Anyone up for a Use it up and Don't spend January thread?

[nocutsnobuttsnococonuts]

I've sorted out my cupboards in the kitchen and bathroom today and realised I have so much stuff I have never gotten around to using and desperately need to use up.

we are on a tight budget and I seem to keep buying without using up the store cupboard stuff. I want to get to a point where we have 2/3 tins of each item and a packet of lentils/rice etc. not the 15 tins of chopped tomatoes, 4 bags of lentils and 12 soaps (Dr botanicals thanks to the bargain thread), 8 bottles of contact lenses solution I currently have!!!

we are in a smallish house and there's stuff everywhere so storing all this is ridiculous. plus I'm a terrible cook I have no idea what to do with lentils....

who's up for joining me? share your hoards and let's use up our cupboards up together 😁

My food cupboards are fine so long as I don't buy any more pasta, they've been run down with hospital and new twins but freezer is full of stuff that needs proper cooking by me not DH 😂

HAD MORE TOILETRIES FOR CHRISTMAS AND BIRTHDAY 😫😫😫😫😫😫😫 so will be working theight that.

Baby stuff will be outgrown and sold / donated.

Need to tackle big kids toys and my clothes once stuff fits again

Joining!

I have loads of soaps, shampoo and conditioner bars, clothes, shoes, etc but always end up buying more. Present drawer is full. Good intentions always but I get distracted and shop online.

No spend Jan... How many days will I manage?? That's my challenge. Experiences are allowed.

Day 1- no spending on stuff has occurred. 💪

Day 1 and a bin bag of clothes has gone to the clothing bank at the supermarket. I've also discovered I own about 20 bars of soap, so i'm also going to switch to that after shower gel! Tomorrow I have stuff to post from ebay sales and more stuff to list for sale. I've downloaded some apps too, Get Rid of It which is a tracker for how much stuff you use up/clear out, and Toss which is a random decluttering promoter, today's item was to clear out your car boot, which I've been meaning to do for ages, so that's done :)

Any tips for getting family on board? My dh looked quite distressed when I told him I was taking stuff to the clothing bank! I think he has some hoarding tendencies!

I haven't really done anything but once the kids and husband are all back at school, university and work I will have the time and peace to start. Haven't spent any money though.

I'm in!

Was planning a no unnecessary spending January...and then our dishwasher blew up...I have a sink so don't necessarily need a new dishwasher ....but also have 2 babies under 2 so already spend a lot of time cleaning bottles, arses, snot etc and couldn't face having to wash all the dishes now too...so I ordered a new one...so yeah, day 1 hasn't been great lol!

Sat down with DH though and planned our meals for the week and bought only what we need. Sent him to the supermarket as I don't trust myself yet to not impulse buy something (I am lethal for it!)

I have enough cleaning products to last me until June!

Keeping a log of everything we spend to review at the end of the month and see if we can reduce further

Just made and froze lots of vegetable soup which will last the next 3 to 4 days...can have it with some nice bread....but...spent 60p today on a cup of tea at a local church book sale....didn't buy any books tho...!!

I spent an hour or so today going through my email inbox and removing myself from various shops/brands' mailing lists to remove temptation.

I have over 100 unread books on my kindle, a pile of actual physical books, and a perfectly functional library card. No more buying books for me this month (or year, realistically).

I’ve failed already. Just ordered a Girly Swot sweatshirt, like the one Steph McGovern wore on Have I Got News for You.

I’m in

I go back to work in 7 weeks after a year long maternity leave so want my house/life a bit more organised for when I’m back at work full time and dealing with 2 children.

DD1 is back at school on Monday so I’m planning on blitzing my wardrobe and sorting my work clothes out as they have been packed away for 18 months so I either won’t fit in them or will have gone off them.

DD1 made thank you cards yesterday and the craft box is still out so in the morning I’m going to sort that.

We might be the only couple who still buy cds and dvds. Consequently we have 100s. I'm gonna purge those once eldest is back at school / DH is off mat leave. They no longer all fit on the shelf

Sleeping, they very quickly mount up! We swapped now to kindles and prime and took most of ours to the charity shop. DH took some convincing but now on board with it.

Medicine drawer - done. out of date things thrown
Junk drawer - done. I don’t need pens or post it’s for the next 10 years

Thing is we rarely watch them anyway as watch series and with two new babies the ability to watch a movie... 😂😂😂 But he's weirdly attached...

Had to buy three new dog harnesses today but then they will outlast the dogs so not an unnecessary expense.
I really need to crack on with the dumping ground spare room. So far I have two large boxes for the charity shop.

I’m definitely joining this! I am part way through decluttering the house and I have given away so much stuff that was hanging about. I’m on a strict budget for the next 6 months so no unnecessary spending. As someone else upthread said I keep opening the websites to look at the sales then think I don’t actually need anything.

I’m actually looking forward to getting back to work and school as this really helps keep the budget on track.

My first step was to draw all my money out im allowed to spend for the week and remember ive done this and not reach for my bank card for transactions.
As somebody said to me once choose to live to a budget so you never HAVE to live on one.
Need to try and get some no spend days in this month.

Two bags of DVDs, books, jewelry box and old jewelry gone to charity shop.

Clothes to recycling.

Had to get some food shopping but only basics.

Ds1 needed new shoes but was given a £5 voucher from them to spend next month so bonus there.

Off to attack more boxes of stuff now.

I also put my small change in a bank at the end of week or if my purse is getting heavy. 1, 2, 5 and 20ps it soon mounts up and I change it for notes at the bank.

20 items listed on ebay today and a huge box of clothes to go to one of those cash for clothes places/to charity shop. I've got 5 parcels to go to the post office too. So I'm going in the right direction :)

Impressed by everyone's great start at this. No spend day apart from new work trousers (Jaeger 70% off) and am determined that this will be my only clothing purchase until the summer sales. I have 13 tins of tomatoes and six bars of soap in the cupboard. Must get back.on the eBay trail this week.

@SleepingStandingUp we condensed our dvds by getting rid of the boxes and filing into big wallet type things which works well for us (I know most of the world have stopped watching dvds but they still work well for us!)
We’ve had a day out and no additional expense not associated with the day, this was preplanned since pre Xmas as DH on holiday today.
Avoiding clothes sales and about to meal plan for next weeks shop to cut down on the excess. Might olio gift the mince pies as well...

I'm in! I've been trying a low buy thing for a month or two and it's been good! I just found some more bars of solid soap so I've popped them in the bathroom to actually use (we're going low plastic too) and I am no buying any more clothes unless I desperately need it. Luckily I've a sewing machine and know the basics of how to use it.

I went through my cupboards and fridge freezer and have been able to plan about 16 meals with minimal shopping (I'll need to top up fresh veg, dairy, etc) so no big shop needed for a while. I'm awful for top up shops so will try to avoid shops and stick strictly to lists.

I have young kids which makes no buy hard - there's always something. But they definitely don't need more toys. I do need to get them both another water bottle. After DS chewed the silicone on the 360 cups we've switched to flip top metal bottles and they are going down v well so will get them both a second one. It helps they are on sale at the moment.

Car insurance X2 and home insurance due this month....

Today I took my DCs to the trampoline park (booked and paid for ages ago). I didn't buy a coffee or anything else. I also wrote my thank you cards and addressed them while DCs bounced. Posted this afternoon. Spent £16 on stamps and food essentials.

Low spend day 😇

I’ve finally got around to putting some pictures up using stuff I bought ages ago. I’m going to need to order some photos for frames but that’s a small spend to make the hall look much nicer.

I sorted my hats, scarves, gloves etc why I had so many I will never know but listed a load for free on Facebook and a local homeless charity contacted me so a good deed plus an empty drawer win win