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

@CheeseMaiden How far is your commute? What is it costing you?

it’s good to hear last years no spend got you set up nicely for the year 👍🏻

I was looking for something last week in my bedroom and ended up going through suitcases of clothes I can’t fit into. Absolutely tons of stuff - if I can combine spending less on food I’ve got wardrobe(s) of clothes ready to go. Kids are well clothed and shod right now.

I need a set of new tyres in January but from a safety pov am not going to deny those!

Tons of food left from Xmas as none of us were really into it, so today I’ll make about 500 gallons of soup to freeze and freeze portions of chicken, ham & bacon for future pies.

Morning.

Have been thinking about attempting No Spend January and then up pops this thread - it's clearly meant to be.

I spend way too much on clothes, I peruse Amazon looking for something to buy, my grandchildren have more than enough (can't stop spending on them!). My online shopping habit is out of control.

I earn a decent income and have no savings, so I have got to break the spending habit.

A long-winded way of saying 'I'm in'.

I'm in!
I've also got my DH in agreement. We did it last year, he was somewhat on board, but this year he's very much happy to do it! We are planning to continue through Feb as well. Less spending may actually become a thing for us!
We do have a planned big purchase, guttering for the house (just the back). DH will install so it's just materials needed.

@BadShepherd have you been going through my wardrobe too?! As and when I lose about 3 stone I will have loads of nearly new clothes to wear

I've done a big freezer reshuffle, have a big cooking session to do and then will have plenty of chicken & ham to use in recipes. I still need to do another supermarket trip as Lidl didn't have some of the basics on my list, might be Tesco/ Asda for me tomorrow.

Booking the DC's activities for January - bit spendy for now but at least it'll keep them occupied, and the fees are termly so they're done for a while...

Just as well I signed up for this as HMRC have decided that I owe them nearly £1000 due to them not calculating the tax from my pensions correctly. I need to pay them half before April and the remainder through next year.

I have prepaid my hairdresser for next week's appointment and have also prepaid for new thermostat being fitted on 12th Jan. Apart from those Im hoping for minimal food spending and definitely no clothes, books or random Amazon spends

Esp in Scotland as they’ve already gone back to school!

Ok count down as tomorrow is the last day for spending!

How many days in a row do we think we can go without spending...?

Im going to plummet for 5 days straight in a row without spending, anyone coming in to challenge that ?!

(fuel and food not counted - but keep as low as possible)

I'm in.
Got a hair appointment on the 13th that's a month overdue so need to go and it's ds' birthday then so need to pay for party and meal with family but have got presents already so apart from that nothing is to be spent apart from fuel and food. And no buying food at work I must be more organised.
Only got a 3 day wage next Friday and need to pay the cleaner and a couple bills so need to be so strict.
Have a £20 Tesco voucher and a £2 Asda one so that will cover next weeks lunches.

Jan has crept up quick!

We got some Christmas money from family so a bit of a buffer which is a relief!

However I'm still in for a no spend ( realistically low spend in reality).

Only planned non normal expense in Jan is a meal out for DH and I but going Toby carvery cheap and cheerful so should be less than £30. It's very rare we go out together without the children so looking forward to it!

I've been selling stuff on vinted so any clothes etc we need can come from vinted balance rather then bank balance.

My plan is anything that is not food bills or fuel must be recouped through selling stuff on vinted

@ivykaty44 I’m in for 5 days off the bat. I spent £6 on Amazon today for something I could quite happily live the rest of my life without… so accountability will be great!

@MissVeronicaSpeedwell well then, we have NO excuse but our fat arses for buying new clothes! I’ve got tons of stuff barely worn or even brand new - and I need to get rid of stuff on Vinted. It may “fit” but I look like the undead in mustard - but someone else will look gorgeous!

Gwdihooooo that's a good idea. I've got hundreds of children's clothes for selling on vinted. I've sold some already and use it to buy things for me and ds. I really need to get more uploaded in the new year. It's all taking up too much space as well as being money just sat there.

We still have lots of Christmas treat food left. In fact we seem to have eaten very little so far and I'll put most of it away in the next couple of days for movie nights at home and chocolate fixes.

I've told the dc that I'm not buying anything except for food we need. I'll buy crisps but once they are gone I won't be buying more until the next shopping trip or delivery.

Can I join please!

I love doing no spend January. Well I don’t enjoy it but I like knowing I’ve done it.

I'm in too!

Obviously food is an essential but I am really bad for using our village co op for random things during the week, which means I get distracted and buy other things while I am there!

So, one thing I am going to do is meal plan more carefully and not take my purse to work so I am not tempted to spend on the way home! I work a 15 minutes drive from home and I am a teacher so don't need to have my purse with me.

I'm also bad for buying on Amazon so need to avoid that.

We have quite a lot of food still left so we will be making sure we use that as well.

We don't actually need anything so just need to avoid buying things for the sake of it!

Good luck everyone 🙂

I'm thinking of deleting the Amazon app along with prime and amazon music for January.

Obviously food is an essential but I am really bad for using our village co op for random things during the week, which means I get distracted and buy other things while I am there!

work out what it is you run out of and but extra
keep cash in the house, go to coop with only enough in coins to buy said item
send child with cash to shop to get said item

3 options to avoid a top up shop for £30

I'm thinking of deleting the Amazon app along with prime and amazon music for January.

if you do will they offer you a better deal?

go through bank statements and see if there is other stuff you can ditch

BadShepherd Excellent

let’s see if anyone is going to challenge a 6 day stint 😂🛍

I've cancelled my subscription to Amazon prime and music. It cancels on the 5th.

@ivykaty44 my commute is 2.5 hours each way on a good day, I only travel in 2 days a week but it’s costing around £700 a month 😱 I also hate missing DDs bedtime!

did a big Sainsburys shop this afternoon, £70 mainly dry store things to restock our cupboards post move. Should have enough pasta/rice/lentils to see us through Jan and Feb.
will do a fresh shop once we’re in.
would normally go to Lidl but our nearest one is a bit of a treck.

I’m in a very similar position to you! The benefit of being a teacher in my school is that the food is free! Which saves in lunch.

But like you also, I live in a village and the nearest proper supermarket is 16 miles away, so I rely on the co op way too much!

My aim is to meal plan and either use online delivery or make the effort to drive to aldi once a week

CheeseMaiden

wow that’s a long commute 2x per week

So looking forward to getting started, it was great last year and I think the impact lasted months but alas October/November/December were pretty awful.

I just checked GSs school account, I have a DD for £60 a month and sometimes I have to top it up so I was really pleased to see his account over £30 in credit so I have adjusted the DD to £30 for January so that is my first £30 saving. I'm also looking forward to topping up the car, I normally fill up on the 1st or 2nd of the month and in recent months it has been anything between £70 and £90 a month but I haven't used much in December so that is going to be another positive.

I've got plenty of food in so hopefully only small top up next week and I've got £40 in nectar points so hopefully won't need to spend any actual money for a while.

Hope everyone is raring to get going.

Do you do Top Cash Back? I'm pretty sure you can buy Toby Carvery Gift cards from them (well you could a while back but offers do change) and then you will get 5 or 6% cash back. If you aren't already a member you can get a bonus for joining or if you know someone who is a member they can refer you and they get £25 and you get £10, I got my kids to join and then gave them the £25. It can all add up. I've got about £40 in there so will be getting that out to help keep January spending low.