Fast Track Saving Challenge Week 1 Update
Did you complete the Fast Track Saving Challenge Assignment 1 yet?
Spending Update:
So after I decided that I would do my best to avoid fast food drive-throughs I caved and bought ice cream cones for the kids while we were out. That cost me $8.00. 🙁
I did resist the urge to order pizza over the weekend and even though I was tired I made pizza dough from scratch. (I totally want some credit here – haha!) It took about 10 minutes to put the dough together, 30 minutes to let it rise and then about 10 minutes to roll it out and add the toppings – easy peasy! The kids thought that it actually tasted better than the delivery pizza too!
Even though the home-made pizza was a win, I spent more than I had planned during my monthly trip to Walmart for non-food items. I found several clearance items including light bulbs and a pair of sandals. They are not immediate needs but we will use them and the prices were just too good to pass up (or so I told myself).
The over-spending meant that we had less money to add to savings last week. I am planning on completely avoiding the stores this week to prevent that from happening again.
Savings Update:
I was able to take $100 from my business to add to savings and my husband received a small commission check for $74. So our total savings for Week 1 was $174 – not a bad start toward our $500 goal for the month.
Stay tuned for our Week 2 Assignment tomorrow!
How did you do last week? Leave a comment.
We’re all in this together. 🙂
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Other Posts in This Series:
Fast Track Savings Assignment #1
Top 10 Budget Leaks (& how to fix them!) pt. 1
Fast Track Saving Challenge Assignment 2
10 Easy Ways to Find Free Money + Week 2 Update
8 Ways to Earn Money Fast + My Week 3 Update
Reader’s Money Saving Tips + Fast Track Savings Final Update
Make Money Online!
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Good for you for resisting the urge to eat out Mellie! It’s tough.
You sound motivated! I think it’s awesome that you want to put your blow money toward your savings goal. You’re on fire!
Saying no to friends can be really difficult, but good for you for sticking to the budget! I hope you heal quickly. 🙂
I just went grocery shopping with my husband (since I have the broken ankle, he has been taking me.) This week we spent around $100 so I was happy about that. (I also made 4 returns to Walmart, Target, and Alid’s equaling about $45.) I think it’s good he’s going with me for eight weeks and seeing what it’s like. I decided not to go to a craft class to make a cloth box I don’t really need. I would have had to buy 5 feet of fabric. Although I worry about disappointing my friend by not going. I have a housewarming party to go to, but I just didn’t want to buy anything right now since I missing out on 2 months of pay. I have some nice frames in my closet I can give her, or have to stay home.
Week 1 went well I made almost $100 and found $35. So that’s 135 saved up. I did go out eat one day for lunch and spent $5. I’m excited. I can do this. Is it cheating to take my blow money and use it toward my savings goal?
We are trying to cut down on our eating out spending this month. Twice this week we discussed eating out but changed our minds both times and ate at home instead. We did run thru the drivethru once because we had some meetings run long at church and it was already after the kiddos bedtime so it seemed like the easiest solution to supper but a sandwich at home would have been just as quick, but oh well I’m gonna call only one trip to a restaurant in a week a win. Most of our savings this month will be going to a conference I’m going to with church in a week and a half so our savings goal for the month is a little low at a $100 but paying for all the conference expenses in cash will be a good thing. And we are still on track for that amount.
Week 1 – Eating out of the freezer and not spending money at the store for food so far. I was able to can 6 quarts of potatoes (10 lbs). Received 20 lbs of potatoes, 2 mini watermelons, some cookies and pretzel thins for free. Using the cookies and pretzel thins for snacks for work lunches for SO and myself. Eating the watermelon as a snack at home. SO’s birthday had been Sat — made a salted caramel apple dump cake for his cake, and dinner at home. From work, the guys have a crop damage permit to kill the deer — was given one of the deer. Processing it ourselves so no out-of-pocket cost.
Should be able to put that extra $40 – 50 toward credit card debt that I would have spent on food. Debi
Week 1 – Eating out of the freezer and not spending money at the store for food so far. I was able to can 6 quarts of potatoes (10 lbs). Received 20 lbs of potatoes, 2 mini watermelons, some cookies and pretzel thins for free. Using the cookies and pretzel thins for snacks for work lunches for SO and myself. Eating the watermelon as a snack at home. SO’s birthday had been Sat — made a salted caramel apple dump cake for his cake, and dinner at home. From work, the guys have a crop damage permit to kill the deer — was given one of the deer. Processing it ourselves so no out-of-pocket cost.
Should be able to put that extra $40 – 50 toward credit card debt that I would have spent on food. Debi
That is awesome Debi! I love free food. 🙂
Free food is exactly that. I never say “no” to free anything because it can alway get passed on. I feel if you say “no”, then nothing will be offered your way again.
Well…my goal was to add $200 to our emergency savings – and instead we took $280 OUT of our savings because of a dental emergency. 🙁 I suppose it’s better than putting it on a credit card. Not the best start, but we’ll keep going!
Sorry about that but YES, it is much better to take it from savings than to put it on the credit card. Good for you! Hopefully this next week will be better for you.
Sorry about that but YES, it is much better to take it from savings than to put it on the credit card. Good for you! Hopefully this next week will be better for you.
I was successful in not buying fast food, not buying makeup( even if CVS has great deals) AND managed to stay in my food budget by avoiding impulse buys!! Feel VERY positive about this week , I too, am aiming for $500 this month, managed $150 this week!
Woohoo! That’s terrific Lauri!
I actually did pretty well – didn’t make any trips to Savers/Goodwill, etc. and did return items to Target and Menards for a total of $41.00 also cashed a check from my sister-in-law for $50.00 added an additional $9.00 making a total of $100 saved in week one. Checked out airfare prices and it looks like tickets will cost $300 so that will give me $200 spending money during my winter visit to Arizona. Actually didn’t “miss” shopping for bargains last week – but tomorrow will be a challenge as Savers has 40% off on Tuesdays…..think I should stay home and not be tempted 🙂
Sounds like a smart idea Eileen. 🙂
Sorry you had a rough week. Yes, making food at home is always better than buying fast food so good for you! 🙂
That’s great Sarah! Keep up the good work.
Sounds like a great plan Abigail!
Good for you for not using your credit card Em! Woohoo!
Well here is the good news/bad news, lol. The good news is that DH only spent $10 at work on the vending machines, which is better than the $25 plus that he had been spending… I only spent $90 this week on groceries for the 4 of us. However, I totally forgot that September is the time when our church has a special missions offering challenge all the month long, and the $20 that I could have saved in the emergency fund went to missions instead. I am very thankful to have been able to contribute to a worthy cause. This may not be the best time for me to try to rebuild my emergency fund, but at least I am becoming more mindful of where our money is going, and hopefully I can do better this week!
I think that’s a very good use of your money and I pray that God will send you some unexpected blessings because you chose to give. 🙂
I did not put anything extra on my credit card. I was able to use cash and my debit card. So I stuck within my budget. I did not manage to save very much but it was nice to not “need ” to use the card. I need to put it away and not carry it, now that i know I can budget without the panic of not having enough at the checkout.
I recorded everything i spent this past week and will continue that for the the month.
We too had ice cream. .49 cones at McDonalds.
I bought less snack food and made our own treats. We made yummy oatmeal cookies last night. I get paid every two weeks so I plan on saving $150 from this weeks paycheck. Half of my goal!
I bought less snack food and planned on making my own treats. We made yummy oatmeal cookies last night. I get paid every two weeks and plan on saving $150 this week, half of my goal!
Our week went… Not well. I have to figure out a system for writing my budget down and keeping it on me… In other news I found this ! http://www.southernplate.com/2014/08/bags-to-dishes-never-wonder-whats-for-supper-again.html She makes meals of pantry staple ingredients together so you always have something to make for dinner. No they aren’t gormet or perhaps the healthiest thing out there but cooking anything at home has to be better than fast food right?
Becca – thanks for sharing the link to the southern plate site! Not only does she have great sounding recipes, but she made me laugh out loud several times – just what I needed today!
Becca – thanks for sharing the link to the southern plate site! Not only does she have great sounding recipes, but she made me laugh out loud several times – just what I needed today!
Trying to come in under my food budget for the first half of September in order to get me close to my $150 savings goal. I spent $159 at the grocery store on 9/5 and I am hoping to only have to spend another $40 until the 17th… This will enable me to save $100 towards my goal. I plan to do a lot of freezer eating which is good b/c I really need to clean out the freezer anyway…
So my first week went OK. I have $300 in my budget for food for Sept 1-17. I went to grocery on Sept 5th and spent $159. My house is pretty stocked and my hope is that I will only need to spend an additional $40 until the 17th. If I can keep the food costs in line, I will have an extra $100 which is almost my Sept savings goal…