Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Want to up your frugal game? Join one of our challenges.
floridacatlover
Posts: 8058
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 7:21 am

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by floridacatlover »

Janet, those are amazing grocery prices. I know that Illinois has low-priced milk (from what CG has said in the past) but .57 is something. I’ve been buying soy milk so I’m not sure of the price here of regular milk but I think it is at least $2.49/half gallon. And the bananas, even Aldi here charges .33-.39/pound and they are .69/pound in the regular grocery store.

I may look into trying Walmart for groceries at least for a few times. I believe they offer $10 off for the first order. I know LittleMiss has said she enjoyed the pick-up service at Walmart.

For now I’ve switched my Bing rewards to Starbucks since I meet my friend there one or twice a month and what I order (hot or iced tea) is usually $2.65 which is pricy for tea. But since it’s a social outing and we sit and chat I don’t mind paying it.
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

floridacatlover wrote: Thu Dec 20, 2018 8:35 pm Janet, those are amazing grocery prices. I know that Illinois has low-priced milk (from what CG has said in the past) but .57 is something. I’ve been buying soy milk so I’m not sure of the price here of regular milk but I think it is at least $2.49/half gallon. And the bananas, even Aldi here charges .33-.39/pound and they are .69/pound in the regular grocery store.

I may look into trying Walmart for groceries at least for a few times. I believe they offer $10 off for the first order. I know LittleMiss has said she enjoyed the pick-up service at Walmart.

For now I’ve switched my Bing rewards to Starbucks since I meet my friend there one or twice a month and what I order (hot or iced tea) is usually $2.65 which is pricy for tea. But since it’s a social outing and we sit and chat I don’t mind paying it.
I think one of our local chain stores sells a half gal of milk for .84 cents but it is just an enticement for people to come in to the store. The rest of their products are really high compared to Aldi's. Ruler, and Save-a-Lot. The fact is you have to go all the way to the back of the store to pick up the milk and I am sure they are betting on you picking up some of their other foods along the way.

I use to avoid Walmart. I felt like they were causing a lot of smaller local stores to go out of business and of course they have gone out of business. I am in frugal mode right now and unfortunately Walmart and Ruler offer me a lot more for my money. I am trying to support Ruler since they are a new store in our area and it is the one closest to my home. They offer gluten free, organic produce, and canned products at a reasonable price. Walmart I shop there due to being able to get the gift cards for them from My Points as well as BING.

Enjoy your free Starbucks and social time with your friend. I wish I could find someone locally to do that with me here. Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Good morning. It is 25 F with a wind chill of 15 F but suppose to warm up in to the 50's. I hope it will stay sunny and warm for a few days to give my furnace some down time. Right now I am using the furnace for the whole house due to the holiday season but after New Years Day I will start camping out more in my bedroom and using the room space heater in there.

I am working on paperwork and getting ready for the new year. I have a program on my computer where I can write a budget and then enter my expenses. When you sign in you can see at a glance how much you have spent in each category and how much you have left to spend. The program came free years ago with a different computer. I do keep some backup on paper since in the past my computers have died and could not be repaired and information was lost.

Yesterday I baked Italian sausage, 5 links, ( 2.49) and ate half of one for lunch. Today I will use a whole sausage and the half to make a stir fry of cabbage, onion, and green pepper. I cut the sausage in to small dice and mix it in and it will add flavor and will be very frugal. The cost of the meat comes to around .75 cents. The remainder of the ingredients I do not have a price but the the whole thing will probably come to about 1.25 and will feed me for about 2 or 3 meals depending on how much cabbage and veggies I add. Yesterday I threw 3 very meaty chicken thighs in my crock pot and will use them to make chicken and dumplings for dinner tomorrow night. The thighs were .49 cent a lb. I wish I had figured out the cost of each thigh before I repackaged them but the cost is very low. I bought 10 lbs. The dumplings will use 2 eggs (.79 cent a doz) and the butter is free from my aide. She borrowed butter (two sticks) but insisted I take a whole pound in return. The flour is also very inexpensive. Hard to factor everything. However another frugal meal. I am hoping to cut expenses to the bone in 2019 since despite getting a raise from Soc Security I will have a decrease in my income. My income this year was 38.00 per month more and this now disqualifies me from having assistance from the state paying my Medicare B premium. So I will be getting about $81.00 less per month next year compared to this year.

I am starting to stockpile my quinine for the tremors from my ALS. It is not recognized as a treatment for ALS. In fact there is no treatment for ALS. However my ALS is inherited and years ago the a Dr recommended quinine for the tremors for the first person in our family that was diagnosed and it helps. In the US qualaquin cost $7.00 a pill and my insurance will not pay for it unless I have malaria. That is a direct quote from my insurance company. So I have to buy my medicine in the UK. I pay around $76.00 for 84 pills. That includes free shipping from the UK and it has to go through customs. My Dr writes the order and it is faxed to a pharmacy in the UK. With Brexit fast approaching my friends in the UK are having concerns about their food and medicine and are attempting to stockpile what they can while they can. So I am too. The current RX does have a long shelf life in to 2020 so that should get me over the hump. However coming up with that much extra cash the first part of the year, and with a pay cut it, will be interesting to see how well I can manage things. Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by Dgflorida »

Now that CBD is legal in the US, could you use that for tremors?
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Dgflorida wrote: Sat Dec 22, 2018 11:53 am Now that CBD is legal in the US, could you use that for tremors?
No thank you..Not sure I would want to use it and not sure if it would help. Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Good morning. I have been working on organizing things. I can hardly wait to set up my 2019 budget on my computer program. I have to wait until Jan 1, 2019. I have spent quite a few hours the last several days trying to bring everything up to balance correctly. So far my savings account is ok.. However I have less than 100.00 in it so not a problem to accomplish.lol. The cash balance is off by $20.58. I know I must have left something out way back since I have checked all receipts recently and entered them. Come Jan 1st I will start a new balance and go with that. Any funds left at the end of the year will go in to my slush fund. So far my checking account is ok.

The coming year I have a lot of things that need to be done that are not wants so there will be spending but the challenge is in regard to spending for things that are wants and not needs. Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
Post Reply