I totally overspent during the first week of my cash-only experiment (yes, I really did give up credit cards!) so I drastically scaled back during my second week. My cash outflow was drying up when – BAM! – I had to buy a new mattress. Believe me, it was that or sleep on the couch.
My mattress purchase leaves me with $157 for the month. Unless…I dip into savings to cover the mattress. Here’s how my spending looks so far.
Week 1 spending – $470 (including a pricey snowboarding trip)
Week 2 spending – $40 (just groceries)
Emergency mattress spending – $533
That adds up to $1,043. My target was to spend $1,200 this month.
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UPDATE: For some reason the poll is not working. We made some tech updates recently on BargainBabe.com so I’m checking to see if those affected the polling features. Hang tight!
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Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price. 
It sounds to me like you need to really sit down and do a budget. After all, everyone needs a snowboarding trip!
Dip into savings…the real question is, what’s the story behind this story? what happened to the mattress!? don’t just leave us hanging….
Mattress update @sarah I tied the mattress to the roof of my MINI and carted it home. It’s my first memory foam mattress and I’m really liking it! I slept well the past two nights on it and this morning I definitely did not want to get out of bed!
@janet Thank you for your observation. The cash-only experiment is to test whether it is harder to spend cash or credit. There are numerous studies that show people spend less when they use cash – but so far that is not true for me!
@glenn Good point – an “emergency” mattress purchase is awfully silly, right? Perhaps I should have described it as a major purchase I put off so long it became an emergency. I slept extremely poorly for three nights before realizing if I wanted to get any more zzzzs I had to buy a new mattress.
@cindy I see how $1,200 seems like a lot for one months expenses, but this money covers a lot more than discretionary spending! I’m working on a post to explain my budgeting process and respond to your comments fully. You raise great questions!
@concetta and @janet I’m working on a post for tomorrow to better define the cash-only project. Stay tuned!
I put some money away and within a week, we had to spend it to travel to Texas for a funeral. I was so glad I had the money socked away, even though it didn’t stay that way for long. There is no getting around emergencies like that.
AND, mattresses are important!
I understand the importance of a mattress and the fun of a snowboarding trip but in my opinion. part of an exercise like this is to be able to defer those expenses until it does fit into the budget. Is the point of this to simply pay cash for everything ( no matter if the budget is met) or is it to begin the process of defining wants from needs? Please do not take this a criticism but as an observation.
Sarah nailed the key element here. *Emergency* mattress purchase? Reminds me of the Odd Couple episode where Oscar fell asleep with a lit cigar in Felix’s bed, burning a hole clear through the box springs.
I agree with what janet says. neither are really needs unless Oscar fell asleep on your mattress & torched it. Both are wants that should be figured into budget over time. if you easily have $1200 free cash to spend in a month…wow! Thats not being very frugal
NO NO NO!! Leave the savings alone! I had my emergency savings stashed away last year, and here’s what happened: I discovered I had a herniated disc-a BAD one- in my lower back. $$ goes to medical, insurance, etc. But it’s ok, because I still have a job and insurance… wait…I got LAID OFF! But it’s ok, because I can collect unemployment…wait… my work didn’t pay into unemployment, so I can’t collect from it…I am 37 years old, I have a master’s and I can’t get much work, because of my back, from a car accident, and WHO’S HIRING ANYWAY! I’ve had to enroll in credit counseling to avoid bankruptcy, and therefore ALL OF MY CREDIT CARDS HAVE CLOSED MY ACCOUNTS… cash only Babe! And cash is scarce these days, so leave the savings ALONE so it will be there when you TRULY need it! I wish someone had pushed the “cash only” on me years ago, I might have been able to recover faster from these crushing blows of the last year. We don’t know what tomorrow will bring, and we need to be prepared for it!
Hi Bargain Babe:
Not sure how the mattress purchase became an emergency, but please do keep us updated on the new purchase! I have had nothing but problems with a new mattress purchase (replacing the old two sided version to the new unflippable kind)
Keep us posted. And for the record I would go to the savings.
A real emergeny is not needing a different mattress. I hope that’s the worse emergency you ever face.
Well, while I can’t defend the snowboarding trip, I can see where some of her budget issues are coming from. And I’ve been there with an “emergency” mattress purcahse – our waterbed mattress sprung a leak, and you definitely can’t do much about that! Further, I’ve been there when the springs started coming out of the mattress, and you really can’t sleep on it then.
And Cindy, $1200 is probably relatively the norm in a high priced area like Los Angeles where BB lives.
I’m more concerned with the definition of the mission here. Is it to find out how much money she needs to live on per month? How much she wants to live on per month? Or some combination there of, or just not to use credit? Or is it more to point out how to use credit smartly? I think she needs some scope definition!
With that being said, I think you should use savings for the mattress as if it broke or something like that, it really is an emergency. If other things happen this month that aren’t emergencies (like the snowboarding trip), it should justifiably be taken out of the month’s budget.
I do live just outside of LA and have lots of friends in lA & surrounding, and not many of them would consider $1200 free spending after all bills etc to be norm but everyone’s budget is different.
I agree though that more scope needs to bdefined here if this is about lving on a frugal budget and fidning good deals on things needed for life.
I may really step on some toes here but I think there is a difference between “daily tips for savy SPENDERS” vs. “daily tips for savy SAVERS” The title of the blog may define the scope. Again, this is an observation.
I think you’re right, Janet. Its just that some people are taking this project as looking one way, when in BB’s mind, it is the other.
If you’re really budgeting then you skip the trip! And maybe I missed it but what happened to your previous mattress that its now an emergency?
Good Luck! Have a $1000 emergency fund so you can use it for a real emergency.
Typically, I try to continue to stick within the budget, and only take out of savings whatever the overage is. Of course, things don’t quite work that way when you’re going cash-only.. But you could just wait until the last week and only take out a reasonable set amount from savings (if deemed necessary by that late point) to cover that week’s expected expenses.
Your circumstances with the trip and the mattress make this a very atypical month for this experiment, though. For instance, in the real world of careful money mgmt, maybe a chunk of money would have already been set aside for the snowboarding trip, instead of having to come out of your monthly budget.
Just some thoughts.
Everyone is saying wait until it’s in the budget, this is cash-only spending, etc, but you didn’t put the mattress on a credit card…you had the money in savings to spend, so if it was really & truly an emergency (did it really get torched?!), then I think savings should pay for it. Plus, $533 is pretty cheap for a mattress, so it doesn’t sound like you went out and got the amazing top of the line mattress…
I’ve had to dip into savings and emergency funds before, but I always updated my budget to slowly pay back those funds. Once I paid it back, I return to my regular budget. So I say borrow from saving if you can pay it back asap!
why did u need a new mattress???????????????
If you were able to survive week 2 on just $40 for groceries and are left with $157 for the rest of the month, that amounts to $80 for groceries for the 2 weeks remaining and $77 for other expenditures. I’m sorry that you blew the first week with money in your pocket but this experiment is to try to live within a cash budget – some spending has to get postponed when emergencies happen.
I say take half the money for the mattress out of your pre-set budget and for the other half dip into your savings. Do whatever you can to stay within your budget in the month WITHOUT dipping into your savings, but if its impossible, the best answer would be to try to still maintain a reasonable allowance from your pre-set budget. Eat a couple meals of ramen!! LOL!!
What I want to know is how you researched this mattress for the features you wanted and price before spending the money. For example, did you consult Consumer Reports? Tell all, BB.
I think savings can be used to items that are necessary, and if your mattress was not usable, then buying a new one would seem necessary. Mattresses are one thing I would never -ever buy used. Can’t get past the ick factor.
Melissa
http://www.examiner.com/x-2508-Frugal-Family-Examiner
Very interesting comments reflecting varying points of view on the issue of cash only spending. I personally always have an emergency savings fund, with emphasis on the “emergency” part of that. Whenever I truly need to “borrow” from that account, I always pay it back ASAP. I’ve tried to instill this in my 3 sons, with varying degrees of success. Interesting how young people still seem to think they’re immortal, and that they’ll never face true emergencies. Plan ahead, BB, and avoid those “must-have” trips until the money to pay for them is saved!