Starting a no buy week, to become a no buy month and (hopefully) a no buy year

[losingweightandgainingconfidence]

I spend too much, I always do.

So after another horrendously expensive December, I'm starting a no buy week from tomorrow (pay day)

The rules:

I send £250 to three savings pots each month - gifts, self care and travel. I'm allowed to spend from these pots as I wish, but once they're empty for the month they're empty

Savings are sent off on payday

The only things I'll be allowed to purchase in January will be my train season ticket and bus tickets.

Here's hoping it happens 🤣

I'm getting worried about you.

you're young, you have various in vestments, you have savings, you're soon able to put a bit more in them.

youre very sensible, but your family are unjustifiably unkind sbout 'where you are in life'. They're making you feel stupid & financially insecure when you're absolutely not.

i think you need to talk to someone who can reassure you about that. Is there someone you trust to be open with who will keep your discussion confidential?. Older Aunt/Uncle for instance or perhaps a charity that offers financial advise.

its very good to have a financial plan & not fritter money away, but you're young, you need to live as well! Enjoy life (doesn't have to be £££)

look after yourself as well as your finances.

@SnoopySantaPaws I save but I also spend a lot of what's not sent to savings and that's just getting too much for me, so I want to try and reign in that spending a bit, not just for the financial state of things but also for the fact my flat is getting full of crap 😅

Sorry, maybe I'm missing something, but at the end of a year (if saved) you'll have £3000 to spend on self care, gifts and travel. What about food? Or is the savings pots after ALL normal expenses are paid- bills etc?
Does clothing, dental, getting to a medical appointment come under self care?
Any reason you need £250 a month to spend on gifts?

This is after everything else

The £250 a month is split between the three pots:

£100 each to self care and travel (mainly getting my hair done and saving for a big trip in the summer) and £50 a month to gifts

The idea is these are 'sinking funds' so if i, for example, book a trip with my friends, it comes out of the travel pot. Or if i go and get my hair done, I pay it out of the self care pot, and they build up. Gifts is to cover birthdays - friends, family, etc etc., mainly so when next December comes around it's not as much of a financial hit as it usually is

It all sounds too complicated. Just stop spending money on shit.

It's difficult to know how doable that is but good luck. Saving is obviously a good idea. But I don't see how you can spend absolutely nothing. Unless some of your expenses are funded by others.

I mean after expenses - things like rent, utilities etc aren't "purchases" in my mind 😂

£250 a month is a lot of money to fritter away.

@losingweightandgainingconfidence fair enough. Yeah, I'd say the less you spend in extras, the less you feel you need. I've started realising I'm buying coffee shop coffee three times a week. It just crept up on me. So just stopping that would help. It's about breaking little habits isn't it. I hope you succeed! 😀

I don't have to spend it and the hopes are I won't! It's just to build up "pots" of money to have for those eventualities, that's the point of sinking funds

I've been really good at breaking the coffee shop habit but then started a water habit! Getting a bottle of water everyday before work, for some reason 🥴

So, to try and break that habit if you want to:

Shop around and find a lovely water bottle you really like. Treat yourself to that. Then think about what you could add to your water to make it a bit fancy- lemon or lime slices, mint and apple, cucumber, etc.

I think what you’re doing is great!

@CurlsandCurves I'm going to dig through my cupboards over the Christmas break and find one, I'm sure I have something back there! And stock up on squash to take into the office because I've been getting flavoured water, so maybe I just want a dash of flavour!

My idea is by putting the money in those three categories in savings pots, I have to transfer the money from the pot to my current account to spend it (so for example if I want to buy clothes I have to physically open the app), so I'm hoping it'll make me more mindful about my spending!

@losingweightandgainingconfidence haha. I think you're meant to carry round a massive gallon bottle for performative water consumption now aren't you? At least water is cheaper than coffee. And healthier! 🤣

I'm SUCH a water girl, I drink so much, but for some reason at work I just struggle with tap water 😂

I think it’s a good idea, in so much as it’ll teach you better saving habits.

I did a no-buy for a couple of months (didn’t call it that far too scary) and instead of buying whatever straight away I kept a list of everything I wanted - with the intention I’d buy one item a month from my list. What was really interesting was that for 90% of my list I had found by the following month I wasn’t interested in buying it anymore. Definitely worth it to reset the instant retail gratification we have nowadays.

But you will probably need to do a less strict version of no-buy if you’re doing it for longer.

@losingweightandgainingconfidence I need to take a leaf out of your book. I don't drink hardly any! Tea, wine, coca cola, coffee...water comes a sad fifth in my liquid preferences! 🤣

Oh I love that idea!!! Listing what useless stuff I'd have bought

I loveeeee the Sainsbury's peach and barley squash. Helps me drink a ton!

Can you just drink herbal tea at work?
Is food under self care?

I'm not a tea type of person to be honest, I just don't enjoy it

The sinking funds come after everything like food are paid for:)

From another thread I read, I think you are mid twenties?
Your attitude to money and savings is admirable, but please don't let it be your sole focus.
Life is all about balance, so enjoy life too
The years really do pass quickly
I tell my twenty somethings the same, by the way!

🤣🤣yeah the clutter definitely isn't good

you clearly earn too much & should send half to me 😁😁

so long as you are living you life and enjoying it, not just being guilted into things by your family making you feel bad, then it's all good!

Hope you have a lovely Christmas 🎄 and 2025 is good to you 🎉

She's not frittering it away. It's going towards regular hair cuts etc, saving for a planned trip & some towards gifts for other people.

thus girl has proper savings sorted!!