Low Spend 2025

[YourLimeCat]

Does anyone want to join me in a mutual support Low Spend year? I entered premature retirement this year at the age of 60 due to health issues and I will be living off a saved Civil Service pension for the next 7 years. Due to no rent or mortgage to pay its not too dire a situation but it would be good to have somewhere to share tips with fellow low spend attemptees.

I’ve washed, dried, sorted and photographed a load of stuff to list on Vinted on my non-working day next week. Today I need to sort through my packaging stockpile so I’ve got things to post them in if they sell.

I didn't get the takeaway yesterday but I did get a hot drink after a long walk today. I'm going to box up a large amount of books for music magpie to make up for it.

Well husband went to local shop for bread, flour, and Pepsi max. My addiction drink. Ordered a large online shop to come Monday pretty dear for us at around £77 but first shop since 23rd December. We seemed to need everything, shampoo, soap, deodorant lots of cleaning stuff and toilet rolls. I noticed things are still going up quite a bit.

No or very low spend days are quite a buzz

I would like to join, I'm doing a low spend, I have nearly £10,000 in debts and need to get on top of it. My mortgages are quite low and I should be able to pay off more of my debts each month if I stop buying pointless rubbish. I've banned myself from buying any new clothes except pants, socks and bras. I'm also logging everything I buy on a daily basis.

I'm always trying to save money, by necessity but it's also a hobby!

Some tips / things I do. Explore any of your employer benefits schemes, for discounted gift vouchers etc incl. Supermarkets. Use all the shop apps AND have them on your partner's phone also & play them off against each other - loads of money to be made / saved here. Use MoneySavingExpert and Hotukdeals. Use cashback sites like Quidco.

Don't buy everything in one place if you can help it. Use Home Bargains and Savers for cleaning products and toiletries. Also use Farmfoods and Heron Foods if you have one - brilliant deals on good quality items. Know which shops do the best prices on the items you use most & stock up if possible.

Eat a mainly vegetarian diet. Use beans, pulses, lentils, pearl barley, oats, carrots, celery etc to bulk out meals - particularly stews and mice-based meals. Know where / when to find reduced items and meal plan around them. Batch cook.

At Christmas all the veg was 8p - we bought loads and prepped / froze. I did 2 bags of Jackets in one go - then defrost & crisp up as Jackets or wedges. I have just used 5 x Broccoli stalks, the last few small potatoes & the dregs of Stilton to make a soup.

I'm doing quite well. Aside from an outing and mcds for an end of holiday outing for dc, only spends have been for essentials such as bread and milk. The weather has helped as I have had no wish to go out anywhere! Hope to still feel like am doing well this time next week. Real life resumes with school runs etc, work, and other bits and bobs. So need to stay strong!

Can I celebrate? Today I closed one of my credit cards and also sold 3 books.

Which shop is best to buy store cupboard canned staples and spices? I don't have a Costco nearby

That's amazing. I need to close a credit card down... But am reluctant to as it is my just in case card...... But realistically I need to never use it so there's not actually any point in having it!

I'm in!
I made a real effort to cut back on unnecessary spending last year and it paid off as I was able to actually save.

I have a spreadsheet where I track every single penny I spend in categories eg. Food/pets/transport/luxuries/household.

I also have a "Things I wanted but didn't buy" column and find it gratifying to see how much money I didn't spend.

I will admit sometimes things go in that column and a couple of months later I buy them and move them on the spreadsheet. However, there are so many things I didn't buy whereas at one point I'd have just ordered them without thinking.

Well done @Wakemeupwhen2024ends! I understand that Indian supermarkets sell spices etc in bulk, but I don't have one near me - I mainly buy bags of spices and the staples like chickpeas etc from Tesco, TBH - or my local Sainsburys has a decent selection too. I console myself by thinking that they may be slightly more expensive than Aldi/ Lidl, but at least I get Clubcard points...

@reallynow1 could you keep the credit card just for keeping your credit score up - use it for a small purchase each month and pay it off in full? I keep considering getting one just for that, to build up my credit score again - but then I don't think I could stick at an amount I could easily pay off every month, and before I know it I'd be back in mountains of debt

@TimothyIsNotAnArmardillo what a great idea - is it your own spreadsheet? I have a budget sheet I could use from a course I did a while ago, but if I start budgeting for everything possible then I have literally about £50 per month left, so I'm a bit stuck!

It is. It's very simple but it works for me.

Each month has a page with tables for different areas of expenditure and then I have an overview page that tracks across the year.

I'm very target oriented so am looking at mini targets where I try and spend less in some areas.

For example, last year I spent 6070.06 on groceries and household so I'm aiming to reduce that this year.

However, we spent £351 on eating out/takeaways which was a huge decrease from previous years so I may spend a little more this year. That one isn't quite as joyless as it sounds cos when we go out with my mum she never ever lets us pay.

Love this and may just adopt it!

I’m in! Redundancy and job hunting so we’re down to one income. best thing I have done is cancel Amazon Prime! It encourages me to think “do I really need that?” Or “it’ll have to wait until I’m in town next week”. By the time I get into town I no longer need the thing I was going to buy!

We have chosen to stick with NOW TV and Disney + as it’s cheaper than Sky and going to the local cinema.

We have cut back on fuel by £20 a month. And I saved up (with my last pay cheque!) to pay off my phone contract so now I’m on a SIM only for only £10. This phone will last years (I hope!)

I have loads of clothes to last a few years but Im not banning myself completely. However I am banning myself from buying shoes and boots. I love shoes, I really do. But I have several pairs that are brand new.

I have had a clear out. I don’t think any of us needs anymore “stuff” so we’ll be spending on experiences instead.

2025 will be job hunting, being sensible, saving a little and paying off some debt if possible!

Also using up all the shampoo I’ve hoarded for a few years 😳🤣

I could open my own purple shampoo and shoe shop with my vast collection 🤣

Ugh I don’t think I’ve had a single NSD yet.

1/1- £67.89 vitamin/supplement subscription came out (this is for the next 6 months but is a huge amount of money. Are they really necessary?)

2/1 £9.29 I re bought a pair of trousers that I’d bought on vinted before Christmas and the seller hadn’t sent because of Christmas. Telling myself this doesn’t count as really I’d bought them before Christmas 🤔
£30 monthly yoga class payment

3/1 £35 birthday presents for ds

4/1 £3 in hardware shop (puncture repair kit, screen wash).
£19.09 party bag fillers. Could have only bought one of the things tbh and saved myself £8 but I panicked it didn’t look enough

5/1 £9.38 supermarket

6/1 NSD so far!

I have a big supermarket shop coming tomorrow but then the next two weeks I’m hoping to shop the cupboards and only buy whatever fresh stuff we need 🤞

Little ideas from me:

I cancelled all Netflix and Prime subscriptions and am watching tonnes of fabulous TV on terrestrial TV. There's loads of great stuff all free.

I take packed lunches or breakfasts for my two tweens everywhere we go. I rarely buy them meals out unless it's for a real treat. I stock up on treats at home instead. Recently I took cheese rolls, crisps and choccie bars to Gatwick and avoided paying £50 for breakfast.

I ensure we have water bottles on us at all times and refill when I can.

I avoid buying branded new clothes. My kids routinely look at Vinted and Ebay for Nike etc as they know they won't get it new.

My kids do chores for cash rewards, and I avoid having to pay a cleaner a fortune. Win win as they have learnt to clean bathrooms, do laundry and hoover. I've also invested in a Eufy robot which hoovers at night for me.

I'm doing the same with soap. I have a ridiculous amount

I've decided that I'm going to see if I can live off my projected pension - ideally I'd like to retire in five years.

Last year we'd have managed it if we hadn't been hit with a major car repair.

I'm also considering the fact that in retirement there will be savings - for example we could drop to one car, fuel expenses will be less. Holidays will be cheaper as we can go in term time.

I do find there is a balance between frugalness and meanness and misery and I am keen to stay on the frugal side.

Yes please! May I ask you if you have been retired due to ill health do you get your occupational pension as if you retired at 67? This might happen to me but I've only paid in 15 years so far. Are you eligible for any benefits? I want to save as much as I can before I'm forced out!

I'd like to join too. I have a credit card that's gone a little out of control and I'm paying everything back on it and spending little elsewhere.

Today was a spend day, but is dps birthday at the weekend so was buying for that.
I paid off my klarna pay in 3 today, so next month that amount is going as an extra payment on a credit card. I'm nothing if not determined to hit some balances this year. I have a spreadsheet where every month I am updating balances. So I see what I owe in total, which is depressing....but should prove an impetus to have more nsd's. What I have remaining will be split into 3. Extra payemtn, savings and spends.

The savings is for our summer holidays.. I want to have saved up the entrance fees for the places we know we will be going for days out.

@Crispynoodle my friend had to retire through ill health. She had a very small pension. She gets contribution based ESA. She owns her own home so no universal credit for housing but she manages okay, I think she has a discount on council tax. She is looking forward to getting her old age pension which will be more money than she is getting now as she will get a full pension.
My husband went to buy milk and came home with two large packs of yellow stickered mince. We added a pile of the cheap Christmas veg we had frozen and made 5 meals for 2 of us. I also made a large pot of soup also using cheap Christmas veg, leeks my husband grew and broth mix with extra added lentils. Nine double portions. Most frozen, some in the fridge for next couple of days lunches.