No Spend month - Week 3

Well, we blew it. Ok, I blew the budget of my no-spend challenge.

Here are few things that contributed to the failure.
First, don't go to the store hungry, it gets ya every time.(Groceries)
Second, really think through your budget before committing to it.(vitamins)
Third, PASS BY THE SAVINGS! (Groceries, again) More than likely you will see that sale again in the future. However, I did not pass the sale, my bread mix was 1/2 off!
Fourth, if you are a caffeine-head like me, then invest in coffee to make at home so you don't end up with a headache out and about (2x Starbucks!).
Fifth, plan your outings so you don't end up somewhere about to pass out due to hunger! (Eating out). Bring along bottled water and snack bars to tide you over. However, I did not plan to get the shakes 3 hours into a "research" trip.

Week Three Spent:
Groceries $63
Starbucks 5
Dry Cleaning 12
Eating out 7
Parking 3
Groceries 10
Vitamins 13

Total: $113

Reimbursable Expense
Home Depot $20


Ways we saved this week:
Another trip to the local library on our bikes. Saved $5.
We saved by visiting friends for a late lunch on Sunday. Though this was not our goal to save money, it worked out that way. We were invited to lunch at 1230 although we didn't eat until 2. We stayed for another 3 hours and continued to eat from their spread. We had a great visit with 4 other couples and didn't spend a dime. Although, I did bring a pan of brownies. For the savings calculation, we did not spend on 2 meals. Saved $20.
Christmas Cards- I began crafting Christmas cards for the coming season. I was able to create 20 cards from my stash of scrapbook supplies on Friday. I plan to do another round of card making this week, maybe not Christmasy this time. :) Saved $10
David and I repaired a hole in the outside of our home this weekend. As crazy as it sounds it took only $20 to liquid nail up 8 pieces of siding around 2 poles, putty and paint them too. We saved the home-owner over $150 in labour for this job.

Other ways we gave back:
I must admit that I didn't do a good job this week of decluttering or cleaning for that matter. I also did not journal any of our progress though this week of the "no-spend" challenge.

I reference you back to "Small Notebook" for awesome inspiration on this project.

Here's Our breakdown:

Spent
Week One: $135
Week Two: 166
Week Three: 113
Total Spent this month: $414

Saved:
Week One: $215
Week Two: 270
Week Three: 185
Total Saved this month: $670

Here's to a no-spend 4th week for us!