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No Spend Here I Come

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Hi....Again :o

This will be my third diary and I really hope that this time I can stick with it and get my debt gone for good as I find it more motivational when I'm on here. I have seen a lot of articles recently about a no spend year and I think I am going to try my own version of it. I have noticed that people who follow this make exceptions and mine are going to be as follows:-

1. Food and everyday consumables like toilet roll and toothpaste etc are allowed, as are prescriptions and medicines, which will come out of my planned shopping budget.
2. Only buy what we need which means creating a meal plan and sticking to it.
3. Fix first, if not able to do I need to replace it at all?
4. No buying of books, use the library more.
5. Gifts for other people.
6. Main wage can not be touched, other income can be saved into pots for clothes etc.

I think I can be an emotional spender so I am also going to try and live more positively.

I live with my dd who is now 18 and earning her own money and we have just recently moved into a private rent terraced house. I know it was probably cheaper to stay with my mum but I really needed my own space again.

I have carried this debt with me for years, always paying chunks off but then it creeps up again. I am also one step away from opening my own Etsy shop, hopefully in the next couple of weeks, so that should bring me a little income in. Any money received from this will go back into buying products for the business.

I have deleted my card details from online shopping sites, set up a budget for the year and I started the penny challenge at the beginning of December. I will use any change left over from my planned shopping budget to keep topping this up. I also have a M0nzo bank account and have created savings pots on there to move money into from second income. I also plan to keep a spending diary.

I am joining SW tomorrow, for free thanks to a daily paper. This spend will come out of some extra work that I do.

I am a couple of years away from 50 so my goal is to go into my 50's debt free.

Happy New Year everyone.

Tink xx
As of 31st December 2018 Total Debt = £15837.59
DEBT 1 - £41.10 DEBT 2 - £257.41 DEBT 3 - £584.12 DEBT 4 - £700.00
DEBT 5 - £655.02 DEBT 6 - £669.18 DEBT 7 - £3448.00 DEBT 8 - £2169.12
DEBT 9 - £2964.25 DEBT 10 - £4349.39
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Comments

  • MuffinTops
    MuffinTops Posts: 2,477 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    Yay Tink. Happy shiny new diary. That all sounds great with the no spending. It's too easy to just reach for the purse.


    I've seen a few people looking at no spends too, just watched one on YouTube who also had her own exceptions.



    Good luck. We'll be waving our poms poms on the sidelines for you.


    Happy 2019.



    MTx
  • beanielou
    beanielou Posts: 95,268 Ambassador
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Academoney Grad Mortgage-free Glee!
    Happy shiny new diary :)
    I am a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on Mortgage Free Wannabe & Local Money Saving Scotland & Disability Money Matters. If you need any help on those boards, do let me know.Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any post you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button , or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own & not the official line of Money Saving Expert.

    Lou~ Debt free Wanabe No 55 DF 03/14.**Credit card debt free 30/06/10~** MFW. Finally mortgage free O2/ 2021****
    "A large income is the best recipe for happiness I ever heard of" Jane Austen in Mansfield Park.

    ***Fall down seven times,stand up eight*** ~~Japanese proverb.
    ***Keep plodding*** Out of debt, out of danger. ***Be the difference.***
    One debt remaining. Home improvement loan.
  • RosaBernicia
    RosaBernicia Posts: 4,909 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Hi Tink, happy new diary and happy new year :)


    Rosa xx
    Debt free May 2016... DFW#2 in progress
    Campervan paid off summer '21... MFW progress tbc
  • Thanks MT, Beanielou and Rosa.

    Happy New Year:beer:

    Yesterday I did have a spend day but that was because I joined Slimming World - £4.95 with free coupon so I also bought the shower head and hose I needed which only came to £16.00.

    I also did some shopping for fresh fruit and veg but that came out of my shopping allowance.

    I did save a lot of money though on New Year's Eve as I had planned to go out but wasn't very well. I did have a good evening though sorting my budget spreadsheet and journal, very rock n roll :rotfl:

    I don't have anything that I need/want now so hopefully I will just be using my shopping money allocation from now on.

    Tink xx
    As of 31st December 2018 Total Debt = £15837.59
    DEBT 1 - £41.10 DEBT 2 - £257.41 DEBT 3 - £584.12 DEBT 4 - £700.00
    DEBT 5 - £655.02 DEBT 6 - £669.18 DEBT 7 - £3448.00 DEBT 8 - £2169.12
    DEBT 9 - £2964.25 DEBT 10 - £4349.39
  • I've been thinking about this too - mostly by seeing all the toiletries I have in the bathroom cabinet, I think I can easily do a year without buying more shower gel or body lotion :o (some of them were gifts, but I've definitely bought a lot myself), and a good 3-4 months without buying shampoo or conditioner. Buying books has also been a weakness of mine, but I've been making better use of my library card for books and e-books, so thanks for the reminder there! :D

    I've subscribed to see how you get on, and steal some inspiration for myself ;)
  • doingitanyway
    doingitanyway Posts: 9,816 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Mortgage-free Glee!
    Happy New Year Tink.

    Wishing you all the best with your plans :)
    If you have built castles in the air, your work should not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them

    Emergency fund 0/1000
    Buffer fund 25/100
    Debt March -1,119 (April) -889 (April) -498 (April) -378 (May) -875
  • Tinkerbelle2000
    Tinkerbelle2000 Posts: 597 Forumite
    Seventh Anniversary Combo Breaker
    edited 17 April 2024 at 2:23PM
    I've been thinking about this too - mostly by seeing all the toiletries I have in the bathroom cabinet, I think I can easily do a year without buying more shower gel or body lotion :o (some of them were gifts, but I've definitely bought a lot myself), and a good 3-4 months without buying shampoo or conditioner. Buying books has also been a weakness of mine, but I've been making better use of my library card for books and e-books, so thanks for the reminder there! :D

    I've subscribed to see how you get on, and steal some inspiration for myself ;)

    Thanks for subscribing. I have been totally the same with the shower gel, and did get some more as a present from DD's BF. Also I do spend quite a bit on different cleaning products so when these have all run out I will be buying a multi-purpose for kitchen and bathroom.

    Good luck x
    As of 31st December 2018 Total Debt = £15837.59
    DEBT 1 - £41.10 DEBT 2 - £257.41 DEBT 3 - £584.12 DEBT 4 - £700.00
    DEBT 5 - £655.02 DEBT 6 - £669.18 DEBT 7 - £3448.00 DEBT 8 - £2169.12
    DEBT 9 - £2964.25 DEBT 10 - £4349.39
  • So I have had four NSD's in a row. I could count yesterday as well but I had to pay for SW. I need to fit this is the budget somewhere now as it wasn't at the beginning of the year. That way I can count it as a NSD.

    I've also made some inroads on my debts as well which is good for the beginning of the year.

    I have a nice little amount in my penny challenge as I am not going in order and just picking an amount from what I have left over from my grocery budget. I did keep within my grocery budget even with SW as we have planned our meals out for the week.

    I don't have much more news other than I think I need to find a new energy supplier. I've never paid as much for gas and electric as I do now and I'm only in a small terrace. Comparison sites have said that I am on the cheapest (smart meter prepaid due to private rent) but I was talking to a friend the other day and she has changed from the one I am using to a different one and is saving about £50/month. She also lives in the same sort of house too.

    Tink xx
    As of 31st December 2018 Total Debt = £15837.59
    DEBT 1 - £41.10 DEBT 2 - £257.41 DEBT 3 - £584.12 DEBT 4 - £700.00
    DEBT 5 - £655.02 DEBT 6 - £669.18 DEBT 7 - £3448.00 DEBT 8 - £2169.12
    DEBT 9 - £2964.25 DEBT 10 - £4349.39
  • Nice to see you back Tink, happy new shiny diary xx
  • JohnJ76
    JohnJ76 Posts: 95 Forumite
    Fourth Anniversary 10 Posts
    Good luck on your debt free voyage.

    Your debts are in nice amounts (if a debt can be nice!) for snowballing. And because you have quite a few seeing one after another drop off will be great motivation. All depends how you intend on tackling them of course.

    I know what you mean about books, I used to be a !!!!!! for buying them but round by us we've converted the unused phone box into a library, people just deposit old books they have finished with and take one they fancy etc. Same as a library but it's 24hrs and you don't need to remember your card, and you get all sorts in there haha!
    Worst debt £31,746
    April 2023   £16,610 (-47%)
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