No spend January?

[corinewmoon]

After he festive blowout and considering ive got some big bills in January, (MOT, car tax, insurance) I have decided to try a no frivlous spending month. There is nothing i really need to buy, (apart from new school jumper and coat for DS) .
So I will be taking my lunch to work every day,
I will avoid costas,
and i will limit my self to one bottle of wine per week
I will aim to spend £200.00 on food shop for the month
I will not go for leisurely stroll to the shops during my lunch break.

Any one else want to join in. ?

Well my target of £30 spend was well exceeded £70

However with a £5 gift card and the car park refund that brought it down to £64, I still need to get a few meat items from our local butcher- I picked up a large Smart Price chicken for £3.20 & put it back as I shuddered to think what made it that cheap so that lot I'm determined to make last a fortnight with a few extra fresh items along the way. I got lots of store cupboard and freezer items, and it's to feed 3 adults really as the DD's are eating adult size portions.

jojay thanks for those links, I'm tempted to get a quote later in the year when I hopefully can afford it, possibly before the summer, if we get one!

With you there, Bossybritches, animal welfare is not something that I'm prepared to ignore to get a cheaper price. I'm vegetarian, but my husband eats meat, as does the small person. Our local butcher only stocks free range and although I only buy small amounts of meat I always get it from him. Not the cheapest but I'm willing to cut back in other areas to pay more there.

I was soooooo desperate for a glass of wine last night, and I . . . resisted! Snuggled up with DH on the sofa to watch a movie instead, (Marie Antoinette - good btw), which I got out the library for 50p. Needed alcohol tonight too, so, instead of going to the shops, I raided the cupboards and discovered vodka and tomato juice, so I'm on the Bloody Marys! Cheers!

So January update:

Pub £11.30
Onion! £0.21
Facial oils £7.47
Tesco £51.31
Wrapping paper £3
dress for DD2 £4 in sale
makeup set for DDs, (story behind this, but boring one!) £2
flower head dress for the fairy party DD1 is going to tomorrow £2.99
Present £5.38
Waitrose bagette £1.19
Car tax (rrrubish!) £118
Petrol £20.03

Total £226.88

Sounds like a lot when you put it like that. Especailly when I've been trying so hard. It's that bloody car tax! Got my MOT due on 1st Feb and I know my car will fail . Sometimes it just seems so relentless! Sorry, must be the Bloody Marys making me all wingey!

Had to go to co op today to get some tinned stuff and veg for tomorrows lunch (PILs coming over) so there wont be any left over chicken

Made blueberry pancakes for lunch at no cost (had stuff in cupboards already) and made oaty biscuits for snacks for the dc.

Just had to order a book from amazon for SILs boyfriend (I had forgotton it was his b day next week!)

Re: regifting....I do this. Especially wrt the dc. My Dh's extended family give my dc stuff all the time that they just dont/wont use/play with. As long as the stuff is good quality and unopened and the new recipient will like/appreciate it, its fine IMO!

Eg; Ds1 got a lego game and book for xmas - which I am sure cost a lot! - but he doesnt like/play with lego and never has. My nephew OTOH loves lego so will be getting both for his b day in April! I will also get him some chocs or something.

Also have 2 duplicate dvds from xmas and 2 books so they will go to someone too at some point (cousins children etc)

Oh, and a transformer!

My sis and I also share clothes for the dc...ds2 was wearing a top the other day that ds1 had worn, my youngest nephew had then worn and now he is wearing it!! Still looks great, too!

I also buy the dc clothes from e bay too...had some lovely jeans for ds2 from 99p!!!

Oh! And a copy of The Sun for the £9.50 holiday deal token! Total £227.40

£16.99 replacement adaptor.
£9.50 had to POAS (whoops). Luckily it was a negative, people.

Sob...

Went to Asda (by bike, 25 minutes along the canal towpath, to save fuel) to buy some breadrolls for lunch and also ended up buying a box of wine.. (the thinking being a box works out cheaper than bottles and with a box we only drink a glass and there is not that urge to 'finish the bottle')

Then dd came home from a party and reminded me that her schoolshoes and trainers were hurting her feet... So off we trotted to Clarks to buy new school shoes. Luckily they had a sale on so although the school shoes were full price we bought some nice solid hiking boot type trainers half price (£15). Total spend was still £47 though.

I think I may have to try for a no-spend February instead, January appeas to be a bit of a write-off on the being frugal front...

BehindLock I'm with you there, January has been bloody expensive so far hey-ho at least I'm getting into the frugal mentality, just think of what we'd have spent otherwise?

Meant to say for those with Asdas nearby, boxes of christmas yummy biscuits "Victoria" ones are down to £2 they were £7 before Christmas.

Also if anyone has a local "premier express" shop -bit like a Spar, they have offers on several things 3 for £1 & £1 offers for brands like PG tips, Ambrosia Rice & Custard, and lots of snacky things for the kids lunch boxes. Depends what you like but might be worth a look, they often haved the local PO in them.

NumberNine - I think you did brilliantly. Cycling, only one extra item bought (and wine, it can be argued, is NOT a luxury but a damned necessity) , and two pairs of shoes for under £50!!!! Bloody amazing!

Tbh, I am looking upon this as a way to focus my attention on what is important and necessary. I know that car tax, house insurance, food etc etc is necessary and therefore cannot be done away with. However, this thread is helping me to see what I have been doing as destructive (I could get gold if shopping were an olympic sport). I am thinking about what is needed and I am getting quite addicted to saving money or, to put it another way, not spending so much in the first place.

spew I do think our veg box is good value. It is organic, but it is cheaper than supermarket organic. We get it because it keeps the food intersting and we dont eat the same old thing every week. Also, I seem to spend less over all on food when I have a veg box as I dont purchase unessessary veg that doesnt get eaten. This week I had a large size, normally get a medium though. In our house there are me, dh and 2dc (they are only little but have huge appetites and usually eat half an adult portion as a rough guide) and its plenty. It does not include fruit though so need to buy that extra. I have found that this weeks box had a lot in it and we have planned the meals around the box so fingers crossed, food shop next week should be £10-£15 only....

Made a lovely curry tonight, the dcs found it a bit spicy though, so spur of the moment I made some ice cream!!! It was really good! I put a box of frozen blueberries, a couple of tablespoons of fat free natural yoghurt and about 100ml elm lea (double) in the food processor and blended. It was a lovely soft ice cream, served straight away. Will be doing this more often for sure. Frozen fruit is so much cheaper than fresh as well.

I think we are all doing very well with this. I know that if I wasn't keeping such a tight control on things I would have spent way more by now on so much junk I did not need. I am no longer popping into the supermarket on the way home from the school run as I dont take my purse with me. Probably saving myself at least £3- £5 a day! Over a week thats £15-£25 and £60-£100 a month!!!!! Amazing how this all adds up when you start analysing what you spend.

Oh yes, like jezablle, we also bought our copy of the sun to get oursleves a bargain holiday this year!

Thanks to you all I have managed not to buy any uneeded things in January (oh, and the fact my ds screams when we go into a shop....) And I have time through my freezer and arranged a meal plan around the contents, so apart from ham, we don't need to but any meat this week.

Grrr, was doing so well then DD and DS2 had a sleep over at GPs on Fri night. By mid afternoon I was wondering what time they would be back so phoned GPs to check and was told they would brin them back by 5. Mad dash to asda to get enough things in for tea to feed GPs as well as the 6 of us (I had enough "bits" in for just us but not really enough to feed another 2 adults). GPs arrived, had a brew, I made tea, and as I put tea on the table they announced they were off home! My fault for making the assumption but I have never known them not stay for tea. Therfore I spent an extra £40 that could have been in my pocket.

On the positive side I have sold a few things on eBay (one being some clippers that we used for our dog who died in 2008! They made £45) and have some other bits to list today including some UPVC windows (hoping they will sell as they are only a few years old but we have changed the hall layout so needed to put in smaller windows).

Car insurance renewal arrived yesterday and was way to high, £600, so I phoned to see if there was any way of reducing it, was promised someone would phone back but didn't so will now shop around.

DH has a migraine. So the day's not going to go as planned. Think I'll spend the next few hours ebaying too. Make the most of the no fee weekend!

Will be ebaying today also :)

Well done curly on the clippers sale on eBay!

I think we are all doing very well. Buying the children shoes is fine. Just try to buy good quality at the lowest price. I certainly go to the shops less and have spent a lot less than I would have done. I might start writing down the potential spend along side the actual spend. We've eaten better, wasted less and been grateful and enjoyed the free activities we did. Also it's only been a week!!! (although some started earlier) Let's consider this last week as our detox week and learn from it :)

spew I needed to find out a lot about patios as did not want to be ripped off when it came to quotes. Have a look at pavingexpert.com gives lots of advice on paving and calculators for estimating how many slabs needed etc. Most important thing though is personal recommendation if you are using a contractor. If you use gravel as well as paving it is a cheaper option than all paving.

This is an inspired idea. I am in too.

I will not spend any money one day a week (do you have to say which day now?!)
I am going to try and not do a big supermarket shop until payday and just use up all the ingredients we have. Hubby is going to work this week with left over mince pies (is that really mean?!)
so all recipes for lentil stews and rice dishes welcome!

sorry new to posting.. should I have said DH when referring to him indoors!

Oh dear, it's all gone horribly wrong. Just bought a roof box and bars for the car. We needed to do it this month as going away in March and I won't get any more mat pay now. So wouldn't be able to afford it next month. It total came to £220. It also cost us a relaxed Sunday morning. Ended up getting stressy with husband. Feeling rubbish now .

Oh spew I feel your pain,I hate mornings like that.however, like you said, they were a necessity.don't feel bad. Just try to make a bit if cash else where (ebay, car boot) to make yourself feel better! :)

Ds has just handed me some toys he no longer wants for me to sell on my computer shop as he calls it (that's eBay to you and i!) He says he wants to start saving some money so that if he sees something he wants he might have enough to buy it! Bless him,he's only 5

Thanks morecoffee. Have remembered we need to pay the balance on the holiday this month as well. I've emailed to ask if we can pay in two installments over this month and the next instead. Will see what she says (renting a flat so hoping a private owner will be more flexible that a big company). Going to put some stuff on ebay later, but nothing that will bring in big bucks. Think I should go and try to make peace with the husband now. Also, thanks for your comments re veg box, it's something I want to go back to when we can afford it.

Hope my son turns out like yours!

I had a very productive day yesterday, I did an inventory of both freezers and both store cupboards using the printable sheets from (they also do meal planners)organizedhome.com/ and a meal plan for the next two weeks. I spent £6 in Lidl on milk, fruit and veg.

I have to go to Tesco's today to collect a school jumper for DD which was only £4 instead of the £15 the school shop wanted. We will go on our bikes and I shall try to only visit the reduced section for whoopsies !
To the lady who followed my link for WHS, the £12 surely must be cheaper than buying each copy individually

I have also joined my local FB "for sale" group as I am cheesed off with the fees on Ebay and buyers letting me down so fingers crossed I shall be able to get rid of the four bags of DD's clothes