The Secret to No Spend Days?

Ex-Spendaholic

I don't think I'm ever going to manage these. I believe I'm well organised and I tend to do the bulk of my spending on a Monday as follows:

Buy Groceries, petrol, toiletries, cleaning products for the week

Pay for school dinners for the week


However the rest of the week there are always incidentals. Eg on Tuesday DS has a club that he needs £1 for, Wednesday DD has a club she needs £1 for etc etc. Friday, school wants charity money etc.

Anyone got any tips. They are piddling amounts really but psychologically I need to feel that I'm having NSDs in order to succeed.

true27

Hiya,

I used to have exactly the same thing! What I've started to do is get the money out for school dinners at the Post Office, but also get an extra couple of quid in pound coins, just to keep in a pot for these incidentals. I also tend to do this on Monday after taking DB to school and I get enough to last until the following Tuesday (IYSWIM?) and anything left over goes into the sealed pot!

HTH xx

firestronaut

I class NSD as a day when I don't spend unneccesarily.
Just because you've spent a few quid, it doesn't have to mean it's not a NSD, it's up to you! :beer:

I would class child related expenses as necessary payments, as they are - in a way - unavoidable.
If I've had a NSD but then at 8pm I need to nip into Asda for nappies, I still class it as a NSD day because, even though I've spent money, I see it as unavoidable, necessary and there was really no money saving way for me to get around buying them - apart from a whole lot of mess, stains and smells on my floor! :rotfl:

It's completely up to you what you class as a NSD. I dont class my debt payments, unavoidable child related expenses, money going into piggy banks, child trust funds and savings accounts, etc etc because I class these as necessary even though other people might not. :)

brummiebabe

I agree! I don't class budgeted spends eg nursery, pocket money, groceries etc in my NSD challenge. I only class things that I hadn't budgeted for elsewhere eg sweets, buying lunch out, magazines etc. I wouldn't include regular expenses/bills/direct debits etc. Hope that helps x

Ex-Spendaholic

Thanks for the replies. In that case I'm already having lots of NSDs as I get a pot together on a Sunday night/Monday morning with £1 coins and 50p coins to cover the kids activities for the week. All my DDs and bill payments are on the first of the month and my major expenditure - groceries, petrol, gas, electric tops ups are on a Monday. Effectively therefore Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and sometimes Fridays are NSDs for me.

Thanks for that it makes me feel much better. Perhaps I need to get out more. :rotfl: