Buy nothing for a month challenge

FireWyrm

bugslet wrote: »

Tinned tomatoes FireWyrm - i think they are allowed as food - it's more spend nothing but what you actually need to live on.....and food's ever so helpful in thecontinuing to breathe dept:p:D.

Had a good weekend, topped up on some fresh veg and fruit on Saturday, £6.81 and spent nothing yesterday. Sunday is my most likely to hibernate day so it's the easiest day.

Yes, they are food, but I shop monthly and so it should have been counted as part of that transaction. My biggest problem is not spending on takeout and clothes, it's unallocated food spending in the form of milk, tins of tomatoes etc. Nothing big, but I have observed that it can, if I'm not very careful, add up to almost a hundred pounds a month of incidental spending. The focus of this challenge for me, is to stop this messing about and get my house running properly for the first time in about 10 years. I used to just spend money anywhere without it being part of a plan and this contributed to our slide into the overdraft which I'm trying to claw us out of. This might sound daft to others, but the lack of tins of tomatoes when I needed them constitutes a failure in the plan and shouldn't have happened....therefore I'm !!!!ed at myself for letting it happen in the first place. One of the exciting things about moving house is I get to set the house up the way I want it, more space means things have their place and I'll be able to see what is missing or running low so I can stop this stupid, inefficient and wasteful method of shopping throughout the month. I'm really getting into the frugal living and consider each month a personal challenge to feed us well for under £100, but with rising food costs, I'm sailing close to the wind on my budget and one slip means less somewhere else. This might sound obsessive to others, and you'd be right, but if I can claw us out of our overdraft I have taken control for the first time in a long time and I can then face the other debts with the same mindset. It's all about changing habits and I know that mine need a radical shakeup.

BTW....update, day 8 was a NSD too.

rictus123

Doing well folks, never thought anyone would join in to support. I got a letter through today...cleared my overdraft last week but owe a tenner in charges?! So that will be out of this months fund! First £10 out. Also £240.30 out tomorrow for my car. Might pay my digs tomorrow aswel, get that over with. Then all i will have to pay is fuel and loan payments...so projected outgoings are

£10 overdraft
£240.30 car
£100 digs
£330.62 loans
£150 fuel*will be a struggle but going to try keep miles down!*
£45 phone
total = £875.92.

So not the highest spends in a month but i suppose it could be so much less!! If i had no debt what so ever, outgoings would be £295 a month!!!!

bugslet

It's whatever works for you Firewyrm and if that's your personal challenge then you've every right to be annoyed with yourself. Luckily I'm not on a super tight budget and I like to top up with fresh stuff after buying a big shop mid week, that's what works for me. My rules are that it has to be pre-planned, otherwise like you it sort of creeps up and that's when I come home with a pack of strawberries, a few spare tins in case and a spirit and destiny magazine which I don't read anyway. Dangerous places those supermarkets!

Giddytimes

Yay, my first NSD of Augut yesterday. I wanted chocolate SO badly, but the fact that I also wanted a NSD held me back, maybe this challenge will be good for my waistline too!
Here's going for NSD number 2 today. Good luck everyone. :j

FireWyrm

bugslet wrote: »

Dangerous places those supermarkets!

Oh yes! If you dont know about it, the psychology of supermarket layout is absolutely facinating. Basically, from the moment you step into one you are under their control....and I dont mean tin hat time, I mean hard science. The place is laid out to steer you to the most expensive items you dont need and you have no choice but to trawl up and down the isles in a set pattern which is dictated by layout and human psychology. It's really very interesting.

In terms of the tins of tomatoes, dont get me wrong, I'm not blowing it out of proportion, but it;s a personal annoyance none-the-less. I will have this working in the way I want and it will do as I tell it and I will deal with those nasty mid-week suprises in a much better way than I have been. I'm only on a tight budget through choice, the more I tighten our belts, the faster we get out of this mess. My projections are showing that we'll be out of the overdraft by the end of September which is a monumental achievement for me. In March, I was standing in a line at the checkout, three days after payday having just had my card declined and load of food to pay for. I was £2500 (and change) in debt at that point on the overdraft alone. We're nearly out and I'm loving it. Next stop is the loan and the credit card which need to go.

Giddytimes

I failed today, my car windscreen wiper snapped, being pretty much essential I decided I'd better have it fixed straight away, $14.

Then on the way back from the garage my car broke down altogether!! Luckily I was near a petrol station and someone came out to help me, I needed ionised battery water, (which I never knew even existed) and a jump start. $3.

Given I felt I was having a bad day I decided just to buy the chocolate I've been craving since yesterday. :rotfl:$2.

So a total unplanned spend of $19.

Here's to better luck tomorrow! :j

bugslet

Oooh the end of the overdraft is in sight - well done firewyrm!

I'd have given in and had chocolate as giddy - hope you have no more problems.

Today I'm going to have to spend some money - I've a check up at the dentist. Our family have teeth which look really strong and straight, but actually have really weak enamel, so dentistry is something that I never skimp on. Fingers crossed nothing needs doing.

FireWyrm

Days 9 & 10 were NSD days, but I have to chip into a work colleagues' whip round later which will be £2 on Friday.

DH put petrol in the car out of my pin money :mad: instead of using the card like he's supposed to, so I'll have to replace what's missing from the jar. This cancels itself out though since he would have had to buy petrol anyway....he wouldnt have made it to the new house else....:D

So far, we're running at about £3 overspend which is a vast improvement on £60ish.

With regard to the overdraft, I want to change banks. Heaven knows how but I got talked into paying HSBC £12.95 a both for a current account and I dont want to do this since I dont seem to be getting anything out of it. I guess I'll have to move banks, but I cant do that without clearing the overdraft first. I have no idea what the heck I'm supposed to be getting from HSBC for that £12 a month...if anyone knows how easy it would be to reverse it back to a normal bank account, I would be happy to hear suggestions.

LouiseJ

I would recommend the Halifax current account reward account, they are open Sat until 1pm (which is a Godsend when you are working) and I get £5 every month which I put towards the cost of Christmas.

You get a £1000 overdraft as standard too but dont get the reward if you are overdrawn.

princesst84

HI, i would recommend santander, they give you £100 for switching, match the overdraft balance and our was 0% for the first year. Open saturdays. You dont get a monthly reward though. They customer service is rated on this site as being abit rubbish but I tend to do all internet banking so has never bothered me. Good luck