NST; January Challenge- The Money Saving Game

apple_muncher

My first NSD under my belt :j. My first exercise session too :j. The Christmas box has been thoroughly tidied out, with some stuff going in the bin - hooray!

Meal planning is my weakness, so I shall try to do a few days at a time. Breakfasts and lunches are okay, just tea needs a plan...

cupcake-queen

1. This Challenge commences on the 1st January 2015 @ 00:00 and finishes on the 31st January 2015 @ 23:59.
2. Set ALL of your budgets at the beginning of the month: let us know what your budget is for: groceries, fuel/travel, social/leisure, Birthdays and any other saving goals for the month.

Groceries: £100 (I isually take care of the big shops whist OH does the top up shops)
Travel: £50 bus fairs
Social/leisure £0 - I'm too busy anyway and my sister can me free cinema tickets
Birthdays: just my nephew and his gift will be his birthday cake so £20

I've signed up for Dry January which should save about £10 a week

3. Pay money to your debts first- This will help you budget your money for the rest of the month and make adjustments accordingly. But please do not leave yourself really short!

I have an overdraft and 2 credit cards that I want gone by the end of the year. My over draft is my priority and I start the ninth at -£529 (which isn't too bad considering it was at -£1200 a couple of months ago. If I stick to my budget I should be at around -£250 at the end of the month. I will then slice £500 off my overdraft arrangement to stop this happening again.


4. You MUST bring your lunch to work every day No using the canteen (unless this is free of course) or local cafes. Coffee shops are also banned throughout January! It's time to detox (or get your money's worth from the home brewed variety if you can not do without)

This is really hard for me as although we pay its so cheep it makes hardly any difference to bring my own in but what I will do is if we have something in at home I will take it but I'm really not going to stress over this


5.Donate £3 from your food budget, or £3 you have saved from not visiting a coffee shop and purchase £3 worth of items to donate to your local food bank. Many supermarkets have Food bank drop off baskets, alternatively donate unused tinned products from your cupboards or donate online £3 to The Trussel Trust who help to run Food banks across the country. Let's support those in our local communities and make a positive start to the New Year.

Will look into this for sure


6. Down shift 3 of your branded food items. Try down shifting a brand to super market own! Yellow sticker items (reduced items) are also your friend's- so long as they can be used towards a meal!

Also quite tricky as I think we've downgraded pretty much everything!

7. Meal Plan!- Try to meal plan as many of your meals as possible. This will work wonders with helping you to condense your shopping list (along with your cupboards) if it is all written down and justified for allocated meals. Helping you to be armed and prepared for the Supermarkets inevitable consumerist advertisement, drawing you in to sales of items you would never normally buy!

First week done! With the aim to use what we've already got in so shouldn't have to buy in an awful lot

8. You will aim to achieve 18 Spend Free Days (SFDs)- Plan your spends, think about what you are buying. Is it worth losing a SFD over a chocolate bar? Exemptions include: prescriptions/ medication, yellow sticker (reduced) food or drink and regular direct debits- these will not lose you a SFD.

I'm going to aim for 20 to counteract not giving up canteen food!

9. Document your spends- Use a spreadsheet, notebook or your phone. Document every single spend that you make. You might be surprised as to where you money is going!

New diary has a budget planner so I will be putting it to good use

10. Time to get moving - Increase your movement, whether it's taking the stairs at work instead of the lift, getting off a stop early, going out for a walk. We all feel a little sluggish after the indulgences over the festive season. You do not need to join the gym- save your money and get creative!

I will get off a stop early when the bus is running in good time


11. Choose your Debt Free Date now or the % of Debt you aim to clear by January 2016.

January 2016 I will be debt free

12. Share your 2015 Goals- financial or other.

Pay off overdraft first
Shrink my agreed overdraft to £300
Pay off 2 credit cards
Save enough survey points, swag bucks etc. to buy a new laptop
Have an organised tidy home - get rid of some clutter

speakingofart

Lilt, that's an interesting thought, thank you. I have considered saving a buffer, but the reality is that I have all my direct debits set to go out on the 16th and I do get paid for the whole month, so it doesn't really affect me in any other sense that making things that work on months irritating. For now, I'm focusing on filling my rainy day funds and saving to replace my car (it's an R reg) and may then look at a buffer after that. I'll stick with my weird check in system until then...

dolly84

I have added up all my debts today and updated my signature, it is about £1k more than I thought.

First SFD today, have been really busy and haven't left the house all day, would have gone for a run but the weather is foul and time was short. I have done an hours work today at double time too (I work from home and it needed doing today apparently).

SFD 1/18
Diesel £13.84/75
Groceries ??/£340

My month runs from 26th to 25th so all debt repayments for January have already been done, if we manage to sell or come under budget on anything that money will go to the debts.

Bobarella

Fmess wrote: »

Bobarella with regards to your bus money. I would put the cash in a pot at the start of the month and then just lose 1 SFD for it. This is what others used to do for kids clubs that had to be paid in cash etc.

Thanks that is a good suggestion!

Bobarella

LoveaDove wrote: »

How often do you use the bus a week? Do you have a travel budget? Could you make any savings with the monthly pass? I budget for fuel but I tend to fill up my car once a week on a Spend day.

Hi Loveadove
I use the bus 5 days per week. I use it to collect my son from school. I walk to meet him then we get it home. I can't make a saving by buying a pass unfortunately as passes are 7 days per week so I'd lose money that way. Plus I only make 1 journey per day at £1.45. The London travel cap in my zone is £4 per day I think so I'd still be spending a lot more even if I did take the bus both ways. Never mind it isn't much and I do pay for it in tips some days. So free money!
Thanks for the suggestions.
Bob

thriftylass

Thanks for putting me on the list. At FIL's house so don't want to be rude and on my phone for long. I'll read and check in properly on the fifth when I'm back at work.

Philae_2

First NSD for me thanks to a hangover lol I should also get NSD 2 under my belt tomorrow as my plan is to give the house a good clean

LoveaDove

WelshKitty85 wrote: »

4. I nearly always take my own lunch to work/uni. My problem isn't lunch, but breakfast. I NEVER eat breakfast at home and sometimes treat myself to a bacon bap when I get to work. This must stop as it costs at least £2 a time. I will fill my locker with cereal bars etc that I can raid if I get hungry in the mornings.

This sounds like a great back up plan! Think of all of those £2's you will save in a month?? What would you do with the savings?

WelshKitty85 wrote: »

5. I already volunteer my time to a charity 1 day a week but will make an effort to donate to the food bank this month too.

What a superstar!

WelshKitty85 wrote: »

6. I have already down shifted almost everything except chocolate. This is one step i am not prepared to make. I would rather go without!

Haha, I am a bit of a chocolate snob myself Do you have any own brand recommendations on food?

LoveaDove

moveit wrote: »

2. Grocery £30 cash + any vouchers, everything else £30 cash + any vouchers. Really no idea what my budget should be - I've been really off the rails recently, so going to see where this month leads me.

moveit - Jotting down all of your spends and meal planning this month should help set you up for setting up clearer budgets for February. It'll be really beneficial to help you see where you can make some cut backs or save some money. I think £30/week is a reasonable amount for groceries- are you budgeting for just yourself?