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

Im glad Im thinking about things more

I’m doing a no non essential spends January. Fingers crossed

@ivykaty44

noddles in a jar - just add boiling water

This looks fab.

I was at work all day and resisted the urge to buy anything other than the (needed!) milk when I finished.

Well done @AlexCabot I think it's about forming new habits.

I'm in - first baby due late Feb and we've currently budgeted for me to have 10 months off, so going to remind myself that everything I save could add extra weeks on before I have to go back to work!

All baby stuff already bought so I just need some bits for my hospital bag, and it's my mum's birthday next week, but otherwise it's essential spends only 🤞🏼.

I bought a new shirt and a new cardigan in the sales today. Half price - and for work

I'm starting tomorrow on my no spend!

We had thought about going to a forest about an hour away but the parking would have been £6 plus the petrol.

I do quite a few walks either solo or with a friend. We try and walk from the local area and not use cars, though we do sometimes. there are a few great walks from my homes where within 10 minutes im in the countryside and can walk 5 miles across fields. ive had to search these routes out, but footpathmap.co.uk/map/?zoom=12&lng=-1.60879&lat=52.22403 this map helps - all the pink and red you can walk on. By using a few lanes and red and pink routes you can cobble together some good walks and not have to drive to far, if at all

The noodle cups look good

I have spent £22 on amazing for a baby bath seat for my 6 month old which we needed!

I have been selling some items on Vinted (made £70 so far in December taking into account the money I spent on Vinted!!) and listed a few more items today including some Christmas gifts I won't use

I really recommend it if you have things lying around that you could sell

I'm on mat leave now and will soon be on no pay so it feels good to know I can potentially add a bit to the pot.

@coodawoodashooda here is pudding and remember, if you use not dairy, then a fridge isn't imperative as the non dairy milk doesn't tend to go off - not the ones from the normal shelf obviously mot the cool fridge.

I use it when camping in France and it lasts 2 weeks

That's good @ivykaty44 we are lucky that there are lots of great places for walking practically on our doorstep

I’ve done noodle pots like that before. Good stuff.

Tend to make overnight oats a few days in advance too. Yum.

Ooh I've just sold a car seat on marketplace for a tenner. Good start!

I’m in, starting tomorrow. My Tesco shop tonight was £117. Ouch! That’s my freezer and fridge well topped up so hopefully will only need milk and fruit/veg for the next few weeks. I really, really need to pay off my credit card this year so hoping for a very low spend year.

I have some money in PayPal from an eBay sale and some cash from Christmas so plan to make that last as long as possible and leave the bank account alone.

@ivykaty44

We had thought about going to a forest about an hour away but the parking would have been £6 plus the petrol.

I do quite a few walks either solo or with a friend. We try and walk from the local area and not use cars, though we do sometimes. there are a few great walks from my homes where within 10 minutes im in the countryside and can walk 5 miles across fields. ive had to search these routes out, but footpathmap.co.uk/map/?zoom=12&lng=-1.60879&lat=52.22403 this map helps - all the pink and red you can walk on. By using a few lanes and red and pink routes you can cobble together some good walks and not have to drive to far, if at all

This website is brilliant - we live in a lovely rural area and I like to walk our dog different routes as often as possible to keep him stimulated, but he is a very large breed and nearly 11 so I sometimes avoid a new path I spot in case the route ends up being too far for him, but now I'll know!

Sainsbury’s shop arriving today: £68 ish
Mainly dry store stuff like lentils, pasta and frozen fruit and meat- hoping it will last the month.
Dug out a packet of dried chickpeas from the cupboard rather than buying tins just need to be a bit more organised with soaking them overnight

We need milk today and I need to do a reccie of stores as planning a weekly shop tomorrow - also need yoghurt for the kids today just remembered!

Today and tomorrow will be no spend. Monday I will need bananas and possibly bread. The challenge will be to not get anything else

Buying food doesn't count as "spend" though does it?

I thought it was non essentials but then what's "essential"

No buying food doesn't count but I have a bad habit of buying unnecessary treats...

Oh yes, I'm planning this. Due to covid family who were supposed to be with us Christmas couldn't come, one of my kids was supposed to come for NY but hospital full of patients and half the staff off sick so they are cancelling holiday and working. Result is fridge/freezer/cupboard are full, January birthday presents are bought.

My plan is standing orders/direct debits going out as normal, I have £31 in a cashback account I will withdraw, I have £10 in nectar points, I've got a £40 Sainsburys voucher from surveys and a £55 M&S voucher from surveys so any shopping I need (milk/bread/fresh veg) will come from this "free money" and every penny of wages/pensions will stay in my account.

Good luck everyone.

Taking DD to the Nutcracker today, tickets bought back in October. I hope a no spend day today apart from some parsley and milk to make a fish pie. (We have a freezer full of fish - someone came to the door in November and DH spent £198 on fish! So we need to eat it...)

@ivykaty44 thanks for the link. We are in a town with only a couple of walks direct from home but we only usually drive a few miles and then have access to more walks my DC are only young so we can only do a couple of miles anyway.

We went to watch my DH do park run this morning and avoided the cafe again. No more outings planned but we did buy a newspaper - first one in ages, we used to get them delivered at weekends before DC and spend Saturday mornings reading them with a coffee. One paper now lasts us both a week 😂

I'm finding this a challenge already and we're not even half way through day 1!! Just caught myself browsing house raffle sites.....& also woke up thinking about buying radiator covers 😳

I think this is going to be a reset for my mindset......

Supermarket shopping & travel expenses don’t count

But every year this thread runs people put down how much they spend on food…we gotta eat 😜

It’s about not spending, neutralising our spending after December & Xmas expense

It’s about not going without but changing, so taking a drink and snacks with you to the park. Find free activities to enjoy, preparing & taking lunch to work rather than spending a packet on lunch at work

It’s not about hiding behind the sofa so as not to pay the rent or milkman 😂