Minimal/no spend week (£0for me) 18 May!

In_Search_Of_Me

HariboJunkie wrote: »

Is this the same idea as the no spends on DFW? Is this one specifically Old Style?

Hi HB! For me the ultimate goal was to crack the shopping habit! As a 2 year old DFW I recognised that I was still spending but now on the GB rather than so called unnecessary splurges! Now I just buy unecessary groceries instead!! So ack that I have enough food i the house & dontreally need anything decided to try & have a week spending no dosh! Others have joined! My view is that people will have things they need to get but hopefully t will make us more aware of (a) how much we spend on tat (b) Help fight some of the demons - for me an almost physical need to buy anything (analysis anyone?!!) !! and hopefully crack it! For me its definately helping me look at my spending & I'm pleased to report 2 NSD with feelings of slight panic! Will need to get some clothes next week plus some top up food and will have a think about a budget! Have gone O/D which I hate & dont get paid until 20th Anyway hope that answers the questions!
Hope everyone has a good day...of wo work I go! Beautiful sunny day here - the type when I'd rather be at the allotment!

In_Search_Of_Me

NB Item on the news about 10 billion quids worth of food being thrown away!!

kazwookie

Morning

Happy to report to in search of me, (bearing in mind children might be reading this) that the new bras have been fitted and adjusted by OH!! :rotfl:

At least now I don't feel lop sided.:rotfl:

purpleivy

Hi, so far so good, but dd asked for salad with her quiche last night, dh and ds were having baked beans with theirs. I found her a couple of cherry toms and a little bit of cucumber, but have to say that I need to remedy that, especially the weather as it is. I found it hard to put together a salad lunch for me yesterday as well. In the end it was kidney beans, sweetcorn, red pepper in brine from the fridge and a can of tuna.

I will stick to the minimum of lettuce, tomatoes, cuc I think. Fruit is the other area I need to top up on. DD went to party on Sunday and took fruit for the chocolate fountain. Her guides (she's a young leader) were doing chocolate fondue last night, so another couple of pieces there. They need their fruit! Will try and budget how much before I leave and just get enough for when I plan to shop again. Might be Sunday.

Glad this is just a no-food-spend for me, as I'm going to John Lewis to get some vinyl tableclothing stuff to protect the new table. MIL will get me a coffee! Need to sort myself out else I won't be ready at the agreed time!

purpleivy

In_Search_Of_Me wrote: »

NB Item on the news about 10 billion quids worth of food being thrown away!!

Saw that, someone must be doing more than average, because I'm sure that noone here throws away a third of what they buy each week!

betterlatethannever

purpleivy wrote: »

Saw that, someone must be doing more than average, because I'm sure that noone here throws away a third of what they buy each week!

True, i can honestly say that in the last month all i've thrown away has been one piece of Brocolli -and the bread crusts, i still can't bring myself to eat the crusts:o

I wonder if some of that 'throw away' is the stuff that supermarkets chuck. They throw tons of the stuff.

dutchy

I admit that the title isn't strictly true. In fact, I accidentally left my wallet behind when visiting in-laws, so it was never really lost in the true sense of the word, as I knew where it was. But the fact is, I didn't have access to it for a week, and this was interesting!

When my in-law called me to say I'd left it behind I was still on my way home, and my first instinct was to turn back. But then I thought for a moment;
a) I'd done a biggish grocery shop the day before, so knew I had food in the house.
b) I had £20 tucked away behind the clock at home.
c) My partner would help me out if I REALLY needed help.
d) I was going back to the in-laws in a week.

So I left it there.

During the week it really made me think about what was important, and with every purchase I made out of my £20 I questioned whether I really needed it and was there an alternative. For example, every day I usually buy a newspaper @ 80p a time. During this week I made do without it, and although I missed the crossword, I found I really didn't miss the rest of it that much. And then I remembered an old puzzle book I had stashed away in the magazine rack, so got that out and did the puzzles instead of my daily crossword. In total, that week I saved £5.50 on newspapers alone!

I usually take my own lunch into work anyway, but then still might pop out at lunchtime and buy 'extras' such as crisps. This luxury was not afforded to me during this particular week, but while digging through my kitchen cupboards I found half full packets of mixed nuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds and chocolate covered raisins. I mixed these up, and took a portion into work every day; not only cheaper but healthier too!

I'm quite good anyway at making up meals out of what's in the cupboards, but during this week it really focussed me. Instead of whistfully thinking I might just 'fancy' something I didn't have in, and therefore going to the supermarket and spending more than necessary, I just had to make do with what we had. And we ate very well; it's truly amazing what you can find when you look and use a little imagination.

My partner and I enjoy going out for a drink occasionally, and during this week we had the urge one evening! But, as I pointed out that an average bottle of wine in our favourite bar was £14, and a similar bottle was a fiver in the supermarket, this week we'd be enjoying a tipple at home! As it was, that evening was rather nice, so we stoked the patio heater and enjoyed our cheapie vino al fresco in the garden, and had a lovely evening!

Because I knew I could rely on my partner if necessary, and I also knew I'd be re-united with my wallet soon, I didn't hold back on the spending completely, but by the end of the week I still had almost £8 left out of the original £20. I think, if prepared, I could quite easily do a 'no spend week', as mentioned in other threads on this board.

There's no moral to this story, and I have nothing to teach you all, and no handy hints are contained within it. I just wanted to share my experience with you all, a group of people who I think will appreciate it! Any comments will be met with interest.

Thank you for your time!

Tibbie's_mum

Hope everyone is doing well with the challenge.

Unfortunately, had to do some shopping, but with a bit of notice I'd be up for doing this again sometime.

Good luck everyone.

Pink.

Hi dutchy,

Your tips will be helpful to the people on the No spend thread so I've added your post to it. I'm glad you hadn't really lost your wallet.

Pink

dutchy

Hi Pink!

No problem, wherever you think best. I thought about adding it to this thread myself!

Dutchy x