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

@needastrongoneagain I get sucked in by vouchers like that. Almost did when I was buying the dc scooters as I had a 20% code if you bought two of the more expensive model. But stopped myself in time and just got the slightly cheaper ones because I realised I’d essentially be paying £37 more just to get light up wheels

we cancelled our ski trip as the snow is not great at the moment so will reduce this months spending

£6 in Lidl this morning on moving day snacks
trying to resist buying a coffee as it’s so much more expensive than making a flask at home
Am watching a few eBay items which we need for the new place, since when did 100% cotton bedsheets get so expensive!!

First spend of the year £5.34. I needed milk but ended up with my milk, 2 reduced cauliflowers, 2 reduced packs of eggs, 3 pies, burger in a bun, pack of two sweet pastries. Pies have a date for 3 days so into the freezer. I made min 12 portions of cauliflower cheese using up cheese from Christmas.
we are eating a small gammon joint so will make a couple of quiche with the eggs and leftover gammon.
Fried eggs, leftover gammon, potato wedge’s leftover salad stuff.
will just stretch as much as we can.

Kitkatandcoffee Well done, sounds like your grocery shopping bill is very low!

Orcubed Wow 😯 I’m shocked, I hadn’t realised macdonalds was that expensive!

Mogloveseggs Can he pick up other casual work to make up the hours?

Going ok here I think.

Yesterday wasn't a nsd as DH needed a haircut so £10.

Today did a top-up shop at Asda £45 but that includes a kettle as ours broke . Got some good reduces bits too for the freezer. Really trying to get the food bill down but as I need to cook 2-3 different meals a night it's hard!

Also got to pay nursery fees tomorrow 😱

All these things are essential though like haircut, kettle, food and nursery but easy to see how money adds up!

Am doing well selling on vinted and am leaving the money from sales in there so I can use it to buy stuff as with 6 of us someone always needs something and buying new isn't an option so at leas thr money isn't coming out of our bank.

Today we need toiletries but just essential shampoo and conditioner.

Today is NSD, tomorrow I need to buy firelighters but am determined not to buy anything else whilst getting them!

@Orcubed re McDonald's do you have the app? We get McDonald's about once a month and find that the app adds up fast so you can redeem the points quite soon. We often get a free burger on our next visit using points from last visit. Another thing we do to keep the cost down is not get full meals eg we will get a box of 20 nuggets , a couple of large fries and some of the saver menu burgers and all share. Never buy drinks there as they are so expensive we all have water bottles that always go out with us. That was a big outlay but worth it.

Also re vinted have you tried selling on there? I made £100 in a month selling kids outgrown clothes then use that money to buy "new" things on vinted as with 6 of us someone always needs something 😂 also have you looked at getting the parcels send to a parcel shop instead of your home if it's not too far a journey, I've started doing this and some things were £2 less postage to go to the shop rather than my house. Shop is 5 mins walk so easy to do, might not be worth it if you had to drive or pay for parking etc

Day 4 and I've spent a grand total of £20 on vapes as I'm quitting smoking so saving a heck of a lot more money in the long run.

Today will be a NSD too to be fair I've been to unwell to leave the house so that helps. Tomorrow need to go food shopping will hopefully stick to my shopping list!
Well done to everyone whose sticking to the plan.

I also need to get ds's birthday cards.

I spent £20.27p yesterday. It was a mixture of Lidl and home bargains. Stocked up on cleaning stuff, house is getting me down as I've had long covid for nearly a year and lots needs doing. I also bought some water for GS, he's on a health kick and doesn't like our tap water which is fair enough as south west water might be the most expensive in the country but frankly it is vile, also a big bottle of virgin olive oil.

I took £85 out of my surveys account and £15 from topcashback and bought a £100 Sainsbury's voucher so I've got £5.85 in my topcashback account pending and I will spend the £100 on this week and next week's delivery, I will need to top up a bit as £50 is the max you can use on Sainsburys but the cash back will mount up if I do this all year.

Today I need some milk and bread, I've got a voucher for £5 off if you use the Sainsbury's smart shopper scanner thing so I will be trying that, fingers crossed I can work it out as the £5 will pay for most of what I get.

Hi all,
I'm usually working from home but have something to do today, so I brought my laptop and working in cafes between appointments, a coffee and a tea £6 in total (charging my laptop and phone feels a bit better)
Greggs £4.35 for a bake (my lunch) and jam donut (children's snack)
Wilko £3.5 for bin bags (3 for 3.5)

Can I join ? Last 2 months have been expensive so want to reduce as much as possible. Hoping not to spend anything today and tomorrow apart from food. On Friday I’ve got car service and mot. But hoping not to spend on anything else. I really should save more cash)

There is a conspiracy against my no spend January. This year my electric bed blanket and my electric throw have both broken. Yesterday the kitchen bin broke. Now I learn I am going to have to Uber to London and back for a special birthday lunch.

£300 I could have done without spending.

Everyone seems to be doing well so far this week. I have just finished work for the day and done a mid week shop, tomato’s, cucumber, pepper, apples, cheese coleslaw, cereal bars, milk and some large plasters (clumsy ds16 fell and badly scraped all his knee yesterday) came to £11.32. Nothing purchased that wasn’t on my list. The apples and cereal bars are for me to take to work for my break rather than buying something whilst there so should save me a few £ over the week. That’s me done until the weekend unless we need bread or bananas before then so a couple of possible nsd’s coming my way

Another NSD here, but will have to go food shopping tomorrow. We had porridge for breakfast, a half baked baguette split between us and filled with roast peppers and cheese toasted for lunch, and I found some chicken thighs in the freezer so they are marinating in the fridge ready to make into kebab to have with vegetable rice and the last of the salad bits. I'm hoping to keep the food shop down to about £40, but we will be out of all fresh fruit and veg by then except for 2 peppers, 3 carrots and half a swede.

@Decafflatteplease i do have the app but we don’t get it often enough to get many rewards. Sometimes get a free burger or drink through it but that’s it. We usually do as you said and get the big box of nuggets and some saver burgers plus fries to share which comes to about £15 iirc but it was a last minute decision to go literally as we were driving past then a panic what does everyone want at the drive through. Was a bit of a shock how much more if cost that way!

Yes I have sold on vinted too, not to your levels though!! That’s impressive! Had a couple of difficult buyers which put me off a little but I have a few things to list now which will hopefully make me a few £

@ivykaty44 was 3 adult meals plus 2 happy meals, we don’t usually get individual meals like that so was a bit of a surprise to us too!

Haha yes @Orcubed I hate drive through I get so stressed 😂 also can't hear the people properly (I'm partially deaf) so much prefer the screen thing inside.

Good luck on vinted I didn't expect my things to sell tbh just bits from the back of the wardrobes but they did!

@Mogloveseggs I hope things turn around for you soon - what a horrible start to the new year. 😔

I broke my NS streak today and ordered some temporary filling for a broken filling. There’s dentist stuff already applied while I wait to see my regular dentist - but it’s coming away and Amazon putty was £4.60 compared to the £22 it costs to see the emergency dentist.