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!

I’ve had a good few days, so I’m encouraged.
the first week was horribly stressful, so I reorganized my approach and now I’m refocused.
the mattress repayment plan was not working for me. so I took some money from the savings account.

Aldi food shop yesterday - £57. Will need coffee later this week, £250 on 10 sessions with a personal trainer today - very aware of the problems lack of muscle can cause as I get older (I'm nearly 68) so feel this is an investment in me. Gym very local so can walk/cycle there (unless it's pouring with rain like yesterday) and membership cn be suspended when we are travelling as long as we give 2 weeks notice

I'm so excited that for (possibly) the first time ever I've managed to get to pay day (tomorrow) in credit. I've forked out roughly £300 on MOT as well.

But am able to transfer £708.41 into savings. I know February is a short month, and because I'm ill with a chronic condition we've mostly sat indoors in the rain but I'm still thrilled to bits.

Being really mindful about whether I absolutely need to buy something has helped me a lot. Even so, I'm aware of the fact that we will shortly be £1500 per month down, so I've still got some way to go.

@Hatty65 well done so pleased for you it's great when you feel you have accomplished something

@Cottagecheeseisnotcheese Thank you. I know CoL crisis is hitting everyone and it feels a bit tactless to post that I've managed to save what is a huge amount to most of us this month.

I am genuinely so happy to have managed it, even though it's been a bloody miserable month eating stuff out of the freezer and sitting in the house! I know it won't happen often, but at least I've squirrelled a bit away.

Hatty - I'm so pleased for you! I'm sorry to had to go through such privation to get there, IYSWIM, but it must be so satisfying to hit payday in credit and not have to watch a lump of your pay disappear before you see it, IYSWIM.

Positive news is very motivating. And your experience is all the sweeter that you had to pay for an MOT as well.

Wow that's an impressive sum to be able to put away in one go!! Well done.

So far we've not spent a huge amount this week on anything frivolous. Food delivery came on Monday and was £97, but we have a small kitchen and keep pretty minimal stock at a time so that's about normal. Cat food came at the same time from amazon and was £28. I also met a friend for a coffee and pastry on Monday which was £6.80; Tuesday I paid for a month of DC swimming classes at about £28.
Wednesday I went to work at a co-working space and paid £3.30 for coffee. Today I went to the office, but lunch was provided so I only paid for tube fares.
Trying hard to not buy physical items - and I made £45 selling on vinted so pleased about that.

@Hatty65 it's encouraging and nice to know you're having a good month.

NSD over here, dh on board as we're prepping for a vet appointment on monday.

Spent loads this month!
Childcare fees are going up quite significantly soon for us (more than doubling) and I don't know how we will manage as it will coincide with our fixed mortgage deal ending.
How do those of you with school age children manage working and childcare? I thought we had got over the expensive bit of nursery for two but now wraparound care is so expensive too!
March will be a very low spend month and I will have to look at adjusting our lifestyle.

I suppose on a positive note, I'm trying to declutter and now I won't be able to afford anything new 😅

@2024Hackathon @CurlsnSunshinetime4tea and everyone else!

Thank you so much. I dithered about posting the amount, because I know we are all basically on this thread because money is tight, and I didn't want to upset anyone. I am pleased - basically I am on long term sick with a chronic health condition and the only wage earner. This is my last month of sick pay before it's cut to half pay. So from next month we suddenly have to get by on half my salary, which is a massive worry. And obviously, if I don't recover enough to return then I'm eventually going to be laid off.

However, I've managed to squirrel bits away and hopefully we'll scrape by.

I've spend £124 on groceries today and £60 on fuel.

I spent £9.70 at a local deli today for some nice cheese and olives - they were to take to a friend's house for a little get-together. I'm pleased, however, because the original plan was to meet at a pub so this worked out a lot cheaper!

another low spend day here as well. looks encouraging that the vet bill won't be a set back.

Hello Hack - good to see you over here, too!

Well done to everybody - it's not easy to be frugal and disciplined about your spending 24/7. I've taken a look at my month so far and it looks like I've had 14 NSDs this month - not counting regular direct debits - which is unheard of! The savings I've made so far this year won't offset the cost of our flights to the U.S., but it will definitely help to keep some buffer in my savings account. It isn't fun, but I can see the benefits every time I log in to my bank apps or Emma (finance app).

We're going to the park later - finally some sunshine here - despite the cold and will hopefully be a low spend day, at least. Happy weekend, everyone.

£7 in Coop yesterday for coffee, burger rolls and dip.

NSD today as home all day watching rugby and cycling

Burger and potato wedges for dinner with apple pie for dessert

under budget day, NOT by much but less than our allotted daily spend.

all applied to the cc.
lots of ongoing budgetary headaches; broken car part still not fixed, will owe the deductable and most likely extra (to replace both side mirrors as the originals have been discontinued), 3 broken door locks and now the hot tub has electrical issues....
i'm being tested which is perfect being lent.

£2.5 in Coop on spring onions and cream cheese yesterday for Fish Pie. Should be NSD today as only have a gym visit planned. Rain finally seems to have stopped here so I'll be walking to gym

planned on the vet fees being $300 they were $376.
zero warning and the sensor on the hot tub has failed $75 call out and $125/per hour fees....plus parts (work will be done on wednesday).
February is proving brutal!!!
i'm not giving up, or giving in, to being underbudget as many days as possible for 2024.

That sounds really hard, Curls. Try and roll with the financial punches - each frugal decision you have made or continue to make this month will help - at least a little bit - and our future selves will thank us.

I admitted on another thread that we took ds to both the park and the beach on Saturday, for about 3 hours, which led to £50 (including tip) spent on dinner out (it was getting late and DH reminded me we didn't have much food to cook with at home). If I hadn't been so careful earlier in the month, the restaurant trip would have stressed me out a lot, but instead we enjoyed it.

Then £35 on fresh food groceries top up on Sunday, which should be enough until payday on Thursday. Managed a NSD yesterday at work and hoping for another today.

I had a fairly good weekend - nothing but groceries on Saturday (but they don't count as small kitchen so food turnaround is fast)
Sunday I met a friend who had free exhibition tickets which was great. We did get coffee and cake after which was £9.50.
Later I also bought dc a vegan sausage roll as we were seeing family and got delayed and everyone was ravenous - £1.45

I did have a small fail yesterday and bought a top at Sainsbury's for £15 which was unplanned but the perfect thing I'd been looking for. I went in to get a birthday present (£7) for dc friend who has a party on Sunday. Kids parties end up costing a lot in presents, even if you get cheap ones.

Now nothing else for rest of the month

@CurlsnSunshinetime4tea I'm so sorry, life sounds challenging at the moment! Hopefully March will roll in with a bit of a kinder outlook.

We're away for a few days next week on a planned holiday, so I'm resigned to having to spend money. Just had communication about the Gas/Electric - and it's more than doubling. Going from £144 a month to over £300 which is not entirely unexpected, but still a bit depressing.

NSD yesterday & today. Made a mushroom risotto today for tonight's meal. Should be a NSD tomorrow with just a gym visit.

Meeting a friend for lunch in Thursday so will spend a bit there

Paydays are rolling in and as has become customary the past few months I look forward to seeing improvement.

I've done pretty well last few days. Nothing spent on Wednesday, but it was a bit of a joyless day of working until very late. Thursday I went to the office, so I did pay for tube fares, but got free lunch which was nice. I did pick up some hot cross buns and a small bag of chocolate for the weekend from M&S (£4.40) - not strictly necessary but we need little treats and I'm considering it a food cost!

£10.5 yesterday on lunch with friend. £55 weekly shop in Aldi - just discovered I get cashnack from my O2 rewards app so will be sticking with Aldi for a while as this will average out at £10 per month

NSD today - walked to and from Gym so no petrol used. Making pizza for tonight as we'll be watching local rugby team play Edinburgh - hopefully they willl win on St Davids Day