Buy Nothing for Six Months

norabatty_2

elliewild wrote: »

My friend bought the reusable cloth nappies (i dont know much about them without children myself) but shes had two babies now and swears by them, i understand they cost a bit initially but well worth it.

Hi Ellie,

I did a lot of research on reusable nappies before my little girl was born and was really keen to give them a go. So I got 6 all-in-one nappies for newborns, they cost about £50 and we used them for about 6-8 weeks, but DH was against the idea by the end of week 2, what with the neverending exploding poos that breastfed newborn babies do, (about 8 or 10 a day) so I ended up using reusables and he used disposables. I also got a few more in the next size up but it was a waste of time when DH wasn't on board, so I gave up and admitted defeat. I managed to sell those 6 pack of nappies for over £40 on Ebay so they held their value quite well.

To be fair, I actually bought a year's supply of nappies there a few weeks ago for under £100 so it actually works out to be nearly the same cost, when you count the electricity and washing powder saved!

norabatty_2

Just another update:

I went to that award ceremony and got £150 for being such a swot in uni!

We then went back to my family home for our holidays. As home is over 300 miles away and we had to pay for petrol, groceries and one take-away for 4 people, I think we did really well. Total spent over the 12 days was £313.42. We were only back all of 3 days when we were off again, this time to DH's family home to drop off LO for her first night without us (apparently she didn't even notice we were gone), we then drove 30 mins down the road and stayed in an overpriced hotel overnight (which DH organised) to celebrate our wedding anniversary. I regret to inform you that weekend cost us £292.08, nearly as much as our 12 day holiday down the other end of the country. :mad:

Still, the good news is that my credit card providers will probably be calling me shortly, wondering if I am ok and still alive?? My grocery bill in June was extortionate - I went overboard for LO's first birthday and spent a total of £398.64 in June. For July, it looks like I will spend around £220, with over £100 of this being a year's supply of nappies!

My only non-necessary spending so far (apart from holidays) was a slow cooker from Argos on Monday. It cost me £20 and so far I have managed to cook a chicken and a gammon joint in it and I reckon I will get enough meals from these to last the 3 of us a week!

Vala-Mal-Doran

Hello all!

Just wanted to de-lurk and say what an inspiring thread this is, its really got me hunkering down to save the pennies and really ask myself 'do I really need this?' It will hopefully go a long way towards taking chunks off my mortgage!!
I had 2 instinct coffee vouchers for £1 each which i nearly threw away but took them shopping and found the little boxes of 10 sachets for £1 each so grabbed a couple of those - not sure if it was really meant for them but it confused the cashier enough to give them to me so 20 sachets for free for me! Just got to find that third coupon now and head back - watch it not work this time! haha!

I have been writing down what I do spend as i spend it in my diary so I can keep an eye on it - it really does make a difference.

Keep up the good work! :T

norabatty_2

Hello all,

As it's the end of the month, I started working on my spreadsheet and came to a horrible discovery - last year, DH and I spent on average, £150 per month on each of our cars - that's £3600 a year on petrol, tax, insurance, MOTs and servicing. This didn't include parking and tolls. Furthermore, for the first 6 months of 2013, we spent, on average, £190 a month EACH on our cars. :eek: (Rising petrol costs, as everything else seems to be the same) I have always discounted the idea that we could survive on one car, as our local train station is a good walk away and besides, what if it's raining??!!

So, have decided to conduct an experiment. Today, I am going to walk to the train station, get on the train with LO and buggy and go into city centre to see some friends and discover how much of a chore this actually is. A monthly ticket on the train (goes directly to uni) would cost me about £55 but could get a day return for under £4 and not sure how many days of the week I'll be in uni next year as I haven't got the timetable yet. If it's in anyway doable, I think I'd be better getting rid of the car, taking the train and if it's raining heavily, just get a taxi!??

On a related note, since starting this challenge nearly two months ago, I have only used the car for long journeys and a weekly trip to the supermarket. On one occasion, I drove the mile or so to the doctors with LO because it was raining. During this time, I have lost half a stone while eating as much chocolate, biscuits and rubbish as I want. :T:j I think I walk that mile into town and another mile back out 3-4 times a week to pick up cheap fruit from the weekly market, go to the doctors, post office, library, pick up milk and bread from Iceland, etc.

Vala-Mal-Doran

norabatty me and OH have walked into work since moving in together and I lost about the same doing the same distance - its amazing how it can add up! Id be worried to ever not walk in now in case I put it all back on!! :eek:

I cant say I have had a spend free week but what I have bought is something I have been eyeing up and researching for a while (before I saw this thread) and am pleased to say I ended up buying second hand and saved myself a fortune doing so and its still in super condition.

Other than that tho I have resisted all spending in town on my lunchtimes - I have a cheap council gym membership which is 5 mins walk from work so 3 times a week I go swimming on my lunch break - it stops me spending in the shops and works off a few lbs hopefully!

Had a nice time this weekend pottering in the garden for free! And spent this morning clearing out one of our 'stuff' drawers - strangley satisfying and all free.

How has everyone else been doing? I cant wait to hear all about it.:T

FrooGal_2

Ack, I completely fell off the waggon. I knew it would be hard when we needed to buy stuff for the baby's increasingly impending arrival.

However, I am climbing back on - we need to knuckle down and get the finances in order. I also want to set a good example and not bring up a tiny consumer.

Today I finished upcycling (sand, paint, prime) a fruit crate (found outside the greengrocers) to be a slightly more decorative storage box and I've just made a birthday card for a friend's little girl out of fabric ribbon and a charm that came attached to some fat quarters I bought a while ago. Feeling much better about the mission now, onwards and upwards

helzbelz_57

hi this is a great thread and couldn't have come at a better time for me.

I decided last week that I needed to pull my head out of the sand and sort my finances- I have just over £3500 of debt and I have set myself the challenge of having it paid off by 01/01/2014 so just under 5 months.

I started on 01/08/2013 and so far I am enjoying it. I'm a bit hungrier than usual but that's because I am used to eating lots of junk.

my rules are pretty much similar to most people on this thread. I have two children aged 4 and 8 and a new uniform has to be purchased for the 4 year old starting school in September.

I am really not a big consumer, I don't smoke, drink, buy clothes, music, newspapers, magazines, beauty/hair treatments but my one big vice is junk food- I buy far too much and I also eat out of the house far too often as I am very lazy when it comes to cooking so I think that will be my biggest challenge.

I have cancelled sky tv and will cancel my talk talk phone and broadband too and am going to see if I can reduce my orange mobile bill somehow.

another big expense for me is my car so i'm hoping to sell it and buy something much cheaper (I need a car for work as I work random hours out in the sticks with no public transport)

I am also going to pull out all the stops in getting as much more work as I can and have already had a massive clearout and sorted lots of stuff to ebay and carboot.

I will be watching this thread for support and hopefully updating with success.

good luck to you all.

(i'm going to read the rest of the thread as I only read to page 5)

shandyclover

FrooGal wrote: »

Ack, I completely fell off the waggon. I knew it would be hard when we needed to buy stuff for the baby's increasingly impending arrival.

Just a thought, have you considered getting in touch with 'Surestart'? 13 years ago when through a horrific sequence of circumstances I arrived back in UK in October with 4 children under 10, very little money, a bare house and no winter clothing some lovely ladies at 'Surestart' were incredibly helpful. They had a store of donated goods they supplied me with the basics in warm clothes for the kids and a pushchair. All with the greatest of respect and no condescension. I didn't need it as my youngest was a toddler by then but they had loads of baby stuff and equipment.

FrooGal_2

shandyclover wrote: »

Just a thought, have you considered getting in touch with 'Surestart'? 13 years ago when through a horrific sequence of circumstances I arrived back in UK in October with 4 children under 10, very little money, a bare house and no winter clothing some lovely ladies at 'Surestart' were incredibly helpful. They had a store of donated goods they supplied me with the basics in warm clothes for the kids and a pushchair. All with the greatest of respect and no condescension. I didn't need it as my youngest was a toddler by then but they had loads of baby stuff and equipment.

I don't qualify for a Sure Start grant due to being self-employed (even though work has dried up. Ho hum.) but thank you. We have been helped by wonderful friends and family and have an amazing stash of secondhand baby paraphernalia. The things we bought new the other day were hopefully things that will save us money in the long run - reusable nappies, reusable wipes, washable breast pads... Plus the new mattress and car seat we had to get (NHS guidelines).

Thanks for the tip though, I'm sure it will hugely help others.

shandyclover

I don't think you have to be entitled to a grant to approach them. I certainly wasn't entitled to anything at the time. Although UK born and bred, British citizen and passport holder, I'd turned 16 outside of UK so didn't have a NI #. I was at the very early stages of proving I was who I said I was. Until the paperwork went through I was entitled to nothing and with less rights or support than migrants or refugees. It was a dark 3 mos. Thank God for friends and family. Surestart and Salvation Army both recognised I was someone who had fallen between the cracks and didn't seem at all bothered I fit no category. To be clear they gave me emergency clothes and equipment. I did not ask them for a grant of any kind. But like you said maybe this tip could help someone else. Wish all the best with your new arrival!