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.

"May09Bump" if you go down the route of boiler cover, I don't recommend British Gas. My parents had cover with them and it took three weeks to repair their boiler. They wouldn't even provide an explanation, ie staff shortage, waiting for part! Either way, it's hard to know what to do.

Our credit card came in at £919, slightly lower than usual. Would have been better if we didn't have a car repair and going out over Christmas treats. Next month should be much better. Food spend definitely down and I don't feel like we've had the heating on so much.

Not a low spend, but just finished having our bathroom re-done (it was desperate, leaking toilet, non operational sink, dirty carpet and grout, chipped bath and ill-fitting bath panel).

However, bathroom fitter saw a slight flaw on our bath panel yesterday, but can't get another for a week. If we had it, supplier said we could have it for free - saved us £100 and now it's installed it's so hard to find. Also, a box of tiles to go back so that'll be another £50.

@Sunnyside4 It must be such a relief to know it is done (more or less) and functional again.

I tend to agree re: BG boiler cover not being a great plan / worth the cost. Better to save an emergency fund so it can be sorted quickly, in my view.

Things are going OK here still, although a couple of expenses I've budgeted may be a bit more than I thought. Mainly ds's birthday party idea may be close to £300 if everyone can make it (unlikely I guess). We have his gifts and I'll get him a cupcake and balloon on the actual day.

My birthday is the following week but I'm not expecting to pay towards that. Probably a low key day with cake, ice cream, etc. 😊

Thanks for the heads up re British Gas. Our food spend is down too - hopefully we can keep it up. We are also working through the kid's craft kit which have been sitting in the cupboard - saving on rainy day activities and decluttering at the same time.

Apologies if this has already been mentioned, but for those decluttering, I've just discovered a site for selling books. The process feels very easy so far, although I have only just started and have my first parcel ready to send.

https://sell.worldofbooks.com/en-gb

You scan the barcode of books, it gives you a price and you send them free of charge. Once received you are credited the cash into your account. I didn't initially see there was an offer for the first use, as I did it on the app, so check on the website first for the code, which gives you 10% more or something.

You don't get more than about 50p per book, but if you were going to give them away anyway it might be worth it.

Can I belatedly join you? I have just been through my Amazon account purchases and I have totalled up 141 euros of purchases that seemed oh-so-important at the time but that I ended up not using or that didn’t suit the purpose. 😯I’m determined not to fall in to the same trap this year.

Hasn't been very frugal this weekend, new mattress bought from Ikea (we had a voucher to put towards it), thankfully it fitted in the car and DH got the old one to the tip so didn't have to pay for delivery or collection.
Out a gigs Friday and Saturday, not too expensive as don't really drink on these occasions but my word I was tired yesterday!!!! Looking at what we have planned for the rest of the year there will be a fair few quiet and frugal weekends to compensate/save for spends, luckily our house is comfortable and has enough space for us to bumble along even if I have been eyeing up a new sofa
@siblingrevelryagain between these and We Buy Books I made nearly £50 at the beginning of the year, am trying really hard not to fill up the shelves again! Must put the clothes stash on Vinted...........

teentantrums you're more than welcome to join. It's scary how the cost of purchases builds up if you take your eye off the boil.

Currently got the heating engineer servicing our boiler. He's noticed a seal has gone, but luckily it only costs about £8. However, if the seal has gone, there's a reasonable chance something else has gone so he's currently pulling the boiler apart to double check.

We've booked to go away with friends later in the year. Two couples are sharing a cottage, but two couples (including us) are using our tents, so that'll save us £300. I really enjoy camping and we've got everything we need for good and bad weather, so makes sense. We've said we might have a mini camping trip on our own as well, rather than a proper holiday.

@Sunnyside4 hope your boiler is fixed now, and not too expensively! We have lots of camping stuff (bought and used during lockdown) but DP is frankly too lazy to use it now, and I can't physically do it on my own... we tend to just choose cheaper holiday camps now and stay in a chalet or the equivalent. Also, it's my car that has to be loaded up with the camping gear and it's getting a bit old and battered now, definitely has seen better days - much like its owner really

@TheOnlyMrsW I'm hoping to spend a few weekends mainly at home too, especially with the weather brightening up (she said hopefully) so I can get out into the garden more, tidy up after winter etc. But then I also have to drag the DC out on walks/ bike rides, otherwise they just end up stuck on screens... and yes, DP is too lazy to do that too. Sigh.

Slightly over budget this month but I can't see any major unjustified spends, really need to do a good freezer audit and plan for March now. Meal planning would be my friend, if I could ever get my head round it properly...!

I need to do better with meal planning, too, @ElizaBalfour - I have got out of the habit a bit, which leads to fast and easy meals like veggie burgers and pesto pasta with salad. Not awful, but we need a bit more variety, plus the burgers are often more expensive than lentil bolognese sauce with lots of veg.

This morning we're having Watermelon strawberry smoothies 😋 because ds insisted on buying both the last time he came shopping with us. Total of £86 for the three of us (plus cat) for the weekly shop was pretty good.

Otherwise, since my last update I've been very busy with work still, and haven't bought much that wasn't needed. I did spend £27 on a lilac jumper and a yellow vest top from M&S - getting excited about spring coming, I guess! But both are lovely, fill gaps in my wardrobe, and will be worn loads. So I don't feel too guilty.

My bank app says I've spent £2 less than this time last month 🤣 - not much, but at least it's going in the right direction!

Good luck everyone.

I'm in the middle of a big fridge/ freezer/ cupboard reorganisation @moimichme, trying to make better lists of what I have and chuck out the stuff that's way out of date so I can be more cost efficient when shopping. Tomorrow's dinner will be sausages (rescued from long term freezing) and mash (with spuds which are just about to turn) - hopefully all will go well...!

In a stunning example of what I should not be scrimping on, I put off buying new shoes for ages because they're expensive - I have a long term foot injury and need really firm supportive soles - then had to do an unexpectedly long walk and the injury's flared up again because my shoes were so knackered. Pah! Invested the money in a new pair of Skechers, only to find that I now can't get them on because my foot's so swollen. Double pah!

Cancelled TV Licence - now down to Amazon prime and You Tube for TV, not missing it so far and dusted down the bikes / scooters, made an effort to get out on them every weekend for the past month.

@May09Bump I'm tempted to buy a (cheap) bike in the hope of keeping up with the DC on theirs, but honestly I was never good on one when I was young so the odds of me not falling off now are very small

Invested in some gardening stuff from Lidl today, want to get some seeds planted soon so we have tomato plants and peas in the summer. Now all I need is decent weather to spend some time in the garden...!

Hello everyone I would like to join please, we have had a very expensive few years and have to try to stop sending. I really need a new car - no public transport options - and have to build up savings/ pay off debt which reduces the possibility of that. It can all feel a bit impossible, when I had less responsibilities I would just stop spending but a lot of my spending now is on family things I can't just stop like DD growing out of all her clothes recently, we have animals and the feed costs are high, they are beloved family members but its such hard work making ends meet. So it would be nice to have a group to be honest with about these things.

Welcome @CountryCob 👋 I only have boys, but they are constantly trashing their clothes and the costs add up! When they were small I got a lot from supermarkets/ Facebook bundles/ Vinted - not so easy now but I do still pick up Vinted bargains.

My car needed some very expensive repairs last year so I feel your pain - considered scrapping it and just Ubering it everywhere but in the end it was just about worth it to get the repairs. It's been ok so far this year <touches wood madly>

Thank you @ElizaBalfour the big costs are hard to get to when the little ones keep coming aren't they? We are fortunate in many ways I realise but money is in all honesty a constant issue and it is hard to see where to cut back without making some really painful decisions. Hoping that if I make an extra effort to be careful with money things will slowly improve, I think realistically that is the most positive outcome that can be hoped for. With as you say no massive bills. As most of our stuff is older now a lot of time and effort is spent on maintenance but usually when you add it up it is still a better financial bet than starting again. At least in this thread we can be honest, did a list of costs for the next month as get paid soon, going to check some things for days at work and then try to add it up but have a nasty feeling the sums won't match, a least trying to have a more realistic idea. It was my NY resolution to check back account more as can bury my head in the sand there and not great with numbers in general which doesn't help. Like others have said with children there is a massive temptation for spending as you want to bring them places but I have one annual pass am planning on using a lot in the school holidays coming up and its packed lunches all the way on days out. Stay strong ladies X

Good work everyone and well done @ElizaBalfour - we should really do a proper kitchen pantry audit too, because we definitely have some things that ought to be used up soon. I hope it's going well and saving you some money along the way!

Decided to be even more frugal to prioritise a debt payoff at the moment (it was ticking along a little ahead of schedule, but I feel like I want to make a big dent and then get it gone) alongside normal expenses (which are always, always going up!). The second week of April I'll be at a conference and my work (with redundancies etc.) won't reimburse my food/local travel costs, so I'm trying to be smart with lowering expenses in general so that I don't break the budget that week.

Also need to sort out flights for this summer to see U.S. family, but with all the chaos over there I'm nervous about booking. We often changed in Canada with our flights and that may be a challenge/off the table due to tariff war...

But this weekend we had a nice day out to the zoo with our annual pass, and the weather is brighter if not warmer, so, onwards and upwards. 😊

We had a Premier Inn break in London a few weeks ago and rather than the Premier Inn breakfast (£13.99 each in London!), we packed some porridge pots from Aldi and has those for two days, nice breakfast on the final day. Saved £55. Just need to boil some water and we add some milk (take a couple of little 1 pinters and keep them cool next to the window).

@jennylamb1 I'd be quite happy with an Aldi porridge pot for breakfast but DP loves a fry up, so if we stay at a Premier Inn with the DC then we usually end up paying for the breakfast to avoid DP moaning - as the DC eat free it isn't too bad.

@moimichme the kitchen/ pantry audit has actually been really worthwhile, I sent a few bits to the foodbank which we were never going to eat, and made lists and lists and lists of everything else. I'm watching Batch from Scratch at the moment too, getting some good ideas from there.

Hope the budgeting is going well @CountryCob? Next month won't be so frugal for me as I desperately need a haircut - haven't had one for six months - I can do the colour myself with a box dye but cutting is way beyond my skill level!

Good ideas about keeping food costs low. Porridge is nice and easy, or I could do oatcakes with a mini jam jar, and I reckon lunches will be provided at the conference. So as long as I don't go mad with eating out every evening with others who do have all expenses paid, it'll be fine.

I have good lists and even spreadsheets for other household categories, but not the kitchen. A rainy weekend day job.

Spent £5 today on coffee with a work friend. Was good to chat about research and we both got some interesting ideas.

Haven't gone over budget for the month (yet), which seems like a small miracle. Payday isn't until Monday, so will try to stay on track this weekend.

Good luck everyone. We can do this!

@moimichme annoyingly my work owe me some expenses for this month - I don't usually go out and about but early March had to travel for some training, and I'm still waiting for about £40 to be paid back to me! That was train ticket + lunch (lunch was about £5) - I've submitted all receipts and haven't been told there's an issue, I'll have to chase it up soon but just wish they'd tell me if there's a problem for whatever reason

My payday is Monday too - I kept getting emails on Friday saying "yippee, it's payday weekend!" and similar and I think, not for me - I have an extra weekend to try and stretch my money through

Worked out my budget for April, I have around £850 to get me through the month. Which at first sounds a lot but has to include all food, toiletries, cleaning stuff etc for four of us (maybe £150 a week) plus all my costs (clothes, parking, petrol etc etc) and we're also away for a couple of weekends this month with the DC's sport activities - so eating out too. I feel skint already!

Cancelled TV licence too and surprisingly get refund for almost £90!!! I didn't know it's even possible-friend told me to apply online. Did massive order from Iceland and filled freezer.

For the first time in ages , we haven't maxed out the overdraft whilst waiting for payday (was Monday here too) and have managed to pay off some things too. We have actually started this month not in overdraft debt ....yah! It feels so good to be getting control. DH unexpectedly lost his job and fell into a deep depression, it has been hugely stressful.

I cancelled Amazon Prime and don't even miss it. Also cancelled quite a few other subscriptions that now seem so unnecessary. As a PP said, just going to rotate one tv/movie subscription and change when we get sick of it.

Other things that have helped-
*Go through a few months of spending and see where it is being wasted, for us it was the grocery bill, Amazon (me)...and DH smoking 🙄
*Switched from ASDA delivery to ALDI with a firm budget and a list/meal plan. Nothing is wasted. I have found I really enjoy cooking and challenging myself to use everything up
*I split the grocery budget into two shops a week. Not practical for everyone but it works for us as ALDI is quite close. Constant top ups and treats at the corner shop were costing us a fortune. I'm really strict about this and when something runs out between shops, it runs out
*More vegetarian and low cost meals - soups, baked potatoes, stews, chili bulked out with beans and lentils etc.
*Did a massive clean out of cupboards and took stock of what we actually had. I either started using it up or sold it. Finally admitted the treadmill I had to have has been nothing but a glorified clothes horse for quite a while. Donated a load of stuff also - it feels good to be free of clutter. The shed is no longer full of crap we never use
*A monthly plan and being prepared for a long month instead of relying on overdraft and eeking it out till payday. My budget is adjusted every month depending on what is coming up. I budget for every single thing
*DH has finally given up smoking after years of nagging. The savings have been enormous, once the current (and last) 0% store card debt is paid off (due soon), going to put this into savings or maybe overpay on the mortgage
*Getting the whole family on board. Once I wrote it all down DH finally admitted we couldn't afford him smoking and it was very unfair to the rest of us. I have been transparent with my children and they have been great. I have budgeted for pocket money (stops them asking for things and gives them some independence) and they know once it is gone, that is it so spend wisely. I really hope that they get some practical skills from this. I involve them in meal planning, shopping and cooking
*Be prepared. Making lunches for work, taking snacks or eating before we go out anywhere as a family. If we do splurge, it is planned for and really enjoyed. Next week as a holiday treat, we are off to see the Minecraft movie and have the McDonalds Minecraft meal deal. We are really looking forward to it. Some treats are important for it to be sustainable. DH and I have nice coffee at home so I cant justify Costa anymore. I have bought myself a small plunger for work
*Have an emergency contingency fund if you can. Something always comes up. I funded ours by selling stuff we didn't need. I feel much less stressed knowing it is there

*Only one card for the joint account so we keep each other accountable. I put £20 in the glovebox of the car for emergencies. Tap and pay is dangerous
*Accepting I can't just go into B&M Bargains for a look...EVER.

The first few months were hard as we all had to adjust our thinking but gets quite addictive once you start. I watched a lot of budgeting videos on You Tube/Tik Tok to get in the zone (e.g Dave Ramsey). I started small and one thing eventually led to another (and hoping this continues). I'm now looking at better internet deals and have opened up a separate savings account linked to our joint account. I have worked out what our bottom line is with essential monthly costs and plan to transfer any extra into there that can't be touched or if we do, has to be transferred in and really thought about. I'm also starting to think about side hustles but no idea what this could realistically be. What do other people do? It is amazing how much head space is freed up when you aren't constantly stressed about how you are going to get to the end of the month.

DH is feeling better and has some interviews lined up, fingers crossed. I will never ever go back to frittering money away though. Perspective is everything x

@MoistTowelette how is your budgeting going? I have to admit that I haven't been sticking to it this month partly because we've been away (sports activity for the DC), partly because we've had no kitchen (DP's mate doing some work on it which has run massively over schedule), and partly because I've been ill. Nothing serious but run down, full of cold etc. I was hoping for a little time to myself over the Easter hols but it hasn't happened so far!

I'm the same with the bike, I just took it slow :)

Nice to get some gardening in - I feel it's one of those activities you truly focus on when doing it and relax.