January no spend thread

[ivykaty44]

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

@ivykaty44 that’s amazing! I wish I could get away with not using my car as much.

Another no spend day here.

I had a no spend day today. Plus I had a voucher for a free coffee and cake from Greggs today which cheered me up.

Day 8 no spend, hopefully the next two days will also prove to be as easy at not spending!

Not so sure about the weekend, have a coffee out planned for Sunday- so that’s going to be a spend - 😬

I spent today... I bought a £3 jigsaw of Facebook marketplace. But a little justified as it's a cheapie activity for me and ds to get into at the weekend!

Cat lady you now have me searching for free coffee vouchers 🤣

Mildlymiffed does your library have jigsaws or Lego club?

@ivykaty44 do you know... I have no idea about whether they have puzzles! I get all my books from the library- but haven't had a really good nosey. But, I will aim to resell the puzzle once we're done with it! So hopefully it will work out cost neutral!

I will however look at the the library properly tomorrow- as am picking up a book in my lunch break

Mildlymiffed do you download the library app to get all the free magazines?

Hello, good housekeeping, cycling weekly, bbc good food are just some of about 25 free magazines I can read at home

Ask in the library if they have any weekend clubs

Ours has all sorts

I know it’s paid for through tax, but we may as well take advantage of what they offer

I've been doing so well.....but then DD somehow (I dont know how) spilt the juice and blackcurrant is now on the ceiling (!) So I had to get some paint as my scrubbing got the paint off! I got a tiny pot though.

Ooh I had free cuppa and donut from Greggs yesterday too. Voucher code came through from Vodafone.

I am trying to spend less on clothes this year. And what clothes I do but I hope to get from charity shops. So no it’s not a no spend thing but less money and reusing clothing. I got a cardi from a charity shop for £4 yesterday instead of buying a brand new one from next for nearly £30.

Why have I only just found this brilliant thread? I'm totally on board. I haven't spent too much this month and have actually got a refund on an item I ordered before Christmas and it never turned up. I've made a bit selling items on ebay too so I'm hoping this continues.

I have had to be mega strict with the fam re reducing food waste. I am doing pretty well and have been putting waste into a plastic container to monitor ...so far not even 1/2 a takeaway Chinese food sized container!

Ok so day 9 .......and I cracked under pressure & brought a present for my dd2 which is sports related & she needed

The upside was it was 25% off as in the sale and also the same price as an item I purchased before Xmas and had to return as they sent xxl instead if medium

So although I spent the money had just been returned to my card so bank balance is =

I’ve cracked too! A new gym outfit! It was in the sales and I do need it but grrrr.

I will look gorgeous in it. I will. I will. I will. (I’m making peace with myself)

Ok so today is going to be another day of spending as I’m having a hair cut, fortunately I only ever have a dry cut which is far cheaper. Always gets wet down and blow dried as they don’t want you leaving looking a mess. I always wash my hair everyday so it makes no odds but saves me £20 or so if I was to go elsewhere

8 out of 10 isn’t bad going, and Saturday is definitely no spend 😄

Today is house completion day for me! So I realise from this point onward I'm unlikely to be no spend! But I am trying to adhere to no unnecessary spend!

I've managed to avoid pretty much all spending other than grocery shopping so far. Got the kids extracurricular activities to pay for at the weekend but that comes under essential. I get paid next week but I'm going to try and continue the no none essential spending until February's pay day.

I've had to spend £30 on a new security camera for my house today, it was reduced and is needed unfortunately :(

Well haircut was £22 so good price

I’ve noticed that the lack of transactions from my account has left my balance a lot healthier. By next Wednesday we’ll be half way through the month and I’ve much more money than normal.

So I’ve popped £100 into another account and then if I haven’t used it by the end of the month I can buy myself something I need 🤣

I know we’re mid way through the month but can I join please? Last year I spent far too much on small, frivolous purchases. We are hoping to replace our master bathroom and en suite this year so need to ‘look after the pennies’ basically!

Hello @Elbeagle ! Nice name! (Do you have a beagle?).

Good idea @ivykaty44 I like the idea of moving the money and using it if it’s still there!

No spend day here.

I've completed my first working week of no spend, everything I've eaten has come from my kitchen cupboards. I'm really pleased and proud of what I've achieved. I'm guessing I've saved around £30 over the course of the week and I've meal planned for next week too. I really am thrilled with my progress and I feel so motivated to continue. It's been a revelation!

I am doing pretty well ion the food waste thing and in using what I have. It's actually quite enjoyable.
Saturdays I always do a slow cooker "what I want to use up" day. I had some mushrooms that I hadn't even opened and were a little brown so I popped them in with other bits of vegetables left at the end of the week and some beef to make up a stew.
I also had half a pct of spring greens and used them rather than throwing away - I fried them up with some tomatoes and a tin of tuna and has that for lunch. All used up and I had a meal out of them.

I still find my biggest challenge is the little extra food items kids would like to have in the week. I have got into the habit of bringing a treat (cold drink and some crips or something) for my 15-year-old after a hard and muddy game of rugby. This week I brought some cordial and leftover Xmas sweets but I could see he was a bit perturbed.

Bizarrely, this is my usual grocery dau and we don't actually need anything!

Son does need a new lunchbox though as he has split his - any ideas on a free lunchbox? (large)

So I drew £30 out last Sunday and have kept under this and this did include a couple of unexpected spends. Probably haven't done brilliantly but better than I would have in the past and under my usual weekly budget.
Also I've not brought anything into the house this year (I know it's the 11th but in the past I've brought lots from sales) which is one of my goals.

I’m just sorting out the playroom and the DC’s bedrooms which further strengthens my resolve that I do not need to spend any money on them for the foreseeable future (this is usually my downfall!). So. Much. Stuff.
I have however spent £8 today on their ballet class (pay as you go unfortunately so can’t consider it a monthly ‘bill’), but instead of going for coffee while they were dancing I went for a brisk walk instead!