No spend January?

[Psychoticbreak]

There used to be no spend threads every month on here although I appreciate Dec is a hard one. For me I am going to try not to overspend this month and clear off the credit card in full again as it was zero balance up till xmas.

Anyone else with me?
Stilly possibly to class Christmas day as a no spend but that was my day one and I spent nothing yesterday either.

@MrsShortbread sounds deliciously healthy. As well as NS and dry Jan, I'm also trying to lose weight ( it comes off when I don't drink), but the fresh salad and veg ( I'm not keen on fruit) is probably what I'll spend my budget on.

So overall not a bad week , needed to buy a cleaner squeegee for the new shower but that was only £6. Went out on Thursday for a curry for a colleagues 50th which was expensive £44 a head, but that came out of my personal spends. Also did a food shop last Monday which was £129 as hadn’t been shopping at all since the Thursday prior to Christmas.
This week will just do a small shop on Monday to top up on milk, veg etc.
Generally all going well , just wanted to cut back on the frivolous Amazon type spends so can save for a new bathroom or overpay the mortgage .
weekend should be NS as DH is working all weekend and Dd16 is working today 😊

£22 yesterday on a few top up bits and some ingredients I needed to make a birthday cake. More expensive than I thought but the majority was stuff we have every day.
I forgot bread so now have to go into another shop today which is a pain.

05.01 NSD for me.

Amdone123 Better than my usual Friday night spend which could be anything from £20 to £30 on wine, beer and nibbles. Very impressed by the frittata, this Friday night makeover, and what you managed to get for your £2.

MastieMum There's a house full of food really so I'm going to channel my lockdown self and get creative in the kitchen. There's a Pantry Challenge thread. There's a backstory but I'm going through boxes and discovering things like dried jellyfish and pickled sea lettuce that I need to use up and rotate into the family's menu. So if you have a flash of inspiration during the year as to how I could do that, I'm all ears.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/cost_of_living/4974829-pantry-challenge-2024?

Should be another NSD for me today.

Inspired by you lot, I am going to make a cake out of stuff I have leftover from Christmas rather than buying goodies for visitors coming tomorrow. 😇

@2024Hackathon I'll definitely take a look - I have my eye on some barley and a couple of tins of banana blossom to use up. What possessed me to buy those???

Spent £6 on a swim, which I count as a necessity as it's so good for my health.

Found a good couple of videos about no spend months online which suggested making a list of "boredom busters" - free things to do at home. So this morning I've started a jigsaw instead of distracting myself with the charity shops in town.

Were you catering for a vegan? I used tinned banana blossom for this (family member who's vegan). I have a sneaky feeling that I've inherited a tin—if so, I'll need to think of a version of this I can do from my stores.

https://www.abelandcole.co.uk/recipes/banana-blossom--aubergine-curry

Fairly sure banana blossom can be used in place of fish for fish and chips

Ooh thanks for that recipe @2024Hackathon we're a veggie household so maybe that was it!

First year I’m trying this, didn’t think I could do it to be honest! Jan 6th and five NSD under my belt! Friday managed £22 on food and few other bits so still incredible for the week. To be honest it feel like a weight off knowing no shopping equals less stuff in the house to deal with.

@2024Hackathon Well done for having the conversation, though my DH doesn’t have the same issues we were in a similar position last year, our financial habits just did not match and it was impossible to talk about it without him shutting down. It was so so hard but six months later we are on much similar pages and paying down credit card debt together. Not completely on the same page mind, he definitely doesn’t get this No Spend Jan lark 😂 Baby steps!!

Yesterday was NSD thanks to the prepaid dinner 😁 and only one glass of wine, I’m not doing a strict Dry Jan but also looking forward to the pounds coming off by cutting back a bit.
Today I spent £10 on a spa day for us, we were gifted a voucher that we decided to use this month but of course there’s a small extra fee for booking it on a weekend 🙄 Still, a tenner for a couples massage and spa access, you can’t complain!

I’m off to Lidl for some essential bits later, planning to spend £7 and avoid the wine shop on the way home

I've been shopping!! But in my defence, we have 3 GCs back with us next week - 2 are back to school and the other one we have three days a week spent £30.67 in Lidl, £12.14 in Home Bargains and £15.00 in Iceland but in Iceland I'm still using Xmas club card so really a no spend there from the bank. I'm back on with saving for next Christmas in Iceland so £1.70 on bonus card now.
Much of it was necessary stuff - Toilet rolls and Cat food - but after writing a list last night of everything in the freezer picked up some bits to meal plan - so Burger buns/cheese slices to go with burgers in freezer and some chips for tea on Monday with an Ice lolly for afters. Plus some artisan style bread to go with prawn cocktail and salad for tea tonight as well as a normal Warby's - the lads go through half a loaf for breakfast toast each morning along with their hot chocolate. They have hollow legs syndrome!! 😅
Have also made two dishes of Dauphinoise Potatoes to go in the freezer to add to meat from the freezer for tea over the next week or two. Also splashed out on two mini packs of Ferrero Rocher for DD who complained that her DH had eaten pretty much all the decent chocs and left the naff ones and no-one had bought her any FR at all!! 😥
Still using up Christmas stuff here - had bread and cheese for lunch and the GCs will hopefully help finish the sweets next week.
Outside Xmas lights are now down and indoors so need to pack up the Xmas boxes to go up in the loft. Feeling productive today!! 👼

yesterday was a NSD, went and helped my sister with her building project and organising. Resisted buying a new dehumidifier. Mine works fine.

today spent €31 on some groceries including a few bits for playground snacks.

I’ll also spend approx €15 on my share of a takeaway with my mum and siblings.

going on a shopping trip on Monday so putting together a list of things I actually need so I can focus on those instead of impulse buying

also completed a menu plan for the next 10 days dinners so will just need to replenish fruit etc

Technically a NSD today although I have got a food shop coming later but I checked out the freezer/cupboards and avoided anything non essential. We hadn’t been shopping since just before NYE so it’s only regular weekly shop. Think cost came out just over £70

@Akire you are doing great!

Another NSD here today. Tomorrow will be too, no plans other than relaxing at home.

So I sat over the holidays and went through our entire house budget with a fine tooth comb

I've cancelled subs for things I really don't actually need including stuff I have about 6 months supply of

I've set our food budget weekly to stop us going to do top up shops

I spent the week sorting meals I can prepare for everyone as we all work different hours so I've bought a new 4 in 1 slow cooker and a rice cooker online and have planned meals.

Been with a list that we've totally stuck to and spent £175 for the week.

That did include things we won't need to buy every week so am hoping to skim it down the next two weeks.

I have started envelope stuffing for different savings
So far I have

Birthdays

Christmas

Emergency fund /car vets house etc

And a cash stash that has been depleted due to vets and emergency car repairs last year.

I joined beat the peak with our energy supplier and twice a week sign up for their time slots to earn back electricity which is great as in November we earnt back the equivalent of 2 days worth so happy with that

Nsd tomorrow hopefully

85p on a cucumber that I forgot in ASDA yesterday. Still using up my christmas cheap veg, shredded some red cabbage in a pasta salad for today's lunch, and carrots, spuds and onions in today's dinner.

Nsd here!!
it’s really helping reading through everyone’s comments.

Took the kids out today to feed the ducks and to play on the park. Was actually so lovely to feel some winter sun!

The local church had a ‘family fun day’ today so took the kiddies there late afternoon. Free to attend and all got a picky tea. Winning!

Food shopping tomorrow but that should be all!

My plans for a NS weekend went out the window when DH announced we were going suggested we go for lunch. £16 not budgeted but also the first ‘date’ we’ve had in ages. We also did not avoid the wine shop. Spent £10 on a posh bottle that was 50% off to go with our Sunday roast.

Spent £8.50 at the shop when I’d budgeted £7, didn’t get anything off list but pasta, couple of tins, and dairy have all gone up in price.

Total spent today £44.50 including the spa earlier. £45 over the weekend is definitely way cheaper than a ‘normal’ weekend though so I’ll be chuffed if I can make it a NSD tomorrow, home all day so should be easy!

Another NSD here! I really didn't want to go out so I ended up cancelling. I felt pretty bad about it but DH still went, so at least one of us turned up.

Planning a little walk to local beauty spot with the youngest DS tomorrow. I'm so happy knowing I'm not going to be hungover, I want to do something nice with him before he goes back to school on Monday.

Hope everyone has had a good Saturday!

I’ve printed off a no spend challenge card so with my morning coffee I colour in a NSD. This helps me to keep to my word when nothing else is planned. Was worried that once I food shop on Friday it might develop into a well you have spent now so all those online baskets you might as well checkout, but trying hold out for January.

If I can go cold hard turkey for one month it’s going be better long term. I want to see how much I save in the month. In theory it should be a decent amount but those £15 a day here and there really do add up.

NS day number 7. Well, apart from £2 🤣
Tomorrow is zumba, but already paid for.
Then work is the only time I go out - I walk there and back and don't take my purse, so all good!
Still using pantry / freezer food.
Brunch crispy bacon on bagels and tea, pasta and sausage bake.
I only eat 2 x meals a day, though yesterday I ate some leftover selection box ( to curb the wine craving. Day 7 dry Jan, too). 😇

@Akire I'm exactly the same - it will be interesting to see.
I've been ticking it off in my journal too.

The only spend this week has been on the weekly supermarket shop yesterday. £65 but it included some cleaning products that will last for weeks.

This is the longest time I can remember not buying some random bits here and there. Going back to work next week and will be near shops daily again so more temptation and opportunities but I'm determined to strict with myself.

Managed another NSD. Coffee shop after swimming but I had a completed loyalty card so my coffee was free. Avoided browsing in the shop when I was out on my walk - easier not to enter the shop than go in and walk away without spending!