I gotta stop doing

[dinade]

the deals!!! Seriously. I have had to stay off this board since my dh got paid. I did my deals for groceries and then stayed away so I wouldn't spend all my money chasing the deals. How do you stop yourself?? I have a debit card and it's dangerous. I know I should do only cash but how does anyone do that on my tiny budget?? Ugh it's killing me. I went to aldi to get produce as I was out and felt great not chasing deals. Does anyone find they spend less if they do Aldi's or some other store and stay out of the stores?? Ugh it kills me though I did get some candy for free at rite aid on accident. LOL with a q of course. Ok wise older women who've been there done that what do you do on a tiny budget and still trying to get the most bang for your buck?? Let me hear your stories please!!!

btw we only get paid 2x a month. so I can really only shop 2x.

[dinade]

anyone??

[greenfrog57]

I only do massive deals if they are overage deals or free food items since we have no tax here in NM on food. Although I am sad when there are no good deals one week....

[elizabethm]

I get that "stop me before I spend on these deals again" fever too. I spend some on household stuff but mostly on items to donate. That's great for the donees but I'm trying to pay off debt!

Yes, I use only cash. I don't have a tiny budget but I spend under $100 a week (for us, the cats, stockpiling, donations, the occasional night out). My average shopping trip runs probably $15 these days and I have $30 left after a night out.

[isis]

We're on a tight budget. DH gets paid monthly, so once the bills are paid, whatever is leftover has to be divided for gas and food. Though with the price of gas nowadays, that cuts into the grocery budget, so I have to s-t-r-e-t-c-h $150 for the month. $30 is reserved for CVS, which leaves me with $120 for the month or $30/week for groceries. I've been doing really well lately at CVS, so leftover money gets put in the grocery envie. I write a list and stick to it.

I also only pay in cash. Helps me keep track of my spending and when the envie is empty...thats it!

[dinade]

Melissa your budget sounds a lot like mine. Ugh it's so hard to make it work onthis little budget with very little stockpiled. I budget 200 (for a family of 5 with a big dog, cat and 12 fish) and would love to up it to 300 but we alot of time don't have it after he's paid and we've paid the bills. Especially with school starting everybody has their hand out (schools mostly). I have a daughter we adopted to pay off and just put school (for me 3 classes to update my license) on a cc (hope to have it pd off by Jan only cc debt we have). Ay yi yiiiii!!! I want more income. LOL Keep the ideas/stories coming please. :)

[mum2hba]

We get paid every 2 weeks, and when dh deposits his check he takes out $150, that is my budget, and if I run out I run out. It is a great way for me to be careful with my spending. The first couple weeks, I spend all of my budget, and a little bit I supplemented with my income. I could probably get away with $100 every 2 weeks now, but I'm not tell dh that because I take what I don't spend and save it for our vacation. Saving for the trip is the best motivation I have to not spend the money.

[latte]

i get paid on the 9th and 24 of each month, frankenstein gets paid every other week, but with bills and debt, we only have about 30-50 out of each paycheck for food and household items.........that also includes bday gifts~~~~its like we get hit with gifts and special occasions once sept starts! my daughters bday(9/29) my sons bday(10-25) halloween, thanksgiving, xmas, new years, then valentines day, my little sisters bday(2-22) and my moms and stepdads bdays (3-7 and 3-6) then frankensteins bday(4-29) then thankfully we get a break till my bday(7/24) and then nuthing till my daughters bday again........... but then it starts all over again!

[judymd]

there will be a point when you will stop doing deals for a few weeks. Trust me, it will.

For me its when I run out of room in the pantry, fridge, freezer and any possible shelf space beneath the sinks and basement.

[Andra]

Money is tight for us right now so I have to make a tentative budget in order to not overspend. We have a debit account that is ONLY for groceries/HBA/Cleaning. DH get paid biweekly, but I divide the amount we have for groceries, etc. up based on weeks and sales. Say, for example, I start out the two weeks with $50. Just because I have $50 in the account doesn't mean that I have $50 to spend on one trip or one week. I divide it up in my head so when I'm going to the store I'm trying to stay under a set amount, regardless of what is in the account. It usually looks like this (using the example of $50):
week 1 goal spending: around $20
week 2 goal spending: around $20
$10 "cushion"

The cushion is so I can get any really hot unadvertised deals without feeling guilty or ruining the budget for the next week. The cushion also allows me to pick up things that I need but don't have a deal or things that are last minute like a friend invites me to a party and I voluteer to bring a snack, but my stockpile is lacking anything that works. Sometimes the cushion just rolls over for a few months until I have a good amount saved up. I try to think of the "cushion" like emergency money or money for a rainy day so I will only spend it if the deal is REALLY good or I really need it.

Some weeks I might spend more than others. If I want to stock us up for a really hot deal, I always try to look ahead before doing that (if possible) to see what deals I will want to do next week. If I know the deals for next week before going to the store I'm less likely to get more than we need because I can say to myself, "I want to get _____ next week, so I'm not going to overspend this week." Some weeks I might spend it all at once if I can see that there's not going too be many hot deals in the weeks to follow or if I go a few weeks without spending much and I have a surplus to spend on a hot sale.

I always carry a calculator and add up my total before tax as I go through the store. This helps me to see how much I'm spending and not impulse grab.