No Spend Week 1

 Hi everyone!  We're finishing up our first week of our "No Spend" Challenge and we're still alive.  It wasn't exactly easy but it hasn't been life altering yet either.

Day 1:  I spend $45 on gas.  YIKES!  That's a lot of our budget spent on the very first day of this challenge and concerns me on how the rest of this month is going to pan out for us.  It really is a huge bummer that I had to spend this kind of money on the 1st day but I really didn't have a choice.  18% of our budget GONE.  On the 1st day!  This might be an uphill battle.

Day 3:  I had to buy a few last minute supplies for card class that I hosted this week.  This included spending $7 on vellum paper and craft bags at the craft store (I used a coupon to save $4) and $10 at Target on candy (it is a Halloween class which includes crafts with candy in them).  While at Target, I spotted a sweatshirt that is perfect for my son's Halloween costume (more to come on that later) and was on sale for $7, that should be all I need to spend on his costume this year, everything else will be from home.  

Day 5: I forgot my lunch at home but took my co-workers advice and bought lunch real cheap at the grocery store using items I had to buy for the weekend anyway (we had company over).  I bought one roll from the bakery for 75 cents, one piece of cheese from the deli for 29 cents, and got a pound of deli ham on sale (doubled as part of a weekend meal) , and a large bag of pretzels (also a double for a weekend meal) on sale for a $1.50.  It was a cheap and satisfying meal at well under $3.

We've had some good CHEAP meals for dinner this week as well.  I made a great twist on sloppy Joes this week.  We call them sloppy J's in this house after my son, Johnathan.  Here is the recipe if you are interested:

Stuffed Sloppy J's
makes 8 sandwiches

1 lb of your favorite Sloppy Joe mix (here is mine from Mel's Kitchen Cafe)
2 tubes of crescent rolls
A dozen Dill pickles, sliced  (if your pregnant make it two dozen)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Flour your work surface and if your child is anything like mine work fast before they fill up on flour.

 

Pinch two triangles together to make 8 rectangles.  

Put meat on one half of each roll, dividing evenly between the rolls.

Top with shredded cheese.

Finish with the sliced pickles.

Wrap it all up and bake in a preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Serve with chips and a veggie of your choice.

This is a great meal that doesn't cost a whole lot to put together and can really help you stretch a tight budget. 



We've spent a total of $98 (39% of our budget!) in our 1st week of our "No Spend" Challenge, here is the breakdown:

$45  Gas
$17  Card Class Supplies
$7    Clothing
$5    Eating out
$24  Groceries

Let's hope we worked out the "bugs" during this 1st week and we fare better during on next 3 weeks because at this rate we are definitely going to fail this challenge.