Giving up Money for Lent

dreams_R_free

ShirleyPark

Hi. I'm intrigued by your 'Grocery Challenge'. I'm new to this wonderful website. In the short time I've been using it (lurking a while before daring to post:rolleyes2) it has started to change my life, or rather some ingrained bad-habits. So thanks all.:T

Is there a thread for an 'official' Grocery Challenge or is it something you have been just challenging yourself with IYSWIM ?

kiwi88_2

Impomdasp wrote: »

ShirleyPark

Hi. I'm intrigued by your 'Grocery Challenge'. I'm new to this wonderful website. In the short time I've been using it (lurking a while before daring to post:rolleyes2) it has started to change my life, or rather some ingrained bad-habits. So thanks all.:T

Is there a thread for an 'official' Grocery Challenge or is it something you have been just challenging yourself with IYSWIM ?

Hi Impomdasp

Welcome to the site :T Loads of all sorts of advice here and like you said habit changing. The first link is for the Old Style (OS) Forum Threads the second link is for the grocery challenge and that's run every month. Hope that helps you.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?f=33
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=389560

So for the Unneccessary Challenge we're going to set a weekly budget then and also still try to run the week as no spend For instance I will budget £10 a week and try not to spend it at all but if I do I don't get a wrist slap :rotfl:

Also if we have all/some of it left are we posting what we have left and totalling it up every month even if it's virtual because we've put it towards paying off debts? Does that make sense to anyone but me

poohbear59

Just like some others on here I am also doing the 'grocery challenge'. I have only been using these boards for two months but wow!! I can see our debts going down. I was abit concerned about the idea of having a 'day off' each week from No Spending, but if I had a limit as someone suggested of £5 say. I could save them up and dye my hair or get a hair cut. I like that idea. I don't get out much but I think I said before the internet and credit cards were too easy for me to avoid before.

I think it is a great idea to budget for Christmas birthdays etc and have started to do that but my big shock purchases each year have been car tax! I know we shouldn't have, but we do have three cars that I try to keep on the road. Each time car tax came around I got a shock and had to borrow off credit cards. Since I started this challenge I have put money away for car tax so in future won't have to pay it on credit.

Thankyou everyone for being such good support!

the_optimist

kiwi88 wrote: »

So for the Unneccessary Challenge we're going to set a weekly budget then and also still try to run the week as no spend For instance I will budget £10 a week and try not to spend it at all but if I do I don't get a wrist slap :rotfl:

Also if we have all/some of it left are we posting what we have left and totalling it up every month even if it's virtual because we've put it towards paying off debts? Does that make sense to anyone but me

:T That makes perfect sense to me

My unneccessary spent items are magazines, charity shop, car boot and ebay items and chocolate. So I'm going to set myself a budget of £10 per month. Doesn't sound much, but it's £10 more than I'm spending now.(Oh dear, will this be a struggle?:undecided )

winkle1

im going to set myself a budget every week but i'm not going to spend it on unnecessary items such as magazines, coffees etc, i need to use mine for what i class as essentials but dont budget for i.e. dry cleaning and getting my eyebrows waxed etc.

spendalotgottostop

hi all, i'm reasonably new and have started to try the no spend day's except for essentials, have been successful for two day's. I am struggling with what constitutes essentials on occasions, i know it's food etc but i'm running short of make up, and Estee Lauder have a special offer that finishes this week. This must be an essential spend surely.

anniewoo

Yesterday,there was something which I really wanted to buy which cost £15.

I definitely didn't need it,but,oh did I want it.Before the Lent Challenge,I wouldn't have hesitated for a second,I would have just gone ahead and bought it.

However,although CAFCgirl doesn't know me personally,I felt as though I would be letting her down and all the other people who are trying hard not to spend,plus I could hear Martin's voice in my head lol.

So,I didn't buy it and I feel quite elated that I didn't,I resisted temptation.

I have cut down my Grocery spending quite dramatically the last few weeks by using up food in my freezer and store cupboard and by being more inventive with my meals,the OS board has helped a lot there.

I did my sums last night and worked out that I will be able to pay off a debt sooner than expected because of all the money that I am saving,so I am thrilled about that.

I won't be officially joining the Unnecessary Challenge,but I am going to try and keep to the principles of it as well as I can,I just wish I had started doing it sooner.

Good luck to everyone who is doing so well.

dreams_R_free

I hope I'll be joining in too. Was too late for the Lent Challenge until it was half over:rolleyes:

I try to raise cash from regular Carboot sales but am often tempted to have a stroll around the other pitches to see if there are any 'must-have' bargains:rotfl: . Suppose I make £100 selling stuff (unwanted gifts, general 'stuff' that we've bought in the past but can't remember when or how much we paid,other people's cast-offs, lucky 'finds' in skips etc etc) which I haven't paid for out of the current month's budget. Then suppose I spend, say, £10 on someone else's 'stuff', not necessarily to sell-on, although it may end up that way one day:rolleyes: , but I suppose is an Unneccessary Spend. Do I have to count it?

This is as clear as mud so I hope someone can understand it! What I mean is that as the Carboot money is profit and not part of my budgeting sum, does spending some of it count? I'd still be throwing £90 at my debts over and above what I'd budgetted to pay off them, so would I be allowed say a £10 spend???

the_optimist

Impomdasp wrote: »

I hope I'll be joining in too. Was too late for the Lent Challenge until it was half over:rolleyes:

I try to raise cash from regular Carboot sales but am often tempted to have a stroll around the other pitches to see if there are any 'must-have' bargains:rotfl: . Suppose I make £100 selling stuff (unwanted gifts, general 'stuff' that we've bought in the past but can't remember when or how much we paid,other people's cast-offs, lucky 'finds' in skips etc etc) which I haven't paid for out of the current month's budget. Then suppose I spend, say, £10 on someone else's 'stuff', not necessarily to sell-on, although it may end up that way one day:rolleyes: , but I suppose is an Unneccessary Spend. Do I have to count it?

This is as clear as mud so I hope someone can understand it! What I mean is that as the Carboot money is profit and not part of my budgeting sum, does spending some of it count? I'd still be throwing £90 at my debts over and above what I'd budgetted to pay off them, so would I be allowed say a £10 spend???

I think, that depends on what you buy. If it's something you need, then it's necessary, if you don't need it, then it's unneccessary, no matter where the money is from.(Not really what you wanted to hear, is it? )
On the other hand, it is quite easy giving up spending money on unneccessary items for a short time, like Lent, but in the long run we will all fail (or am I just speaking for myself :rotfl: ?). It's the challenge that will keep us on the right track and if we fall off, we get back on and continue.

I won't be officially joining the Unnecessary Challenge,but I am going to try and keep to the principles of it as well as I can,I just wish I had started doing it sooner.

That means, you can join the challenge too, anniewoo

the_optimist

Oh, and well done anniewoo on not spending that £15 :T