What We Spent
We are just finishing up week #3 of No Spend Month. This week we spent $98.08 on groceries and $33.20 on our box of produce from our CSA. Dining out cost us $6.94. We also bought $34.97 worth of gas. We spent $124 on annual fees. Â That’s a total of 297.19. At the end of week #3 we’ve used 76 percent of our budget for the month.
How We Spent $11 on Groceries
A lot of you commented on our tiny $11 spent on groceries last week and wanted to know how we pulled that off. Well the answer is pretty simple, and it wasn’t even very intentional. I was just too dang tired to go to the store, so I just asked DH to pick up the bare essentials.
For the rest of the week we ate from the freezer and the pantry. I think we actually could have continued to do this for another week if we really wanted. You’ll see from our spending this week that I went ahead and stocked up again.
So the trick is, if you don’t go to the store, you can’t spend any money. This week we made two shopping trips and probably spent a little more than we needed.
On Paying Annual Fees
You will also see we spent quite a bit on annual fees this month. One of those was our Costco membership. I go back and forth on whether I think this is a justifiable expense. Do these type of discount stores save money or just encourage us to waste it?
Last year at this time I did a little analysis and realized that we do manage to save money even with the $55 membership each year. When we’re doing well, we go in with a list and come out with only real foods that we need. The rest of the time, we definitely end up buying extras.
The other was a dreaded credit card fee. We should have canceled the card ahead of time. Lesson learned, I hope!
Frugal Living Link Up
Bloggers, link up your frugal living posts below!
We get 1% cash back on our Costco membership that basically pays for our membership and the savings, especially on organic foods and responsibly sourced chocolate chips is gravy. We do have to be responsible and buy only what we really need and will consume before it goes bad. Here is Alicia’s recipe for 3 Ingredient Chocolate Fudge using the Kirkland Chocolate Chips: http://www.greenlifestylechanges.com/3-ingredient-chocolate-fudge-with-responsibly-sourced-chocolate/
Is the 1% back only on the business membership? That would be great! Oh the fudge sounds great! If only I hadn’t recently given up sugar!!
I really admire your challenge for the no spend month! Can’t wait to see the results when the month wraps up, it sounds like you are doing great!
I still want a costco membership – but I’d share it with my SIL probably!
What a challenge you’re taking on! I know we try not to spend money on anything we don’t have to and we’re making the steps needed to reach that goal.
This is a great challenge! I love that you ate out of your freezer last week and just shopped for the bare essentials. I need to try this more often!
I was just thinking, what if I made it a goal to this once a month? I bet that would really reduce my grocery budget.
$11 at the grocery store? Wow! I need to take your advice more often.