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?

We don’t spend a lot to start with but apart from fresh groceries (I want to use up freezer and cupboard food to clear out) the only money we will spend is to support local independent businesses, explicitly local independent pub with live music, though any diy type spends of course are fine.

I've listed old clothes and household items on resale sites to make extra cash.

I've transferred £500 from salary to a secondary account so I can't go sale shopping & run out of money by the 5th of Jan

I've done an inventory of my kitchen cupboards & freezer & have planned meals around existing ingredients. Grocery shopping will only be for fresh produce.

Cancelled all unused subscriptions in 2025 for 2026.

I am only buying essentials. I have a freezer full of food to use so plan to use it..I have loads of clothes and skin care so plan to use them up..I am avoiding the sales as I dont need anything nor do the kids.

I agree with all of the above.
Only thing to add is my knitting machine. I have an LK150. It cost 400 about a year ago but is so worth it. It is very easy to use once you get the hang of it and I can knit a simple top in about an hour. Then I spend the evening sewing up which is very satisfying but also relaxing. I am never tempted to buy tops in the sale instead I go to wool shop and choose the texture and colour that I want and have it for the next day.
It cost 400 about a year ago and is roughly that today but it is worth its weight in gold not just for saving on clothes but for enjoyment. Also stops me drinking wine in the evening.

Have any of you heard of Ramit Sethi? Or tried to follow his conscious spending plan?

I’ve just got into his money for couples podcast and I’m absolutely loving it.

anyway one of his things is once you’ve allocated money to fixed costs, savings and investments, what you have left is guilt free spending.

even though I thought I had a handle on my money- I’ve been tracking every transaction in a spreadsheet for over a year. I didn’t really realise that I have no money left over after fixed costs, savings and investments. Which is why I’m dipping into savings every month for essentials.

The options are earn more (annoyingly I just negotiated part time from full time at work. I was really pleased they said yes- but have given up 20% of income)
reduce fixed costs- most going on tutors for DC GCSES which I don’t want to cull.

or save and invest less. So have reduced by 2/3 the amount I was investing.

annoying as I only started investing last year at nearly 50.

anyway I found it really helpful to see the bigger picture of my finances. And I realise I have no room for luxuries or treats at all.

@Thehorsesnoseandtail could you get your face cream on vinted? It was a revelation to me getting skin care from there.

i plan to join the 1p saving challenge, I’m with Monzo so will be joining that way.

yogamatters have a free live online yoga class weekly I’ve signed up to those instead of paying for classes.

My big down fall is little treats, I think it’s important not to feel deprived. That said I’m not buying alcohol through January, will be sorting my skincare stash for self care treats, lighting candles. I’ll also be meal planning and removing uber eats from my App Store so no temptation for a last minute take away.

Ive started doing part of our shop at the local community pantry, they are non profit, great for basics eg cereal, crackers. They also give customers free fruit/veg which has been donated from local shop as after best before date. The food is always good quality before Christmas they gave me some blueberries, cauliflower, nectarines all for free. I’d encourage others to see if you have a community pantry near you. I can’t praise them enough.

That sounds a bit cheeky to be honest.

Just cancelled my Tesco order for tomorrow as we have so much food here, despite my husband saying it's only £50 🙄 I may cancel them for the rest of January.

I think Costco is a major downfall for us as well. I'm not convinced it saves money anymore. We get the toilet rolls, blue roll, fabric detergent, and softener from them. Thinking we could get all of it cheaper

I always say this, but I switched from liquid hand soap to bar soap a few years ago. It lasts ages and I have found it much kinder on the skin. I also use bar soap instead of shower gel for the same reasons. I don't get the cheapest bar soap but it has still saved me a small fortune.

Thanks. I use soap instead of shower gel but unfortunately my pesky children can’t seem to grasp the concept of bar soap for hands and make a mess or don’t use it! Agree with you though.

I want to join 👋 I’ve seen this in the past and really want to try it this time! Have you made a meal plan so you don’t go over budget when you do the food shop?
luckily I don’t need to buy toiletries as I got a lot at Christmas and I don’t need any cleaning products either. So will try to buy food only. When I food shop I’ll use JamDoughnut so I can get cash back which adds up really fast.

I’m trying to get a head start.

£96 at Tesco yesterday as hosting a get together tomorrow evening.

£1.25 on a drink at work today though I won’t be spending anymore.

Tomorrow will be a no spend day - I’ll remember to take my own drink! I take my breaks in my car and it’s cold enough so leave a multipack in there so that will see me through next week at work too.

Oh easily! I’m trying to read the ones I actually own first. Saying that, I found some free books on there yesterday which was good.

When money was tight I always took the view that I was running a home, not a full serve restaurant. As pp say - porridge, yogurt but also savoury breakfasts can be cheaper and more filling than cereals. As money became less tight the habit was already ingrained.

Snacks were equally bread and marmite/nutbutter/whatever or similar, not bought snacks. The weekly cake/biscuit type buy was precisely that - weekly. If they ran out half way through the week they made do until the next delivery.

Lunches at home - home made soups in Winter, salads in Summer, both of which serve the function of “using up” anything in the fridge. Lunches out were always packed lunches. Batch cooking was a weekend activity as we were both working, often long hours.

Menu plan every week without fail - its the best way to avoid waste and to make sure you benefit from any seasonal price changes. I had a book called the “veg box book” which had all sorts of different ways of cooking seasonal veg, there must be similar books around now.

I almost never bought branded stuff - baked beans came from Tesco, not Heinz.

Edit to add - set expectations. If the family is used to treating the kitchen like a restaurant you will need to reset expectations to regular family meals, less snacking and standard “snacks” for when people are actually hungry rather than habit eating.

We are planning to pay off our one remaining debt next year – a six thousand bank loan. Currently paying off two hundred a month but if we increase the monthly payment to just over five hundred we can be free of debt by next Christmas!
I think by cutting out unnecessary treats and menu planning this will be doable…

Perhaps setting a time limit before you buy something will help you. If I see something I fancy, I tell myself I can buy it if I still want it in a month. I've usually changed my mind and lost interest after ten days or so. It's important to give yourself permission to buy it, but you need to respect the wait.
You could start by waiting a week, or even just 24 hours if you feel you can't do more.

Also, remember that it's usually not things that improve our lives - we can't buy a happier life. Buying things gives a short burst of happiness, but consistent long-term contentment needs to come from within.

I am going to do a low-spend year. I have to decided to use up all my toiletries before I buy new ones, and wear out the clothes I have before I buy more.
What I struggle with is socialising - our friends regularly suggest days out that end up being very expensive for the 5 of us. When we do Sunday outings as a family, we have sandwiches for lunch, but none of our friends would do that, they want to eat at the pub/café. I really don't know how to handle this and continue seeing our friends regularly.

Me too for a lot of it (think I had four coffees out in the whole of 2025 for example) but that doesn’t mean I can’t still use the thread for inspiration and accountability. I’ve posted on low spend Jan threads every year for the past few years and some people reach levels of frugality that I have no intention of reaching while others are still spending more than I would in extravagant times. It really doesn’t matter. We are all trying to reduce our own personal expenditure so we’re all in the same boat.

This year I did well at keeping groceries within budget and using the library and BorrowBox.

I did not do well at buying less on vinted so for 2026 my goal is to only buy things we genuinely need and not things I’ve decided I need on an impulse/because I think it will make me look like the model I’ve seen it on/ because when I go on vinted to buy something we need it shows me lots of other things that I then think I need.

I started 2025 trying to buy stuff in shops rather than on Amazon but that went out the window pretty quickly because Amazon is significantly cheaper. I need to only make considered purchases on there though rather than buying something just because I’ve seen it and decided I want it!

I bought three beauty edits and two advent calendars this year and so am well stocked up on beauty products. I’m going to only buy what I need, which I think will only be eye cream, shampoo and conditioner, and body lotion but not for a good few months for any of them.

I WILL NOT buy anything from an instagram ad. I wasted nearly £100 this year on things that looked good but were complete rubbish or just did not arrive. Attempts to get my money back have been unsuccessful. I’m normally really careful about this kind of thing but managed to drop the ball three times this year so feel pretty stupid.

We have a few mini breaks and days out planned for the year ahead so cutting unnecessary spending will help us to make the most of those.

Buy it when there’s an offer of a free gift and save the gift for a Christmas present. I did this with Elemis brought separate orders stocking up on everything so I got a free gift with each order.

I’ve just used char GPT to do a meal plan for all of January and done 4 pre-booked food shops which I can adjust each week before delivery if there’s too much / items missing.

Ive also tracked everything in my freezer on there.

Ive spent £450 for the month and usually I would spend £150-£200 a week!

I have started rounding up the money in my bank account at the end of the day and putting it into my savings account. For example , if there is £654.82 I will put the £4.82 into savings. My Monzo already rounds up and doubles any purchases and that goes straight into my savings too.
We bought a Nespresso machine in November and DH loves the Costa pods (I like the L'Or decaf). We always take insulated mugs of coffee when we go out, but having the Nespresso coffee has raised the bar.

@Addictedtohotbaths I'm loving the organisation of this! Can you share the meal plan as I'd love to do something like this. I really need to be more organised with food!

Of course!

Week 1

Sunday 4 Jan – no kids

• Dinner: Roast chicken

Monday 5 Jan – kids

• Dinner: Leftover chicken stir fry with rice

Tuesday 6 Jan – no kids

• Dinner: Salmon, greens & rice

Wednesday 7 Jan – kids (busy)

• Kids: Chicken munchies
• You: Chicken goujons, chips & peas

Thursday 8 Jan – kids

• Dinner: Chilli
• (batch cooked, half frozen)

Friday 9 Jan – kids

• Dinner: Chicken makhani curry
• (batch cooked, frozen for later)

Saturday 10 Jan – kids

• Lunch: Pizza tart
• Dinner: Sticky bangers, chips, coleslaw & corn

Sunday 11 Jan – kids

• Dinner: Roast chicken

Week 2

Monday 12 Jan – no kids

• Dinner: Leftover chicken stir fry with rice

Tuesday 13 Jan – no kids

• Dinner: Salmon, greens & rice

Wednesday 14 Jan – kids (busy)

• Kids: Chicken munchies
• You: Chicken goujons, chips & peas

Thursday 15 Jan – kids

• Dinner: Bombay biryani
• (batch cooked, half frozen)

Friday 16 Jan – no kids

• Dinner: Chilli (from freezer)

Saturday 17 Jan – no kids

• Lunch: Soup
• Dinner: Steak with dauphinois potatoes & green beans

Sunday 18 Jan – no kids

• Dinner: Italian chicken salad with corn & coleslaw

Week 3

Monday 19 Jan – kids

• Dinner: Leftover chicken stir fry with rice

Tuesday 20 Jan – no kids

• Dinner: Salmon, greens & rice

Wednesday 21 Jan – kids (busy)

• Kids: Chicken munchies
• You: Chicken goujons, chips & peas

Thursday 22 Jan – kids

• Dinner: Beef bourguignon
• (batch cooked, half frozen)

Friday 23 Jan – kids

• Dinner: Duck pancakes (once-monthly treat)

Saturday 24 Jan – kids

• Lunch: Pizza tart
• Dinner: Sticky bangers, chips, coleslaw & corn

Sunday 25 Jan – kids

• Dinner: Roast chicken

Week 4

Monday 26 Jan – no kids

• Dinner: Leftover chicken stir fry with rice

Tuesday 27 Jan – no kids

• Dinner: Salmon, greens & rice

Wednesday 28 Jan – kids (busy)

• Kids: Chicken munchies
• You: Chicken goujons, chips & peas

Thursday 29 Jan – kids

• Dinner: Spaghetti bolognese

Friday 30 Jan – no kids

• Dinner: Freezer meal
• (biryani / bourguignon / chicken curry)

Saturday 31 Jan – no kids

• Dinner: Chicken kofta, salad & fries

Sunday 1 Feb – no kids

• Dinner: Roast chicken

Breakfasts are fresh fruit and mix of porridge / scotch pancakes / pancakes / bubble and squeak / avocado on toast / fry up every Sunday / açai bowl with granola

lunches (me only weekdays)
batch cook minestrone soup (lots of veg / bacon / croutons / bone broth)

jacket pot with cheese beans / tuna mayo

i haven’t ordered any deserts as freezer full and lots of leftover Xmas chocolate.

i think I’ve saved a lot by not buying loads of snacking food / junk which adds up.

I’ve brought a side of salmon which I’ll portion up and freeze for Tuesday nights when it’s just me.

frozen rice in bags as I can’t cook it.

The frozen extra portions where batched cooked I’ll incorporate into February menu and probably use some freezer food in Jan / tortellini instead of chicken for the busy night so they don’t get sick of the same thing.

where something is on offer e.g. 3 for £10 I’ve stocked up so can use it over the month / next month.

I put contents of cupboard and freezer in chat GPT which then reminded me when menu was done what I didn’t need to order.

Hope it helps! It’s taken me hours but I feel relieved as I HATE doing the food shop and planning each week.

I’m putting it into a planer now so I can see each week what we’re having / need to defrost in advance.

I love this! And your other suggestions!

Luckily where I live the pubs are being well frequented. They have been packed over the festive season. Then in January it’s back to the quiz nights. Steak and champers nights etc. The Wa Wa’s from London will all go back and sanity will return.