NoSpendVer Check In!

Hey guys! I hope you had a great weekend! I spent the weekend studying, taking myself out to dinner and making sure to enjoy dessert and running a 5K for my friend with cancer who I work with! We made a team of 20 people to show support. Go big or go home, right?

It’s time to do a NoSpendVer challenge check in! After being motivated by everyone else’s shopping ban around the pf blogosphere, a few other bloggers and I decided to do one together. It’s more effective in groups, no? 😉 Please check out Sophia and Janine’s blogs when you get a chance to check out their updates and NoSpendVer goals.

I posted about this project on my other blog but basically, the ground rules were simple. No excess spending on anything stupid, not needed or not in the budget. We were allowed a $20 allowance to hang out with friends and not go stir crazy because two months is a loooonnggg time. But, I was feeling motivated and I earmarked two big goals for myself. Goal one was to save $1,200 for my new apartment and goal two was to save $400 towards my retainer since my braces are coming off. As of right now, I am about $700 towards my goals! Things of note?

1. My braces are finally paid off! That’s a $5,120 debt paid off in 20 months!I made my very last braces payment last month so this paycheck I had $210 that I normally didn’t have left over after payday! I won’t have this $210 once I move into my new apartment since I am adding about $500 or so to living costs, but I am happy I do now and I put it aside instead of spending it. Speaking of spending it….

2. I have been monitoring my spending like a hawk. Well, with the exception of the last five days. The only spending I have done is grocery shopping for all of my meals, things I absolutely need at Target, gas and my $20 allowance. Well, until about five days ago anyways. I will be totally honest and admit that I am starting to crash and burn with my schedule during the week. We only have three weeks left in the semester but I am exhausted by the time Friday rolls around and have had a few episodes of crying from stress and wondering when on Earth I was going to get everything done. Some days, I leave the house at 7:30am and don’t get home until 9:30pm, which results in a 14 hour day. And in an effort to save money, I was packing breakfast, lunch and dinners. I was really diligent too about this until a few days again when my food went bad and I had to eat out.

Since my food went bad, I haven’t been able to pack my dinners and as a result, have been stopping by Panera Bread on my way to school for a bowl of soup before class and to study when my roommate was having friends over. At $8 a pop for soup, a cookie and a soda, it’s not cost effective and I know I am wasting money. But, I am trying to cut myself some slack this week and give myself a hug.

3. I need to remember I get my energy from others and to leave the house once in awhile.

Between my NoSpendVer and nonstop homework, I’ve pretty much been a hermit. Like, people ask me what’s wrong when they hear I am spending the fifth weekend in a row at home because it’s unheard of and I used to cry and throw pity parties because I couldn’t go out. Now, I’m so content staying at home with my stack of books from the library, Netflix and my sweatpants. By the end of the week I’m just so exhausted, all I want to do is sleep. But, as much as it’s been doing my wallet good, my depression and energy levels have been through the roof.

I get my energy from other people because I’m an extrovert. I am who I am and although I don’t necessarily need to spend tons of money hanging with others, I still need to be observant and remind myself to get out of my house every so often, put real clothes on and interact with actual people. So far, I’ve been making an effort to go to happy hour again with friends since it fits in my budget and hanging out with others for board game nights. We usually do pot luck style so a $5 pie for dessert can usually be snuck in and enjoyed while I try to kick people’s butts in Trivial Pursuit.

All in all, I am feeling really good about my money lately. How have you guys been? Anyone else currently on a shopping ban?