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

£54 on petrol here, otherwise a NSD. Took some Xmas snacks and a flask of coffee on our walk - I drove and friend did the parking, so very much in the spirit of the month. I was thinking about the rise in coffee prices since the pandemic - now it's often £4ish for a cup and not always good coffee - which helps to put me off!

No spends today. Big clean of living room & kitchen. Made soup for lunches this week with left over parsnips. Chicken salad for tea using leftover chicken and salad stuff that we already had.

My freezer is full so will be eating from that this month. Goulash tomorrow with some leftover small potatoes which I'll slice and sauté

@Decafflatteplease i have about 100 unread kindle books. 😳 Put a note in your google calendar to buy in feb - March? Guarantee you’ll have forgotten by the end of the week anyway once the madness of schools has returned.

NSD2 completed. Found myself on eBay and quickly exited the app. There might be much I want, but there’s nothing I need.

@Orcubed i had loads of stuff due to come including 2kg coffee (I currently have 2.5kg+ looking for a home…), lentils (I have more than enough), hair stuff (I got for Xmas). I’ve kept only the bog roll because that’s one thing you NEVER want to run out of!

@Decafflatteplease I fell at first hurdle by buying a book for my kindle yesterday (despite having 00's not read yet). It was just automatic- someone recommended it on instagram- I had a look and bought it!

Although one item is a massive improvement on my usual January sales haul, so I'm not beating myself too much. It just shows how easy it is to buy without thinking, questioning etc.

Went to B&Q with H today, left bag and purse in car so I wasn't tempted to buy and only got food in Tesco. So redeemed myself 😂

Had a few spends today. £25 in Aldi. £11 was on food, £13 on some much needed plastic storage boxes, and £1 on a few heavily reduced bits for our Bad Santa game next year.

£7.99 on a new calendar. Necessary for us to keep track of activities. Also I use a person collumn as the meal plan.

Updated my gift list app on bits I bought in the sales for Christmas. And I've set up sections for each month's spending for the year, clothing spends etc. Hopefully this keeps me on track to spend less as it's there adding up and i dont forget about things I've spent.

BadgerLovesMash 😂 not a NSD then

NSD today. Picked up the Too Good to Go box which wasn't brilliant, but there are a few bits and pieces I can put to use, and it was only £3 yesterday so not too bad at all. Tomorrow I won't be leaving the house all day, so that will help!

I was hoping to get a bit further with no spending! 🤣 But foodwise that should be it until next week except £4 at the community hub on Thursday.

I am trying to make myself feel better that the tubs were needed (no windows in the bathroom so my fabric tubs had gone mouldy and everything was starting to feel damp). I cant organise without a calendar, I guess I could have hunted for a cheaper one but I might have got tempted to buy other stuff looking around the shops. The £1 on the few gifts weren't necessary and I am regretting grabbing them even though they will save me money at Christmas! Also I had the money from vinted sales so hasn't come out of our main budget.

Nothing spent today. Online shop tomorrow that's about £100. Lots of fresh fruit and veg, cupboard staples, and household things in there. I've ordered a papaya and mangoes to dehydrate ready for school snacks. They love dried mango but it's expensive for the decent stuff that's not too dry and hard. This way I can do good sized pieces and keep it from being like leather. I might try it with apple too.

My aim is less top up shops aka avoiding Asda like the plague on the way back from the morning school run.

The Viking bread was ok but very dense. The soup was delicious as always. I've ordered some pearl barley for soups.

There are some great recipes for using Pearl barely in its own right, online. It’s a cheap filling grain

Happy New Year to all. 🥳
NSD yesterday.
£30 today at Morrisons for fresh food, light bulbs and a birthday gift for a child (party on Saturday).
Hoping for a NSD tomorrow!

NSDs yesterday and today

Was a no spend day until 8.30 not well I'm disabled and having a hard day so dominoes it was but it came out of good budget .

Petrol £34 yesterday.today should be zero

£12 spent at the range yesterday for bits for the new place (budgeted for)
£40 food shop at sainsburys which should last the week

made a big batch of soup which should be lunches for the next few days

First spend of the year: £10.57 at the shops this morning. Sainsburys for bread, bananas and toilet wipes then boots for antiseptic mouthwash and a tea tree stick for teen ds
I was momentarily distracted by the Jamie Oliver one pot cook book in sainsburys but realised although I love a cook book I can get millions of recipes online for free.
plan for today is home and a tidy round, a paragraph of my next uni assignment and detailing all my debts into my notebook so I can start keeping a proper track and note each payment I make so I can see it reducing

@Grigorisangel that sounds a good idea re the debt in notebook, and we’ll done resisting the cookbook.

Ugh, hate that we can’t edit.

*well, not we’ll, obviously

I’d like to say it’s NSD3 - but I’ve just stuck £500 in the leccy account. 🤮

gonna put the tumble dryer in to cheer myself up after that!

Yessss! The kids are back at school.NSD seems a lot easier without constant demands 😂

Hello,

Need to join this - just realised I will have no money in current account after huge Xmas credit card bill get paid tomorrow. And that was with no adult presents, we were too generous with the kids I think.

I'm not getting off to a great start as splashed out on lunch out with family on New Year's Day; however I should be receiving over £100 in delay repay refund from a train journey soon and will be putting a few things on sale on eBay soon. This will help make up for a few compulsory but not essential spends i need to make later in the month (all January birthdays related).

Hello everyone, Happy New Year! I'd like to join!

First spend this year, £9 at Tesco, a mango, a pack of mushroom(oh clubcard price sales ended), 3 avocados (clubcard price), loaf of bread, crumpet.
Walking distant to children's school for pick up later.
WFH so expect no more spending today.

£99.33 at Waitrose including delivery. Yikes. That will last us well over a week though and some of it weeks. I've enough yogurt to last 2 weeks if not more as the dates on it are good. Cupboard staples will be weeks, fresh fruit and veg up to 10 days. The strawberries and raspberries need eating first of course.

NSD yesterday. Today bought coffee, eggs, butter, apples, essential top-ups from Sainsburys' - but DS home and asked for Skippy, stuffed pasta, ramen noodles, chocolate chip biscuits, cajun seasoning to be added to my list, so ended up spending £25. However, I am planning to keep food spends low this month - shouldn't really be hard as we have lots in freezer, fridge and cupboards. Submitted meter readings yesterday, and bracing myself for December's statement.