Anyone want to join for a No spend January

[ivykaty44]

As done in other years, a no spend January

But also perhaps a budget cooking month, to really keep costs down

the idea is we only spend money on transport & food shopping - so those items don't count, but lets try and keep the shopping spends low

I shall be following the likes of cardiff mum and taming twins for budget ideas for food, especially using slow cooker and doubling up recipes.

I shall also be cooking some slow cooker recipes in January and doubling up, that way can cook for the first 2 weeks of January and freeze for the next two weeks

Purchasing birthday present for January on Black Friday next week, that way getting a good deal.

Its a reset on finances which will be especially needed in the household to curb some unnecessary spending and leave me with money in the bank on 31 January. I did this about 4 years ago and had an extra £110 in my account.

doing free things, , freecycle after Christmas, walks, cycling, library trips, free talks etc

Some take it into February

Milkyworm

thats the spirit of no spend, seeing what you can get for free, swaps or free stuff on Facebook, using the library, taking lunch to work, taking drinks and cake from home on a country walk.

it’s not about doom and gloom but changing habits and not spending money 💰

We are going to try and go at least 80-90% veggie this month and hopefully save a fair whack just by cutting out meat.I will only buy meat if I see some really good deals/Yellow sticker bargains.

Yes,that is what I am saying to myself and family @ivykaty44. Let's see what we can do to,OK save money,but have fun doing it and find ways to make costcutting fun.The nerd in me (which is never far away,ngl!) will really enjoy the challenge tbh.And the family are coming along whether they like it or not😂Good luck for today everyone!

This is what we do, and I confirm it saves a lot of money. DD is veggie, so we only really eat meat when she goes to stay with the BF, once, possibly twice a week. It helps that the rest of us don't mind eating veggie and I'm honestly less and less bothered about eating meat these days.

I've got some vouchers for £9 off an in store £80 shop at Sainsbury’s which is too much saving not to use, but I don't shop there that regularly so will have to figure what's good value there. Unable to use on fuel, sadly.

That must be really difficult. Could you mix up the pasta by doing different shapes/sauces or would that be too much for them?

We are pretty much veggie, some days vegan. DD2 is vegetarian, i can't have dairy and struggle with eggs (also gluten free!)

It's so much cheaper, we eat alot of rice and potato based dishes.

To be honest,after all the indulgence of the past few weeks,i am really looking forward to cutting out heavy meals and eating a lot more fruit and veg.I think my body needs a break from having to process what it has had to since the start of December.Will give it my best shot!

Going to do an inventory of the freezer and fridge today and see how long I can feed us without doing a shop. When I do go shopping I am aiming to get it all from the nearest Aldi or Lidl which means a 16 mile round trip, and not gets bits from the local Co-op, its far too expensive. I am also doing some Amazon returns of things that were delivered too late. They are low value and normally I would donate them, but this month I am trying to claw back as much as possible. That means that the dog food that I have on subscription will be more or less free this month.

8.84 Asda but £ off that is mil so will get that back and £2.50 next year crackers
€50 petrol but in budgets

refund of £12.50 matalan and £15 Amazon to come

If he ever gets up I will. School tomorrow (he's doing A levels) and I think the shock of getting up at a reasonable time is going to be hard for him to cope with. I've already been in to open curtains and window once, went back and told him he needs to get up. No movement yet.

We are having hotdogs and wedges for dinner, sausages close to use by date so I don't want to waste them as they are nice Cumberland sausages. Tomorrow I'm making a chicken curry, I've got chicken left from a roast yesterday and have everything else in the cupboard, plus I have a packet of poppadoms and some frozen Indian snack bits in the freezer so it should seem quite a nice meal. Wednesday will be some chilli out of the freezer, I made enough for 2 days last week so this is the second half of that batch and then Thursday will be pasta with a bolognese sauce that is also the 2nd half of a batch I made last week or maybe the week before. Don't think I need to buy anything until Friday when I will need buns as we will be having burgers out of the freezer. Not sure what we have after that, I will have to excavate the freezer.

I've filled the car up, normal spend between £70 and £90 but today it was £29. I'm really going to try and cut down on unnecessary journeys this month as £29 seems a real win after the last few months.

I'm going to see if I can find suitable birthday card and stamp for a family birthday, crossing my fingers on that one and if I can't I will be going into the Card Factory tomorrow as I'm not spending £3 on a card.

I'm feeling very positive

ancientgran ·

tbh if you can suss out mums net you can download the TikTok app and sign up, you just scroll and search as you don't have to post anything yourself

So far day 2 is going well, gym this morning and walked, so n petrol either. It was busy with lots of new year resolutions, but by the end of the month that will have changed again!

Having coffee with a friend who just rang, but she is coming here rather than meeting out - so thats a win one the nsd. I have a nice bean to cup coffee machine so we will not miss out on a latte

I'm going to see if I can find suitable birthday card and stamp for a family birthday, crossing my fingers on that one and if I can't I will be going into the Card Factory tomorrow as I'm not spending £3 on a card.

even siansbury do cards for 50p for occasions. I normally pick up cards through the year when I see nice cards, often at obscure places.

I need to buy milk today but that's all I need. Otherwise I've not spent anything so far. My fancy book arrive tomorrow but will be going back if it's not what I expect it to be. I need to find my nice pens to write in it with.
I'm t trying to think what to have for dinner and might make some soup and Viking bread.

And the family are coming along whether they like it or not

I like your style

I actually think it doesn't hurt for dc to realise that the bank of mum and dad has times when its empty and needs to be replenished, dc hearing talking about saving money and how to do so, doesn't harm them

thegingeredwhisk.com/viking-bread-recipe/

It sounds simple and relatively healthy.

As its a bank holiday, I have been through my banking statements and bills etc with a fine toothcomb

I have managed to negotiate a couple of bills so they will change in the new year and save me £50 per month

Ive sat and given myself a manicure today, I don't get gels etc but its still £15 for a manicure - so thats a saving.

I bought an extra small freezer for lockdown as it was difficult to get to shops with small children and deliveries were all booked up. Now we don't have that issue, but still have a second freezer full of food! Plan is for January to use up that contents and then once it is empty we will also save on the electricity to run it. Also have plenty of store cupboard items. Want to see if I can get to the end of February with only buying bread, milk, fruit and veg. Might be a challenge by the end!

Did the food shopping for the next week, pleased that for a family of 3 adults & 2 children & 2 pets (plus 1 has to be gluten free), I managed to pare it down to £40. At the Coop! (Only shop that will deliver to us). As a reward I’ve toasted us all some crumpets over the wood-burner with a cup of tea made on the stove too so free hot water.

I don't think we're going to need to buy cheese until June! 😂

1/1 NSD
2/1 Bad day. 2 scooters ordered for dc’s birthdays in Jan and Feb. New draught excluder ordered, been looking in local charity shops but none to be found and having to re roll the towel I’m currently using every day is driving me mad so I’ve got one from eBay. Need to buy 3 items from supermarket still. At least it is only planned purchases even if expensive ones!

@BadShepherd thanks for the reminder to check my Amazon subscriptions, got a load of shampoo we didn’t need last month!

@Mashedpotatoesandgravy good shout on shakshuka, I love it as does one dc, the others tolerate it (which is about as good as it gets in this house). Omelette and salad tonight.

Good day today - £15.82 in lidl. NSD yesterday so am within average of £10 a day so far! Worked out though that would have been cheaper in Tesco which was a surprise!

1 Jan NSD apart from topping up school account lunch money so that doesn't count as it's food. Also very pleased with myself as we had run out of veg for dinner and normally I'd go to the shop for veg and probably spend about a tenner on things we don't need but had a rummage and found a tin of sweetcorn and some carrots on the turn but they were fine once peeled and chopped.

2 Jan NSD apart from from online food order. Really wanted a takeaway coffee when out on a walk but waited till we got home . £3.20 saved! I should have taken one with me will remember next time.

I have a dilemma...there's a book I really want and its reduced to 99p on kindle. Normally I would have clicked buy already but am trying not to. But surely it's best to buy now than in a few.months at full price. But I don't need it I have 28 unread kindle books I just want it. Hmmm

Ps I've checked and our library doesn't have the book

Can you ask them to order it for you?

It will likely be on offer again decaf or free through prime y the time you get through your other

got my free lidl choc which has gone in the baking cupboard . 29p baguette for teen ds