No Spend July Check In: Week One

It is now a week into the no spend July challenge. I am finding this especially hard because it is summer and a lot of opportunities come up to spend money. However, I've largely stayed on track. My budget this month is to spend $160 on food (which I will find out how reasonable that is for one person) and $40 on gas. I also have $40 cash to spend on whatever I want. My budget is $240 this month. Everything else after bills goes directly into savings. So how am I doing? Below you will find my totals so far.

• Grocery budget ($160 for the month): $29.12
• Gas budget ($40 for the month): $0
• Spending money ($40 for the month): $6.32

As you can see I am on track. Luckily the first week of the month I was visiting my Dad so he generously fed me. This week I've had some left overs but now my groceries are quickly disappearing. I will be shopping tomorrow in the mindset of keeping my meals simple, healthy, and affordable. I have yet to set foot in my car this month. Last weekend I took the bus to my Dad's for the 4th of July, which is free with my bus pass. This weekend I am staying put. As for my spending money, I spent $2.50 on a blueberry scone this morning on the way to work. When you start living more frugally you start thinking things like, "For $2.50 I could of bought a bag of english muffins that would of lasted me a whole week of breakfasts." I also purchased a small lunch at a local cafe ($3.50) because I ran out of food to pack a lunch of my own (a common way to spend money eating out). Luckily I have about $34 of spending money left for the month, but I do have some outings coming up with friends in the next week, so I will have to try to use this cash sparingly. I must admit having cash on hand, and knowing that it is all I have to spend, is a good mental help to reducing my spending. Too often I whip out my debit card and pay little attention to what I am buying.

How is your no spend month going?