April Budget Challenge
Posted onThe February-March Lunch Challenge was such a success that I decided to do an April Challenge as well.
The month of April is going to be a Budget Challenge. Can you think of one category that you always overspend in, or that you really want to cut back on? It could be anything - groceries, clothing, cell phone, gas, beauty products, magazines/books, etc. - basically any variable expense you have.
The challenge for April is to set a budget for a particular category, and stick to it. If you would like to join me in my challenge, please leave a comment and indicate what the category is you're going to set your budget in, and how much your budget is for.
At the end of every week, I'll post a weekly recap, and you can report back with how much you spent, and how much you have left!
The great thing about this challenge is that you get to set a budget for your lifestyle, and for the category that you want to work the most at.
Dining Out:
- eking out - $0 for lunch
- The Bright Side - $0 for lunch/snacks/drinks out
- Triskit - $0 for lunch
- Debt in Seattle - $15 for lunch
- Rhonda - $30 for lunch
- anonymous - $50 (while at work) <--- name, please!?
- change is a good thing - $50
- clubneary - $50 (while at work)
- Ginger - $50
- krystalatwork - $50
- Slalom is not extinct - $50
- VineLady - $50
- Mary Sue - $80
- pennypincher - $100
- JanePlain - $200
- Shanti @ Antishay - $25/week
- Frugalista Files - $50/week (includes all food)
- D.C. 2 - $80
- Chicky - $100 (for 2 people)
- A - $120
- SheGazelle - $120 (for 2 people)
- Bouncing Back - $125
- Alex - $150
- BeachGirl - $150
- Ellen - $150 (includes all food)
- Natalie - $200 (includes all food)
- Leslie - $250 (for 2 people)
- SpillingBuckets - $250 (for 2 people)
- Debt Dieter - $300 (includes all food)
- The Bright Side - $300
- Ginger - $60
- desiarabi - $0
- JusBComingFrugalat21 - $0
- NIUiceprincess - $50
- J. Savings - $50
- Dolly Iris - $200 (from tax refund)
- Pirj - $50
- Kate - $60
- HighClassLowIncome - $180
Car:
- VixenOnABudget - $100 (gas)
- DIVA1984 - to bring lunch to work every day.
- Erin - $100 into savings.
- GildedButterfly - to not go over-budget in any category for April.
- Hyperchondriac - to only buy 2 Starbucks drinks per week.
- L - $1,400 into savings.
- LisaClark - $200 for spending.
- Meli - to not buy random snacks throughout the week.
- shinyruby2 - $150 into savings.
- Shuchong - to refrain from taking any cash out of the ATM machine.
- Slalom is not extinct - to develop a budget.
- Tough Broad - $1,200 towards CC debt.
- vrs - to develop a budget.
Labels: monthly challenge
I normally bring a lunch every day, so lunch challenges are easy for me, I really like the idea of this challenge though. I have a problem overspending on groceries. I am already overspent for March with 2+ weeks to go! :(
Goal - $250: groceries (feeds two people)
I am in!Well, my goal is $100 grocery for whole month of April. $50 per pay period. In fact, since today I got my paycheck I can go head and start I guess. $50 for two weeks to feed 2 people, is it too little? I will give a try.
Count me in! I would like to keep my eating out budget under $50. This might be a tough one, but I'm hoping I can do it. Oh, and this is for 1 person.
Chocolate, $10 (1 person)
Just kidding.
Actually I don't think I'll participate this month. I have a budget and it is my eternal goal to stick to it. But I haven't had it long enough to really identify my problem categories.
I'm up for it.
I have budget issues sometimes with dining out (breakfast, lunch AND dinner!), so my budget for April will be $50.
I also overindulge in the beauty/healthcare products area... I think I'll aim for $60 there.
This will be interesting!!!
I am in...put me down for shopping (clothes/accessories) at $50. I have been overspending lately in preparation for my honeymoon =(
I don't really have a problem with lunches since I already pack, but I tend to buy clothes on impulse.
I am in. I say $50 per week on food. Food is my weakness. Great challenge.
I'm in! I usually budget $80 for entertainment/going out (this includes movies, bars, etc.) I'd like to try and do it for $60 for the month of April.
Count me in!
I'd like to reduce the amount of money I spend on food/groceries each month.
My budget is currently $400 a month for 1 person, I'd like to cut it back to $300 for April.
I'm in, I'd like to keep my grocery bill under $120 for the month.
Hmmmm, interessting one. I might put a bit of a twist on that. I usually budget $1,400 a month to put into my travel savings. I think I'll make a goal of putting $1,600 into savings from April until I reach my goals. :D
I would have participated last month but I work from home so i never go out for lunch. So it didn't really apply to me. :)
For April I would like to focus on my "Miscellaneous" category. I have $50 budgeted which should be plenty but I always seem to go over. So I would like to try and stick to $50.
I've decided to do a budget of $125for food for me and the animals. I've been spending way to much money on food and need to do some serious meal planning using what's in my cupboards.
I'm in! :)
My problem isn't a particular part of my budget, it's my budget in general. I usually make a too-tight budget that I end up breaking (in at least one area) every month. So...I'll be working to come in at or under budget for every category for the month!
I usually budget $200 a month for groceries, but I've been hitting about $160 or so. So, I'm gonna push even further and aim for $150 for the month.
I am in for dining out. 50.00 should be a good challenge.
Okay, this might be a weird one, but I'm going to try to not take any cash out of an ATM ('cause once I take it out, it's a lost cause... I always spend it within a few weeks). That limits me to the $15.69 that I have in my coat pockets.
I'm in! I spend too much on entertainment. I am going to limit myself to $50!
I need to get a handle on my eating out. $80 for the month!
Maybe I'll do better on this than the March Lunch Challenge. I'm gonna try to shoot for $120 for groceries this month (that's groceries for two.)
I am down for the clothing budget...-0- Zero dollars will be spent in april
I was going to limit my groceries, but i"m hosting book club so I know I'll have to buy extras... let's say my goal is to come in at $200 under budget for combined for flex expenses, i.e. groceries, eating out and entertainment.
It was the hubs and I's goal for March and almost made it. So hopefully we can really do it in April.
Well, I did okay in the March challange so why not go for the April too. I want to keep my spending down to £200.00 a month, that's £50.00 a week. I really need to do this to keep my budget on target so I can have spending money for my holiday to Turkey in May.
Why not, let's do it.
Clothes shopping - $50.00
this oughta be interesting considering my goal of not spending on "extra" things goes way on Sunday!
I just came across your April Budget Challenge. It is a great idea and I am going to give it a try!
My challenge is to limit my spending on food at work. I wasn't able to do the Feb-March challenge because I can't go without my coffee. Therefore I am limiting my budget of spending at work to $50
i want to bring my grocery budget down ti $80 from $100. i'm single so i don't need to spend so much especially with a stocked pantry
Can I join?
For april, my goal is to reduce my Starbucks habit. Seriously, those little lattes add up. Right now I'm drinking a tall latte once everyday (down from a grande) and I would like to cut that down to at most twice a week! And no cheating with the bottled frapacinos!
I don't have a budget usually but I would like to join. I am using a small part of my taxes refund for clothing with a match from paycheck.
My goal is to not get tempted and go over $200. I never spend anything on clothes so this is totally justified :)
I would like to put $150 (min) into savings this month... I have been putting all my spare cash onto debt lately (or on takeout if i reach the end of the month!) but I do want to get my emergency fund really set up...
here we go! x
Count me in for 2:
Lunch/snacks/drinks out: $0.00
Groceries: $300/month
Count me in for minimizing expenses on eating out (dinners, lunches etc). My goal is to spend less than $200 on eating out.
Count me in! I vow to bring lunch everyday for the month of April & only allow one day of fun with my girlfriends at work. I'm budgeting $15 for my lunch out.
Count me in! I'd like to try to stay within my "Fun Money" category for April. I usually go WAY over, so I'm going to increase the total for the whole month to stay within $180.
ok - i am in - i want to have an extra $100 saved by the end of the month - i want to be able to go on a road trip at the end of the school year and be able to finance a tank of gas there and back!
I'd heard about your lunch challenge, but not in time to participate...this time, I'm in!
I usually go over in my "Fun Money"/misc. category, which includes everything...eating out, groceries, clothes, junk... So I'll work on that!
My goal is $300 for the month of April. ($75/week)
My goal is to keep my overall food budget to $150, with dining out $50 of that.
Food at work $50 for the month.
My goal is to keep my gas expenditure under a hundred dollars. I live in Southern California and have to commute twice a week to school and also multiple trips to my boyfriend's house.
Goal: $100: gas
Goal: $1200 toward Credit Card debt!
I'll join in. :)
Goal - $20 for blow money
I added this category in January to give myself a little room to wiggle, mostly for entertainment expenses, but I've gone over budget every month since. April is my month!
Uh, it's a bad thing if you've already spent part of your April budget goal money, isn't it?
*embarrassed*
*still gonna try to stick to it, though!*
you have inspired me to revive my blog - and keep my goal a reality! thank you!
I want to join! My goal is to not spend any money on snacks throughout the week. I'm allowing myself to only buy ONE (hopefully healthy?) snack for the week as part of my weekly grocery trips. But no more random runs to the store because I think I deserve Oreos for working so hard <.<
I'm changing mine to $200 on food. It may be a struggle, but I'll make it work.
Mine would be a groceries challenge: $150 for April. Thanks Krystal :)
Oh my, I am so far behind! I barely have a budget. I have three goals for the April Budget Challenge: 1. Develop a budget. 2. Set an eating out budget of $50 3. Grab coffee out only once a week.
Krystal .. umm.... do you want my career as a money coach? Seriously - you are amazing. 46 people putting it out there on your blog, how they are going to be more effective at handling their money. It does this money coach's heart good. Kudos to you for creating the blog space for this.
Krystal - This will be there first challenge that I have participated in. I am very excited about it. It seems if you commit to someone else, you have to follow through. So my April Budget Challenge is not to go over the $100 I have allocated for eating out. It is going to be tough!
Is it too late to join this challenge? I wish i had known about the march challenge, my weakness is buying lunch at work...so my goal is to spend less than $30 on lunch in april.
Set a budget for April. I've been promising myself to do this since December and I haven't. Presently I'm attending a conference (meant to set a budget and I didn't). When I get back home this Saturday, I'm writing up a budget for the month of April. Now whether I stick to it is another challenge!
This is such a great idea! I'd like to keep my grocery budget under $25/week. This is pretty crazy-low for what I'm used to ($70-$100), but I'll accept the challenge :)
I went through a simplicity challenge for myself Feb 17 - Mar 17 and committed myself to using up all the miscellaneous toiletries and food in my cabinets before buying anything else. I didn't use up most of the toiletries, though most of the food is gone now. I'd like to use this opportunity to extend this S Challenge for myself and constrain my buying to only necessities, which I think I can do if I put my mind to it :) $25!
I would really like to save money on lunch/eating out/groceries. If I buy groceries that will last, I can take my lunch to work everyday. I hope to save at least $75.00 this month on lunch alone.
I'm into $0 for lunch! I did pretty well last month, but had a few slip-ups. I'm going for the gold this time.
(and HAAAY, I just started reading your blog - looking forward to reading more)
I loved last month's challenge and I'm going to keep it up. But my new challenge for april will be to spend $0 on clothing. No new clothes/shoes/accessories this month!
totally bombed it this week. had 4 bottles of starbucks mocha frapp. but i'm hoping that this week i won't drink any to make up for it!
My goal is to spend $0 on lunch (eating out for lunch, that is), as well as Starbucks. I had family visiting for the past 2 weeks and it completely obliterated my budget, so I'm going to do this spending diet for the rest of April and all of May.
I missed out on the April Challenge, Hope you will be having a May Challenge.....