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’m not brave enough to cancel amazon but going to delete Deliveroo app … major expense with takeaways and grocery delivery!

plan better with Tesco deliveries and definitely no trips to Costco

I’m in for a no spend Jan - so watching this with interest & looking for some tips.

I do have 2 birthdays this month which I have already purchased the presents for in the sales.

I work from home and don’t like going out so coffees and eating out don’t really happen, however we do have takeaways 5/6 times a month and these have crept up to £60 a time..

Our biggest expense is the food shop from September time it’s crept to over £1/500 per month, (that’s not including dog/cat food) and I am desperate to stop the just popping to get milk and to stop spending ££ each time.

I also have a Vinted and buying skin care and make up problem (I have lost 6.5 stone since Jan 25) so have been buying a lot of clothes from Vinted (still look like a bag lady - and I am also doing a 2026 ‘glow up’ with the silly amount of products I have) but that is going to stop and I’m going to sell/donate all my old clothes which don’t fit. I still have a stone and a half to shift so I am not buying anything until I am at my goal weight then will only get essentials, and do a capsule wardrobe of sorts.

My goal this week is to sort out a spreadsheet with everything, all the bills and upcoming things like the car MOT etc, and to sort out 4/5 weeks of meal plans and then do four baskets with those meal plans on for online shopping to be delivered each Friday.

I’m in please, I need to!

Looking at booking my gels for my toes, I have a voucher. I want to book the better/ nicer pedicure with gel, but this is more than the voucher and would cost me £20. I MUST book the pedicure that the voucher will cover ... sadly 😥

I cannot buy my expensive face cream. £55, cannot get it cheaper than this. I can afford it in Feb, not Jan. How will I do my face without it ???

That's because the current government have rightly screwed them over via taxes not because some over taxed under paid local person can't afford to go.

Exactly this. People have to put their personal finances first, not that of local businesses. I can’t spend money that I need for our future security in a pub just to prevent it from going bust, that’s just the way it is 🤷🏻‍♀️

No spend is hard. its looking like i wil have to go without my expensive face cream.

We will still go to costco as we like the quality of the food but limit it to once a month. We supplement with tesco 6 weekly. Milk/bread/eggs weekly and that's all DH tends to get if required. No extras. Meat is from the butcher. With all that we spend about 96/week on groceries/toilet roll/cleaning supplies. We have a coffee machine at home so no coffees outside. We don't like the cakes in shops, not worth the calories.

Where we struggle is eating out - we like Japanese/Thai/dim sum..struggle to replicate these at home. We currently limit to once a week. DH doesn't think we need to cut down on this. On average its at least 85-100/ week. May need to negotiate fortnightly. DC also loves going out for a meal. Its nice family time.

Lost 4.5 stone. I'm at goal. I have bought so many clothes. Too many. Will buy in the sale to make myself feel better. I cannot get head around vinted. Have donated clothes that are now too big. Couldn't wear nice trousers before now I can l have overdone things. Maybe 15 pairs + in the last 3-4 months. I have 3 pairs of the same trousers. I have done the mass un- subscribing and will be employing some of the tips here to stop buying.

I like to buy nice things for the house and will bother DH he agrees. Have bought 4 ruggable rugs since the end of October. First one was delivered on Halloween. I've done my usual OTT shopping thing. Love them all, definitely didn't think we would end up with 4 in 8 weeks but there you go - confessions of a muddled shopaholic. Plan to STOP and will unsubscribe when the last one is delivered!

I have an end point. I want to go on a trip this time next year and ticket prices are really high. 12k for us just for flights on economy. I missed a reunion last week as we couldn't make the numbers work. I need to start working on those numbers now if going will be feasible. Hoping for a better deal if booked early enough. Really want to make it happen. We have no debt but mortgage. I need my savings to grow and not dwindle and that's why I need no spend Jan/2026 really.

Yes please I’m going for a low spend year. I’ve cut down the last couple of years as it is.

I have set savings accounts for bills so money goes in or out of them as the bills or occasions, like Christmas crop up. jan I have car mot though so that might be expensive but money is already saved up.

I have books and my hobby stuff probably enough for the year already in the house. Bought toiletries in December plus have lots already to use up.

so that just leaves food. I try to economise normally and write meal plans. today I cooked baked potatoes and veg casserole as I had half price electric. tomorrow we have yoghurt granola and fruit for breakfast, casserole for lunch, snack from Christmas foods for tea. So will be similar type of cheap meals throughout January.

Im 51 I don’t use face cream or even make up currently. You will be fine.

I would like to join please.

A big part of making my money work for me is controlling grocery shopping. I need a new bathroom and kitchen.

I need a good meal plan. I'm fine with vegetarian or vegan, the others not so much. I also want to each healthier. I will get into batch cooking.

Can you try a cheaper face cream? I think £55 is a lot and I’d want to look 10 years younger spending that 🤣

Right now where I live outside of the uk, is the time to stock up on specials esp meat.

In our country the abbatoirs shut for Christmas and new year and they ‘dump’ their freezer supply of meat onto the supermarket.

early January is the time to buy up.

Yes of course, basically i bought nothing other than essentials: food and things i'd run out of. Also books were exempt as I'm an avid reader :) but i do swap a lot with friends and buy in sales.

But it's amazing how little you need:

I have enough clothes.
I have enough make up.
I have enough skin care.
I have enough perfume.

It was really liberating - I just didn't go into shops or online onto websites - there was just no need. It frees up a lot of literal and mental headspace let me tell you!!

Also very satisfying using stuff up and throwing the empties.

Yes I can easily spend £20 without realising on “only 99p” books 😳

Last year I committed to using the library more and it’s worked well. I definitely spent less on books and I’ve actually read more.

Some really useful tips here, more please! So when we’re saying yes please we’d like to join / sign me up, do we need to do anything? Is it an app or something? Or is it more about we keep better track ourselves but are all doing it together?! Xx

My face cream costs around that, but I try to buy when on offer and occasionally buy from eBay, but obvs be careful of dupes.. I tried to do without it for a while to save cash, but my skin actually hurt, and I spent money on cheaper products that didn't work.

Opi polish is very long lasting for me and worth investing in, but I guess we are all different.

I really need to stop buying crap, like Amazon haul and temu, I've had some ok stuff but I don't really need it and wasted at least equal amounts.

I've tried to cut the food bill by finding alternatives to food that goes off quickly, eg strawberries.
Do DC only gets them once a week or so, I tried blueberries which last longer but he's not so keen..

Frozen veg is good and I'm trying to buy less processed, eg chicken pieces or pork steaks instead of breaded steaks. We do need easy cook food though or DH wants a takeaway.
I have some quick easy meals eg rice and cold meat, beans, soup, but they can get boring. We like flavours..

I rediscovered cottage cheese recently which makes a good cheap lunch with crackers and lasts a couple of days. Add veggies for healthy snacks.
Need to get back to having sarnies pre-frozen BC meal deals are not cheap and I just do not always get time in the morning..

I prefer a certain bread roll for frozen sandwiches, just need to get better organised and visit the bakers.

Not sure I could do £4 per person er day but it's a good target.

So when I read the OP I wasn't sure, but I think I'm in.

I agree and I'm really into my skincare and have a solid routine I do everyday. But I wouldn't spend more than £15 on a product. Can you say which is the expensive face cream you usually use and we can try and help with an alternative? There are some great skincare accounts on Insta that share ideas.

Perhaps now is the time for everyone to take a step back and review their finances. How many subscriptions does anyone have that you either don't need or can reduce considerably. Is it really necessary to pay £30, £40, £50 a month for mobile phone contracts? What about the tv subscriptions? PCP? Does anyone really need an amazon account? New clothes? What about the ones in the wardrobe?
I had a good look at my finances and although I wasn't up to my eyes in debt and subscriptions I have made savings elsewhere. I will be putting the money I am saving to good use.
We don't go without.

Wow thanks for the Bookbub recommendation. I had a look, looks good!

I’m cutting back on the food and grocery spending. I have so many leftovers in the freezers. I’ve deleted the justeat app. I still have tesco and whoosh, hope to keep them under control with lists instead of impulse buys.

Everything else - shop my cupboards before thinking I need to buy.

I am a disaster with money however I have two expenses in early January that need to be paid up front so I will have to use the credit card for it which I hate doing but need to reign things in anyway to get that repaid by end Jan.

First things first - using up what I can in the fridge and freezer and keeping out of the shops as I cannot walk in for milk without spending 20 on bargains I do not need. Deleted justeat app from phone also.

No logging in to any sites online except MN and FB as then I cant be tempted by sales and buying clothing and products I dont need.

Only reading what I already have on my kindle instead of buying more books to sit in my library.

Only listening to either free podcasts or books on borrowbox as I have cancelled amazon audible.

Using the fully equipped home gym rather than booking into fancy classes that I will buy a block of passes for and go once.

Walking wherever I need to go when working from home to save petrol and to get free exercise in. I am a fucker for jumping in the car for a drive to clear my head.

Using up all the products and toiletries I bulk bought last year instead of investing in more.

I feel if I stick to this evening till end of Jan I will see a good improvement in everything and want to keep going.

thanks for the reminder to cancel prime
and will also cancel simply cook

I’m in. I have not bought anything at all in the sales. I need to buy T-shirts x 2 for godsons. And have a voucher to use for myself. Other than that I want to be as low spend as I can. We have cupboards and a freezer full of food.

In for this!

Nothing but regular expenses. I am away on hols 2-5 so that will be a spend but can’t avoid it.

also have a family member’s dinner to go to in Jan, again cannot be avoided but am going to stick to NSJ other than that.

We have lots of food in freezer so feel an inventory and some planning coming on. Plenty books to read, both from Christmas and library so no excuse for buying more.

taking back a game we bought and didn’t play tomorrow so 9.99 refund.

have £100 in Amazon vouchers and £40 M&S vouchers. I will have to keep a close eye on DH as he tends to buy so much from Amazon with a “it’s only x” attitude!!

Really do need to be stopping the frivolous spending for 2026 as our 1.29% mortgage rate up in 2027 so that is not going to be fun!!

We’re also doing no pub January. I imagine many people would reduce take aways, pub food and drinks in January to offset Christmas.