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.

@SwoopingIsBad finding bargains that you will 100% use and need isnt that much of a failure. Better £4 than £24
it does make you question every item which is progress. Much less of throwing things in basket without a care.

@RM2013 i don’t think it is humanly possible to walk out of a BnM empty handed.

Today was a spend day. The grocery anxiety got to me and I spent €50 on a top up shop. Including duck legs as I want to make cassoulet.

I’ve a €10 off €50 coupon for a Tesco online shop but with a minimum €6 delivery fee I think I will skip this. It’s so tempting but I could spend less just topping up in the local shop so I’ll do that instead

I'm still doing OK. I'm thinking that Grocery Anxiety (GA) is becoming a Thing 🤣 - I am not alone.

I'm on Day 11 of NS, and it's getting easier for me. We're eating well and like a pp has alluded to, no one's fallen ill.
We've eaten quite well, really.

I did glance at the La Redoute sale and saw a lovely green jumper dress. £30.
I ignored because :
1 ) I have 3 jumper dresses
2) I don't go anywhere ( especially in winter)

Today's tea is pulled pork ( I did buy in tesco the other day - a change), hm jacket potato wedges, coleslaw, kale.
Dh made me laugh. He brought home a big bag of potatoes ( with an announcement). He was like a modern day caveman.

Nearly 2 weeks - keep going, folks - you're doing really well.

I am failing despite everything. Booked myself a short course online in something costing 86stg. Have been to many a corner shop instead of doing a big shop resulting in spending vastly more money and I have our summer holiday booked. I need stern words with myself.

Plus side is we are all happy and healthy and I didn't buy clothes or any inane stuff for the house although I am trying to talk myself into buying a water cooler system this morning....

@Psychoticbreak if you’ve resisted buying even one thing you normally wouldn’t have given a second thought to, you haven’t failed 😄
I haven’t had many days where £0 has left my account, I’m actually amazed at how often purchases need to be made to keep a house running. But I’m definitely spending less, considering my purchases and avoiding unnecessary browsing etc so this thread has still been super helpful despite not having as many NSDs as some of you!
That being said yesterday was a total NSD and today is on track to be the same. I need to get a couple things, meat for the weekend, fabric dye, and postage for a gift, but I’ll probably put that off til tomorrow or Saturday because I’m too lazy to leave the office today

@Psychoticbreak not buying clothes and house stuff is a big plus! Could you put an online food order in to avoid the corner shops? I don’t like doing it online at all but it does help save.

Just bought myself new slow cooker as needed replace base for ages. Had tried a replacement silicone thing but made food taste horrible. Checked Argos and same as Amazon and was able use all my nectar points to was free! Very pleased with myself.

@Psychoticbreak you are right I’ve got about 10 things that would be better replacing but can manage without. Before I would have just got new ones without thinking. By end of month should have few hundred pound saved that other wise would have flown away with no idea where it went. So have to keep reminding myself that.

I’ve got about 10 things that would be better replacing but can manage without.

Yes! Our dishwasher is >20 years old. We can manage but I could do with replacing it. My divan bed is looking positively tatty (it's 30 years old, the mattress is newer).

I'm inundated with food processor offers (they're in my wishlist). I've wanted a new one for some time but the prices were ridiculous. Now, I'm seeing the ones that I want at >£200 pounds off the price but I'm not spending (put it this way, it still leaves them at £200+ even when reduced). I must have had 8 offers in the last week.

The ones that I want are expensive because I need ones with a powerful enough motor to cope with the amount and type of of bread that I bake.

Still holding firm. I'm now on 11 January and we're still eating from the freezer and pantry (bar fresh milk and eggs).

Love my whistling kettle so much…tea that is heated using driftwood on a fire makes the best cuppa lol. Made the kids toast with the toasting fork for an after school snack too.

Well, I've gone off the rails!

Spent £140 on presents. In my defence, large savings and things I would have definitely bought, not impulse buys. I do put money aside for gifts but it will be mid February until my budget catches up with my spends. There shouldn't be too many more besides Valentines, Mother's Day and my wedding anniversary coming up which should be fairly manageable. I do need birthday cards though.

I did save money today by making homemade pizza for dinner with the fridge gravel, instead of going to the shops. And we need a room divider which I had expected to pay for but my husband said he would sort this, so saved on an extra spend.

I'm going to look in the cupboards and see how long I can eek out the food we have instead of going to the shops tomorrow, and spend some time meal planning later.

I

I've been no spend all week until today. £36 on sports (a swim and an annual club membership). So planned and necessary. I'm heading into a couple of spendy days - a leaving do for someone at work and a cinema trip, but will be frugal as possible so buying snacks with the food shop and taking them in.

No spend today. Straight to work, didn't leave the staff room at lunchtime and straight home! Yay!

Hope everyone is doing well

Well done, everybody! I had a NSD yesterday - despite DH's sudden desire for pizza, we had green pesto pasta with olives instead. <polishes halo>

But then today I spent around £30 on the train going to a nearby city for a driving Theory test (I failed by one point! 😫 Ah well, clearly it wasn't meant to be and I'll have to try again, maybe not until the summer though, since work is getting super busy now after the holidays). Then I bought a groceries top up and a consolation coffee afterwards. DH had also bought some fancy bread so we don't need any food for a wee while.

Tomorrow or else Saturday, a £500 payment for gas and electricity is coming out, so I still need to stick to my rather strict January budget.

We can do this! Hoping for a NSD (at least for non-essentials) tomorrow.

@Psychoticbreak the itch to buy random house stuff is so hard to resist so well done for resisting it. I’m trying to do a low spend rather than a no spend. I want to break the habit of just buying stuff when I see it. 9/10 when I resist I realise I haven’t missed having the item. I’m mainly focusing on my personal funds and also my discretionary spending from the joint account as um the main spender here. I can justify it all but in reality could easily do without it too.

hoping to have enough left in the joint after a few months to fund some home purchases that currently aren’t budgeted for.

today was a no spend day and I was back to work so busy all day and didn’t feel the need to spend anything.

another NSD this week. Went to work then the gym and home and cooked dinner. I will be spending some money tomorrow as I’m meeting a friend for lunch. I can’t make her 50th birthday party so we’ve agreed to have lunch xx

Spendy day for me today!
took my mum for a coffee today - I know, total fail! Anyway £10 spent there.
Completely ruined a 3 day streak of no spending!
then needed essentials in lidl so spend £5!
work tomorrow so won’t spend anything.

Back to being focused!! 💪

Well worth the spend! Made me smile for you both. I don’t have any family left apart from my children, sadly, and never got to be an adult child but I’d love to have been able to do this.

I agree - some things are worth more than £10, so we'll let that one go !
I'm doing well. Barely spent anything, but like my fellow Bank Checkers, I'm not seeing any results. A bit negative really that. I might not have any money magically appear in my account ( not been paid), but similarly, I've not taken much out ( £20 since day 1).
So, overall, it's going well.
I will be spending £10 later on a decent bottle of wine, and Sunday I do need a very small shop, £20 for my new low carb plan, but that's it for the weekend and hopefully til the end of the month, as dh said he'll get the shopping.
Keep going, folks - we're halfway there.

Well, 38% ....🤣

Haha, love the accuracy…now I’ve got to resist the need to check your accuracy IS accurate 😆😆

I’m trying, but it’s never been a nsd so far.

Yesterday:
€155 to hospital fees - was charged as parent staying a week with my toddler (which I find a bit annoying tbh as it’s not like he could have stayed alone)
€110 - new Epipens for Toddler
€20 - wellington boots for Toddler as he’s outgrown
€5.50 - supermarket basics

@Caspianberg aahhh you couldn't help any of that. Hope your little one is OK ❤️

Shopping day here but I have a small list and looked up the prices so in my head I know it’s under £20. Still have some cash to use so should help hold off on adding anything else to the basket. Though I’m so used to paying with phone a lot of the time I forgot I’m trying use cash.

That was a list of unavoidables.

I hope you're all OK after those experiences.

Bar 99p, all of my expenditure this month has been for people who need care.

@2024Hackathon - yes thank you. It’s been an expensive 2023, with various things, so slightly annoying that 2024 seems to be starting off the same.