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No-spend January/Frugal February - the no-spend challenge continues

981 replies

roguepixie · 19/01/2012 19:41

OK - am attempting to start the second thread ... hope this works.

OP posts:
mamasunshine · 03/02/2012 16:32

1.80 spent on biscuits as a friend came over for a coffee. Much cheaper than going to a coffe shop Smile

Leilandri · 03/02/2012 17:40

NSD today. Day spent packing up our stuff ready for getting keys tomorrow Grin
In packing up my DS's room, I have come to realise just how much stuff they have... so no more random bits and bobs for them, restricted only to Bday's and Xmas, so that will save some money :)
Will be a BIG spend on Monday tho, as our chest freezer will be being reinstated (has been in storage unit for 20 months - I might just kiss it when I plug it in!!) so that will need filling. Going to go to the supermarket at closing time and hopefully get some whoopsies :)

moomoo fab tips for the herbs, wine etc. Something else I do with lemons and limes that are going over, is to slice them into wedges, then freeze. Nice icy-lemons to add to a g&t Wink Wine

Fishpond · 03/02/2012 17:43

No spend yet today but will give $2 to a fundraiser here at work for a girl who is off or health problems - and get lovely lunch for donating so works out well and actually cheaper than buying lunch out somewhere else.

Spend for Feb: $8 so far, all on prepared food Confused

Fishpond · 03/02/2012 17:44

Oh I lied, petrol yesterday $25

So total so far is $33

Dlamis · 03/02/2012 18:31

It was nearly a no spend day but I went to the shop to buy some yoghurt to make spew's bread, and ended up spending £7 after I added in sweets for me and the kids, posh creme brulee desert treat for me (not sharing with dh, no no definately not sharing) and a french stick.

At least the gas meter repair was free. That was a pleasant surprise/relief

jenduck · 03/02/2012 18:43

Have been absolutely non-stop today, only just sat down, what with groups, nursery, soft play, shopping, petrol-buying...

Spent £4.37 at Tesco on groceries (should have been £5.12 but had vouchers Smile), £20 at Tesco on diesel & £4.06 at softplay for entry & drink for me (they supply squash for the kids). Next time at softplay will take own can of drink as they don't mind at all & charge about £1.95 for a tea Shock

Got my free Graze today which looks yummy - 1 cheese, herb & tomato bread, 3 mini orange & ginger flapjacks, 1 pack vanilla seeds & 1 pack of cheesey goodies (cashews, salsa corn sticks & herb crackers). Also will get free of nappies on Wednesday for DS2 to trial for Tesco Home Panels

moomoo1967 · 03/02/2012 18:44

DanJARMouse do you have a poundland near to you for next time - they do infant paracetamol and ibuprofen for £1 each. I use them for DD

DanJARMouse · 03/02/2012 18:56

hi moo, no we dont :-( We have NOTHING other than Tesco or Lidl! Cant wait to move back south in July and have £land in the town again! As well as morrisons, asda, sainsbos etc!

Debs75 · 03/02/2012 18:59

Big shop day today £119 at |Asda plus £5 savings for Christmas. not too bad and a lot less then usual. Probably down to ds being ill andf dp staying at home, and I went with a friend and nattered past a few things I usually buy.
Even the breakfast wasn't much, just a cuppa and some fruit toast for me and dd3

ilikeyoursleeves · 03/02/2012 20:53

hi folks, got a petrol bargain today, I filled up the car & used my tesco voucher for 10p off a litre so it ended up being 1.20 a litre & i saved about £2.30. (remember the days when it was about 70p a litre?!). So that was an essential spend, other than that I spent 85p on a dirty coke &a mars bar, yum!

I think the tesco offer is 10p off if you spend over £60 in store.

anyone got any good plans for the weekend?

ilikeyoursleeves · 03/02/2012 20:56

oops,.diet coke even! bloody phone

NotAnOstrich · 03/02/2012 22:08

Feb spending at Morrisons and Mothercare so far, haven't managed a NSD yet this month :(

But a couple of savings ideas to pass on. Morrisons were issuing vouchers at the till, seemed to be based on what you had spent. Person in front of me (bigger trolley) got £5 off next £60 shop. I spent about £20 and got voucher for £3 off next £40 shop. Has to be used in next two weeks.

Mothercare has "buy 2 and save" on the Nature babycare nappies range for anyone who uses it. Makes 2 packs nappies £10 instead of £13. Spend over £50 for free home delivery.

NotAnOstrich · 03/02/2012 22:19

Other saving idea for Feb is to complain, nicely of course! I decided to swap landline phone providers in Jan (because of reviewing my budget for no-spend January). We were leaving BT and I asked the call centre about bill charges for some services we didn't request or need (caller ID when our phone doesn't have a screen etc). They were dismissive but I wrote a follow up letter stating the facts. A few weeks later BT rang to apologise + issue a refund! So despite a £24 "contract cancellation charge" for leaving :( , the refunded charges meant our account closed with BT 29p in credit!

roguepixie · 03/02/2012 22:54

Not a bad today - not a NSD but kept to the plan:

met friend for coffee, spent £2.70 but gain 10 Costa clubcard points
spent £3.75 on 3 bus journeys
spent £13 in Waitrose - had a list and kept to it (for the first time ever Shock)
club for DS £2 fee and £2 treat money
total for the day £23.45 - isn't it amazing how quickly it adds up?

I did pop into Boots but they didn't have any offers on the items I thought I might need so I walked back out again!!!! Shock Tbh, I have enough body lotion and need to use up what I have and a have a bottle spare of mouthwash so won't buy any until that has been started. I am starting to feel proud of myself as I think I am beginning to show the strength of character that I should have had years ago - actually sticking to a list/plan, keeping my promise to spend less, making do with what I have in the cupboard/freezer rather than buying in something that catches my eye! I made a cheap and cheerful risotto tonight - rice bought today but used onion, garlic, pancetta and peas from cupboard and freezer. Fried up a few mushrooms to go with it. DH and DS loved it!! I make stock from each chicken carcass I use so I use the stock in the risottos - makes all the difference to the taste.

I will go to do my fruit/veggie shop tomorrow morning. Aiming for about £35 as I need a few extras tomorrow - onions for one thing.

Boffin, love your GM stories - absolutely fascinating. I do love that period for all the ways things change, although a terrible period in history for so many reasons it also provided such impetus for change.

OP posts:
spewgloriousspew · 04/02/2012 08:37

Oops, sorry Dlamis. Hope the bread (and pud) was nice though!

roguepixie · 04/02/2012 10:48

Did the fruit and veg run this morning and spent £30.80 so came in under the £35.00 I set myself. Popped back into the butcher for more sausages and bacon -also got some chicken and lamb and spent another £27.00 - so that's £100.00 on meat - that WILL last the month.

Planning a mid-month Waitrose delivery (bread flour, yeast etc).

Walked to my local £land yesterday...it was like entering Aladdin's cave Grin. Boxes of Maltesers for £1 ... and Toblerone!!!! (Can you see the chocolate pattern??? Grin) ... but I didn't buy any Sad. Was quite impressed with the toiletries range ... when I need to buy some Smile.

OP posts:
DanJARMouse · 04/02/2012 16:40

Definately not a NSD here today!

£8 odd in Tesco (£4 on moshi monsters for DD1, £3 on cbeebies mag for DS, £1 on rolls and the odd pence on sugar)
£4 in toy shop (DD2's puppy in my pocket stuff)
£5 in hardware store for big battery for DH's torch and a draft excluder for the kitchen door
£1.20 on 2 cartons of apple juice at the swimming pool (lessons paid for already)
£1.98 in Semi-chem for tissues and new gloves for DD2 as she lost one at school yesterday!

So.... roughly £22 today. Adding to that a chinese takeaway tonight (i know, i know!) so will take todays spend to £45 :-O

And Ive just done an online tesco shop for monday night..... £87!

ilikeyoursleeves · 04/02/2012 16:55

nsd here today but I'm actually starting to feel a bit deprived! I sort of feel like you do when you are on a diet & all chocolate is banned! I think I want to go binge on a shopping spree but I wont I won't I won't.

Must keep myself focused cos mat leave is coming in june &i need to save!

TheDogTheDogHesAtItAgain · 04/02/2012 17:21

Not too bad today, although not NSD as it was the day for the weekly shop. Came in at £40 as we're still using up freezer/cupboard stuff. Took £50 out of bank - £30 to pay for dd2's afterschool activity, other £20 for miscellaneous.

Planning our "free" city trip, which is next weekend:

Food - Breakfasts provided at the hotel. As we're taking the car (petrol paid by dh's employer), I'm putting in cool bags, flasks and ingredients for packed lunches. We've budgeted to eat out for the 2 dinners.

Entertainment - will take girls to the zoo, which we pay to get into but should take up most of a day. Packed lunches and our own drinks from home, and if they want stuff from the shops they can use their own money. Ditto for the sweets and fizzy drinks that they always clamour for when we're out. Haven't worked out the other things we'll do yet, but will prioritise the cheaper ones!

Transport - the place where we always eat (non-negotiable!) is far out from the centre and we usually get a taxi, but this time we're getting the bus or driving. Rest of it is walkable.

Also need to budget for two other trips away this year, with flights involved, for family reasons. I'd prefer not to, with all this debt, but it really can't be avoided. So I've taken to Ebaying everything that isn't nailed down Grin. Unfortunately we don't have designer stuff or collectables, but I did find various bits of old computery stuff in a forgotten cupboard this morning, and according to dh's investigations it should make us about £30. A start is a start... Wink

spewgloriousspew · 04/02/2012 17:41

Ilikeyoursleeves, that feeling you describe is precisely why I allow myself one (affordable) treat per month. Otherwise, I will crack and spend loads on silly stuff.

ilikeyoursleeves · 04/02/2012 17:54

spew that might actually be a good idea. I have £14 of boots points just now so I could even spend them & satisfy my urges but at no cost!

reckoner · 04/02/2012 18:12

Quite an expensive day. Filled up the car with diesel £50, bought food £30.
But we watched a film last night (free rental at blockbuster because we rented a game - check the iphone app for vouchers), DD is sleeping over at best friend's house, we had a nice walk through the snow with DS and we're having pizza for dinner. Nice weekend so far.

Collision · 04/02/2012 18:30

Frugal February has botched for me!!!!

£269 on new washing machine!!!

Went into Reading.

Spent
£11 train fare
£3 burger king (for DS)
£6 on hat for DS for WB day
£4 in Primark on shades, towel and hair ties
£4 Moshi Monsters for boys
£10 PTA toys so will get that back
£3.50 in Waitrose on hot choc, finger rolls and a 19p sandwich

duchesse · 04/02/2012 18:45

Not entirely no spend today. Had to buy a lunch for DD1 who was going off to do a thing for the day and had forgotten her lunch. £5.50

Coffees in town for DH and DD1 between dropping off DD2 for 20km walk on Dartmoor and DD1 heading out. £5.20

But: On the way to meet up with DH and DD1 & 3 in the coffee after buying the lunch, I found a loyalty card from that coffee shop on the ground with 1 stamp on it. Added to the card I had in my purse and the one DH got when he bought the coffees took me to 10 stamps, and hey presto, my coffee was free!

duchesse · 04/02/2012 18:46

Ah yes, £4.20 on bigger hat for DD3 in town.