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January no spend thread

161 replies

ivykaty44 · 01/01/2020 08:31

Come and join us if you want a simple no spend month

The aim is to just spend on supermarket shop & fuel (Direct debits first bills)

No spending on anything else till February. The idea being it gives your purse & bank balance a rest after December & take stock of mindless spending

OP posts:
MrsWombat · 01/01/2020 19:54

For the £10 a day thread this is what you should do....
(1) Sign up for Appen. This is where my £10 a day project is from. All the wacky names are project names because we can't discuss clients or what we actually do, but very loosely it's data entry type stuff for big multinational companies whose names you will recognise. Apply for every project and see what sticks. My referral link is here: connect.appen.com/qrp/public/jobs?uref=a91a549efbd436fa36c6845b7ef3fce6
(2)Take the Crisp test (I passed back in May but haven't heard anything yet, although lots of posters have had great success with them) Apparently it's moderating social networks.
Then whilst you are waiting for the above two to get started.....
(3) Clickworker. Pin money rather than proper employment doing various surveys, app testing etc. My referral link: www.clickworker.com/en/clickworker?utm_source=1173826&utm_campaign=CW4CW&utm_medium=email
(4) Prolific. University surveys. I have the tab open while I am doing my other stuff and can get decent pin money from this too when I can be bothered.

Good luck!

ZincOxideEugenol · 01/01/2020 19:58

I'd like to join as I would also like to kerb my mindless, sometimes obsessive spending. I'm often oblivious to my bank balance and fall short at the end of every month. I'd also like to be more organised with evening meals and lunch for work. My dream is to be obsessive about saving than spending!

Gonewiththemadness · 01/01/2020 21:22

I plan to do the same with meals. I’ve planned out 4 weeks worth of meals which mostly will use just what we have in the house already! Blush probably with a £10-£15 top up per week.
I did forget that the last 2 of our cats have spaying booked in this month too which is an absolute essential cost and whilst there (There’s a large pet shop too) I will stock up on wooden pellet cat litter as its the best for our cats and home and is the cheapest there! I also don’t drive so works out as 2 birds one stone bringing the litter home in bulk whilst having to taxi home after the operations! (Both getting done at the same time.) Also I will stock up on around 20 lots of their favourite treats as I have a 25% off voucher to use too which makes the decent dried and preserved meat treats the same price as the supermarket dreamies and similar ones.
It works out cheaper in the long run and I reckon the money I save on food this month will cover all vets bills AND the litter and treats!
Is this allowed in the no spend? Blush

f00k · 02/01/2020 00:41

I'm in! Just commented on the prep thread. Inspired by recently reading No Spend Year and totalling up our annual spend on things like takeaways, clothes, quick trips to the shops Shock when I saw the total all I could think about was the debt that could have been paid off instead.

First change is getting our food shop delivered so I'm not tempted to add loads of extra things into the trolley and I'm not going to do top-up shops. If we run out of milk I will buy milk and nothing else!

Gingerkittykat · 02/01/2020 05:10

I would say the cat spends are perfectly reasonable for a no spend month since they are important, realistically most of us will have non avoidable expenses.

I've fallen into bad habits financially, I've spent a large proportion of my adult life living on a very tight budget and managing well and now I have some cash leftover after the bills are paid I tend to fritter it away.

January will be a tight month, my car needs it's MOT and service, hopefully no work needed but who knows.

My cat has cancer, his vet bill is currently £60 a month, £30 for medication is £30 for care plan allowing unlimited visits to the vet. As grim as it sounds I need to work out how much the end of his life will cost, including being put to sleep and cremation. Hopefully it won't happen in January but won't be long and I need to have the money sitting when needed.

I spend money on stupid things, a lot of it food. I've got into the bad habit of going to the drive through bakers for their healthy meal deal at £4 a time, I get a takeaway on the way home when I don't finish till 9pm and generally just pick up rubbish.

No more ordering things on Amazon prime because it is easy, no more ordering clothes for the sake of it (I do need new knickers though!), buy a water bottle and insulated cup because I am forever buying bottles of water and coffee from vending machine at work, start meal planning properly and cooking some healthy meals.

I'm going to be taking cash out each week since it is far harder to hand over real physical money than just put everything on card.

I want to have enough money to go away somewhere next Christmas, no idea where I want to go or how much it will cost but I know I'm not doing another extended family Christmas.

Weekday28 · 02/01/2020 10:15

Well I've spent £10 already ffs

40p on xmas crackers for next year
2x £1 xmas table cloths
2x £2 on some breakfast bowls - was a need as we smashed a couple so only had 4 for 5 of us.
£3 on a water bottle for my child as she has decided she wants pack lunch now for school.

Nothing too frivolous but I probably could have made do. Will try better

PH30B3 · 02/01/2020 13:54

Im in please!
Two low spend days have been had
Bits of food shopping yesterday £3
And brought my lunch at work today which was a total unnecessary. £2.85
Have taken a baby step and drew my weekly budget out as i hate breaking a note. Need to get out of habit of reaching for my bank card but equally i don't feel comfortable not having it as I do commute for work.
One thing I am aiming for is 0% unnecessary journeys in my car this month.
After todays blip 0% spends at work.
Only thing I do need to get are a few birthday cards and a birthday present but I am going to try and keep that as low spend as possible.

torthecatlady · 02/01/2020 14:03

I'm in ☺️ haven't spent anything yet, although I'm going bowling with DH and our friends this evening.

I'm paying for Dh and I which is £10 each for 2 games of bowling and food. I don't mind so much as we rarely go out.

Tomorrow might be expensive too as I need to buy smaller jeans as mine are too big!

ivykaty44 · 02/01/2020 14:08

No spend today

Went to friends today for coffee, so no spend and took Christmas cake. Cycle there so no fuel either, 5 miles return on bike 🚲 it was nice and fresh, quite a few other out on bikes

Torthecat have you tried the charity shops for jeans in a smaller size? You can get some great bargains not purchasing new clothes

OP posts:
savethecat · 02/01/2020 15:09

I had to buy toilet paper today, I think that was essential :)
As soon as my teen heard I was off to the shops, I was asked for a drink and something nice for lunch. I had to explain that this wasn't an option any more. It's these little "can you just get" things that add up for us.

ivykaty44 · 02/01/2020 15:43

Normal supermarket shopping stuff is excluded. Travelling/fuel is excluded

It’s to cut back on spending and encouraging not spending & thinking of ways to not spend, so taking packed lunches to work, taking hot drinks with us to the park, trying park run which is free.

I’ve found free cooking courses at a college nearby

Looking on event bright for free events to go to

Birmingham has free lunch time concerts, as do some other places

We don’t need to spend money to go out and enjoy ourselves

OP posts:
torthecatlady · 02/01/2020 16:09

@ivykaty44 Yes! I love the charity shops but find it difficult to not come out with bags of stuff that I don't need. Grin

ivykaty44 · 02/01/2020 16:17

There is you’re challenge then 😂

OP posts:
Keepmewarm · 02/01/2020 18:42

No spend day. I was at work all day and took my own lunch.

mildlymiffed · 02/01/2020 19:30

I spent nothing today! Yeee-hah! Had left over roast for lunch at work- and then bubble and squeak and other bits for tea. DS was thrilled! Usually I'd buy at least a snack, so am pleased!

Gonewiththemadness · 02/01/2020 20:51

I’ve spent money at the supermarket today. £27.50. A bit gutted but none of it was waste.
£4 on a new lunchbox for DS1 as his was cracked last term and so not fit for use and I’d forgotten he needed a new one until in the shop today. Should have been £6 though so a little saving there.
The rest was lots of bits I’ll need for lunchboxes over the next couple of weeks and our top up food shop to go with what’s in the house.

mummyof4kids · 02/01/2020 21:58

No spend day here other than bus fare to work. Took my own lunch and drinks

RubySlippers77 · 02/01/2020 23:09

I've spent very little so far this year as my new bank card still hasn't arrived. DP however has had to pay for the food shopping, and grumbled about it Grin

ivykaty44 · 03/01/2020 11:39

No spend day 3
Have used the bike to get about again, but am going out later and will use the car, but only used once so far this week & cycled 3 x so reducing fuel costs

Back to work on Monday so will prepare lunches and supper for next week, will hopefully stop mindless spending on lunch and coffee ☕️ to go

OP posts:
Weekday28 · 03/01/2020 14:05

Itll be a no spend day here too. I'm at work all day so no temptations. I'm going to rummage through the cupboards later and see if I've got a few meals in the house so we can keep the food bill down next week

Gonewiththemadness · 03/01/2020 16:45

No spend day and I’ve made £7 from a gumtree sale!
Played football at the park for a bit, came home and had some hot chocolates and a bit of a sort out in the house. Going to making homemade pizzas for tea in a moment and watching a movie together with some leftover Christmas chocolates.

Bemystarlord · 03/01/2020 16:58

Joining in please, really need to get the debts down this year and combined with the £10 a day I’m thinking this could definitely work!! No spends this month so far but do unfortunately have a car in the garage and some friends children’s bday coming up that i will have to spend for but will aim to keep it at that only.

MrsWombat · 03/01/2020 17:02

Today I spent £3 on parking and £3.50 on a trail at a country park. Not too bad for a school holiday outing. We didn't buy hot drinks in the cafe or gift shop as we would normally do. Instead, I dug out our massive thermos, filled it up with hot water and packed a small cool bag with hot chocolate powder, coffee bags and a packet of biscuits. The kids loved it and we will definitely be doing that again. Maybe try hot dogs next time too.

Also did some grocery shopping in Lidl for the weekend. All essential stuff from a meal plan and shopping list. I picked up the own brand baileys thought about it and put it back again. Grin

savethecat · 03/01/2020 17:51

I stuffed up completely today!
I booked train tickets for a presentation I have to do on monday. I am getting the money back for this

BUT

I booked tickets to the wrong bloody place. So, I had to cancel and lost £10 for the cancellation fee. What an idiot!

savethecat · 03/01/2020 17:54

But, on the bright side, someone asked me out for a coffee tomorrow and I just said come to mine - tea/coffee/ plenty of leftover cake.

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