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Old 01-18-2021, 01:45 PM
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Default QOTW: Spending

Do you generally spend the same, less or more in Jan/Feb, after the holiday season?

Is this year any different than previous years?

What have you bought?
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Old 01-18-2021, 01:47 PM
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I'm generally pretty thrifty at the start of a new year to compensate from holiday spending but since I didn't do any Boxing Day shopping (Dec 26 shopping day in Canada with lots of sales going on), I decided to shop on amazon for cookbooks and then went into a local bookstore and bought a few more. I now have a big stack of plant based/vegan cookbooks to look thru and plan meals for myself.

I also picked up a 4 T EHD so I can start to transfer photos onto it instead of having them on multiple smaller ones.
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Old 01-18-2021, 02:11 PM
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In a way we are spending less (looking at the amount of $$$ we have in our accounts). My favorite stores have been closed for a large part of the covid period but on the other hand...online shopping has increased so I think it evens out. We did buy new furniture so that was a big expense (our current furniture is about 18 years old) and we decided to buy a few gadgets. LOL Yeah, I think it's fair to say that it looks like we have spend more money during the lockdown for sure but we saved money when the USA trip was cancelled back in March 2020.
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Old 01-18-2021, 05:47 PM
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We are spending a little less bc we aren't buying gifts but other wise it is about the same. We have a monthly budget we make and follow, We an app called Mint and Every Dollar to keep track of our spending. I am bad about check receipts but trying to do better. We have one kiddo going to college in 18months so we are putting away as much money as we can...we don't do loans or any kind of debt so are going to need a lot of cash for that. We also need a new dishwasher...ours is falling apart. So we are doing a lot of saving money right now...but the budget helps with that thankfully. I can feel free to buy clothes, go out to lunch/dinner etc because I have money set aside at the beginning of the money for stuff. It is kind of like we sit down on January 1 and spend all our money on paper then as the month goes along we can adjust as needed if things pop up.
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Old 01-18-2021, 07:34 PM
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Yes and no. It depends on the need. Most of the time our big spending is around birthdays (usually an extra $100), back to school shopping and Christmas. Outside of that, we don't generally spend much outside of the budget for needless things.
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Old 01-18-2021, 09:05 PM
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It depends on whether you're including $$ spent on gifts. Outside of gift-giving, there are no material variances to our spending habits throughout the year. If you include gift-giving, there is definitely a difference!
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Old 01-18-2021, 09:21 PM
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January is usually the month where I'm like, ooh... we need to save more - there is no where to go, and also when I start focusing on the house and start purging... so less coming in, and more going out to donate to thrift or selling on Marketplace.
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Old 01-18-2021, 09:55 PM
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This is the worst/most depressing time of the year for me so I don't do much, including shopping, and this year it's even worse when it comes to being stuck at home for the 11,000 month in a row.

To be fair, I do have a birthday next week, and my mom's love language is gifts so I usually get a couple things from my parents so I don't feel like I *have* to buy something, KWIM?

The only thing I'm spending "extra" money on for the next couple months is the medical bills for my foot surgery in November -- woohoo!
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Old 01-19-2021, 01:57 AM
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December spending gets extended here as our anniversary, my birthday & my daughter’s birthday all fall between Christmas and the end of Jan.
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Old 01-19-2021, 06:41 PM
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Maybe a little more? Our family's income is highest in the fall, so during the rest of the year we tend to hold off on bigger purchases that can wait. (We're too busy to actually do the buying in late fall, so it seems to happen around now most years.) I just replaced my broken desk chair, and we're probably going to buy a new stove soon, before ours breaks on us. I also ordered a new fitness tracker for myself as an early birthday present. (My birthday isn't until March, but that's also my watch and I couldn't make it until March with no watch.) DH's birthday is in January, so we buy presents for him, too. Except for the stove, I think we've now bought everything we were planning on and will go back to our "usual" level of spending.
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Old 01-19-2021, 06:44 PM
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Spending stays pretty steady throughout the year - I did buy a few things last week that I wanted and were on sale plus I had $50 from family which almost covered it.
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Old 01-19-2021, 09:34 PM
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I need someone to take my bank card away from me! I have definitely been spending more.
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Old 01-19-2021, 10:15 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MamaBee View Post
January is usually the month where I'm like, ooh... we need to save more - there is no where to go, and also when I start focusing on the house and start purging... so less coming in, and more going out to donate to thrift or selling on Marketplace.
This is me, except that I start wanting new stuff for the house. Last week, Joel put a moratorium on house spending, so now I just have a list of things to buy for the house "when we have money" which will basically be never because we are never capable of saving money. We put money towards retirement, but we don't have any extra left at the end of the month ever.
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Old 01-19-2021, 11:46 PM
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I would say I am spending less.... although I didn't do much for Christmas this year either, compared to some years. It's definitely easier to spend less now that my boys are 19, 21 and 24....
I have had mixed success with trying to budget. I wish I was better at it. I'm very disciplined about some things, but sadly my money is not really one of them.
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Old 01-20-2021, 10:36 AM
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I think I am spending a bit more this January then usual because of my diet plan. It is about $400.00 a month, which has increased the regular grocery budget, plus I have been stocking up on healthier pantry items since I am cooking lean and green meals every few day. (Being on my own means I eat them for multiple days or freeze them for the future.)

I also purchased some kitchen equipment, like an air fryer and mini waffle maker (in a really fun aqua color) and a nutri bullet (not in aqua, ) for the cooking of those lean and green meals and hackings for the fuelings. I really don't have much in the way of kitchen equipment, except enough crock pots for an army, so I am calling those necessary purchases. LOL

Along with everything else happening kitchen wise, I decided to organize my pantry and cupboards and have been buying things for that as well.

I want new lamps for my living room, so I am looking at those right now. Lamps are expensive! LOL

To be honest, I don't have a strict monthly budget but do plan and save towards a yearly goal for my retirement.
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Old 01-20-2021, 05:14 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kimberly27 View Post
We are spending a little less bc we aren't buying gifts but other wise it is about the same. We have a monthly budget we make and follow, We an app called Mint and Every Dollar to keep track of our spending. I am bad about check receipts but trying to do better. We have one kiddo going to college in 18months so we are putting away as much money as we can...we don't do loans or any kind of debt so are going to need a lot of cash for that. We also need a new dishwasher...ours is falling apart. So we are doing a lot of saving money right now...but the budget helps with that thankfully. I can feel free to buy clothes, go out to lunch/dinner etc because I have money set aside at the beginning of the money for stuff. It is kind of like we sit down on January 1 and spend all our money on paper then as the month goes along we can adjust as needed if things pop up.
I do the same, spend my money at the beginning of the month. Only I use spreadsheets instead of Mint and Every Dollar.

Best thing I ever did 13 years ago was read the book "Total Money Makeover" then take the class "Financial Peace University" 3 years later. No debt, 1 credit card that is used only for online purchases (that are budgeted for) and enough in my virtual envelopes that I can handle an emergency.

And for those spur of the moment purchases (like a photo book at Shutterfly today), I have my "slush fund". In all honesty though I have gotten to the point that I have to think about purchases for awhile before I actually make them. I looked at new curtains in December of 2018. I still haven't bought any!
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Old 01-29-2021, 09:36 AM
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I usually spend the same in Jan/Feb. I have a certain amount that I budget each money and put into a savings account for birthdays and Christmas - that makes the pain less. LOL I'm not into shopping right after Christmas. If I happen to shop for something I need and see a bargain, then I will buy.

I have not gone shopping since the pandemic, so we have saved a fair amount of money. I've done some online shopping, but it's not been that much. I've also been working remotely since then, so we've saved a lot on gasoline and wear and tear on my car. When we were in lockdown back in March, we didn't have to fill up my car with gas until I think late May! We've only driven my car. My husband hasn't put any gasoline in his vehicle since before the pandemic. LOL
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Old 01-31-2021, 03:24 PM
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Jan through to March are usually tight months because of heavy spending. January is always catch up month after the holidays, and restocking a healthy pantry after the holiday pantry of sweets and junk food. February has birthdays and Valentines day (we don't celebrate, but I always get the kids a little something special), and March is another big birthday month and usually when I do my easter shopping. April is when things start to slow down and level out, a time when I can start setting a little aside for summer and finally pick up a "christmas gift" for myself (hubby and I always get a gif for ourselves after the holidays.... unfortunately April is usually the first chance we get to act on it.
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Old 01-31-2021, 07:51 PM
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Usually, I'd say that we're right back to our normal monthly budget & spending on January 1. My DH and I went through Financial Peace a number of years ago, and though we don't follow the entire program, our only debt is the single mortgage on our house which we're working to pay off early, and we use cash for our basic monthly expenditures like groceries, dining out, toiletries, etc. When the cash is gone, no more spending until next month. I'm the spender and he's the saver, and it's remarkable how much my habits have changed over the years that we've been doing this.

We have a budget for Christmas, gifts are paid for in cash - well, paid on the AmEx and then the AmEx is paid off immediately - and come January 1st, we're on to other things.

On the other hand, I was hospitalized January 1st with COVID pneumonia, and came home on the 4th on oxygen. I've got all sorts of follow-up appointments and tests scheduled. Yay for meeting our deductible the first month of the year, I guess... and double yay for an FSA and an emergency fund. <sigh>

So, usually we're back to normal, but not this year. Definitely not this year. And somewhere in there I had my 44th birthday this month. I only vaguely remember it, and I don't think we celebrated it. <shrug> Whaddyagonnado?
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Old 02-03-2021, 02:36 PM
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I'm always trying to spend less after coming off of Christmas - even if the money has been budgeted and paid for. Something about higher spending in December just makes me want to pull the reigns tighter to slow us down.
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