Fiscal Fast – 7 days no spending (at all)

Ninno820

Hi Hoglet - why not use some of this dead time to generate some cash / reward points? In the uk we have nectar adpoints - i'm just off to generate some - which can then be used to get money off groceries - do they have something similar in New Zealand?

GreyQueen

Morning all.

Not doing too well on the NSDs but am spending very little.

On Monday, I paid my water bill. Was due by 21st so no way was that going to be able to be spent in August to keep July's spends low. But I did pay it online to avoid using a stamp from the stamp cache which I'd bought before prices went up - two price hikes ago -thanks to MSE's tips.

It's now mid-month and I've spent £20 on archery lessons, £2.48 on food and 89p on a deo as had completely run out. I also spent £1.50 on a rattan storage box from a bootsale last weekend. I've been looking for something similar very cheaply for about 6 months and wasn't about to pass on it because I was fiscal fasting.

Although, had I been truly 'pure' I wouldn't have been poking around at a bootsale in the first place.:rotfl:

I'm also eating up some sausages from Mum's freezer which she was going to throw away as she thought they'd been in there too long. Isn't a big freezer, probably not more than a year, tops, and they're good butcher's sausages, not rubbish. Have been eating them for the past two days and no ill-effects yet.:p

hoglet121

Hi Ninno

Thanks for the tips - unfortunately we're a little bit behind the UK on the nectar points etc front - as far as I know. I'm willing to stand corrected on that but my research into upping my income online so far has generated a few survey sites which I haven't had much joy being selected for surveys on, if that makes sense.

I will keep thinking tho cos it's a good idea trying to make some extra cash whilst I mill about...

[Deleted User]

Good Morning all and today I shall break into my little brown purse as I have to go food shopping.The first this month so I am really pleased.I have been using up lots of stuff from the cupboards and freezer but am now getting short of fresh fruit and veg and a few other odds and ends.This has been the longest I have ever managed to go in NSDs so with 15 under my belt I am extremely chuffed with myself. No doubt I shall notice how much things have risen ,even in a fortnight :):)I am hoping to only use around £20.00 odd so it will be interesting to see how much I can get for that :):)Only 4 weeks this friday until we go away on holiday so using up bits and pieces already in store has been useful as any left over cash gets put straight into the 'treats and ice cream tin'
Good luck everyone in hanging on to your cash,I heard last night on the wireless that food prices are creeping up again!!! because folk have cut back on buying unnecessary food So buy not buying, its the customers fault the prices are going up .Crazy isn't it !!!
The older I get the less I understand this world
Have a good day chums
JackieO xxx

GreyQueen

I suspect you're understanding this world a lot better than the so-called economists, jackie0! Good luck with your shopping trip and may bargainous things come your way.

Of course, it's all Jo(e) Consumer's fault.........lol. We don't get pay or pension rises which keep up with inflation so we cut our coats according to our cloth, and cut back in the shops, and their profits go down, so they put up prices and we cut back still further and so it goes.

Today, I shall be spending a chunk of time on the allotment, with a flask of tea and some h.m. bread rolls for company. Not planning to spend anything at all, other than muscle power to get stuff done. Have two courgettes in the fridge from Nan's back garden where there is a bit of a glut, so will be incorporating them into a meal.

Amused at how women's clothing prices are driving June's inflation figures, according to the meeja. I bought some clothing in June (4 items at 50p each) from the Everything 50p chazzer, so wasn't personally driving those expenditures. Other than undies and some trousers (am very tall, seldom see my size 2nd hand) I rarely buy new clothes at all. Haven't been arrested for public indecency or made a laughing-stock for being unfashionable yet.

I also had a thought for when my non-work footwear, a pair of trainers which normally lasts 2 years) expires, I shall move on to a pair of lightweight fabric hiling boots which I already own (£6.99 from Hoxfam) and use them up instead. They look trainer-ish anyway, the higher cuffs will be invisible under the trousers. Use what I have, which is already paid-for.

craigywv

Hi all im back again spent 22.00 getting fruit,milk and meat so im set to go it again. Manchilds 11 th birthday on sat so from tomorrow im a baking,cooking and making. Got all in for this so its just head down and cook off! Roll on saturday evening ,feet up and a rather large slice of cake!

fairy3

Hi all I am already in, on day 3 NSD due to being housebound having foot surgery on Monday so no choice. I spent £45 for four adults Sunday and have planned 14 days menu so wish me luck. Only problem is I can't cook and work the crutches so DS2 is stepping into the breach and cooking from my instructions, might be fun.
F x

[Deleted User]

Hi chums, well quite a productive day I guess, I spent in total
£19.78 so I'm really pleased with my shopping. I think I may get at least another 7-10 days out of what I got today :):).

GQ you are a lady after my own heart when it comes to buying stuff I think :):) I too spend little on clothes as I have more than enough in the wardrobe and as long as I look clean and tidy and relatively respectable :) it'll do me .I actually dislike shopping for clothes as the crowds and pushing and shoving in shops nowadays I can do without So I now and again have a shufti in the CS but I think the last thing I bought was a top and that was about 6 months agao and only because my existing tops were getting too big (I have been gradually losing weight for my ops. I see the consultant next week for the next op and I will be getting a right hand boob in the reconstruction programme, so I'm looking forwards to being able to wear things that fit as opposed to wearing baggy tops ,also to be able to buy some nice bra's will be great after 7 years without them :):) I had lots of M & S vouchers at Christmas which I have been saving to get my new underwear with.
Shoes I have to have happy feet and comfy shoes the days of tottering around with silly shoes are long gone for me and I am now built for comfort ,not speed :):)
JackieO xxx

GreyQueen

What amazes me is that no one notices that you're not buying new clothes, it really is an easy win form of economy. There is such a lot of good stuff out there for pennies that it'd be insane to buy new stuff, inc paying VAT at 20%, unless you are so tiddly you can get into kid's sizes, and I know a fair few peeps whose kiddos don't fit those much past 10-11 years old.

My Everything 50p chazzer (not its real name but what everything costs) is a very useful resource. I may swing by there tomorrow afternoon, fiscal fasting notwithstanding. All good stuff, and some of it is brand new with tags, FGS. My June £2 splurge got me a nightshirt, 2 pairs of pj trews and a wrap dress. All looked new.

I'm cooking an experimental supper, a sort-of mutant dish. One onion, fried off, two courgettes - diced - added and stirred until soft. Added 2 cans of tomatoes, 1 can sweetcorn and 3 leftover sliced cooked sausages from the freebie sausage cache. Have seasoned it, and am simmering it low on the stove.

Have dug up a self-sown potato plant on the lottie and got enough spuds for 3 meals, so having some of those. For my greens, I have picked some stinging nettles from beside the shed and am experimenting with them, a la Richard Mabey's Food for Free. I cut these nettles down about 3 weeks ago and they have grown from scratch since then, so shouldn't be too coarse.

I have also found some wild plums which are nearly ripe, so have plans to get me some of those in the next few days, hope no one else has the same idea.

ETA; have eaten stinging nettles - cooked - and they are nice!

hoglet121

Hi everyone,

I'm gearing up to start on Friday, really looking forward to the challenge aspect of it. One of our cats ate through my brand new phone charger yesterday, after he had eaten 2 earlier in the week. Although we haven't started our fiscal fast officially yet I have decided not to replace it until after our fast is done, with a view to making-do long term with the charging solution I've come up with in the meantime... At $30 a cable I can do without the expense.. Awful to realise how dependent I've become on a bleedin' phone...

I made it known in the coffee shop this morning that they wouldn't be seeing me for a week. The girl did try to convince me to buy a pre-paid coffee card today so that I wouldn't actually be spending anything buying coffee during the week, but I explained that wasn't in the spirit of the challenge. She agreed that it sounded like a very good idea and thought she could give it a go - maybe she'll be another convert :-)

Hoglet x