Low spend / no spend / frugal June

[IWonderWhereThatDishDidGo]

Sorry if there is already a thread, but I've been planning to do a no / low spend June so thought I'd start a thread for anyone else who wants to do the same.

I've already failed today though 🙄😂

I've got a hideous stomach bug and had to cancel a cinema trip today (which had already been paid for). So I've let the kids buy a movie on YouTube to make up for it, which has cost me an unbelievable £16.99 😩.

Hope that's it for today and tomorrow though. We have groceries in and I don't need petrol till maybe Sunday.

Yes I am definitely in! We have a few things booked this month and I have a hair appointment and a dental one too. We have an overnight stay booked away but the hotel is paid so its just dinner to pay for and I have a work thing on which again only dinner to pay for but every cent counts this month.

Fridge and freezer are full, think I have about a half tank of diesel which will do me another 2 weeks perhaps. Mortgage went out this morning which was eye watering as it has gone up so much but lucky I can afford it.

I am in Ireland so all kids finish school tomorrow for summer but have been warned that June is a tight month so they may find free things to amuse themselves.

I'm in! Spent a bit more than I wanted to last month, and hoping to do better this month as I have a debt I'd like to pay down as much as possible before August, especially since my job is looking a wee bit precarious. I don't want that hanging over my head if I were made redundant.

Good luck all!

Joining x

I'm in too! But feeling frustrated that things are not going down quick enough!!

Placemarking!

Waves to everyone joining

@moimichme that's tough. I had a couple of months between jobs recently and it was quite scary how quickly my savings started to disappear. You're being more organised than I was though, so that should put you in a better position if you need it (hopefully not though)!

I am in .

I'm in!

Count me in! I'm recovering from an op and don't expect to manage much work this month (run out of sick pay so just being paid for the hours I do). So we really need to keep costs to a minimum.

Right so my expensive days in June are all this weekend. Yesterday I got my hair done for the first time since Feb so it was needed and I bought my purple shampoo and conditioner off the hairdresser but that lasts me about 6 months so I see it as an investment ;)

Today the only thing I might purchase is a bottle of wine. No DP this evening and kids are off to the cinema (all paid for from the last of the xmas vouchers) so a nice bath with my book and a glass sounds appealing.

Tomorrow I have a fully paid for trip away which includes dinner and hotel etc and I am gettting a lift so not even the cost of fuel for the car. Might have to put my hand in my pocket for a glass of wine but that is it. DP is home Sunday and we are planning a night in with the kids and a couple of pizzas but he got a justeat voucher as a bonus from work so no cash to splash there.

Monday starts my penny pinching week. I am going to sit and make a meal plan out of what we have here and limit what I spend on shopping and see how far it gets me. I think I was better with money years ago because I had less to work with. It is a bad habit to get into just going 'fuck it lets get a takeaway as I cannot be bothered cooking' as we all know takeaways are now shockingly expensive and really are a treat now.

Best of luck to all!

Morning!

I'm feeling better today and think I'm allowed to go out 🎉

Need to think of something free to do with DCs. Possibly a picnic in the park or something. It's half term here and they were stuck in with me all day yesterday as I couldn't go out.

@MadEyeMoodysEye I hope you're recovering ok. Can you apply for any benefits or will you not get anything? Shocking that you can be left recovering from surgery with no pay!

Yes agree re takeaways @Neverinamonthofsundays. They are £££ now and rarely worth it so I end up feeling cheated. Our local takeaway has started really scrimping on things like chicken (probably due to CoL so I understand it) and it is really grim what you get now, so I'd truly be better off not having it.

Good luck today everyone! Hoping for a NSD if I can or maybe just car parking if I need it.

Thanks for starting the new thread, I’ve been struggling to keep up a bit.
May was an absolute disaster for me, groceries were astronomical, mainly because we went on two camping trips so bought a lot of convenience/prepackaged stuff for those trips. I think my groceries for may came in at £757 which is by far the highest it’s been this year. Other spending was around £280 though which was a bit lower so evened out slightly.

On to June. I’ve already spent £33.80 on vinted 🤦🏻‍♀️. Going away for a week made me realise that dd doesn’t have enough summer tops (it’s fine at home because they get washed more regularly) but I don’t want to do washing on holiday (plus the laundrette is £££) so got her a few tops and some swimming costumes. For her winter clothes this year I’m going to try to buy one big bundle because it works out cheaper than buying bits and pieces here and there. All the stuff I got her this time was under £1 an item but four lots of postage has added on another £10.

Got to go to the supermarket today for a few bits but hopefully won’t spend too much

Hi
I’m going to join. Went on holiday in May which was a huge expense but worth it but really need to be careful this month. I’m guessing not counting Direct Debits for bills etc going out.

Yesterday just work and home so no spends.

I’m in London so travel by public transport or walk.

Good luck everyone!

Hi @Orcubed. Yes, I saw you'd done a couple and then thought I'd do one this month. Groceries are horrendous ATM. I dread grocery shopping now and I used to quite like it.

@Thighdentitycrisis yes, only non-essential spending counts (for me anyway).

Im in for the month. I need to save for holidays in July.

Ive been through the cupboards this morning to see what we have in stock and have made a list for the weeks groceries - hopefully I can bring it in at under £30 this week.

I do have a day trip booked for next Thursday, but have already paid the deposit so not so much left to pay

@Neverinamonthofsundays I always treat hairdresser and good shampoo/conditioner as an investment😸 But it really does make you feel better and nice hair does half the job, along
with decent skincare. I went to hairdresser two weeks ago, next appointment probably in October when I decide I’m feeling ready to leave my baby with husband or my parents🤔

I went to Aldi and Sainsbury, managed to spend £19, that included a very large pack of chicken drumsticks - pleased with that. im going to make;
coconut and carrot dash, chicken curry and make some flat breads to go with it

Pesto pasta, green beans and new potato dish,

puttanesca as I have anchovies and spaghetti in the cupboard - shall just be missing the olives.

ive got chickpeas so going to make chickpea tuna - to have with salad for lunch

still got £11 left just incase we need an odd item for the week

Trying to cut down our grocery shop, very hard to do as various dietary requirements and also a large family. currently around the £200 a week mark.

Would love to get some meals under £10. One DC have complex dietary needs so it's £5 a pack per night for their meal pretty much so I'm thinking if I can feed the rest of us for £5 that would be really good. So far I've thought of carbonara thats quite cheap and chicken fried rice. I would say we currently spend around £15-20 a night on a main meal. So £5 for one DC plus probably around £10-15 on the rest of us. Example of tonight is fajitas so it's £4 for chicken, £1 wraps £1seasoning. Maybe £2 for peppers mushrooms and onions. £1 sour cream, maybe £1 worth of grated cheese. It all adds up fast!

Even cheaper meals like sausages we need 2 packs.

We can afford it but I feel like if we cut down our food spending it would free up more money for things we need like house maintenance.

£19 on a shop including chicken is great!

I've just spent £4 on car parking today and that's it. Will need some groceries over the weekend though. I'm a terrible one for top up shopping which isn't great, but I find I end up doing it no matter how big a big shop I do. So now just doing a few little shops instead.

I'm in!

Went Lidl and Home Bargains - spent £63 plus Petrol for the car - the light was on!! £30
Two Grandkids here for a sleepover as Mum and Dad had a funeral to attend - but fed them bits we already had in and spent the afternoon playing with sand pit and paddling pool full of water so a free afternoon.

Hi I would like to join too please. We need to cut back spending as everything is so expensive now especially groceries. Spent £52 in aldis today and hoping it does the week. Trying to avoid asda and Co op for top ups this week. Also finding a lot of stuff kids have grown out of to sell so getting that listed on ebay.

Hello all and welcome joiners

Another low spend (but not no spend) day here. I've had to spend £4 on parking again but otherwise nothing spent today.

Tomorrow is going to be worse as I am seeing an old friend for lunch. This is an extremely rare occasion for me as I hardly ever see friends these days as so busy and moved away from London where a lot of our friends still are (so all my own fault really)! Anyway, as it's such a treat I'm not going to beat myself up about it.

I will also need groceries tomorrow I think and possibly petrol too, so an expensive day for me tomorrow

I managed a NSD both yesterday and today, somehow! DH paid parking for us to go to the local beach, but it was def a low spend day. And we got rid of 6 bags to charity shops that have been lurking in the boot. Win!

Spent £135 less than this time last month according to my bank app. But tomorrow is a big (ish) shop as we're totally out of pasta, veg and salad, apart from 1.5 onions.

We're lucky (in a way) to have a really good takeaway curry place nearby, and we only ever buy the veg options so have not noticed scrimping there. But the prices seem to go up every time we order (once a month or so). Eek.

NSD yesterday but spent £4.79 on food today. I didn’t even try to economise. ☹️

Also my Talktalk bill went out and it’s £40! I need a new contract sharpish