No Spend September

[StellaCruella]

Hi all
We have around £6.5k debt that I am determined to pay off as quickly as possible so we can start to build some meaningful savings.
To kick start this, I am planning a no spend September.
Anyone with me?

@OKbutwhyplease sounds like a very wise idea!

Yesterday I was tempted to buy (but didn't):

2 x Christmas PJs for kids (£30)
Boots for DD (£20)
Marvel oodie for DS (£10)

And I didn't even leave the house! Really starting to see where my money goes!

It was light hearted, hence the exclamation mark. Things don't tranlate well to print sometimes.

Do you know, I am actually quite upset by this thread. Silly I know. I don't need to be told to " scroll on by".
I am doing my best to stop spending on things I don't need. I suppose a lot of people will be worried by fuel increases. It was intended as a light hearted comment and nothing more.

I'm not in a mood! But a no spend month is no Starbucks, no takeaways etc.....

Low spend? maybe?

@eggplant16 - fair enough, it didn't come across well is all.

What a no spend month does or doesn't include is up to the person whose bank account the money comes out of and only that person.

Welcome all those joining in - really appreciate a nice group to support each other in achieving our own personal goals, without judgement. Without. Judgement.

Everyone else - don't let the door hit you in the arse on the way out!

😂

I've said that and now I just can't be bothered." Fair enough" doesn't come across well to me.

Good Luck folks trying to reel it in. Its that dopamine hit from spending thats the tough nut to crack.

Do whichever you feel comfortable with!

Personally, I'm doing no spend. Which means I'm not buying anything non-essential outside of what I have budgeted for. For example, Netflix isn't technically essential, but I am including that in my budget. Food is essential, but not more luxury food items such as organic milk etc, so I have set a budget of £500 for food.
Petrol isn't technically essential as I could walk to work if I left at 4am, but I have budgeted for petrol.

If I stick to my (tight) budget, I will have saved £1215, a large part of this will be debt repayment - so that's my motivation!

Hi all, I've decided to give a no spend month a go. I'm generally good at budgeting and don't have debt, but I have found I have no off switch, if I want something these days I just buy it, no consideration, hugely susceptible to social media marketing, and often leads to purchases that are useless and regretted. My goal I suppose is to build more savings, especially as our mortgage will jump next year. And to reset my thinking on spending, just because I like the look of something doesn't mean I should buy it then and there.

It's a dopamine hit for me for sure, especially as I am watching what I eat at the moment so I think I'm seeking reward through shopping.

Don't worry! I read it like that. You used a !

Print doesn't work well I agree

Stay. This thread is good. Thoughtful

Wow. I take back my previous comment.

Good luck everyone. It's tough. But doable. Getting yourself under control can be addictive in itself.

@olivecapes
I can totally relate! Social media marketing is very powerful isn't it.

Me! We need/want to do this in sept. Have done it before and it really did help get out rid that click click click to buy habit imo!

Also, as one could imagine, the things I thought I wanted to buy that I mentally agreed to buy the next month I didn't actually still want by the time the next month came around lol

Didn't know my bank account was yours!

What I spend in a month and what I do not spend in a month is a concern for me alone (well and my DH!)

I will make my own rules up for my no spend/low spend in my case, thanks.

My low spend today has included Starbucks but then we took it for a simple walk locally and spent an entire 20p on a 2p machine for my toddler previous to the low spend that £9 I spent on coffee would have been in the shopping centre where I would have also brought another £xx.xx of items because I saw them and they looked nice for my daughter/tasty or whatever so today has been successful in my eyes/maybe not in your eyes.

I am not in debt and can afford to spend the £xx.xx but truth is I just don't want to I do this to get back in the mindset of being more cautious with money.

Thanks anyway!

I started yesterday so I’m glad that I found this thread (despite the dramatics 😂).

I don’t have debt but also don’t have savings (although I did move some to my savings account yesterday so technically I do now have some!).

It helps that I’m also fasting so my food bill is lower than usual (no children left at home).

I use the Fudget app to make my budget which I find really useful.

Well done @StellaCruella

I think I will start today although the car is booked in this week for a repair so that’s likely to be pretty spendy!

My finances are in pretty decent shape so my idea of a no spend month might allow 1 takeaway for the month (probably an Indian that I can stretch to 3 dinners) and 1 takeaway coffee per week.

I’ve decided if I want to spend money on equipment for my hobby, I will have to sell something on eBay in order to fund it.

It wasn’t though. I’ve seen it used so much on this forum in a negative way. Never as a joke. It never comes across as light hearted

I budget £250 a month for 2 adults and a teen DS who eats more than an adult! In addition to this DS has £15 a week on his school meal account (plus a packed lunch).

Right I’m in and starting on 28th which is my payday. I’m currently at Centerparcs spending my mortgage money so makes sense to wait until I get home. I have debt and up-coming commitments by pay of holiday installments that I need to pay for so both! I don’t actually spend a lot, no coffee addiction for me but my lunches at work cost me about £10 per day so that adds up plus eating out is a bit of a crux of mine. All in, spend less, eat less crap will be the motto of Sept. Good luck all. Daily check-ins?!

Realised I didn't answer how much we budget for food
Were approximately £400 currently on supermarket foods and then anything else on top comes out of our normal bank accounts so treats etc
That's for 2 adults 1 toddler who doesn't actually eat much and a unfortunately snobbish dog who I am slowly trying to down brand 😆

I'm in. Starting 1st Sept. But I already have 3 nights out planned with friends plus a family birthday meal plus I need to put money in a card for a family friends birthday plus it's my mums birthday. Ffs this lot is going to cost me a small fortune. I would happily not go out out between now and Christmas to save some money. But my friends just wouldn't allow this and wouldn't take no for an answer.
I liked lockdown for the fact it gave me the perfect excuse to not go out.
My no spend rules in Sept are no takeaways, I've already cut my gym membership as I wasn't going, no buying wine for home, no buying lunches for work I will make my own. No excessive food shopping.
Good luck everyone !

@Bluecrosssale welcome!
I wonder if your friends would actually be quite relieved that you wanted to claw back/some cheaper activities ... Could you suggest a few cheaper outings.

We've had a cheaper day again today - not gone without but spent a lot less than we would normally.