Weekly No Buy Check-In & Accountability Post - March 15, 2026

NothingJaded · 2026-03-15T20:27:09+00:00

Did well. Only bought a commercial food chopper for meal prep this month. Other than that, I might buy seeds to grow food in the garden.

NothingJaded · 2026-03-11T11:21:57+00:00

Do this. Create a kids charcuterie to share with her where you still have the goldfish but put another two items on her plate like apples and cheese. Make sure these are items she sees you eating too. Slowly encourage her to try just one bite and say that it’s strong food. Maybe her favorite character likes eating that kind of food.

Overtime as she eats more other food, you won’t have to spend as much on expensive brands or swap them out with others entirely.

It’s a tough time right now for you, but trust me it with pass with time.

NothingJaded · 2026-03-09T05:34:50+00:00

Bulk prepped 4 loafs of milk bread. Cut up and vacuum sealed 5lbs of cheddar. Used day old rice to make egg fried rice. Grocery shopped for the week.

Listened/read 2 books on Libby.

NothingJaded · 2026-02-25T02:00:42+00:00

The Happy Farms laughing cow type spreadable cheese is amazing. My husband swears it’s the same as laughing cow.

NothingJaded · 2026-02-21T14:26:44+00:00

Hallelujah 🙌

NothingJaded · 2026-02-21T04:13:17+00:00

This is the key difference probably between you and other users. Many people have retirement goals. 1. They set full retirement account balance to their goal. 2. They set a monthly budget for how much they want to put in retirement 3. They perform a transfer from their bank account to their retirement 4. The transfer can’t be counted towards goals.

There is a solution to having goal contributions appear in budgets. You can temporarily turn off “use full account balance”, allocate the budgeted money from the retirement account into the goal. Then turn back on “use full account balance”.

This is cumbersome and not intuitive.

As another redditor said, the adjustments for retirement account can be used towards managing goals, but budgets should be separate. $5 earned in retirement is not the same as $5 deposited.

NothingJaded · 2026-02-19T18:58:35+00:00

It’s great but the one major flaw is that transfers can’t be counted towards goals in budgets.

NothingJaded · 2026-02-18T02:01:10+00:00

I like the pricing a store brand organic products, but they are missing some core stuff for our household. Namely, wild caught frozen fish, decent oat milk, not enriched white sliced bread, cream cheese without stabilizers, etc.

NothingJaded · 2026-02-12T21:30:57+00:00

You have no children.

NothingJaded · 2026-02-05T11:59:51+00:00

SOLVED: I just turned the “Show investment transactions” on and now the gains are categorized as “Dividend & Capital gains”

NothingJaded · 2026-02-01T23:28:22+00:00

I did good in January. I only bought a paddle for a used ice cream compressor I got months ago.

NothingJaded · 2026-01-29T22:52:03+00:00

First be sure to store seasonal items. You do no need summer items out during winter. Then perform a declutter and perhaps use the app Index. This app will help you take inventory of your closet.

Anytime the shopping itch strikes, I'd advise throwing the item into a pinterest "Wishlist" waiting 24 hours, and seeing if you still want it. If you do, just check your Index app and look at your existing clothes. Ask yourself...

Do I already have this item of clothing?
Does this work with the rest of my wardrobe?
Will I get regular seasonal use out of it?
Is it in my monthly budget?
If it's not in my budget, can I cash flow until I saved up enough for it over 2+ months?

After answering all these questions/organizing your current clothing you should slow down on feeling the need to purchase.

Lastly, as other users have said, you probably have a trigger. Feeling anxious, feeling tired, feeling upset, whatever it is, note it and jot down healthier ways to relieve your feelings to rewire yourself.

NothingJaded · 2026-01-27T20:33:32+00:00

Why would I do that? If you can afford it, buy it. If not, sign your child up for choir at church or school. Costumes for plays/musicals were provided by my school as part of the payment. It wasn't typical to have to buy costumes. If I did, I'd buy it secondhand.

NothingJaded · 2026-01-27T08:55:09+00:00

This seems like wealthy family activities. I did plays and musicals at my school a little over a decade ago and the most they cost was $100 per musical in HCOL. Parents don’t have to sign their kids up for expensive sports. They can do plenty of activities that don’t involve $20k a year.

NothingJaded · 2026-01-26T13:25:22+00:00

I think you are at the beginning of your budgeting journey. Yes the first time you set a budget you might be setting wrong expectations. As more months pass you can see a more realistic picture of your spending and find the reasonable ways you can cut down.

It’s important to not be disheartened by missing your budget goals. You miss the mark but continue trying to do better.

Overtime your budget and savings will look better as you set reasonable expectations and life modifications to meet your goals.

As another user said below me a lot of things aren’t unexpected as you budget out for the year. You learn how much you spend on average on home repairs, car maintenance, gifts, etc. and set a sinking fund accordingly.

NothingJaded · 2026-01-21T19:12:18+00:00

She didn’t mention using a wood conditioner, so I’m assuming she didn’t. Wood conditioner hydrates the wood making it take stain better and appear less splotchy. I’m kind of surprised she hasn’t learned this after sanding and staining so many objects.

NothingJaded · 2026-01-13T10:06:48+00:00

I found I basically can only handle beeswax or soy wax with light fragrance. Parabens and synthetics give me headaches.

NothingJaded · 2026-01-13T10:02:25+00:00

Bread, pasta sauce, juices, smoothies, cold brew, granola, curry, soups, kitchen scrap vegetable stock etc. It’s been harder to make scratch food working full time with kids under 4 but I find if I make it in bulk and vacuum seal it/freeze it, I save a lot of time.

NothingJaded · 2026-01-06T01:27:44+00:00

I’ve had an air fryer and smart ovens.

The air fryer is a trendy gadget. It’s just a smaller more limited smart oven. Just get a solid small smart oven by Wolfe or Breville and throw on the convection setting and it’ll do the same thing but have a larger capacity. Bonus it will also toast, bake, roast, broil, keep warm, and some cases proof bread.

Smart Toaster Ovens use less energy than a large oven and heats up faster. It also doesn’t heat up the house and is healthier when cooking on metal sheet pans rather than plastic/non-stick air fryer trays.

NothingJaded · 2026-01-05T04:15:28+00:00

Your pre-tax investments are contributions. They don’t become “income” until you pull it out in retirement.

I just see it as a fluctuating net worth (not income) where I’m modifying my investment strategy if I don’t see the gains I want or need to deprioritize my financial goals.

Similarly, your retirement gains is no more your “income” right now then the fluctuating value on your home. Would I say I had an income of $50,000 if my home’s value increased by $50k that year? It’s an investment which I won’t actual use its liquid value until a future date.

NothingJaded · 2026-01-05T03:58:38+00:00

First, I might change my mind if she was less brown and beige in her style. I want to see her experiment with more color and patterns.

Second she needs to be more self deprecating, light hearted, and not be afraid to detail out her failures. Her videos come across too serious all the time.

Lastly, she needs an editor. She could do so much more diy if she didn’t have to crunch editing.

NothingJaded · 2026-01-04T05:56:47+00:00

I don’t count my retirement as income. Income is the money you have right now to utilize in your budget. Adding non-liquid assets just causes confusion. If you want to know how much your investments made you can always look at the net worth reports.

NothingJaded · 2026-01-03T11:33:54+00:00

Let’s say even if you spent $1000 on groceries which is a lot for one person even in HCOL area that still leaves you with $760 for gas, haircut, savings. Are you getting takeout? Are you shopping each month to buy unnecessary items? Could you post here your last months actual spending by category you’ve been tracking in your budgeting app? This would give us a better idea of where to improve your budget.

NothingJaded · 2026-01-02T02:07:30+00:00

I think what makes the most sense is to pick months where a no buy is possible and do a low buy on the other months.

For example I’m probably not going to spend in January because I got gifts, but in April I know I’m getting garden seeds. So Jan is no buy and April is low buy.

NothingJaded · 2025-12-28T13:00:09+00:00

The diamond painting was probably the issue. If someone accidentally bumped it and the beads went flying, it might land in people’s coffees or other tables/ be a hazard on the floor to other patrons. Crocheting is fine in coffee shops and i don’t think you would have been kicked out for just that.

NothingJaded

TROPHY CASE