A no spend January with limited grocery shopping spend

[MikeRafone]

Im needing a detox from spending for January

Ive cancelled my amazon prime account - for now as I rarely use it until easter so it saves £35

all my bills will go out by direct debit and standing order by 2nd of the month

Im going to set a limit of £4 per person per day for the grocery shopping so £28 per person per week. We have a lot of left overs, some of which im going to freeze for January.

Coffee at home rather than out in a coffee shop, no hitting the sales for stuff no-one else wanted!

Im wanting as many no spend days as possible for January

anyone want to join?

I’d like to invest. I’m a little older than you. ☺️Would you mind sharing what you’re doing? ☺️

Can you share your low carb ideas? I think I’d like to do this. Menopause weight gain… 😮‍💨

Love this idea! When I’ve used the stuff out of my freezer I intend to do this. Do you have any of her books? Do you just use ziplock bags or anything better? Just asking before my Amazon prime membership ends… 🤪

Sorry, soooo many great ideas!! 🤣

There's a new low-carb bootcamp starting Monday, have a look at the chat 😊. https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/low_carb_bootcamp/5363928-low-carb-bootcamps-ongoing-chat-thread-for-everyone?page=1
I've tried lots of ways to lose weight over the years and this is the only one that works for me. It's strict and not for everyone though, as far as recipes go I try to adapt what's already in the plan as DH and DD (when here) are supportive but don't need to actually get rid of the lb's. So we'll have spag bol but instead of the spag I'll have roast veg or the ragu in stuffed peppers, pie with cauliflower or swede mash, dauphiniose with celeriac, celeriac chips instead of potato. It's another supportive corner of MN like this one 💕

Today's spends have been £95 in Tesco - we have full freezers, cupboards and fridge. £9.85 drinks waiting for DD to finish work, it's a local bar and a lovely group of people we've got to know since she's worked there. Not expecting any spends tomorrow, volunteering in the morning. Nails Monday which is in the budget and a food shop for DD Tuesday before we go back to uni on Wednesday - hoping the snow doesn't b*&$%r up plans! After that the only spends planned are a top-up shop at the weekend and soft drinks at a gig Friday

Day three of no spend (apart from preplanned direct debits etc), though DH did have to do a small top up shop as we had guests for lunch and had run out of milk and dishwasher tabs.

Hoping to hit day four tomorrow. It's amazing how many times already I've gone to order something online then realised I can't (and the realisation that I probably won't feel the need to buy it all in February...)

Note to self don’t take the teens into the supermarket with you. Went in for milk and walked out with a pork joint that feeds 10, disco ball lights for her bedroom and a new toy for the dog 🤦‍♀️

Went into Lidl and spent £5 on things for tomorrow's lunch. Did a light trail and took our own hot chocolate and mulled wine. However all 3 of the kids decided they wanted the extremely expensive hot dogs and marshmallows to toast. Spent around £35 on that. But I have a monzo pot for takeaway. I put in £10 every Saturday and that pot is never withdrawn from. I should withdraw spends like today from it.

Also went to drop things at the charity shop but that was shut. So I wondered into Peacocks and got Christmas pj, socks and boxers in the sale to put away for next Christmas. £19.50 spent but I saved lots for next years presents. Will work out the savings tomorrow. Not a successful day really but I hardly ever go near the high street

Had a NSD yesterday, housework and then house party at friends house, took a bottle and walked as only short distance
hoping for another today, working for a couple of hours & putting decorations away

will need fuel Monday or Tuesday
Still eating from freezer, plenty of boxes with one portion inside from December. Resisting the urge to pop in the supermarket

I'm in.
My freezer is full and I have loads of toiletries and loo rolls. Teabags and tinned goods galore so I'm now back to a tailored list of grocery shopping rather than mindless repeats.

I do have £50 in gift vouchers I will spend on myself when I see something I like. I also have credit on vinted and dc needs new trainers so hopefully that works out.

I'm.back again work tomorrow so it's packed lunches and homemade coffee

I needed to buy a knee support yesterday (been limping for just over a week, I had to admit it wasn't improving!). But also made 10 portions of leek and potato soup for the freezer, and filling for about 30 samosas, I'll assemble and freeze those today. That left me with half a pot of cream, so it'll be celeriac dauphinoise for a couple of days to use up left overs, and enough corriander leaves to make a chick pea, cumin, and corriander soup with stuff from the store cupoard.

It's back to work tomorrow , but not in the office until Tuesday, lunch will probably be cauliflower dahl.

I've also listed the unread books on my bookshelf - determined to get through those - and entered into a swap with a friend at work who shares my taste in lit!

@Superwomanwantsnewjob i have a mix of the Ikea zip lock bags and glass containers with plastic lids. The containers do things like cottage pie, lasagne, Mexican chicken bake and the bags do more soups, pasta sauces etc.

I'm joining too. Loving all the inspiration.

I'm normally quite sensible, but relaxed a bit last year and the small spends (on unnecessary stuff) really add up. So I'm raining it all in.

I can't really start no spend days until the kids are back to school on Tuesday. DH and I worked opposite days through most of the Christmas holidays and we now have a few family days to make thee most of. That said, tomorrow we're off to a free museum and taking our lunch.

Priorities when I get a moment:

• Review subscriptions and DDs.
• Set the kids up with their own accounts so they have to spend their own money 😁.
• Go through the freezer and see what's lurking in it. I've been through the rest of the cupboards but have never been good at running a freezer.
• Cut out/ reduce top up shops.

i think i am going to force the vegetarian meals- although we do have plenty of meat in the freezer but more veggie in between.

Snap - I am planning to make samosas today! To use up a few odds and ends and also ready for school lunches.
What pastry do you make for this please?

Hi @GameOfJones that sounds good spending for a week's worth of food what sort of things did you get? I've got £150 ocado coming today which is better than our usual £200 but then I've got £27 hello fresh coming so maybe it's not that much less than usual after all! To be fair there are 6 of us though so a large family.

I sorted out the fridge this morning and we have enough apples to sink a ship 😂 that were all hiding so now they are all together in a bag in the fridge so don't need apples for a few weeks... every little helps 😂

I'm planning a freezer inventory today hopefully.

I spent £50 in the charity shops the other day which wasn't great budget wise but I'm losing so much weight that I'm rattling through my wardrobe at a rate of knots! Consistently fitting into size 14 now from a 20/22. Also got some clothes in m&s but had gift cards from Christmas so "free"

So yesterday I went out for some food with the family, that was planned. Today will be a small top up shop for packed lunches. But my first job this morning was a freezer inventory which is now pinned on the side of my fridge. So my plan in January is to meal plan from my freezer which will reduce my shopping bill quite a bit. Then back to batch cooking once I have some room.

I went to the hairdressers yesterday so that was £50 but definitely worth it.

Today will be a NSD as I'm at home getting on with housework. I've got some oat bars in the oven which I make regularly with fruit, peanut butter, oats and various combinations of dried fruit, nuts, seeds and spices. They're good for a filling and easy breakfast or snack. These used some grapes and an apple that were starting to go soft in the fruit bowl, so that's another win for saving money and preventing waste!

Dinner tonight is chickpea curry from the freezer, a batch I cooked in November. Either with rice or possibly flatbread if I feel like making the extra effort.

A few days ago I was browsing the uniqlo sale and put some clothes in my basket and then left it, as some of you have mentioned doing. It worked! I have not returned to the website so won't be buying them. They are nice clothes and I would no doubt have worn them, but I have so many nice clothes already, and don't need any more.

Plus I won £125 in the January premium bonds draw!!!

Sorry for quoting my own post.
I have been avidly following this thread from the start.
But yesterday I was browsing and spotted a knitting machine the version up from my current one and it will be delivered tomorrow along with a table and a number of exciting accessories. It was a good deal for new machine. I learned from bad experience in the past to never buy a preowned knitting machine. It works out about 1000 but it does fine yarns so I will be able to do delicate cotton tops. My current one is best with DK and thicker so there’s no overlap. New one comes with punchcard reader for more complex patterns. I also got 4 vintage, as new, knitting machine books from world of books.

I know it is against the spirit of this thread but I know it will give me such enjoyment and I justify it by telling myself I will not buy any clothes and any presents needed during the year will be knitted.

the books are from the 80s but the techniques haven’t changed. Interestingly they assume everyone is knitting to sell and for profit which is a thought now that I am retired. But mostly I will enjoy making stuff for myself. I love sewing up a top in the evenings.

I was planning to book to go to Spain in March but will save the cost of that by staying home.

I will also try, as PPs suggest, getting 2 Tesco deliveries per month and spending nothing more on groceries. I have cancelled my Amazon account. I have found an online wool shop with very reasonable wool. I plan to use my new machine to do a single spectacular top as a first step.

Taking back things I bought from.the M&S sales today. I buy things like this on PayPal pay in 3 so I can buy various size to find the best fit without paying out for everything as the refund comes before next month's installment and it's interest free.

@Strategies25 I watched Ramit Sethi's documentary 'How to Get Rich' on Netflix and enjoyed that - I will check out his conscious spending plan.

@Superwomanwantsnewjob I read the Barefoot Investor (Aussie guy, really great at simple, straightforward financial advice) and started investing (in a small way) in Vanguard index funds which are just 'set and forget' investments. I am not a financial expert in any form but it's been a good way for me to get started investing and to take advantage of the magic of compounding interest. I'm in my early 50s.

Thanks everyone for all the great ideas and links, it's really motivating. NSD here today.

Had to get a food delivery for today as we're out of normal food (still plenty of xmas bits!).

Kept it to the minimum spend (£50) so that i didn't have to pay for a small basket, and we have a delivery pass and I used vouchers so all in all I feel I've done ok.

How are people coping with seeing things in sales? I admit that I've got an amazon wishlist growing...

I've got things in my basket in the Nkuku winter sale - lovely Christmas baubles for next year which are half-price. Resisting so far but wondering if I'll regret not buying them when they go back up to full price.

@GoodLaudanum , I use a recipe from an old Mahur Jaffrey cookbook, should make around 24.

180g plain flour,
60g unsalted butter,
1/4 tspoon salt,
5 table spoons water (approx).

I do find it needs more kneading than the recipe thinks, but once I worked this out, it rolls out much better and is cheap (if time consuming!).