We’re getting serious about casual spending this month. For more details about our debt busting plan check here.
Week 2 by the Numbers
Groceries:
- Week 2: $132.36
- Total for March: $232.37
Meh. Decent week here and I used a few things up from the freezer (wild Atlantic salmon – yum!). I was aiming for another $100 week but went over when I restocked my contact lens solution and a few other toiletries.
Casual Spending:
- Rachel – Week 2: $20.50
- Rachel – Total for March: $24.53
I left the house with good intentions and packed snacks for a visit with my mother-in-law. Then… we were gone a few hours longer than expected and I ended up grabbing a bite at Tim Horton’s.
Otherwise my spending of my burn $ was planned and worth it. Chris and I tried out one of the new food carts – Serious Sausage huge thumbs up! – and I had my favourite hot and sour soup at Tokos (big portions and I got another lunch out of it).
Coffee shops: haven’t been in them in the last week. Nor have I visited the library. For logistical reasons I have been working at home on Henry’s daycare days. I’ve also discovered a little trick for myself to creating a focused work environment: I move furniture. I cleared off the dining room table, removed three of the four chairs, pushed the table against a wall, and worked at my “desk”. Took a few minutes but was well worth it.
Chris has dropped out of the challenge. No, not because I whupped his butt last week. He is traveling a lot this month and well, when you are driving through Idaho and Washington for five days and then capping it off with a 72 hour trip to Western Europe (four flight segments there, three flight segments back) it’s pretty much impossible to stick to an at home “mad money” budget. I know he’ll make good choices and won’t be blowing $100 on a steak dinner. Are you reading this, dear? No Ruth Chris Steakhouse.
Transportation:
- Week 2:$55
- Total for March: $55
We had a few Skytrain trips to see family (yeah!) and spent $35 total on fares. I’ve been torn about investing in tickets as you save a bit of cash that way. Our trips have been sporadic so I haven’t thought it worthwhile.
Katy drove us to a family event and helped out with transportation to the Swap Meet. She’s driving a gas guzzler so I gave her $20 for fuel and towards some parking she paid for.
Procrastination pays: I was supposed to borrow my mother’s car for the three weeks she was in Japan. As we rent our parking space out I contacted someone in the building that had a free spot. They wanted $60 for 3 weeks. I thought about it for a few days and was going to call them back and pay for it the morning I got the car. Then the earthquake happened in Japan and my mom’s trip was canceled. So no car for me but my procrastination on buying a parking spot paid off.
Miscellaneous:
- Week 2: $5.99
- Total for March: $66.29
Spent $5.99 on iTunes renting Easy A when Katy was over. Fun non-thinking movie and just what I needed that night.
Income:
- Week 2: $261
- Total for March: $349.88
Great week for income. I bought a table at a local Swap Meet (cost: $19) and put an ad on Craigslist with a list of what I was selling there. I had a woman come by the day before and buy $105 worth of items from me and then I made $175 at the Swap Meet. The table cost has been factored into my earnings.
And yes, I am rethinking Swap Meets.
Goals for Week 3: Grocery bill. Chris is gone for over a week . I want to be under $80 for week 3.
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I am a mother, wife and writer from Vancouver, Canada, currently living in the 
Fantastic!
Thanks, Michelle =)
Great job! We are on a spending diet too!
http://www.LobotoMEblog.blogspot.com
Just checked out your spending diet – nice work!
So impressed with those grocery bills – just checked mine and we are at double (eek!) that for the month so far. And that is with me trying to be conscious about spending! Hmmm, maybe I should try eating out of the cupboards for the next two weeks. Way to go on the swap meet sales, my friend made it to the swap meet too and she was so please to get rid of a ton of stuff too – she had her five year old running “the shop” so they had lots of fun too. I have one question for you though – we’ve been entertaining a lot this month (lots of out of town company and friends coming over, which has also contributed to the exorbitant grocery bill), so we’ve been spending a lot on alcohol. How does one get around that?
Henry is still a light eater so that helps.
Swap meet: it was actually quite slow but I was selling some bigger ticket/name brand items. The pro swap meet-ers did not have the same luck. Felt bad for them. One woman barely made her table costs back.
Booze: cocktails? Chris has a vodka cocktail in the evenings and it is so much cheaper than beer or wine. Our other trick is that Chris picks up wine when he is in states for work. They have $10 bottles at duty-free that are $16-$18 in stores here.
If you’re entertaining there aren’t a lot of ways to cut down on the $. If people ask about what to bring suggest wine or beer instead of salad/appy/dessert. You can make food for a lot less than the cost of a bottle of wine.
Great job! I think it’s amazing how open and honest you are about your spending. Do you have a goal or date in mind when you want to be completely debt free?
I would like to be debt-free by February of 2012. The reason we don’t have a set end date is that my husband is self-employed so his income fluctuates.
Thanks for the kudos. It’s been hard work but it feels really good. Had a lot of fun putting out Debt Snowball ticker on the blog here.
Hi! I’ve been following your blog these last few weeks and am grateful to find some others that are actively trying to live with less!
I too, am a new(ish) mother (my son will turn 1 year in less than a week!) and am constantly looking for ways to pare down our possessions and live with less.
I was reading this article and thought it might be of interest to you… I have been trying to keep our grocery bill down (more fruits and veggies, making a meat-free meal twice a week) but have honestly never thought to use coupons. Might be trying it next time we go grocery shopping!
http://www2.macleans.ca/2011/03/16/how-to-get-groceries-for-almost-free/
Thanks, Stephanie. I read the Macleans article and it was interesting but what I really liked were the comments. Did you read them? Most of them were trashing Macleans/the writer for writing about couponing in the US. Canada doesn’t have the same availability of coupons but a lot of comments said to check out smartcanucks.ca for Canada specific deals/coupons. Going to check that out myself. Thanks!
$80 bucks for groceries for just you and your son?
Easy-peasy. You got that easily.
My husband and I (with no children as of yet)spend a total of $200 a month on groceries, if not less. And minimal eat-outs (as we live in a town overrun in chain restaraunts).
I’ve only been reading your blog for a few weeks now, but I know you can rock your goals! (For groceries or otherwise.)
Spent $75 and I should be stocked for the week (plus a few extra items in the freezer for next week).
I know $80/week for mom and toddler can seem like a lot but food is really expensive here. 2 litres of milk is over $3+ and apples on sale are .99/pound.
That said I am making some cheap cheap meals and it is really stretching the dollars. Pancakes, with apple and strawberry sauce plus yogurt, for dinner anyone?
Thanks for the encouragement, Serena.
Hello – I just found your blog via Mothering, and wanted to comment. Some great articles and awesome inspiration. We moved to a bigger home in the burbs last summer. With a 3rd baby on the way this summer we’ve decided to make some drastic changes to reduce the amount of ‘stuff’ we have and trying to simplify. We’re in a bit of a different position, my husband is at home with our 2 girls, and I work, and although he hates the clutter and is ready for a change, he isn’t quite as willing to purge as I am… so I’m trying to be slow and steady, which is not normally in my nature. kudos to you both – look forward to reading more!