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No Spend Month Around the Corner

January 30th, 2016 at 07:08 pm

Our no spend month is around the corner. I did use some funds in January to stock up on toilet paper and a few other toiletries. And there was that ground beef on sale at the commissary. I've also been freezing extra portions of food.

My husband did get paid yesterday. I have paid all the current outstanding credit card balances. Only a few pending charges that cannot be paid until they post. I did budget the paycheck for February, specifically the first half since he will get paid again mid month.

I have to pay rent, water, electric, allowances, flute lessons, and trash at the beginning of the month. I have set aside $495 until the next pay day on February 15 for groceries, fuel, personal care, and a few other expenses. I did put a little money in clothing and some in spending. I really hope to keep them no spend, but I decided to put a little in to cover a need that could come up.

I set aside $1095 in several different savings categories for the month. Over half went to cover two airline tickets for mother in law and niece. They have not been purchased yet. But now the money is available! And in addition to saving for that I added money to our emergency fund, car maintenance, and home furnishings.

The cool thing is as I was writing this post, my daughter said a teacher was requesting donations for a science experiment. One item was Oreo cookies; another was plastic utensils. I picked the utensils since I have a significant amount of those on hand and that donation will cost me $0 out of pocket! Smile

Who else is about to start a No Spend February?

Posted in Spending, Saving, Vacation, Budget | 7 Comments »

7 Responses to “No Spend Month Around the Corner”

  1. MonkeyMama Says:
    January 30th, 2016 at 08:08 pm 1454184489
    1454184489

    I really had *no idea* that it's a common thing that you can't pay more than balance due on credit cards. It came up recently with another blogger. For the past 15+ years I have been pushing all my credit card payments from my bank (online bill pay). I always pay more than the balance due (round up) and often pre-pay bigger purchases. Just something to consider if you ever want to pay a pending charge.

    I don't get paid until next week, but am in the habit of just zeroing the credit cards out the first of every month. I started doing this because I have too many credit cards. It just is a lot more simple. Rather than waiting for bills and tracking due dates. Easier to just start the month fresh.

  2. creditcardfree Says:
    January 30th, 2016 at 09:16 pm 1454188561
    1454188561

    Yes, I pay online with each individual credit card, so yes only items that have posted are available for payment. I just pay the balance that has posted twice a month. Never really track due dates either since I'm paying in full every 15 days. And since we use YNAB now, I know the money is already allocated to the card we have a charge on.

  3. rob62521 Says:
    January 30th, 2016 at 10:33 pm 1454193214
    1454193214

    I didn't realize you couldn't pay ahead either on CC.

  4. alice4now Says:
    January 30th, 2016 at 10:53 pm 1454194431
    1454194431

    I am doing the no/low spend month Smile

  5. CB in the City Says:
    January 31st, 2016 at 12:19 pm 1454242744
    1454242744

    I'm going to try for a low-spend month in February, though a week of it will be spent in Florida, so I don't know how that will play out!

  6. Amber Says:
    January 31st, 2016 at 03:41 pm 1454254892
    1454254892

    Look like you're off to a great start. I'll attempt to have a few no spend days in February as well.

  7. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    February 1st, 2016 at 04:37 am 1454301435
    1454301435

    I'm probably going to start paying my credit cards 2x a month to help with credit score and credit utilization. Otherwise I just have them set up to withdraw the balance due on the due date automatically. I don't have to wonder if I have enough for it, since YNAB makes sure I do. Smile

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