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. ?

so what are the names of all the cashback sites we need to know about?

well, not particularly good spending weekend in some ways...panto tix and lunch added up. but panto proceeds going to great ormonds... and they're so great, love supporting something local that's been going on for 50+ years!!

rogue on the subject of toiletries...I must have a year's supply of face wash products...body lotion...hand cream...must stay away from Boots et al.

Massive squash I bought for soup is the size of a pumpkin...gbp 2.69. huge amt of soup atm and we still have another half to go...if we can bear to eat that much of it in one week.

and weekend wine - getting used to spritzers to stretch that bottle...

LadyH it's those damn buy two items and get 5 free gifts - I have so many 'extras' that I don't think I'll have to buy body lotion or face cream for the whole of 2012 . So much money spent on stuff that I should only get when I need. All those £'s in the company coffers rather than my own bank account .

Also, I have seen recipes, easy to google if you are interested, that use squash in sponge cake type desserts? Might be an alternative to soup. Or you could make a filling for fresh ravioli?

HI rogue
Am thinking of a veggie lasagna or canneloni..if I have time this wk and DH will eat it...or making the soup and freezing it...

our issue is also that our oven is on the blink...so takes HOURS to cook anything in the main oven. stove top or grill main option for weekdays.

Dealing with my kitchen issues (broken oven, dishwasher, LEAK in ceiling...insurance won't cover it all) is one of the reasons I'm on this thread re savings....

More than that, some people used to leave me entire meals out, or invite me to raid the fridge!

My stuff did not do very well on EBay. Any tips?

So managed so far not to buy frivolous things, apart from a toy wand for 48p for dd2 to keep her entertained in Morrisons
Have also started ebaying and have sold a pram frame for £41 on Ebay so am up so far this month.
Am doing a stew with cut price beef to freeze and am slowly making sure we don't waste food by turning as much as possible into soup for me.

Need to do well in January as away to London in Februalry and I know I will spend too much

Boffinmum have you tried Gumtree it is free so it doesn't matter if it doesn't sell. YOu do have to decide a price though

One thing I did do was switch mobile companies as if you went through Tesco you got 20,000 clubcard points. If I use them all on rewards I will have £800 to spend on days out or meals out so that is probably the best I will do all year

I'm a bit scared of quidco. Not sure why. I've just signed up so we'll see.

Hoping for a no-spend day toda.Just got to send off an ebay sale, but got paid for p&p, so that doesn't really count.

Good luck, everyone!

for cashback sites try this link loads of info there. I always use quidco but have signed up for others in the past, quite happy with quidco tho!

babysitting: obv a fab way to earn extra money but it is in the evenings so only ok for those with no kids or partner who gets home in time! I earned loads extra with just one family who used me every friday night for a year while they had dance classes for their wedding! Great, Sky movie package, free chocolate, cats to cuddle and 2 adorable kids who never woke up!

Trying for a better no-spend week, but I have a couple of parcels to send off today (one is a damaged book return to Amazon for refund, and they will refund the postage) and we need kitchen roll, bananas (AGAIN!), milk (as usual). I could use washable wipes instead of kitchen roll, I suppose. Tomrorow is our fortnightly visit to a children's centre that does fab food at low prices, and five pounds will feed me and both boys. Free entry but I usually donate a quid. And I need to book railway tickets, but am using DH's credit card. Other than that, am hoping we can hang on without more groceries shopping util the weekend, when I'll go to Aldi.

Should not have to spend anything today. I was tempted to buy some pasta bowls which match my dinner set. They were half price (£17) and have gone back up to full price today, so no way I will buy them now. Good good.

I have sifted through my make up too. I am determined to use up what I have before buying more.

I am trying own brand (Essential Waitrose) conditioner, it's cheap and lovely. I dare say it's better than the H&S stuff I was using. Lots of the Waitrose own is great. Their bottle of make up remover is huge and not oily (yuck) like some products I have bought in the past.

re toiletries and make-up - I haven't bought any toiletries for ages - DD is 18mo and I still don't use any shampoo or soap for her as she doesn't need it. So I have been using up Johnsons baby stuff and lots of other little bottles we were given for her on myself. I use olive oil on cotton wool pads for cleaning make-up off - it works really well and very gentle.

As for make-up, I had a 'make-up MOT' with a make-up artist a little while back; she went through my bag, recommended which stuff to get rid of and which to keep, then showed me what to do with the keep stuff, and tried out a load of her products so I could see which I liked, and from that I have a very slimmed down list of things I use that I know work (and I know how to use). Cost around £40 but I have probably already saved that in not buying products that are not suitable or that I don't need, and she could recommend good sites to buy stuff cheaply. Could do with some blusher and eyeliner now though as I have run out of both; although I can live without. As long as I have mascara it's ok!...

Rouge - I already have a cross-stitch project planned for my parents for next christ,as

reckoner - with you on the toiletries. I have so much to get through before I can justify getting any more. It's so easy to get tempted. Now anymore though

Someone mentioned childrens clothes on ebay. You may have better look with car boot sales and 'nearly new' type sales that schools/nurseries etc run sometimes.

No spends today so far but I haven't paid the repair man yet. Meh

luck not look

and christmas not christ,as

fgs woman

I have started a group on FB called " A Penny Pinching Guide" it is intended for any members of the group to share money saving ideas, bargains they spot, upcoming sales, discount codes etc. I am being featured in Woman's Own on 31st January discussing the group and my money saving.

Please be careful with play.com. I joined them a couple of years ago and my account was hijacked to the tune of £300 by someone ordering goods. It took me ages to get my money back, their site security is terrible.
I switched energy suppliers in November and got a voucher for £60 worth of wine from Uswitch which was delivered last week and £100 of M&S vouchers which hopefully will come towards the end of the month.

Another thing I have found on FB is groups selling/swapping etc in your local area. There are no fees involved if you want to put stuff on for sale. I asked the admin on my local one what the rules were and he replied with " A deal is a deal and anyone misbehaving gets kicked off the group "

No more spends from me, got my last pay check today but it's a holiday here (Martin Luther King, Jr Day) so banks are closed which makes me unable to spend anything but the tiny $3 in my jacket pocket

I have to be out of the house today for renovations and was planning to sit in the library but it's also closed for the holiday! So bookstore instead. Definitely don't have the cash to buy anything but if they start looking at me funny bc I've been there too long may buy a $1 pastry/drink from the cafe to prolong my free reading time

Also going to the charity shop later (if it's open!! Geez seems like the world stops for this pseudo-holiday) to see if they have any cheap maternity clothes or smart black shoes. I applied at a temp agency this morning and referred on to the bank, who are closed of course so waiting until tomorrow to go there and get finger printed.

Hi all, I know i'm a bit late as we are half way through January but can I join?

I need to get through the next week only buying essentials like bread, milk, cat food. We are running pretty low on cash in the bank so I am going to live off what I have in my purse where possible (for this week).

My car has given up (we think it may be the battery).

I swear by Waitrose eye make up remover.

One thing that didn't work so well is the dye your own roots touch up thingy. It just didn't cover the grey for me. Anyone else ahve better luck with this????

welcome blackcat

I did spend today. Bought bread, ovenchips (£1 In our Sainsburys local) and two tins of soup (DH had dental work done and needs mushy food).

ladyharriet I've not used the root touch up. I just use normal dye.

Not exactly a no spend day after all. Did the weekly shop for £26. Plus got a light weight stroller for £10 in the charity shop. We have been looking for one of these, so not an impulse buy.

Now, someone please tell me NOT to buy the Short and Sweet baking book from Amazon. I feel like I need cheering up after I mashed my finger in the hand blender (and then fainted three times (can't deal with blood), bit my tongue and whacked my head on the floor while doing so). Husband came home after he saw me fall off the chair while skyping. The baby wasn't so cooperative. Damn boy still demanded his lunch (the whole reason I was using the sodding blender was because he was refusing chunky food so needed to make it smoother).