Weekly Spend Challenge W/C 8th April 2012

pointypenguin

Hello everyone. Welcome to the Weekly Spend Challenge. This challenge is open to anybody, no matter what financial place they are in.

On this thread please post an amount of money you wish to stay below within the week (Sunday to end of working day on Friday). This can be pennies or thousands it depends on the individual. Then next Saturday report back and pledge for the following week. The challenge runs from Sunday to Friday so we don't include Saturdays but feel free to change the rules to suit you and include Saturdays or start on a different day.

Feel free to update this thread with daily spends if that keeps you on track. We colour code the results as below:

Green - within budget
Red - overbudget
Purple - zero spend
Orange - made money over the week

This is a little bit of fun but for many it highlights the fact that maybe that magazine/chocolate bar isn't needed. Hopefully your spending habits can be changed forever.

Moozie was the founder of this challenge and here is a quote taken from her:

Originally Posted by Moozie:
"Good afternoon lovely DFWs Now for anyone looking in, please feel free to join - the more the merrier! Basically, decide on the amount you want to spend up to from Sunday until the end of the working day on Friday then pledge it here and off we go! The challenge is about incidental spending and not for stuff that should be budgeted elsewhere such as bills, groceries, debt repayment etc but you decide what to include at the end - this is about changing your habits and improving your recording of your spends more than anything else. Have a great week everyone and keep it low!!! Moozie x"

Good luck everyone.

W/C 1st Apr Challengers / Pledges /Total Spent
Pointypenguin £50 / £70
EverTheOptimist £20 / £15.50
Munchin £30 / £84.54
abundant1972 £20 / -£0.08
zephyr21 £0
daisy_butterfly £10
determined new ms £102.90 / £105.80
KissyKissyKaren41 £12.50 / £12.56
Pinkpenguin £30
LaFolie £35
wannabee_in_credit £50 / £60.45
chris81418 £0 / £0
RhiBi £30 / £28.32

link to last week's challenge

W/C 8th Apr Challengers / Pledges /Total Spent
Pointypenguin £70
abundant1972 £20
Munchin £40
RhiBi £50
KissyKissyKaren41 £20
EverTheOptimist £20
wannabee_in_credit £60
determined new ms £25
Baileys Babe £5

pointypenguin

Morning Budgeteers

Happy Easter I hope everyone is enjoying their chocolate.:EasterBun

I was red last week after going out for 1 or 7 drinks on Thursday night. I think I came in at about £70:mad:

Anyway today is the beginning of another week and I am going for £70 this week. I am going to Edinburgh tomorrow to enjoy a gift experience from my birthday last year. We are going to the castle and for a champagne afternoon tea. That is all paid for so just need to include transport and anything else I spend. Then I am going to the ballet on Thursday not sure if I will go for dinner first but if so it will be something cheap. There is also the outside chance of a gig on Wednesday night but tickets are only £5. I have a few things on this week so I hope my money is feeling rather elastic:rotfl:

All results and pledges have been added from the previous thread. Let me know if there are any more and I can update the first post.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone.:beer:

wannabee_in_credit

:easter::icotbaske
Hi pointy
Thanks for running the thread last week and this week. I was a very red £60.45 last week but it always happens during the school holidays.
I'm going to pledge £60 for this week, as it's another week of school hols and I have lots of stuff planned.
Wish me luck - I will need it.
And happy Easter to all.
:EasterBun

determined_new_ms

Morning pointy & wannabe :wave: I'm going to pledge £25 this week :shocked: have a few things to do this week: going to see ds today so that will involve drinks & snacks but will be restrained for myself, date night with oh to see a blues band - but its free to get in and I'll just have a couple of halves , going to a spa on Tues but that is all paid for so will take a flask, sandwiches & snacks so we don't spend any cash , am going to a singing group on Thurs but get a free taster session :T & have petrol & food so should be doable!

still feeling v impressed with myself for last week's target although I was a couple of £s out had my car not have needed to go to the garage I would have come in under budget :T

Happy easter everyone x

Baileys_Babe

Evening everyone last week I failed to officially sign up, doh but I still kept track and didn't touch my fiver.

This week I would like to spend no more than £5, I doubt this will be a problem as my little one is in quarantine and OH is a way with work for most of the week, I'm not sure when I'll be able to update as the snow we had earlier in the week has taken down the phone line, hopefully this will be remedied soon.

chris81418

Hello everyone! :wave:

Thanks for this week's thread Pointy! :T

Reporting that I was purple last week with a spend of £0 out of my pledged £0! :j

Not sure what to pledge this week, as I'm on Easter hols ... so I think I'll opt out and make a return for the week beginning 15/04/12 ... :think:

Have a good week everyone and good luck staying with budget!

determined_new_ms

Chris am v impressed with a £0 spend!

spent £3.50 yesterday when I went to visit my ds. Although both me nd oh put in a fiver to the spends fund and when he came back from the cafe he had a £2 coin and a £1 so in the end we put them both in the savings pot (save £2s and cba with splitting a £1!) so still have £21.50 left. Want to see if I can get my dd a easter egg reduced. She's 18 and has been away for the week so haven't got her one. Am hoping I can get a nice one reduced in Thorntons.

I have £17 sitting on my cc as I over paid last week. f I use that does it *technically* count????

wannabee_in_credit

I've been out with friends today and spent a whopping £21.30 of my weekly budget. I'm hoping that the rest of the week is going to be a little quieter otherwise I'll be very skint by the time I get back to work.
Tomorrow is looking quiet so far, and Wednesday is wedding related stuff so any spends will be from that budget.
It could be tight this week, even on £60.

pointypenguin

Evening all

First post has been updated let me know if I missed anything.

Spends for yesterday and today:

• £20 on bus to Edinburgh
• £3.50 bus fare into town
• £6.50 sandwiches for OH and I
• £4.50 on beer

Total £34.50 / £70 not looking too good for the rest of the week as I am half way through my budget:mad: I have lunch sorted for tomorrow so hopefully no spends there.


Have a good week everyone.

09Kgal

I love this thread. Improvement accelerates when it is recorded and reported. I just want to congratulate all of you on your work. Budgeting is not easy and sticking to a budget is even more difficult. There are a number of online programs that can help, like Mvelopes (big fan), and the simple saying, "Spend less than you earn." Easier said than done, but always true. Also, just a thought I had, sometimes the little things add up, and through tracking where you are spending your money you will be able to see what little things are actually sucking your funds dry. Best of luck to all of you!

determined_new_ms

sadly I have blown the budget already! I took my shoes to the menders - really had to as all of my shoes except one pair needed repair and are unwearable until fixed and then I fell down some stairs and broke the heel of the remaining pair. Cost £45 but as had £17 overpayment on cc £28. I also have just bought a Groupon deal for a tefal course £49 instead of £450 but this is coming out of savings (a real saving on a long term goal I was going to do anyway!)

Yesterday I spent £3.98 on chocolate for dd for easter. For the purposes of staying on track although I have blown the budget I'm still sticking with the £25 *spends* so now have £16.02 for the rest of the week...