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

Another NSD. Used up cooked chicken and ham from freezer to make pies. Also had root veg mash in freezer from Christmas.

Very spendy couple of days. After the cost of the dentist and the pain from having the tooth removed ds16 nipped to the shop for me for a few bits but isn’t as money wise and the plasters he picked up were over £5 😬
a few bits after work today at around £5 but all essentials such as milk and bread.
ds9 needed new trainers, he has always only worn a certain style of Nikes but is now a size 7 which means I have to buy them from the men’s section and they are £145. Student discount got them down to £130 and I will now pray he stays this size for a while as it’s a crazy amount to pay frequently. On the plus side the ones he has grown out of can be passed to me 😂

Day 11, Low spend day for me : £3 spent on treats for DC and my running total is £8 😊

NSD for me, tuna pasta for lunch and leftover chicken made into a sort of runny stew/very chunky soup - stoup? with dumplings. Just right for the very miserable day outside.

Thanks @ancientgran, I’m so blessed as her older sister has already said she will take her on if anything happens to me, it’s all a huge worry all the time though.

NSD today. Huge dog walk in horrible weather…now I’m planning to be as close to the log fire as possible for the rest of the day! Kids have requested a change to dinner, they had mince and neeps and tatties at lunch and are still quite full, so have requested porridge for dinner…I’ll tart it up with coconut and frozen berries.

Got a few days to catch up on!
sunday-lsd £2 ish
monday-hsd £20.18 on bread, cat food and medicine for Dd
tuesday-£9.54 (lsd?) on top up bits but got reduced sausages in m and s for the freezer
today - lsd £2 on weigh in at work (stayed the same 😏)

NSD here.

Saturday spent far more than I wanted to (£60), but we had a long fun day out and it's better than usual! I also bought a much desired Lego toy for ds birthday (£13) which is selling out, and his birthday is in the first week of February. I think that's him done.
DH paid for food shop Sunday (£90 but it'll last over a week I think). NSD for me that day, and NSDs all this week so far. Feeling like I can do this - it's one-third through the month already and has been very helpful.

NSD day today. It helps when I'm in work and DD is in school!

£28 on haircut today. Not bad at all. Doing a medium size food shop tomorrow.
Have been researching accident and sickness insurance. Cos I'm 62 it's been hard. Think I've found one now. Being self employed it's something I should have done before now.

NSD for me here. Thank goodness!

car passed it Mot for only that for yesterday.
Spent £2 on french sticks for tea today and that was it. Another time I’d have browsed around, bought some random unnecessary crap and spend over a tenner. I am saving an absolute fortune at the moment. 😀

NSD here. Well, that's a lie, because I actually transferred £500 towards a sofa reupholstery project that should be finished in April. But that's been lined up for nearly a year, so doesn't count (in my head) as 'new' spending.

Another NSD today. Some of my work colleagues ordered coffee and cakes at lunch and I declined and made tea for free in the office.
had dinner already sorted his evening and my partner came over with wine and chocolate so that was an added bonus.

should be a NSD Thursday and Friday and then I’ll take my son out for a treat or activity over the weekend but that will easily be another week I’m £50 up.

Im currently working on paying off my credit card before the interest free runs out and I’ve managed to pay off £250 more than I normally would this month due to my non spending. It feels great!

NSD again! Tomorrow won't be as will have to buy lunch near office but should be able to keep spends low.

Yesterday was £23 on food and that’s it

NSD yesterday. Definitely not a NSD today - having to fork out £145 for a locksmith today as DP managed to lose his only car key at work yesterday 😖. And he has a dentist appointment later but I think he prepaid for that before Christmas. Also lost pay for today due to both of the above! So that was an expensive hole in the pocket..,

Ouch @LittleFriendSusan!

Just dog groomers today for my two, £65. They are hairy as.... so it's definitely needed!

Stretched mushroom tikka masala to two meals last night.

NSD here today - so 2 days in a row and 10 in total

booked into the municipal gym for a free day pass, managed to get 2 days passes for tomorrow and Monday. Also booked for pure gym for a 3 day pass.

Just finished work and ended up spending £23 on my top up shop, just over half of that was not planned but too good to not buy. I got ds16 2 bulldog care sets with moisturisers and face washes in each marked down to 20p a set and I got 12 packets of the gluten free granola I eat for breakfast marked down from £3.10 to £1.05. I go through around 2 1/2 packets a week so it will save a fair bit in the long run. All other bits were the planned midweek top up such as bananas, salad and antibacterial mouthwash which I need to use for at least another 2 weeks after my tooth removal earlier in the week

NSD for me too, fridge gravel soup with h/m croutons, and sausage loaf and mash for tea. Apart from a food shop this is day 12 for me.

Not leaving the house today, but need to pay £15 for another DC's school trip, and DC's magazine subscription came out today, which is £28.

Also 2x school dinners which is a shame, they both have money on their account, but packed lunches would have been better.

Also may crack and get my hair cut this month. Was considering pushing it to Feb, but is not looking great- so in interest of well-being I may well have the appointment this month after all.

Grigor, those are great bargains !
I am day 11 , NSD today . Running total of £8 😄 * *

A couple more payments have come up this afternoon- a lawyer's bill I was querying which ended up over 50%less than it would have been- so that's good- and it turns out I did indeed owe money on DCs' lunch account- but I still have plenty of money in credit for after school club and breakfast club, so that will see me through this week at least.

But aside from all these payments which could be classed as essential- there's just a lot of them - my actual food and shopping spend has been really low, so that's a massive positive if I look at it that way.

I've done plenty of meals using up fridge and store cupboard essentials

Bought 2 new buns for recycling as gales here broke our bin store. That would have been £150 to replace so 2 old fashioned galvanised dustbins will have to suffice - £38

Top up in Aldi - firelighters, bread, washing up liquid and chocolate £7.32

Also had Hive thermostat fitted today but that was prepaid pre Xmas.

Will need coal and logs tomorrow but nothing else