Budget crash diet: $300 for one person is not a lot!

Friday December 5:

Almost made it.

I started the week with $5 left...and now here I sit with negative $27. I have to admit, I'm pretty disappointed that I didn't make it. I could blame Disneyworld, or I could blame some of the unexpected expenses that came up...but the truth is...those things happen, and so I blame myself.

I could have made some better decisions throughout the month, but I did this little experiment so that I could learn, and I definitely did!

There are some factors that I can't change really change. One of which is gas. I was actually very lucky that gas prices are what they are, but I still spent around $160 for the month because my job requires me to drive quite a bit.

Unfortunately that only left me with $140 for the remainder of the month, which I knew would be a stretch for me! I also feel like I did pretty good at the grocery store. I found some great deals, without having to sacrifice quality. (Anyone can save money living on ramen!)

There MAY have been a department store lip gloss that I could've lived without...and there MAY have been a restaurant meal or two that I should have avoided...but in moments of weakness, that's when we make poor decisions!

Unfortunately, with the holidays approaching, I'm predicting a few more poor spending decisions in my future. For that reason, I'll probably take the rest of December off before resuming my "budget diet" in January. Even though I went (slightly) over my budget...the fact that I was shooting for $300 kept my spending WAY down.

I have one more weekend...but no real reason to spend much money. Hopefully my deficit won't grow any larger! (Then the Christmas shopping commences!)

Friday November 28:

If you are what you eat...then I am going to grow feathers and a wattle. I've had turkey for 9 meals this week! The turkey chili that I made really saved me a bundle this week, but in the future I think I'll freeze it and stretch out over several weeks to prevent turkey-burnout.

I have learned a great lesson though. I realized that by keeping things like that on hand, prevents me from getting hungry and making bad decisions.

I've also learned another lesson this week. Dollar Tree is the most amazing store on earth if you're on a budget. (I promise I'm not getting kickbacks for saying that.) I needed some party supplies for a friend's birthday, so I decided to check it out. They had supplies that I've seen at other stores for $4 and $5...for (you guessed it) $1! I bought my decorations, some really cute Christmas cards and ziplock bags for $4! It is a budget crash dieter's dream.

As for Thanksgiving...I'm giving thanks for my kind and generous brother and sister-in-law. They invited me to have Thanksgiving Dinner with them...and my only toll I had to pay was mashed potatoes! I bought 10 POUNDS of potatoes for only $3...so I decided to surprise them with some cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes as well. I figured it would be worth the investment. I buttered them up so that they would donate some leftovers to me!

I feel like I've done better this week than the other two weeks. I learning little tricks along the way...that will eventually add up. I have never been one to make large purchases...however I was the queen of racking up TONS of small ones. Between Starbucks, eating out, and little trips to Target...I would blow through a couple hundred bucks each month! That's the equivalent of car payment! I don't know if I'll be able to stick to $300 a month from here on out...but I'm definitely working on developing a new budget that will be a happy medium between this crash diet and what I was spending before.

I have about $20 left for my 4^th week. Yikes.

Friday November 21:

Livin' on a prayer.

Well...week 2 has proven to be quite challenging. As I mentioned in my blog before, I had a friend visiting with the sole purpose of going to Disneyworld.

As you can imagine...that did a number on my budget. Surprisingly though, the damage wasn't as bad as I expected. The ticket wasn't cheap, but I found ways around spending a lot once inside the park! On the map they hand you when you first walk in, they have a restaurant listing with a price guide. That was super helpful because we didn't have to hunt for the more "budget-conscious" places.

Also, they allowed us to bring our own water and snacks in, which made a HUGE difference. So although it did take a nice chunk out of my budget...I learned some tricks to keep it reasonable. (Plus...it is the "happiest place on earth"...so I plan on basking in the happiness for the next 3 weeks in lieu of any other big entertainment.)

In the aftermath of my indulgent weekend, I knew I really had to watch it this week. I was extremely proud of the $9 chili I made this weekend. I literally got SEVEN servings from one pot, which came out to about $1.28 per serving! I packed them in containers, and will continue to enjoy them for lunch. That's less expensive than the frozen meals I usually eat...plus I know exactly what's in it!

I also realized that when making a recipe, it's not essential to include ALL of the ingredients. I love fresh herbs, etc...but they definitely add up! I left out a few expensive and unnecessary ingredients, and it still came out great.

So here comes the weekend again. I've already started planning my activities so that I'm not tempted to make bad decisions on a whim.

I realized that I like to buy DVD's and then never watch them again, so I'm definitely going to reacquaint myself with some this weekend. I'm also going to start prowling the malls for IDEAS (ideas only!) for Christmas presents. I've noticed that the retail stores' economic pain is a shoppers gain! There are TONS of great sales right now, the kind that you normally see AFTER Christmas. I know I'm going to have to be more strategic with my Christmas shopping this year, so I want to check out what's out there. I think if I can live on leftover chili and fight instinctual female shopping urges at the mall...I will do ok this weekend! (With only $100 bucks left, I really have no choice!)

BTW...Does anyone have a good budget-friendly Thanksgiving recipe for me?

Friday November 14:

When I was first told my budget, I actually laughed. However, as of today... I've managed to only spend $7 of my $300 budget.

The catch is, I have my dear friend Beth visiting this weekend, and Disney World is on the schedule. This should be interesting... the ticket alone is $67, and I'm a sucker for park food and souvenirs. My plan is to pack some food and water, and turn a blind eye to the gift shops.

My next venture is going to be to the grocery store. I've been living off food from my pantry and freezer for the past few days, and my rations are getting thin. I've already starting looking for online coupons (www.coupons.com is pretty good) and checking out the newspapers for specials. Needless to say, I've been avoiding eating out altogether.

After getting the instructions for this 'crash diet,' I became curious about what my previous month's entertainment expenditures were. I realized that last month, I spent well over $200 on eating out alone! I also noticed that there were no big charges, but the large number of small charges (lunches, Starbucks, Target trips, etc) had seriously added up. I had NO idea the impact that all of my small spends had made on my bank account.

I look forward to seeing how the next few weeks go. As long as gas doesn't shoot back up and my loving friends don't lure me to the mall, it might be doable.

Wish me luck!