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

Tue Food shopping approx £30, bus £3.3, interest on credit card approx £30
NSD yesterday
Today approx £6 top up some fresh food

NSD today. Doing quite well

Another NSD today. Coming to end of freezer stocks. So DH is having a pie I made and froze over Xmas and I'm having a frittata to use up some scraps of veg. Also have a stew in pressure cooker for tomorrow (& some for freezer)

Just spent £31 on top up shop.

It was quite liberating being in the supermarket knowing I didn't need to look at everything and decide if I needed it now or in the future.

I forgot conditioner but got a lot of cat food to last us a while.

On the plus side, I'm closer inspection I realised the bills I was going to pay today are actually due in February, so that is a weight off my mind for now.

£17 for two yummy fish suppers, and a wonderful day with DP. Won’t be doing this again till mid February so am ok with the cost.
Get paid for second job tomorrow, usually give most of it to teens as treats/extras and to show my appreciation that without their help I wouldn’t be able to do the job at all, but they’ve said they are happy to not get any.

2nd NSD in a row

have sorted out another 6 more meals from last weeks shopping, bits in the fridge so I can just top up some bananas 🍌 & yogurt and shop next Monday.

pleased with that as am spending Saturday, so reducing next weeks shop to 4 days & 8 meals is ideal

my new total for food shopping in January so far £110.31
my new total for fuel in January £76.89

Haircut £22
supper was delicious £35 with tip and pudding
coffee with friend today, my turn to pay £7.60

Oo I forgot about the No council tax in Feb and March. That’ll help 😀
lots of NSD’s here although we did have a chippy tea on Friday as I couldn’t be bothered to cook.

Three NSDs this week, including today hopefully!!
I'm starting to twitch, but still trying to hold off on gift bag purchases for ds' birthday party until I get paid at the end of the month.
Transferred £300 from savings for upcoming utility bill due Monday next week, which I don't like doing, but having last been paid in mid December, needs must. Otherwise I'm on track.
Hoping for a low spend weekend although we're visiting DH family.

Gave in and bought a new moisturiser and serum. Serum wasn’t needed yet but on offer if bought together so saving in the longer term. I was using up an older moisturiser that I had previously opened and not liked but my face was getting so sore so decided it wasn’t worth it. So £30 spent on those and some new dish clothes (mine were more hole than cloth!)

Groceries £116 for the next week. Includes some treaty bits for ds’ birthday.

new totals
groceries £381

presents for own dc birthdays £210

birthday presents for other people £88

other £80.50

On track for a NSD today. Planned to go to the shops then realised I could scrape a meal tonight out of what we've got in the freezer.

Got a very expensive weekend coming up with extortionate train fairs plus meal out and drinks.

It's been planned for a while, but will be digging deeper into my savings for this.

Would normally tried to have had hair cut in time, and possibly nails done.

None of that is possible but I'll try to make myself look nice in any case.

Out of interest I counted up my monthly bills not including mortgage. Just gas, electricity, water, council tax, tv licence, Spotify, Disney plus, broadband, mobile, home insurance, car tax, car insurance charity donation (only £30). Total comes to just over £600 each month.

Much more than I thought.

How does that compare with other people?

It's so much out of a single salary.

Oh dear I've had a spendy week!
Lunch out, twice and a trip to IKEA - I've had a lovely week though and I'm out tomorrow night

Back on NSDs next week, although I need to do an Aldi shop which may be quite toppy as I've been using everything up and the cupboards and freezer are getting quite bare.

You are right, it's just disheartening isn't it. The good thing is it seems very good, spins things dryer than the old machine so if I need to tumble dry it should be shorter. It is supposed to be very economical to run so hopefully I will see that in the fuel bills.

I normally have my main Sainsbury's shop delivered on Thursday, yesterday I went myself and spent £17.25 instead of £60 and £15 of that was nectar points. I will need a top up on Sunday or Monday which will be a bit more than normal but still good for this week and emptying out the freezer a bit won't do any harm.

£10 in Coop for bread and other stuff we had run out of

£40 on new wellies for DD18 as her walking boots are no longer wearable, can’t avoid the spend any longer. So essential, but frustrating. Other than that, nothing spent today. Tomorrow and Sunday will be nothing, am determined! Tonight’s dinner - soft boiled eggs & soldiers. Tomorrow’s, kippers, and then sausage, mash & veg on Sunday.

Day 20, treated my self to 2 mags both diet and lifestyle.. £13.99 and othe non essentials this month are £8. So total of £21.99.
I am really pleased . Also saved £73 on food shops the last two weeks.
My rules are no spending on non essentials . I have replaced a hair dryer and frying pan this month

Another NS day, that's day 20 of no non-essentials.

Top up shop of £5.09 and some cheap ear rings, £8. Pretty pleased with my spending. I find it helps a lot that I write it all down in a notebook.

Bit late to the party - I've been trying to cut my spending this month as I always do in January... not least because the house insurance always falls due I save up for it all year but it's still always a shock when the bill lands Amazingly this years premium was nearly £200 less than last year - honestly I had to read the thing several times assuming they'd made a mistake.

Part of the reason is financial but also because we have so much STUFF.. simply drowning in it so I've been trying to get rid of things as well as not spend money. It's sort of working

I've started to realise what I fritter it away on things - clothes because I like them and / or because they;re on a good offer in the sale, books, nice stationery, little bits and pieces for the children, toiletries, cleaning stuff... when actually I've got all those things in the house but I'm not using them.

Also trying to run the freezer and cupboards down a bit although I'm not quite so bad about food but we seem to have quite a lot even so.

I've actually done quite well so far although I did buy DS a couple of books he really wanted but since he's a bit of a reluctant reader at the best of times I'm always happy when he wants a book. DD has hundreds as do I and I've found 4 or 5 on my kindle I'd not even read so I don't NEED to buy a book. DP I leave to his own devices.

Otherwise, it's mainly been food shopping and the usual bills, bus pass for dd, music lessons for DS, a few birthday presents (4 family ones in January!) and actually not a huge amount else.

I'm wondering if I can bear dragging this into February at least until half term.

NSD yesterday. Walking into town shortly to pay in a couple of cheques & will pop to the market for fruit & veg & eggs. I'll get sour cream & kefir from the polish supermarket & hopefully avoid going to the big supermarkets until next weekend.

Recording my NSD is making me think about all of those little purchases. E.g. yesterday I went to get the naan out of the cupboard and found DP had eaten it. Usually I'd have nipped out for more (and probably bought something else too) but I made quick yoghurt naan instead, which were absolutely fine & used up the last of the yoghurt, so win-win!

I really want to buy a couple of cookbooks. There are 2 I have my eye on but I'm holding off... it's difficult though!! I found a very old paper book token in a drawer so am taking that into town to see if it's still valid - if it is I will probably cave in. It doesn't really count as it's not hard cash!!

I've realised food spending is one of my weak points - not takeaways or even eating out but just general fresh ingredients, so although grocery spends are allowed, I am trying to keep these to a minimum and really think about what we're spending. So getting down to a bare fridge before shopping again. Reducing waste at the same time too so all good.

Absolutely freezing here this morning. Glad I don't have to go out. Making toad in the hole for dinner and wraps for lunch. Won't need anything so will be another NSD

Yes @LittleFriendSusan it's felt really good emptying the fridge and cupboards out a bit.

It's been surprising how many nutritious meals I've been able to cobble together out of what we already had, and I'm amazed at how good my fridge has been looking all month.

There's usually a fair bit of out of date or rotten food lurking about.

What I've got left for this month is couscous and noodles.

None of us like couscous which is why a big bag of it is still hanging around. I've seen Jamie Oliver make a nice dish with couscous on tv recently- so will look that up and at least try to eat through it.

I love stirfrys with miso paste - but I bought a horrible one by mistake last time, so I'm just grappling with making a few more meals out of that to use it up, before buying a new one. As otherwise it would just kick around fridge for a couple of years.

Day 21 NSD today ..i also saved £27 on normal food shop budget . Thats £100 this month. Far less food waste and no top up food shopping :) DH has just bought a new air fryer as ours has died, I use it 3-4 times a week so counting as a necessary spend for us.
Running total of £21.99 on non essentials, really happy with that .

NSD today and have sold 6 of the things I had listed on vinted.
@PeachiceT well done that’s great. I’ve managed similar and our food shopping for this month should come in at around £400 which is unheard of, it’s normally more like £600!

my outgoings have still been high this month but I’ve actually bought very little apart from birthday presents so overall I’ve done well so far.

whoever it was said about carrying it on next month I would definitely like to do that, partly because next month should have fewer expenses for me anyway but also interested to see if it’s possible to get food spend down longer term or whether it’s only been possible because I was starting from a place of already having lots in stock.

Orcubed, thanks, sounds like you are doing really well too. I am up for continuing next month. I would say something that has helped me save on food shop is online food shopping. Meal plan that is stuck to rigidly. We eat veggie meals a few times a week... cheap meals like jacket potatoes, omlettes or cheesy mash . We have had alot of unavoidable big bills this month but the savings I have made has meant the impact hasn't beem so bad

NSD today. Wish I had some chocolate in though! I’ve ordered a big sack of spuds from local shop so will pay for those at beginning of week but then will be able to use them for lots of meals so I’m pleased I’m getting them.
Made pancakes for an afternoon snack for everyone using frying pan on the wood-burner. Tomorrow I’m trying making flapjack under the stove, see how that turns out.