Judicious January - Long may the credit crunching continue

[roguepixie]

So, the credit crunching team are into Year 2013. Happy New Year everyone.

Let's continue our cost-cutting, , money saving,penny and pound pinching, NSD ways.

Hello, I have not been on a thread like this since February or March last year, but I am up for spending as little as possible for a while.

I am in! I need to save!

Thank you for the new thread, I have been racking my brains all morning and not come up with a thread title.

So I was reading on mse that from April we can all pay our council tax over 12 months not 10. It will save us £20 a month on our outgoings.

I was going to do my food shop today, but Aldi is shut.

I referred dh as a new customer to topcashback so I should get £15 back for that when he spends something via them.

Oooh a nice new shiny thread!!

One of my resolutions us to buy no new books this year and read only books I have or books I can borrow. The library shall be my new best friend. I should save £20 a month.

Also not buying glossy mags this year as I've realised that most of the articles are recycled from previous years or other mags. I have loads of recipe books, am going to look at blogs for styling tips and i don't need home decor tips as we're now renting for a year! That's another £20 a month.

Considering dropping one of our EH or NT memberships in favour of the Historic Royal Palaces membership. I'm on the lookout for an offer for that.

I'm also going to visit supermarkets more and do online shopping less. I think I miss out on bargains by shopping online. I'm a list shopper so I don't impulse but that often. We shall see if it helps save!

I've ditched my tumble dryer - mostly because it doesn't fit in the new house. I am coping with getting the washing dry so that must be saving us quite a bit.

I didn't realise you hit rewards for recommending someone for topcashback. Does anyone want to recommend me because I want to join up this week?

you beat me to it, rogue! Thanks for starting us off.

I can recommend you, Helena - pm me!

Keeping this short as our flipping router has broken again so only have internet on the phone, which is a pain to type on.

It's going to be an expensive month here, as car insurance for both of us is due. When we have internet back, I'll shop around for the best deal.I also have to renew my driving licence (£20), and since they need a new photo, I'll look like a beached whale on it for the next 10 years or so.

NSDs aren't that realistic when I have a toddler to.entertain in the winter months, but I aim to only do playgroups that cost 50p/£1, not mega-pricey classes.

And when economybaby arrives, we'll be going out even less than we do now, so that should save us some pennies.

Happy New Year everyone!

NSD here today.

Good job after yesterday which was panto (tickets paid for already), ice cream, parking and then a takeaway pizza. Ouch, but the DCs had a great time so it was a lovely way to end the year and well worth it.

DH still has no work lined up, but there are a couple of things in the pipeline so hopefully by this time next week we will be close to having some income again!

I'm in. I spent hours yesterday working out income and expenditure for the first quarter, it was well worth doing.
I called Hydro electric and increased our bill to get rid of the arrears.
I called sky and reduced our package to £48 for tv, phone and unlimited broadband.
Cancelled my spotify subscription.
Basically the budget is down to the bare bones, with sky being our only luxury.

If nothing major happens we should have £1800 saved by end of march, which will pay for DH's offshore training.

We have stopped smoking as of today, having no alcohol for the next three months, wish us luck.

Good luck with the no smoking, when dh gave up the clinic said to use two NRT, eg gum and micro tabs or patches and micro tabs etc. I think NRT is free sometimes on prescription if you go to the dr or clinic.

It's harder than heroin to give up so don't try cold turkey, it's murder.

Helena, have you thought of a kindle? Ok it's an initial outlay of £69, but there are so many cheap and free books. I've been glued to a 20p Jack the Ripper book for 3 nights. Plus you can get cashback off topcashback if you get one via currys. You'd save on petrol and parking fees for the library eventually. Plus library late fines.

Rogue thanks for starting us off for the new year, great title.

Ali glad the DCs had such a great day out, fx for DH's work

Terra good luck with stopping smoking, I'd take Fluffy's advice and get some some support. those evil tabacco company bastards put additives in to make their product even more addictive

Yesterday we only spent money on road tolls, £6 driving into the city for a lovely party at a friend's house. NSD today, but tomorrow I'll need diary and fruit/veg. I'm going to take cash out for this week and have a look at a delivery website, see what their prices are like.

Helena - I'd love your tumble dryer at the moment! Have just unearthed three mega boxes/bags of baby clothes from the attic. All damp and all need washing. But it's the drying that's the problem - no way I can dry it all as well as our usual clothes and nappy washes. Think I'm going to have to brave the very local launderette. Wish it was outdoor drying weather!

I am in! Been lurking on these threads for ages, and I am determine this year to start putting some money away. I am on maternity leave for another 6 months so need to cut back abit anyway, and also want to build up a bit of savings I watched a programme not long ago about how many pay days people are away from trouble, and it's inspired me to try and be more frugal.

Anyway, no spend day for me today, so off to a flying start

I had an idea this morning - I call it ReJanimate. Basically you use January to bring unused and unloved items in your house back to life - start using up those toiletries, wearing those clothes, rotating toys so they all get played with, cooking with those tins and packets in the cupboard. Just find one thing a day to use!

I made a blog but I don't know if I'm allowed to link to it? Anyway it's in the bloggers topic.

I'm in. I went to the supermarket before closing yesterday and filled my freezer with enough meat for a few weeks. I'm hoping to slash our spending this year.

I also want to declutter so will start selling on FB/ebay this week.

Well, I have scanned 40 DVDs and CDs into Magpie Music to see what they are worth, and it's only adding up to £26, which is not that impressive .... is this the best place to sell things like this?

Evening all, NSD here. We're eating out of the freezer for the next couple of weeks as courtesy of British Gas we're getting a new Fridge freezer. Plus we've seen one that we prefer which is less than we're being given so I'm going to have £300 almost to spend in Currys :) New kettle is a definite but I must let DH have a spend too :)

Even if you sold your dvds and cds on FBfor £1 each you would get more.

If you ordered your fridge etc online you can get cashback off topcashback, might only be a few £'s but it all adds up. I check everything out in store then order online or I check in John Lewis and buy off appliance online.

Dh took loads of DVD and cd to work and got £35, he was selling box sets of DVD for £5.

Bugger DH has already ordered it :(

Hello folks...thanks for the new thread NSD today. Need to rewrite my fridge/freezer/cupboard contents list in the morning and get some meal planning done...should have plenty to see us to the weekend.Tough 2 months coming up as I pull together enough to cover our moving costs!

Hello! Can I join, I have been lurking like a creepy stalker for ages now, waiting for the right time to join and I have decided that time is now. Hurrah!

Anyway, first NSD today so very pleased with myself already. :)

Hi, can I join too? Have 5k on credit card for first time ever and am determined to pay it off by the end of the year. We had a 'financial summit' this evening and decided on an £80 cash budget a week which should cover everything except school dinners (£20) and fuel. I'm hoping that physically having(or not having) the money will stop unessential spending

Oops - forgot to add - will also be doing some serious meal planning too.

Can I join you, please? I've got a credit card to get rid of, plus an overdraft (which I go into every month). I'm a lone parent with a pt job and don't receive maintenance, so money is tight. My road tax is due next month and god knows where I'm going to find the £195 for that . Have listed some items on eBay so hopefully they'll sell and that can go towards it, otherwise it's on the overdraft, as usual.

It's such an uphill battle, isn't it?

Can I join as well? Trying to curb the unnecessary spending in a bid to get enough savings to go on the 'big trip' earlier than planned.

Inlaws visiting for a couple of weeks later this month so going to be tough to save much!