COMPLETION OF FEBRUARY NO-BUY MONTH Plus March Monthly Savings Report for | Saturday Savers Club (Year 4)

Hello everyone and welcome to the Saturday Savers Club. This is the Club's 4th year in existence. I have been a member for three years. We share ideas on Saturdays over on @eddie-earner's account. February was exciting as I participated in the Club's No-Buy Challenge. I've participated the past two years. With each challenge, I've learned how to actually challenge myself to become more disciplined in my approach to spending.

SPECIAL SATURDAY SAVINGS CLUB

February No-Buy Month Challenge

The NO-BUY month started February 1st and continued through February 29, 2024. Here's how it works. You decide what you can or can't eliminate in your daily or weekly spending during the 29 days of February. You set your own rules for what is or isn't allowed to be purchased. Simple as that. Then publish your post.

ALLOWABLE EXPENSES:
Food - dairy, bread, and fresh produce ONLY.
Essential repairs or replacements.
1 takeout each week.
Postage; travel and fuel.

NO-BUY ITEMS:
crypto investment, silver/gold collectibles.
shop-bought sweets treats.
antiques, trading cards, books.
new clothing.
furniture / household items.
new magazine or other subscriptions.

When presenting my no-buy list, I took into account the pantry, frozen food, essential toiletries, and housekeeping replacement items I already purchased as part of my stockpile for my and extended family.

STATUS: Completed
GOAL: Save $1,500.00 or 50% of my monthly budget
ACTUAL AMOUNT SAVED: $815 or 27% of my monthly budget

RESULT:
Didn't reach my goal last month of saving 50% of my budget. However, 27% is still good in my view. I loved participating in this challenge. The more I think about ways to save, the more I'm aware of needless spending.

BREAKDOWN:

Expense	% of Monthly Budget	Dollar Amount Equivalent	Actual Spent
Household	60%	$1,800	$1,350.00
Entertainment	15%	$450 equivalent in monthly spending	$210.00
Investments	10%	$300 in investments (including crypto)	$75.00
Savings	10%	$300 in savings	$300.00
Other-Assistance	5%	$150 in gifts	$250.00
TOTALS		$3,000.00	$2,185.00
Goal	Save 50%	$1,500
	Actually Saved 27%	[$815]

MY EXPERIENCE:

• Reduced monthly expected expenses by my persistence in monitoring my electricity and telephone/internet costs. A tug-of-war ensued with the electricity and internet provider. In the end, I won out with a more reasonable rates by selecting balanced billing on electricity and eliminating unnecessary phone charges.

• Four (4) family birthdays in February! Would have overrun my budget except for reduction in food and other costs.

• Entertainment. Not feeling well most of February, so travel and outdoor activity was limited. However, spent money on birthday gifts. Dining Out - excellent results. Attended a no-expenses dinner party. Take-out consisted of 1 meal per week for a total of $85.00.

A Look At My Year 4 Saturday Savers Report for March:

Project	Goal	February Balance	Increase	March Balance	Notes
HP	25,000	22,365.943	+469.786	22,835.729	Rewards from publishing content. Powered up 100.00 for February HivePUD. 91% of the way to reaching my goal.
HBD	500	12.504	+13.86; +0.302 (Interest)	26.666	It may look like an uphill climb, but the 365-day savings add up quickly.
EDSD	500	107	+8	115	New HBD-backed token. For addt'l info check out post here
EDS	500	381.32	+18.28	394.6	Receiving my stake in the daily mining
SPI	300	13.51	+0.000	13.51	NOTE: Beginning March, 2024, 300 SPI set aside for a special purchase for Saturday Savers Club Member.
LEO	2,000	1,677	4.929	1,681.929

Some of the projects I intend to continue investing in for 2024 are Community based that yield daily, weekly, or monthly liquid Hive as dividends and/or tokens. For example:

• delegate hive power and LEO tokens to Communities and projects;
• lease Hive power to members;
• participate in @combination weekly drawings for the charity it manages;
• delegate to various curation accounts; and
• add to my liquidity pool positions.
• participate in the new EDSD Token which is HBD-backed.

Check out all the Club news and events and view the total Hive members with their goals for 2024 who have joined: Saturday Savers Club with @susie-saver | Year 4 | Week 8 - Saturday 23 February 2024 | February No-Buy Month | Win EDS for Comments

Good luck everyone with whatever your endeavors.

SOURCES:
a) JustClickindiva's Footer created in Canva utilizing its free background and images used with permission from discord admins.
b) Unless otherwise noted, all photos taken by me with my (i) Samsung Galaxy 10" Tablet, (ii) Samsung Phone, & (iii) FUJI FinePix S3380 - 14 Mega Pixels Digital Camera
c) Purple Butterfly part of purchased set of Spiritual Clip Art for my Personal Use
d) All Community logos, banners, page dividers used with permission of Discord Channel admins.
e) Ladies of Hive banner used with permission of and in accordance with the admin's guidelines
f) Thumbnail Image created by me in Canva.
g) "Flames." What is Apophysis 2.09. https://flam3.com/