No Spend 19 - join us!

[NoSpend19]

Hi all

So yet another name change for the No Spend 19 thread some of us have been discussing (not a TAAT - juts a spin off)

The aim is to reduce the unnecessary spending on "stuff". We're almost at the end of the year and so 2019 is a good time to start.

It would be great if as many people as possible thought it was feasible for them so there are no hard and fast rules but to give you an idea my rules are as follows:

Food and drink purchases are permitted (although personally I will also be trying to grow as much as possible myself, reduce air miles and reduce single use plastics in the food we buy. In addition I will be avoiding being tempted to pay extra for brands. Meals out and takeaways are also on our no spend list)

Essential household products and toiletries are permitted. So it is ok to buy washing powder but personally I will be avoiding buying six different types of stain remover, fabric conditioner, ironing water and all the other stuff we are told we need to do to clean a load of washing . Likewise we will be buying soap, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo as essentials but will not be buying hair masks, face masks, make up, face cream, serums, body sprays, nail varnish, showergels, body scrubs etc. Perfectly acceptable to use up everything you have though.

essential clothing etc is permitted. DH and I won't be buying anything unless absolutely unavoidable but DC are growing and will need shoes, trousers etc. We will aim to keep this to a minimum though.

Fuel and other travel costs are permitted

Normal household bills are permitted of course

stuff is not permitted. So toys, books (library is fine), magazines, CDs, DVDs, random household items like cushions, candles, stationery etc are all on the aim not to buy list. This Christmas will be prior to the experiment starting but we are already asking for experience presents for the DC eg cinema tickets.

We are just feeling a bit like consumerism has gone mad and so we think we can probably do this. In our household it is me, DH DS1 (13) and DS2 (11, nearly 12). Anyone up for joining? We start at the beginning of 2019

Disclaimer: before we decided to do this we had already booked and paid for our holiday for next year. It is a bit of a cheat but I don't want to delay this just because we'd already done that.

I may need significant to get me through

I’m visiting our local no waste shop tomorrow for the first time! I’m hopefully going to refill our ecover supplies... but I very much need to be frugal as well so it’s a balancing act.

Totally in! We have a pretty ethical household and always look for ways to be more eco. We're vegan and try not to buy single-use plastic, but I'd love to take things a little further by cutting back on stuff!

I'd love to join you all please!
I'm pretty frugal in many areas of my life but there is definitely room for improvement.
I'm in the process of buying my first home and want to put as much of my disposable income towards paying off a mortgage as possible.
For the last few years, I've been a lot more careful about the stuff I bring into the house but this does slip depending on my stress levels.
I'm in eBay selling mode at the moment and have sold quite a lot over the last couple of months - freeing up space and raising quite a few £££s.
Clothes and shoes are my biggest weakness and the area I want to concentrate on the most - selling and not buying
I'd also like to do more cooking from scratch and trying new recipes - I'm not a very confident or competent cook so this will require a great deal of effort
Looking forward to this!!

I'll join. Have been very stressed lately and there has been far too much retail therapy going on. Need to cut right back!

Hello, I'm in too.

We need to save for a mortgage which we hope to apply for in about 20/22 months from now.

I intend to buy no clothes as I have a shameful amount of stuff, I have two Ds's who I'll have to buy summer stuff for but that'll be eBay mostly as I like quality but am happy to buy second hand.

I can't do much about petrol costs as I live rurally and do 52 miles a day taking my ds's to school and back ( and again in the afternoon) I drive a cheap diesel Skoda which isn't great for the environment I suppose but it's my intention to buy an electric car in a couple of years once we've bought our house.

Birthdays I'll set a budget for and try to stick to it. Same goes for food shops. I'm going to menu plan and try not to deviate or go to any other shop than Lidl - Sainsbury's et al makes me lose all sensibilities so I just can't go into any other shop.

Will use up all of my beauty stuff that'll take the year no doubt - this is a new me ... we HAVE to save and I've frittered away so much over the years it's quite shameful really .

I'm a firm believer in second hand as long as it's in good condition, that's a start towards being environmentally friendly I hope, no holidays for us either as I'm scared to fly and we have pets which I don't really like to leave.

Here's to a successful no spend 2019, this is going to be quite a learning curve

Hi all. Read this thread a few days ago and have been thinking about it ever since. I'd love to join in!

Currently living at home with family. I have a partner and we are saving for a mortgage. We live in a...pricey area and we are very spendy so this year is THE year

Partner is on board and is able to save a fair amount a month, as am I but I could do a LOT better. I do buy a lot of rubbish.

So here's my no spend rules:

no make-up my goodness I have enough makeup for the whole street for the year let alone myself. The only things I will need to buy are foundation application sponges and mascara. I have found the sponges on ebay for £8 for a box of 4 which is the best price I've seen. I'll order two boxes now and that'll do me for the year. Luckily I'm a fan of Primark mascara so will buy a few tubes now. I WOULD buy them when I need them but Primark is a bit of a shopping trigger for me so I will be avoiding the place in the new year.

no clothes again I have a LOT of clothes and a LOT of shoes. I don't think I NEED anything, I really shouldn't do.

no coffees out we usually get coffees out once or twice a week, this is about £8 per time. No brainer.

no going out we don't go out much anyway but we do like a takeaway now and again so will stick with that.

Things we won't cut back on: mobile phone bills, gym membership (for me), bank extras packages (insurances etc), Netflix (we don't go out much as it is! )

Have a digital clean up: unsubscribe from as many marketing emails as possible, leave FB groups that trigger spending (makeup/clothes), likewise unfollow influencers on Instagram.

I have a birthday coming up and will ask for cash towards our deposit or household items that we will need.

Stealing - I have spent a lot of time thinking about it too.

My list so far:

Clothes and shoes - no more purchases and concentrate on selling the surplus

Bags - same as above

Toys/nursery equipment - donate/sell the excess. I'm a childminder and there is a lot of excess!!

Greggs/mcds habit - I often go to the drive-thru for a coffee or happy meal when I have a car full of sleeping children as an easy lunch fix. No more. I'm imposing a total ban.

Socialising - I don't want to stop socialising but I do want to apply a monthly allowance and anything not spent can be transferred to savings.

Family allowance - I also want to set a monthly amount to cover things ds might need but not sure what is a reasonable starting point.

I'm feeling quite focussed and have already stopped myself from making several non-essential purchases - perfume being one of them. I will use any Christmas money I get to but it. Usually Christmas money just gets mixed up with normal money and not really spent on anything specific.

I've also sold a couple of items which I was dithering over and am seeing an immediate benefit to their departure

Oh my goodness! I have found a thread that relates to me completely lol!

The only thing I am permitting is food shopping and petrol. At the moment, my budget for a family of 3 is £25-£30 a week (variation due to nappies and wipes)! I shop in Aldi so I go to the cheapest supermarket and I also start making food from scratch!

I want to save at least £150 a month! I am forever spending on unnecessary crap so I'm really thankful for the support!

I think I'd like to join you. Just wondering what "the rules" are on buying second hand stuff? I have a bit of a charity shop habit and although I can on paper afford it, I've run out of storage. It's the FOMO thing... recently I had an itch to nip into a charity shop in town, and I found a gorgeous White Stuff dress that I once tried on in John Lewis a few years ago but had to forgo as I was skint. I apply the "does it spark joy?" principle... I have a canny knack of finding stuff that sparks joy

Just wanted to check in and see how everyone is getting along in the run up to Christmas? I've mostly been good, I got myself two early Christmas presents, but they're jewellery, so good sensible investment options that can be passed down in time and won't take up much space. Was itching to also get a Urban Decay palette, but I've been reminding myself of how much barely used makeup I already have at home and so far I've resisted.
Have vowed to steer clear of Amazon until mid February, when I book I've been eyeing up comes out, and then only limit myself to said book.
Crappy unwanted Christmas presents of which I fear there'll be a few will go straight to recycling/the charity shop/the bin.

I've been doing okay, I think.
I've probably bought DS a couple more presents than I intended to, but I think they will all be well-used and well-loved.
I also bought two presents for my boyfriend, when he has said he doesn't want anything. They are both books though, so hopefully they will be appreciated. If not, I'll have them back and read them myself!

Other than that I haven't wasted any money on tat, that I can recall.
Where I have been bad is not being very organised in terms of food shopping so I keep nipping out for little bits, which isn't very economical. I'm off to do a big Xmas food shop on Saturday. I must stick to the list.

I'm also very proud that I haven't bought a new dress for my work Christmas do tomorrow, despite seeing a lovely dress in Sainsbury's of all places. I will wear one of my many dresses already in my wardrobe.

DS and I also spent last night making some homemade Christmas paper star decorations out of old newspapers. Plastic free and zero waste. Very wholesome. I will post a pic.

Paper Christmas star

Great work, Hound!

I'll join in. I had to borrow 7000 this year for essential household repairs. My goal is to repay that and save the same amount as a nest egg in case anything similar happens again.

Love that paper star Hound!

I will join, but my life won't change much.

I don't buy stuff or crap. Most of my belongings - clothes, furniture, car, bedding are second hand anyway. I am not taken in by products, perfumes, expensive cosmetics or home fragrances.

I am a marketing man's nightmare.

Re books: See if your town has a GETfree book shop.

www.facebook.com/GETshops

www.globaleducationaltrust.org

We’re in!

Plan is to significantly reduce chocolate, Starbucks and Gregs consumption and in turn shed the pounds!

Whilst I already buy second hand for my LO and rarely buy anything for me, we will continue and I will try not to stash so much! I shall also stop with the kids magazine purchases (although may allow the Hey Duggee one as they have stopped putting the plastic tat on the front!).

We have a zombie store that I stock up when prices are low - I think I need to go through it to see what we actually have and start using it up!

Make up I rarely buy, but will invest in a couple of new mascaras. I’ve already clocked the cheap perfume at primarni and like them... will use existing bottles up first!

Shoes are a massive issue for me, but will plan to buy well made Dr Martens so they last loads longer - will cost more but will be a saving longer term (and I know I’m not allergic!).

I may sign up to a virtual running thing to get me out exercising and will use the library rather than buy new books for book club.

Lidl rather than Sainsbury’s or Ocado and may reduce the Sky package (but keep Netflix).

Will also continue to sell at NCT sales!

My first challenge is to avoid buying stuff in the January sales. I've been trying to use up my vast collection of wrapping paper, tags and Christmas cards and am already twitching at the thought of not restocking post-Christmas

Still going strong here, started about 2 months ago (whenever I first posted) I am keeping a list of everything I buy which has helped, there's only about 6 items on it and they were all things I didn't already have (got a new job, needed some new items as lost baby weight but not same size as before!) I am already very anxious about the sales. I'm not sure how I'll cope not buying anything, which feels a bit pathetic really. But I'm thinking about it a lot

I still need to make my list of rules but I have been a lot more mindful lately.

I'm in. I absolutely need to get my spending under control this year. I don't tend to splurge too often but I am very, very good at frittering on little, pointless things like lunch everyday at work when I could take leftovers/sandwiches etc, and of course the daily coffee . Plus, I do have a perfume habit which I need to kick, given that I now have enough to keep me beautifully-scented for the rest of my life...

So: no more frittering on Pret lunches, no more takeaways (dp and I have decided we will have one 'payday takeaway' once a month and that's it), no more bloody Costa. No trips to Waitrose on the way home from work, spending £30 on nothing.

No more perfume. This is going to be hard but I'm determined to do it. No skincare stuff except the basics (definitely no trips to Space NK). No more makeup except for the absolute basics when needed (rather than wanted).

No clothes except socks and pants. I'm trying to lose weight so there's no point buying clothes in a size that I will hopefully slim out of!

I'd like to spend more time doing things rather than buying stuff.

Am off to unsubscribe from all those marketing emails...

Ive been organising accounts at the bank in preparation for this low spend year. I've got the bills account all set up with standing orders and direct debits so it can just look after itself. Money moving into a savings accounts without even looking.

I've also been playing around with my phone and deleting apps which make me spend money like delivering, eBay, etc.

I am already well underway too.
I live in the town centre so the sales are literally on my doorstep, but I haven't been anywhere near them.
I will have to go food shopping today as there are very few Xmas leftovers remaining and DS is back from his dad's today. I will make a meal plan and list and be sure to stick to it.
The spring seed catalogue arrived yesterday so I do get to choose what I grow on my allotment this year. I'm going to sit down with a brew later and have a good look through.
Good luck no-spending everyone!

I'm in!

I need to leave my purse at home more, so that should help.

If I do need to get bread or milk I can use contactless on my phone (which I will turn off after posting this) to minimise unnecessary spending.

The amount food we are wasting is criminal.

I need to be more organized in general.