No Spend 2024....

[meemawww]

Or at least the first couple of months to make a dent in my credit card debt!
I feel like I need a thread to encourage me and hopefully get some tips anybody like to join? I earn an alright wage but my god am i frivolous with money since my earnings went up!

another day slightly under budget. i'm hopeful the tide of financial misfortune will turn.

I had a very successful low spend Feb until yesterday, we needed some household items so nipped to B&M. £110 🫨🤫 later!! Even the cashier was shocked, I didn't think it was possible to spend that much in B&M. The house needs a deep clean and I'd run out of some cleaning products and needed a new laundry hamper. I stocked up on laundry tablets too. It was a one off for the house, shouldn't need to spend that for a long time.

I don't know if I've mentioned it before but the receipt scanning apps are good for cashback. I'm almost ready to cash out on Storewards, I might need a few more weeks for Shoppix. Those will pay to PayPal and I'll knock it off my PayPal credit account so I'll have less to pay when the free interest period ends. I'm a pound or so off my next Zipzero £5 payout which will be paid off my Gas and Elec supplier.

I haven't posted for ages, things have been really hectic and I've still not caught up on my budget for January. I'm being very mindful about my spending still which is a good thing, and am setting myself a £50/week budget for shopping, which is my biggest expense. I'm having a quiet day today as I'm full of cold so I'm hoping to go through my cupboards and freezer and do a rough meal plan to use for the rest of the month. So today at least will be a NSD!!

I've had a reasonable low spend week - and have only spent on food and fuel. Have a 'big' family birthday this month, so going to have to splurge on a present for them, however. Also needing to help out youngest DC with some necessary expenses that they can't afford. Bank of Mum and Dad again.

You're well overdue a turn in your fortune!

I admire your fortitude and resilience to this phase in your financial life.

The Peloton arrives on Monday. We have a free trial to see if it suits us. We've spent £93.99 on bike shoes between me and DH. The upside is that if we don't take to it, we can sell the shoes on and recoup some of that money.

I'm still managing to feed us all almost exclusively from 'inherited' stores and the freezer.

I'm still waiting for the budget conversation with DH.

another slightly underbudget day. again all unspent money transferred onto my cc.
i found the amount of money owing on it worrisome, and it wasn't worth the sleepless nights. i transferred some money from the savings account onto it. the mattress payment plan certainly did not roll out/present itself in a way that i would ever recommend the bank service. i made my second payment (for the exact amount stated) on january 27th. by february 4th it still had not been "applied" to the mattress purchase instead was subtracted from the other expenses applied to the cc (plumbing supplies and plumber fee). so in desperation a few days ago i transferred 1.2K onto the cc from the savings account and all of that money (full amount) went onto the mattress payment plan.
life goes on and as usual for me everyday is a banking day.

No chance of no spend here.

Half-term so entertaining the kids and keeping myself sane costs money.

Had a NSD yesterday.

Saturday- spent £10 on entry to a charity and drinks/ raffle tix.

Spent about £40 today on a day out and it was really busy so we left early!

We have low spend activities planned for the rest of the week. I really want to finish my decorating so may buy more paint.

first nsd of the month! quickly transferred onto the cc.

Catching up.

10/2 £21 in Coop - mostly coffee, milk and bread. Savied me doing a big shop ;ast week as plenty in freezer
11/2 NSD
12/2 NSD but Ocado order placed for Thursday delivery as they sent me a 25% off voucher. Will be £65 - also went for breast screening appointment but DH gave me a lift so I didn;t browse shops in town as he was waiting

Meatballs in tomato sauce from freezer with pasta for meal tonight

Hello, can I join this thread? I am on the beauty and clothes no-buy (or low-buy) already but I'm terrible at withering away money on small purchases. I recently reduced my working hours, but I haven't yet adjusted my spending, so February salary might come as a shock!

I assume that NSD means "no-spend day"?

I haven’t updated on the thread for ages. I’ve been really careful. No vinted purchase and no unnecessary trips to the shops. I’ve stuck to buying what I actually need rather than browsing for nice stuff:
it’s paid off as this time last month as massively overdrawn and I’m not just about still in credit (pay day 27th). DH is covering this weeks food shop so I will need to get some petrol but no other big spends between now and payday

I'm on a train on the way home from a work trip and I've tallied up what I spent this week. I think it was the wrong week to join as it's half term, and I had a few days alone with DC and then DH and DC had a day of fun too. I have no idea what they spent - and we paid for 2 days at a holiday club too.

But totalling it all is somewhat embarrassing and also eye-opening:

On Monday, I bought DC new shoes - £40. This was v necessary as feet had grown an entire size. We also bought 3 pairs of black school joggers as ditto, they had grown in height - £25.
We got snacks- £4.55 (tbh these were multipacks so they will last for a bit - we had run out)
I got a coffee - £3.50
I also got DC 2 books - one reading, one activity - £4.99 and £7.99 respectively
Notebook for me for work £6.99 (I know I could use work ones, but they are SO glum)
Lunch at Nandos for a little treat- £16.70

Tuesday:
Kids theatre event - tickets were £28.50
snacks at the venue - £5.65
Bottle of water for me as I forgot my bottle, annoyingly - £1.30
I also bought a new cat poop scooper as the old one was horrible - £2

Wednesday
Lunch - £7.64
Few extra things in Waitrose that we didn't necessarily need, like wine - £15.17
Coffee on the way to work - £3.50
drinks with a friend - £13.90

Thursday
book from amazon - £9.99 (this is a work expense though, I think I can claim it back)

Friday:
Coffee on the way to the train £3.50 (everything else was paid for)

As we live in London and have no car, I am not counting transport costs as they are just a necessary evil for getting anywhere and unavoidable. DH cycles a lot, I do sometimes too, so our travel expenses aren't horrid.

Still. If I divide the joint expenses (which we do), it's still £128.54. Luckily we don't need to shop for shoes/trousers weekly and next week it's back to school!

Hello 👋

Somebody posted something a while back that's really stuck with me.

A £5 a day coffee habit adds up to nearly £2,000 pounds over a year.

There's an estimate that we spend around £29.70 a day on bits and pieces. Coffee, a magazine, sandwich, Vinted, Amazon, whatever. That's £10,000 a year.

Most of us don't even know we're doing it.

NSD is no-spend.
And there's a lot to be said for 'low-spend' or 'lower than it could have been spends'.

Hey can I join please?

I'm trying my best to not spend or at least cut down. I've left nothing in the bank and that way I can't just spend on Amazon. I've no spent a penny since Tuesday but I do need to go and top up my gas and electricity. It's half term now here which is not great for spending but thanks fully I've only got the kids for 4 days out of 9 as they are off to their grandparents.

15th. NSD
16th £9.99 gym membership
17th £17. Home Bargains on mouthwash, ibuprofen and kindling.

I’m still alive and trying I’ll update at some point. More dramatic expenses.

Apart from the day we bought bike shoes, I've had NSDs so far this month.

So far in 2024, we're still eating from stores and the freezer bar except for one day when DH had bought food for a night with friends and we had the leftovers the next day.

We buy fresh milk and eggs. We're shortly going to need to buy fresh fruit and frozen vegetables.

Builder has just dropped 85k “extras” bill on us. Some of which we were aware of (about £20k), the rest not.

not looking forward to the meeting with him shortly where we say we’re challenging! Spoke to a QS last night so may instruct them (though seems shite to have to pay out to stop someone taking from you!)

this month as also not been good downs-wise as we had family over so extra costs to cover in food/booze, plus we went out for dinner etc

payday Tuesday so will draw a line and try again next month

oh and don’t get me started on the argument im hsving with work about my pay “rise”

Fbifan - oh and don’t get me started on the argument im hsving with work about my pay “rise”

DH's work led them to expect nothing. So, it came as a welcome surprise that they got a paltry 2.5% cost of living although no uplift. (More than other employers but a lot less than necessary to match actual inflation etc..)

£12.10 in Coop on coffee, potatoes, peas, milk ,thins and a box of Viennese whirls - i had £2.90 in coupons so the cakes were free

Cottage pie made for main meal (& 2 for freezer)

Apart from above should be a no spend weekend. Making curry tomorrow as have a carton of homemade curry sauce in freezer

Hello, can I join you, too? I'm on a few other no/low spend threads on here and find them useful. I'm trying to cut costs as much as possible to save for a long awaited (6 years) trip to the U.S. to see family this summer. I'm the higher earner so certain costs are my responsibility (DH mostly covers council tax and probably spends more on groceries than I do). With the cost of everything going up up up, I don't want to spend loads on unnecessary things this summer without thinking and have nothing at all saved by the end of the year. I have various strategies, including paying myself first (for savings) and an aim of 2 NSDs - at least - per week.

moimichme 👋Good to see you here. I find the accountability and support here very helpful for staying on track.

I had a cheap weekend by my standards. Husband took DC out yesterday to a play centre thingy which cost £8 (shared expense). I'd packed lunch and snacks so they only got a coffee and a babychino respectively. I got some potting soil which was £5.95 and desperately needed by some sad plants

Today we got a few bakery items for breakfast, plus a loaf of bread - £11. We were out of bread anyway, so only the pastries were an extravaganza. DH picked up an electric toothbrush head for himself, plus multivitamins for DC and paracetamol for me from Superdrug. Not sure how much that was. I bought a bottle of wine to give as a gift next week - £18.

I am away on a business trip next week. I'm wondering if everyone will eat from the freezer and stores while I'm away or take the opportunity for something a little different.

I've made some stews and pies. I'll probably make some curries as well.

I'll just need to reconcile myself to this. It's not something I can influence and I need to concentrate on fulfilling my roles and responsibilities while I'm away and not fret about this.

Had a good few days. Didn’t spend anything at the weekend. Spent sat at home and I worked an extra shift on Sunday (so actually earnt more money). So far NSD Mon and Tues.