So, for next year's holiday, I am going to try and save as much as possible up front, rather than dipping into my meagre savings.
I do budget and manage to save a small amount each month, but was hoping to make more of an effort and create a separate savings pot.
I am ashamed to say that I spend too much on unnecessary stuff; books and magazines, stationery, wine, coffees on the go, treats here and there that soon add up. I also buy far too much food and have far too many toiletries, loads of make up and cupboards full of shoes, handbags and clothes.
The decluttering is another thread entirely, which I will deal with separately.
For the moment, I plan to use up the excess food and toiletries stash.
Would anyone like to join me, to share tips?
I have three opened boxes of breakfast cereal and will not be buying more until they are all used up.
Ditto the six bottles of hair shampoo, five shower gels, eight bars of soap, two drawers full of makeup and an undersink cupboard crammed full of cleaning products 
.
The only things I need to shop for are fresh bread, milk, fruit and veg, but will try and eke out my supplies until next weekend by doing a bit of meal planning to use everything up first.
I'm going to start by baking some bread and a rice dish for lunch with some of yesterday's leftovers. I have eggs and tinned tuna for lunches on other days and a couple of freezer meals from some batch cooking a couple of weeks ago.
Pears and nectarines in the fruit bowl are going in the fridge to make them last longer, to have with morning cereals.
I have a travel mug and eleven books at the side of the bed to start on, so no takeaway coffees or magazines for a while.
I don't want to go into specifics, but will give a rough estimate of savings made.
I know there are other threads on here in the same vein, but I did not want to hijack them.
Thanks for reading!