grocery shopping of January 2012 yesterday and a bit more today. I foresee spending more for milk, bread and salad possibly before the 15th rolls around and another $200 is added to the food budget. Doing great!

Other expenses: condo fee ($208.00); Line of Credit interest and payment ($602.76); various savings accounts ($750.00)

I'm happy with how the month is going so far. My heating bill came via email and is only $59.00 - last year it was $91.14 for the same period!! That just shows you how warm it has been this year! Right now I have the back door open a crack, the front door is open a bit and windows in the basement are open and it's freakin' January the 7th!! What little snow we had when this picture was taken is GONZO! (That's the lovely Carla, daughters Mya and Maria and me just 3 days ago!) 

Above and beyond the $70.00 in my wallet I have $315.00 left in Misc spending. Maybe, just maybe if I can hang onto that money I can use it to pay for the "PIPE"!! 

Hope that's not just a pipe dream hee hee, couldn't resist!

How is YOUR NO/LOW Spend January going so far?