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

MOT today had to be postponed cos I've been ill today. One way of achieving a NSD !

Hope yours goes better than mine. It’s failed in the suspension. £600 I didn’t plan to spend today 😢

Boo on cars and illnesses

week1 = 1 nsd

Working from home, NSD!

NSD for me - I resisted the coffee at work and we ate food from the freezer + red pesto pasta tonight after ds' hobby.
Tomorrow is a soft play birthday party, so likely to have some spends, but hopefully not expensive - might be able to keep it to drinks only.
If my total spends for the week come in under £100, that would make me very happy!

Can anyone tell me if it is a good idea to be liners for my new airfryer? I've read they need to be perforated but if they are doesn't that defeat the purpose of them keeping the airfryer clean. On the other hand if they aren't perforated does it stop the the circulation and stop the food cooking properly.

I'm confused, don't want to waste the money if they aren't a good idea.

Many thanks for advice.

buy liners not be liners. I need to go to bed.

Which airfyer have you got ? I use silicone liners in the ninja and they aren't perforated and food cooks perfectly.

lI have a vortex airfryer and always us the silicone liners.
Stops food sticking and makes it easier to remove.
They appear to last forever as well

Forgot to update yesterday, first full nsd,

even though I know food doesn’t count it still feels like spending. Food shop delivery coming this morning that came to £75 plus after work I will buy the bits we couldn’t get as out of stock or not showing online. The biggest annoyance about online shopping (at least with asda) is how they change what is available online. I couldn’t order chicken breasts yesterday, they weren’t out of stock just not showing up and they do it with a lot of products. Since I work in the store my shop is coming from I know what should be available. I think it’s some kind of marketing strategy but I don’t understand it and I don’t then choose an alternative online I just have to go in store after work 🤷🏻‍♀️

Thurs & Fri both NSDs for me but I have some essential spends to do today and am meeting my daughter, which usually ends up in me picking up the coffee shop bill. But like a previous poster, if I can keep non essential and essential spends down to £100 a week I'll be very happy!

Morning.

Hope you are all okay. I don't use liners in the air fryer! 😁

Spends have been extremely minimal this week and it's only been on essentials so I'm pretty pleased with January so far.

We are not going out at all this weekend so I did buy pizza bases yesterday to treat us to a home made 'takeaway' but I had all the toppings in. They were probably nicer and certainly healthier than the real deal. If that counts as discretionary spends, I'm okay with that!

First week done folk.

Morning 😁
Another NSD yesterday but today we are going sofa shopping and that won't be cheap. Our current sofas have really low backs and in turn our backs are killing us, hoping to get something decent in the sales.

Morning, v wet here so a quiet day in…kids are definitely ready for finally starting back to school on Monday. It will be a NSD, I seem to have broken my habit of online browsing/shopping - I’ve mainly got my book by my side to dip in and out of instead.
Dinner will be mushroom omelettes cooked over the wood-burner, and electric kettle won’t be used at all for my gallons of tea, just the stove.
Have a nice weekend everyone.

Horse riding £30 today 😩 Tomorrow should be a NSD though.

£10 in Coop for bread and coffee. I live next door to a small coop but try not to use them as they are expensive. But their ground coffee is lovely so I always buy that there. Otherwise should be a NSD

Another NSD here, but I am on the bones of my arse this month so there's no money to spend in any case!

Feeling better today, need to get out. Going a bit stir crazy! So will have a walk and probably a coffee out. So a very low spend day.

It's a Tower Vortex dual drawer. Thanks for the reply.

Thank you, I think I'll give it a go. I didn't want to buy them if they aren't needed. There seems to be so much contradictory stuff about them.

£13 on cat supplies and some groceries, so essential but also my first non essentials of the month: £30 sports club subs for the year, £4 parking, and £7.10 for coffee (treating DD as she goes back to uni today). Don't feel too guilty about the sports subs as the actual classes are free and it works out as pennies per week.

1 week in, spent £61 on food and a savers stock up (cleaning, toiletries, medication). Spent a little of my Christmas money on a few luxuries in the sales (£28 - some earrings, soap and glory toiletries, scarf and new thermos). £7 on bus fare. £27.50 on a few birthday presents for my daughter, claires sale and a new backpack from paperchase but this was covered by my vinted sales.

And £15 on anniversary gifts for my husband, we will have a Chinese tonight but once the kids are in bed so will save some money. (He won £30 on a scratch card so technically free!)

Would have liked to spend less but not too bad. Hoping for a super low spend week next week. Only planned spend is im meeting my friend for breakfast but might see if she fancies coming to me and I can cook us something! And a birthday gift as my daughter has been invited to a party. I've got enough food for next week's breakfasts and dinners. I have leftovers for lunch so will just be fresh stuff like bread, cheese and salad I need to get for the kids pack up.

On track for another NSD today although I did spend £32 of someone else’s money on a birthday present for ds 😆

food shop coming tomorrow, just finalised the order and it’s coming in at £97.10. Which I know will have many of you gasping in horror but it’s actually cheap for us, hardly ever comes in under £100 these days and is usually around £130.

@ancientgran just to add a different perspective I don’t use any liners in my air fryer and it’s really easy to clean so I wouldn’t say they were needed, just personal preference I suppose.

Well I didn't go on my walk, too windy.
But am currently in Tesco coffee shop and have spent £4.95 on pot of tea and a toasted teacake. Very nice.