Ban Wagon -2011 Edition

[mommy2mrb]

I'm joining in too!!!

I am going to use my stash, only adhesives and needed cardstock, but should be good on that for awhile since I stocked up before xmas! ordered the new disney carts in dec so won't be getting any other new ones for awhile. Will only do swaps if I know I have the needed items in my stash!

eating out is something hard for me to give up as I don't like cooking for just megan and I....half the time we do use coupons though....our pizza guys know us too, we always have coupons and order extra to get a second meal out of them.

I am saving extra money each month now that our WDW trip is paid off for any upcoming trips.....Megan and I decided we rather travel than get stuff, so that's our goal to save and travel.

No clothes shopping for me, will be needing to get megan new spring/summer clothes since she outgrew everything from last year...dang kid won't stop growing, but will use coupons/sales/discount stores only!

I will be here to support you all!!

 

[tyniknate]

I so badly wanna play, but I'm so bad at this!

I need the new Disney carts (I don't even have the toy story cart yet).

I need new paper - my cardstock supply is almost gone.

I'm all for only eating out once a month - the DH and kids aren't. How do you make them cooperate?

We have a trip for November planned and I haven't even begun to save for it yet. DH says not to worry - we will pay for it with income taxes.

I have so much other stuff that needs to go from my house I don't even know where to begin. I have boys clothes sizes 3T to men's small that need to be gone! It's hard having the boys so far apart in ages - no one can wear the hand-me-downs. And my mom and sister spoil them so badly when it comes to clothes that the clothes bar in my oldest son's closet broke over the Christmas break. I've never done ebay and I don't know if a yard sale is worth the time. Anyone have an hints?

So.....here are my goals:
1. Get family to agree on eating out once a month - rest of money goes into Disney fund.
2. Buy the supplies that I NEED. That's gonna be a hard one but I'm hoping I can get some help here.
3. Clean out the closets and all the totes of clothes from storage. There have to be 20 totes of clothes from just the past 2-3 years from the boys. I will then figure a way to turn that into our Disney "extras" money.
4. I will use coupons (make husband use coupons). He does our grocery shopping. Maybe I will make lists for him to shop from. I'll use more pantry stuff - it's filled to the top!
5. Will only sign up for one swap at a time. I'm breaking this rule already because I wanna join the tag swap. Does it really count as breaking the rule if you are hostessing the swap?

Whew.....this is gonna be hard. I have no willpower!

 

[LOVEMY3KIDDOS]

No willpower here either!!!! I almost fell off the wagon last night and Rebecca was nice enough to pull me back on!!!

 

[wdwmickey]

Clearly I have no will power--laptop is ordered. I really do need it for my photo & swap stuff, I just hate spending that much money on something just for me. DH and the girls can only use it for schoolwork if we are out of town.

Danielle--I hear ya about the clothes, my girls are 18 months apart (born in opposite seasons) and when they were little I tried to save from one to the next and nothing ever fit quite right. DD2 is a clothes horse and she loves shoes (she is 100% girl)! Her closet is crammed so full she can't fit anything else in there, but, she loves to shop. I'm trying to teach her that shopping & buying aren't the same thing.

As for the swaps I'm trying really hard to only sign up for 1 at a time, but, I really want to do both MK and tags and I'm not finished with the surprise swap yet. I think I need help I NEED to finish the surprise swap and then use my stash to make pages, I WANT to sign up for lots of swaps 'cause I love all the pretty stuff I get back.

 

[mommy2mrb]

Danielle, do you have a consignment shop nearby? I used to do all of megan's clothes that way, most will give you a 1/3 of what they will sell it for, call around, they always want stuff clean, and if you have "Name brand" stuff its even better. to me yard sales are not worth it when it comes to clothes, lots of work for little $$. or you could find a worthy cause to donate to and take the deduction.
ask your mom and sister to start a "savings" for the boys instead of the clothes.
ask for your new carts for gifts from the family...Valentine day and mothers day are coming up quick.
to me adhesives and cardstock are "necessities" for scrapping and I think since you are hosting a swap that shouldn't count for your swap.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I so badly wanna play, but I'm so bad at this!

I need the new Disney carts (I don't even have the toy story cart yet). do you really need the carts? Like would you use them within a month of purchase?

I need new paper - my cardstock supply is almost gone. well, you do need paper to make pages, I'll give you that one.

I'm all for only eating out once a month - the DH and kids aren't. How do you make them cooperate? I got my kids and DH to pick a Kitchen helper night, they help cook but they also get to pick the meal. I got their attention by announcing how much money we spent on eating out in Jan of last year. $1000 in food and $120 at Starbucks. Sticker shock works every time.

We have a trip for November planned and I haven't even begun to save for it yet. DH says not to worry - we will pay for it with income taxes. We do that too, we see it as free money. But, we also have little money in savings for emergencies. NOT GOOD!!! Start saving now, make it a challenge. I tally coupon and circular savings, bottle redemption and rebates and put that aside for Disney. It goes into the "Disney Fund".

I have so much other stuff that needs to go from my house I don't even know where to begin. I have boys clothes sizes 3T to men's small that need to be gone! It's hard having the boys so far apart in ages - no one can wear the hand-me-downs. And my mom and sister spoil them so badly when it comes to clothes that the clothes bar in my oldest son's closet broke over the Christmas break. I've never done ebay and I don't know if a yard sale is worth the time. Anyone have an hints? consignment, consignment, consignment. Luckily I have 3 boys so I've been able to pass stuff down but DD slays me. You could sell it as size lots on Craigslist.

So.....here are my goals:
1. Get family to agree on eating out once a month - rest of money goes into Disney fund.
2. Buy the supplies that I NEED. That's gonna be a hard one but I'm hoping I can get some help here.
3. Clean out the closets and all the totes of clothes from storage. There have to be 20 totes of clothes from just the past 2-3 years from the boys. I will then figure a way to turn that into our Disney "extras" money.
4. I will use coupons (make husband use coupons). He does our grocery shopping. Maybe I will make lists for him to shop from. I'll use more pantry stuff - it's filled to the top! Tell DH that I saved $200 in 3 shopping trips to 2 stores between coupons, reusable bag discount (5 cents a bag) and shopping the flyer.Our stores tell us our savings and one grocery gives you point on gas. 100 points is 10 cents off. I can't use it because I drive a diesel but I gave my mom one of my keychain cards.
5. Will only sign up for one swap at a time. I'm breaking this rule already because I wanna join the tag swap. Does it really count as breaking the rule if you are hostessing the swap? can you shop your stash 100% if you join? If the answer is no then pass on it this time. Or limit to one or 2 groups.

Whew.....this is gonna be hard. I have no willpower!

See my comments in red. We all have moments of weakness, they rest of us are here to help you pick yourself up by your bootstraps and get back on that wagon.

 

[tyniknate]

Thanks BAMB. It kinda puts things in perspective.

No - I don't need the carts this month. I haven't bought any in several months and I'm going through withdrawl. So I'll take it one day at a time. I don't need them. I really could use them, but I don't HAVE to have them.

Eating out will be a problem. I'm just going to have to ease them into this. My guys don't get interrested in the logistics of the Disney trip until we are out the door and on our way. They want instant gratification. So to tell them we are saving the money used to eat out and using it for Disney later on will be a challenge. Baby steps.

Coupons will work. That's a great idea about taking the money saved and adding it to our Disney money. That should make a nice difference.

As for the consignment - won't happen. The only consignment store we had within a 30 minute radius closed last year due to lack of interrest. Never sold on CraigsList. Has anyone here? Have no idea how it works. My sister can't resist a good deal and shops for the guys whenever Hollister is running a sale. I could never afford to shop for the guys in there and they love the clothes. My mom may be a bit easier. How does the whole donate thing work? Won't the IRS get suspicious if I'm suddenly claiming 5000 pieces of kids clothes as donations on my taxes? Is it too late to do for this year's taxes?

No tag swap??? Mommy2mrb says it doesn't really count if your hostessing? I'm gonna have to think on this one.

 

[mommy2mrb]

for donations get a receipt from the company (Goodwill, Salvation Army) its an estimate of what you think the clothes are worth today used, not new....

I agree with Buffy, if you have the swap stash at home and not shopping for it, why not join....JIHO

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Thanks BAMB. It kinda puts things in perspective.

No - I don't need the carts this month. I haven't bought any in several months and I'm going through withdrawl. So I'll take it one day at a time. I don't need them. I really could use them, but I don't HAVE to have them.

Eating out will be a problem. I'm just going to have to ease them into this. My guys don't get interrested in the logistics of the Disney trip until we are out the door and on our way. They want instant gratification. So to tell them we are saving the money used to eat out and using it for Disney later on will be a challenge. Baby steps. what about buying Disney gift cards or visa gift cards with the money you save. If each kid got a card or 2 with the savings split between all of you that might be incentive. It's tangible but they can't spend it as freely as cash.

Coupons will work. That's a great idea about taking the money saved and adding it to our Disney money. That should make a nice difference. get the kids to help clip! I got a binder and have it divided by month of expiration (but I'm changing that after watching extreme couponers) I filled it with baseball card sleeves and DS14 helps with the coupon sorting.

As for the consignment - won't happen. The only consignment store we had within a 30 minute radius closed last year due to lack of interrest. Never sold on CraigsList. Has anyone here? Have no idea how it works. My sister can't resist a good deal and shops for the guys whenever Hollister is running a sale. I could never afford to shop for the guys in there and they love the clothes. My mom may be a bit easier. How does the whole donate thing work? Won't the IRS get suspicious if I'm suddenly claiming 5000 pieces of kids clothes as donations on my taxes? Is it too late to do for this year's taxes? basically you come up with a price per item and I give an attached list to the donation center for their records. It's easier then writing it down. It is to late for the 2010 tax season but you can get started on 2011 now. I doubt the IRS will get suspicious, lots of people donate in different ways. Talk to your (or a) tax person to see how to get started with donations.

No tag swap??? Mommy2mrb says it doesn't really count if your hostessing? I'm gonna have to think on this one. justify the use of the tags. Could you or the kids use them at Disney? I'm assuming these are for the tag book swap right? I'm not going to tell you not to do it, lord knows I have enough tag books! LOL But my question to everyone last year was justify the purchase. I can justify my paper because A) I saved $20 on the sale and B) I only stuck to papers I use frequently and that I was out of. How I ran out of Black and red is beyond me! LOL

in red again.

 

[Arizona Rita]

Ban Wagon Peeps!
Keeping Madame Odie in mind, I went into M's to see if we too were having this 10 dollar clearence. We are BUT I walked out with nothing!
"There's a difference in what one wants and what one needs".
I dont use the carts I have so I dont need another cart. Yeah!!

 

[mommy2mrb]

way to go Rita

 

[hopemax]

I went to M's for the $9.99 carts. I used my GC, so my cost was only about $3.50. I didn't buy anything else, including 70% Christmas scrappy stuff.

I do have one purchase, this month I want to make. Archiver's has the pack of Basic Grey with the older papers. But I have a 30% off coupon. They also have the Sandylion pad of Disney papers, and I am planning on that being my Feb purchase, also with a coupon.

 

[wdwmickey]

Woohoo Rita & Hope!

I'm so pleased to say that I didn't even go into M's! I thought about it and decided I definately didn't need any more carts right now so I stayed away as to not be tempted by anything else

Also, we have not eaten out all week which is a big deal around here, especially since I'm sick, the girls usually prefer fast food/pizza to cooking

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Went to Mikes today to look for carts, they were still 39.99 so no dice there. I did however pick up a new black pen, it was an exchange though. I bought one for Xmas and it won't write so I tested all the other ones like it, they were all the same. I got the gelly roll black pen instead.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Woohoo Rita & Hope!

Also, we have not eaten out all week which is a big deal around here, especially since I'm sick, the girls usually prefer fast food/pizza to cooking

WooHoo!!!! I was tempted today! I was a Mike's with a friend picking up stuff for School Store and DD said she was hungry. Friend asked if we wanted to get lunch, Panera (you have nooooo idea how much I wanted to say yes) but we declined, came home and had lunch here.

 

[LOVEMY3KIDDOS]

Ummmm....I too have cooked all week. But, tomorrow we are doing Panera for dinner. DS has a wrestling tournament Saturday and can't go crazy on the eating...Panera works great because he can get salad a wrap and apple. It works for me because IT'S AWESOME!!!!!!! Anyway, that's our once a week out to dinner so I'm still safe!

Now, next question...are Cricut mats also "freebies" for the month? Or do they count against your allowance?

 

[mommy2mrb]

I would think a mat would be a "freebie" how else can you make stuff without it???

 

[LOVEMY3KIDDOS]

That's what I'm hoping!!

 

[wdwmickey]

I think mats & blades should be "free" too, just like adhesives. We'll need to wait for an expert opinion

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

yep those are freebies! You need them to scrap right?!