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

I’m in! Struggling to adjust to paying nursery fees- and they go up in January 😭
We are already meal planning but I find it starts to slip when we are tired at the end of the week or DD brings another bug home from nursery

Yes please. I'm a dreadful impulse spender.

Do you have to tot up your spending at the end of the month? That might actually help me.

Yes I’ve said I’m going to do this except for a child’s big birthday which I will have to count as essential! Nothing else. I’m determined. Need to get a bit of a buffer in my account so I’m not going overdrawn anymore.

@chimichangaz

I came on hoping to find a thread like this!

I'm in, but I'm going to take it week by week as committing to a month upfront is quite daunting....

I've had a horrible six months with family illness followed by death, meaning lots of travel to support loved ones while doing major house renovations. Because I was knackered I've way overspent on virtually everything (shopping, impulse buys, Christmas) and am massively out of control with my finances which I used to manage to the penny.

Renovations now almost completed, I have had a wardrobe clear out and ordered stuff in the Next sale, I have a huge toiletries stash to sort out and a fairly well stocked freezer. One thing I need to do is to adjust my shopping/cooking habits as I live with my 20yo DS who's recently started a job where he works evenings and doesn't really eat an evening meal any more, so I have to get used to cooking for one!

Sorry you've had such a tough month

Or few months! @chimichangaz

I would like to join too! I really want to get a handle on my finances for 2022. I do have a holiday to book but I just want to reduce the day to day, frivolous spends

I’m restricting myself to no impulse spends rather than no spend.

I'm in, horse has his own budget ( needs feed plus medication in Jan 🙈) but other than a few things I have committed to purchase for DC's sport ( essential ) I want to stop wasting money. I get through £500+ on rubbish every month.

I am in. Exh quit job so that he doesn't have to pay child maintenance anymore so frugal times are ahead for us!

We're currently doing the using up the food we have in so I am going to have to do a fairly big food shop next week but I'm going to meal plan and stick to strictly what's on the list.

Do you have to tot up your spending at the end of the month? That might actually help me.

Keep a running total

So £x amount spent on
Total for month

May help to see what or where are weaknesses are 🤣

I am going to commit to bringing my own dinner to work every day. That will a) save me money and b) help with the diet!

A big expense for me every month is meals on an evening after a shift. I stay over between shifts so 2 nights of the week while I'm staying in hotel rooms I tend to get takeaway or McDonald's or something. If anyone has any ideas for this I'd be grateful. I sometimes do a pot noodle or cup soup as there's a kettle in my hotel room but that gets boring pretty quickly.

@Doublechins this is a known expense so it needs to be in your budget so the cost is not extra.
I agree it is difficult to avoid but you could take a few things with you, extra tea bags or coffee and some granola bars or instant porridge for breakfast
part of budgeting is to always include the known extras birthdays Christmas work expenses if you always get work coffees on a friday it's in the budget, it you know you will get through 4 pairs of tights a month it is in budget, if you buy two train tickets a year to go to see a friend in Cornwall budget it, if you go to dentist twice a year or opticians once if you buy new glasses every two years budget it in.

very very few expenses are truly unexpected maybe a sudden death and funeral, a tree falling on your car, life changing injuries etc etc but your 10 year old washing machine dying is not really unexpected it is part of house/ car /appliance maintenance and if possible you should have a sinking fund for these, I have an older car so I budget some extra I will almost certainly need 4 new tyres in the autumn as I know how long on average they last, I have just had new brake pads done so wouldn't expect to need them done again, my freezer is nearing the end of its life as frosting up so putting aside money for that

@ivykaty44 Thank you! I half heartedly did a bullet journal during first lockdown and dutifully wrote down all spending for 2 months - but was so horrified at what I spent on 'top up food' shops (and Amazon) that I stopped.

It will be interesting to see how little I can actually spend if I'm really trying - the key for me seems to be not to think oh but it's food/item for house/really useful I think I spend a huge amount in places like B&M or Home Bargains that is basically unnecessary.

I'd love to but DD's birthday is in early February. Still joining or general ideas and maybe to do my own no spend March (feb is half term so again not possible)

Definitely need a no-spend year to be honest but definitely a no-spend January! DD starting nursery in Feb so adding that to my list of expenses and DP has a big birthday this year so want to do something special. Need to sort finances out in general too!

I want to join!! Christmas wasn't actually totally insane spending wise but the few months before have been terrible, only managed to maintain my current savings and I'm going on self employed mat leave in 2 months 😬 would love to boost my savings before I stop earning

Yesssss! I'm in

That makes sense teacup thanks. I need to sit down and make a budget for all these things but it seems like such a daunting task 🙈

noddles in a jar - just add boiling water

I use kakeibo by Hani Motoko which I find useful in tracking my spending and setting goals.

I'm in. We're usually fine for money except that end 2020 DS1 got diagnosed with ADHD and dyspraxia- all private and the vast majority of appointments/treatments aren't reimbursed by the state health or my private heath coverage (not in the UK). I reckon the whole thing has cost us 2k so far.

Aaaannnndddd DS2 is now currently going through the same (paid out of pocket) assessments and we already know he'll need some treatment. We also had to pay for some 600euro glasses for him which weren't covered by our insurance

So I need to actually think about what I spend money on whereas usually I don't need to. We rarely eat out, never go drinking, never get coffees etc so I need to cut down on random purchases on Amazon (especially those to get the free delivery), clothes, and the treat food in supermarkets (nip in for bananas and come out with 7 euros worth of chocolate mousse....)

Can I join. We're trying to cut down our monthly expenditures so that DH can change to a less stressful job. I figure if I can start by changing my habits in January (Costa and take outs I'm looking at you) then maybe some will stick for the rest of the year.

I'm in. Really want to stop wasting money