9 Days Left In My No Spend Month
The end of No Spend Month is rapidly approaching and I’m doing alright at living within my $160 budget for the month. The $150 I’d originally planned to follow looks like it won’t be possible, but who knows how these next 9 days will play out?
I currently have $20 left in my wallet. For the most part I’ve been very diligent about keeping my spending in check; I’ve turned down invitations to go out with friends, and I’ve been very aware of what I spend on food when I go grocery shopping.
Farmers markets have been a boon for me, as long as I get things that are in season prices are usually pretty reasonable. I’ve been eating a lot of bell peppers, potatoes, eggs, onions, and tomatoes. There’ve been some interesting combinations, and I’ve been cooking in bulk so that I have leftovers to last me through the week.
I’ve started buying store brand bagels at Target now, because a 6 pack is $1.50, rather than the $2.50 at the bagel shop. Since I can’t guarantee that I’ll get the buy one get one free deal each time, this seems to be much more reasonable.
My two biggest expenses have been going out for birthdays with friends. Two of my very good friends had gatherings for their birthdays, and I went to both. Normally I’d be thrilled with only spending $15-$20 on a night out, but now the $35 I spent between those two nights is almost 25% of my initial $150 budget!
In more general budgeting news I can’t begin to explain how satisfying it is to look at my account on Yodlee and see $0 of credit card debt. I haven’t needed my cards for anything, and while I expect to use them on my trip next month, I’m going to try to live my life without putting all of my expenses on credit cards. Now if I can knock out that student loan I’m going to be in fantastic financial shape.