No spend month

[realhousewivewannabe]

I’m about to try again and embark on a complete no spend month for the entire April 2021.

has anyone completed a no spend or low spend month, week, or even year?

I’m banning myself on buying cleaning products, food (using up all pantry, cupboard items until they’re gone and the freezer), clothing and beauty items.

 

[LolitaBlah]

I would love to do it! but I have just had an uber eats delivery I try and fail everytime!

 

[realhousewivewannabe]

I would love to do it! but I have just had an uber eats delivery I try and fail everytime!

I’ve failed multiple times but I’m tryna stick to it now

 

[Amyb97]

I don’t know how this is possible! I would need to buy food...

 

[Falafel_Falafel]

We decided in Feb to not get any takeaways and compare spending to Jan. We were shocked how much we spent and saved!
We carried it on through March as it made such a difference. Here's to April takeaway free

 

[Amyb97]

We decided in Feb to not get any takeaways and compare spending to Jan. We were shocked how much we spent and saved!
We carried it on through March as it made such a difference. Here's to April takeaway free

This is a good idea. I will try this. Thanks

 

[Falafel_Falafel]

This is a good idea. I will try this. Thanks

So we didn't give in we had to plan our shopping properly, I listed 14 meals and what we needed. We then made sure we bought everything. So we had no excuses haha. My husband would have given in multiple times but I am too stubborn!! Good luck, let me know how you get on

 

[realhousewivewannabe]

I don’t know how this is possible! I would need to buy food...

Depends on the rules you set yourself, obviously you do your essentials but you define your essentials too. And like someone else said you could do a challenge of no takeaways, or limiting those top up shops, no Uber eats or maybe when shopping not buying double up products eg bye one get one free / offers etc.

I’ve watched a couple of videos over the weekend - Lara Joanna Jarvis posts them a lot but there’s tons on YouTube.

in all honesty I don’t know if I’ll manage it/ i don’t know if I could deal with the feelings of guilt if I treat myself so I will try and work out my rules for myself

For example I got paid on Friday and haven’t spent a penny except bills and savings and I deliberately didn’t leave my house but that’s also probably too extreme too because I’d want to enjoy the money I’ve earned in some small way even if it’s a mini takeaway.

 

[LolitaBlah]

I'm gonna remove all my shopping for clothes and makeup from my phone for April. Maybe that will help!

 

[Eureka]

I'm going to give this a go. Really need to try and stop buying so much shite so I'm going to limit myself to only buying essential items: food, pet stuff, petrol etc. No treats or clothes or anything else I don't need.

 

[Cereal Killer]

I’ve not done one yet but I think I’m going to for April.
I find if I am too strict, I’ll go the opposite way. I think I’ll give myself £20-30 spending money so I can still grab a coffee if I’m out and fancy one.
I’m going to budget £30 a week for our food shopping (fresh veg, fruit, bread and milk) and send my husband with a list. I can’t be trusted to not buy loads of extras; I go in to Asda for essentials and end up spending £60-80.

I will be deleting the Amazon app for sure!

 

[peachhes]

I desperately need to do this. Really struggling money wise at the moment and always get stung by the little supermarket trips where I go for one thing and end up spending £30 a time

 

[Magee]

I’ve done this for a few months every now and again and it really does boost the amount of savings I’ve managed to tuck away. Things that helped;

- Deleting shopping apps off my phone or just logging out of them to prevent boredom browsing and buying
- Had a note on my phone so when I did buy something essential, I’d think about the price and if I really needed it before purchasing or could I use up something else in its place. Writing it down somehow made it feel like more of a conscious purchase
- Unfollowed loads of brands, influencers etc on Instagram so I wouldn’t see so many adverts for new things that I didn’t need

You have to really retrain your thought process and not attach buying with making yourself feel better. It took away buying things out of boredom and feeling sorry for myself too. I made sure to book in 1 takeaway a month or coffee and cake with a friend, kept me on track as I appreciated those non-essential spends, looked forward to them and I would use it as an excuse not to crumble on other days as I had something nice to do soon!

 

[realhousewivewannabe]

So glad others are going to try. Definitely gonna use this thread as support/motivation loving the recommendations I’ve deleted ASOS Zara Amazon eBay off my phone and unsubscribed to lots of shopping emails

 

[Keet]

I’ve been trying to be a bit more strict with my spending but it’s a struggle isn’t it?! I’ve unsubscribed from emails that might tempt me. I’m not usually one for takeaways but my downfall is forgetting or being too lazy to make lunch to take to work. I need to get better at planning meals and my food shops as I just buy bad food and then moan about putting on weight. This last couple of weeks I’ve been trying to shop my cupboards and freezer but when I open the door there’s nothing I want to eat.

 

[realhousewivewannabe]

Eek! It’s April! here we go!

 

[Eureka]

Good luck everyone

 

[Titntat]

Ah this sounds amazing. Good luck to everyone taking part. I think if it was my on my own I'd be able to smash it. But with kids and a hubs that buys lunch and coffee every day, we've got no chance

 

[Magee]

UNSUBBED. CYA NEXT MONTH

 

[Cereal Killer]

I forgot about it

I am restarting tomorrow!