No spend January

[ivykaty44]

anyone up for a no spend January?

just the normal utilities, food shopping and transport costs

then put the purse/wallet away and don't spend till February

a good way to rebalance the balance after xmas

NSD today!
Difficult day at work but I didn't cave - it helps that people are bringing in left over Christmas chocolate to share so there was a plentiful supply of snacks in the kitchen.

I hope to keep this up for the next two days. I usually treat myself to lunch/ coffee and pastry on a Friday but the cafe lunch earlier in the week will have to be it for this week. I need to keep the spends down below £10 a week.

I have £20 cash in my purse which has been there for months as it seems everywhere wants card payments nowadays. I live nowhere near my bank to pay it in but I found out today that I can pay it in at the post office, so I will be going there tomorrow to pay it in and put into my savings for next Christmas.

Not doing fantastically so far to be honest - had a couple of takeaways as I'm ill early pregnant and feeling generally shite, got a few sale bits to return the old bank account doesn't look too poorly for this time of the month of January to be fair so not too bad.

Sorry to everyone who has had bad days.

Another nsd because I’ve been stuck at work. The great thing about being so short staffed is that I can’t leave to spend money

@ancientgran sorry to hear about your DH, hope he is feeling better!

NSD yesterday
Today spent 99p on some chalk sticks for our blackboard- going to write up a plan for the garden, I always leave the seed planting too late so this year I’m getting organised!
Went to the library with DD and did more baking in an attempt to keep me away from grabbing coffee and a treat from our local cafe (currently my biggest weakness)

Thank you CheeseMaiden, he seems to be improving slowly. I'm definitely keeping fit running up and down the stairs. Who needs to join a gym in January, not me.

Everyone seems to be doing so well, are we going to have a virtual party on the 31st to celebrate?

Spent £42 on shopping this evening for ds who is having to self isolate as been contacted by test and trace. He normally eats at work or his girlfriends so I asked for a list and have bought what he wanted. Hopefully there will be some meals in there for me too.....

NSD yesterday. 😁 good shop today

Morning all! Aldi shop today. Marie Kondo'd my wardrobe and sock drawer yesterday. Will clean all shoes today and KonMari the shoe cupboard and my tights. One big bag for textile recycling, another for donating.

I cleared my wardrobe out over the weekend but I didn't get much to ditch as I went through it all about 6 months ago and was pretty ruthless. I have some gaps to fill - mainly basics such as t shirts but I have a list and will stick to it.

I have a holiday booked for May half term - first one for 3 years! It was planned 2 years ago for my 40th but cancelled twice now for obvious reasons.
My summer wardrobe is quite bare so I am going to set aside some money Feb - Apr to buy a few things for holiday. I have one pair of sandals which are saltwaters from c. 2014. The less I spend on fripperies the more I will have to get some nice summer things.

Ive forgotten to log my spends but I think that’s because there hasn’t been any!
Not even yesterday when I had planned to go for a drink while DC at clubs in the city.

NSD today too.

I have found out that I’ve put on 9lb since Halloween and so I need to lose a little because my clothes are uncomfortable and I literally can’t afford to size up

@ancientgran hope your dh is improving along with your fitness levels!
NSD here today as I haven't left the house all day. Returned a couple of items yesterday which I had binned my receipts for, was able to exchange though so I did on sale items which satisfied that itch. Was mindful of what I was purchasing which is progress!

£51 at Aldi, which this time included dish washer tablets, sponges and...daffodils! Six bunches, 95pence each. So I suppose it was about £40 on food.

NSD here. Tomorrow is likely to be expensive- eye test, likely to lead to new glasses. Unfortunately I’m practically blind without them, so definitely essential!

NSD today but we need milk and yoghurt so DH will have to get later. Took the DC to the park but packed own drinks then when it started to get too cold we came home for cupcakes we already had in

We’ve not yet purchased the new tyres so not yet over “normal” budget but have broken the “reduced” budget I’d set given the car service and the other work required

NSD again today. Had a spendy urge so I walked to the library in the sunshine and picked out three books to read... for free!

So nearly half way through the month

£6.20 coffee
£20 wool
£12 presents
£6.10 today a Starbucks with dd
£13.00 coffee & cake out 🙈

makes a total of

£57.60 this January - so far

But in my defence, I’ve not spent a penny in the supermarket this week - £44.63 is all I’ve spent in the supermarket during January & I’m nearly through 2/3rds of the freezer.

No petrol in the car this year, still using fuel from a full tank before Xmas

£102.23 total for the year

PigeonPigPie Do you use their digital newspapers and magazines? They usually do some really good magazines

@ivykaty44

PigeonPigPie Do you use their digital newspapers and magazines? They usually do some really good magazines

I don't! I need to look into how this works as I love the idea of curling up with a tea and a digital magazine when I'm not in the mood for a book

You're doing so well @ivykaty44 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I had a NSD yesterday and today will hopefully be the same. Made another £2 on prolific and next week I should be able to cash out enough to pay for my hair appointment so I won't feel guilty about spending that.

I'm not sure if it's tiredness with all the rushing about with DH being ill but I feel really rotten and all the positivity on here is helping me so can I say thanks to everyone. We will be making Rishi Sunak cry as we are doing nothing to get the economy moving this month.

I had a small win today. We needed milk and tea bags for the office earlier in the week (I have been coming into the office this week to cover but I am usually WFH and always did pre Covid) apparently it is such a faff to claim the money back from petty cash (because we are in a satellite of a bigger office) that no one claims it back.
Cue no milk or tea bags because no one wants to spend money this week. I stocked up and have made bloody sure to get the money back!! It is already in my account as of this morning.

The ladies here are thankful because they have been spending their own money for months when everyone in the main office gets all sorts for free.

Fortunately today is my last day in for a while. I quite like coming in but it does make not spending harder as I have to remember my lunch (and I ended up having one lunch out anyway).

Well I have spent money, I forgot it was the eggman day. I buy a dozen free range eggs from a local farm, he delivers them every other Friday. I had hardly any money on me as I'm not spending and seem to be using contactless when I do spend so I had to raid the change jar, where I throw bits of money that gets left lying about or if I don't want it in my purse.

I made an apple pie yesterday and had it with custard last night, might have some for lunch today. I'm not keen on shop bought apple pies as I don't like them too sweet so I prefer my own.

For dinner we had a gammon joint I'd bought for New Year but didn't cook it as we didn't have our visitors, I've got enough left for lunch sandwiches today and tomorrow. I've got to think about Sunday dinner, I think I've got some chicken breasts in the freeze so that might be it.

I need to do a bit of an audit of the freezer, I know I've got a nice beef casserole in there and a chilli. I think it will be empty by the end of the month but that isn't a bad thing I'll do a shop at the beginning of Feb and do some batch cooking and fill it up again.

I have sinned and spent £70 on clothing online however I used money from a secret account so haven't used the joint account. It's money I've earned from publishing. To be honest I've been feeling so ill and fed up with covid, annoyed with my household for just existing and also sad that I've missed out on a job opportunity by being ill.

I know spending shouldn't make me feel better. I ordered 6 items which are all considered purchases. I'm going to allow this glitch and move on. It will be the only non essential spend of January. Back on the wagon now.

£37 at the butcher. Fair bit for the freezer, so we should have enough for most of our meat-based meals over the next 8 days or so, depending on how mean I am. DS here for another week, and he likes his food. As do we all.

I very much want to buy things! Summer sandals, cotton trousers, reupholster a chair, prints and frames, lighting...aargh! Nails already painted, maybe I will paint my toenails as well tonight. I can also continue my KonMari method and apply it to the box of study materials currently residing under DS' bed. I reckon once I've sorted what I'm going to keep, I will be allowed to buy some really nice stationery so what remains can look nice on the shelf and encourage me to use it.

Ok, walk the dog and on my return, clean boots and shoes and display them nicely in the cupboard. i've never thought of myself as a spendthrift, but this does feel like cold turkey.

Stay strong @BigSkies22 you can do it.