No Spend, Two Weeks at a Time

[OnlyHereForTheLolz]

So the first one to start on 6 January and end on 19 January.
I thought to avoid putting dates in the title that way we can do several through out the year.
The idea is no extra spend apart from essentials like food and bills. Even better if you can eat your freezer food and not spend on any fresh food. I’d love to know if anybody could manage this for two weeks.
Let’s support each other here and try and hold each other accountable. Share tips on how you manage no spend and for those who feel comfortable share how much your finances have improved in these two weeks.
I think that’s it?!? Add anything else I’be missed off

 

[pinkmug]

Thanks for the thread!

My low spend/no spend goals:
- No dining out. It'll become a treat or saved for actually necessary times. Tea/coffee/drinks will be saved for meeting with friends.
- No cabs unless it's late (I don't like walking home in the dark), heavy load (big shopping, luggage etc.) or bad weather (during which you can't find a cab anyway). I had a dodgy knee for a while so I couldn't walk as much as I wanted. It's not so bad these days, so I'll go back to public transport and walking.
- No clothes shopping. Back to my old habit of "Unless it's a HELL YES it's a no". Thankfully I have all I need. If something needs to be replaced, I'll wait until February, unless it's an actual emergency.
- No cosmetics, except essentials. I just decluttered a bunch of stuff I haven't touched in years. I have my bare necessities, I'll use them up.
- No knick knack shopping. I'll need some home goods in the upcoming months, I want to make sure I'm getting the items I actually like and use. I won't be swayed by random knick knacks. Logging out of Amazon.
- No book shopping. I have so many waiting on multiple to-read shelves and I will actually try not buying anything new until June. I need to make a dent in my pile.
- No fantasy-self shopping. I won't buy random new hobby items on a whim, only to set them aside a couple weeks later. What I own is more than enough to keep me occupied and entertained.
- No stationery shopping. Self explaining, My desk is bursting as it is. No new notebooks, no pens, no pencils. I'll use up what I have.
- Reconsidering subscriptions. I'll see what I actually use and cancel the stuff I remember once in a blue moon.

I'll be starting a little early, I hope I'm not buying anything else until 2025 (except a small additional gift for mum). Good luck to all!

 

[Caledonianprincess]

I have cleared all my credit card debts it was about 2k but I used money that I had been saving for a holiday to America but I'm not going anywhere near there for the next while so being debt free is a good compromise

 

[hehehe]

I got total refunds of around £2,000 back last week, from November and December spending (extended holiday returns). I still have around £1,300 of items I need to return this weekend (kept them a bit longer to think about it). That's over £3,000 of credit I won't have to pay off this year. I'm happy about it but also appalled at how mindlessly I spent the lot in the first place.

I'm doing good this year so far. I unsubscribed from all shopping emails & I've ignored the sales. This week I've bought only milk and microwave rice, but I need to do a food shop tomorrow and will make sure I stick to my list.

Well done everyone on your progress -- I believe in you!

 

[PunkyMonkey]

Brilliant thread, two weeks at a time is genius, makes it way more manageable and realistic!

I see people have the same issues as me, discounts, impulse buys etc so I'll share what's helped me reign it in a bit.

1) remember that most sites are manipulating you using tactics like scarcity and perceived benefits, like only one left of a heavily discounted item.
It's highly probable that there are plenty left, and it's not a win to save any percentage if you didn't need it in the first place! I view sites like Amazon and all the ads I get as hostile parties trying to part me from my hard earned cash.

2) keep a wishlist folder on your phone for screenshots of things you want, and tell yourself you'll come back to it on payday, that way you relax a bit knowing you're still getting it but tbh you probably won't want it by then and if you do, you can budget for it or you'll have a handy list next time someone asks you for birthday ideas.

3) think in terms of your hourly/daily income. Is that thing worth half a day's work?

4) log the resisted impulse buys and keep adding them up, it gamefies the no spend and gives you a much healthier mental reward as there's no guilt or shame coming afterwards. It feels like earning money for doing nothing, gives you an idea of how much you've been spending and allows you to see what you could have instead such as experiences like holidays instead of (in my case) fancy skincare I don't need.

5) unsubscribe from any communities you're in that facilitate spending (I'm looking at you here r/skincareaddiction) and join those like this thread. The more you can resist temptation, and surround yourself with and identify as "careful with money" the more successful you'll be.

6) use a bit of DBT to check in with yourself when scrolling: HALT. Are you hungry, angry, lonely or tired?

7) be aware of self regulating via buying things that suit an ideal future you. I get tempted by increasingly intricate model kits/Lego because I'm working on creating a proper evening routine that includes creative relaxation, but a fancy kit isn't going to do that for me (sadly) and now I have a list of rewards for when I've actually done the work.

8) remember that you're human and you're going to slip up, 80/20 it, aim for progress not perfection

 

[Popcornshovel]

Here's a bit of no-spend inspiration... We all have enough stuff!

Clothes waste in Ghana

Mountains of clothes washed up on Ghana beach show cost of fast fashion

No one will take responsibility of waste left by the used clothing trade, but campaigners are trying to change that, reports Liam James

www.independent.co.uk

Electronics waste in Thailand

https://amp.archive.is/oldest/https...ste-turning-thailand-into-worlds-rubbish-dump

 

[Pinhead Larry]

I went and got a cheap diary yesterday, me and my OH are going to do a smiley face on no spend days, and write down what we bought and how much we spent on days we have. Thought seeing it written down, and actually having to write it down would help

 

[Juju]

Just after Xmas I ordered £70 of clothes in the next sale, still not arrived so today I cancelled the order.

Feel like the breathing space of it not arriving quickly made me realise I don’t need any of it.

 

[Jellycat369]

Day 13.

What an absolute shite day. Spent the day in A&E with my 10 month old. Baby has bronchiolitis, tonsillitis and an ear infection OH spent £15 in the hospital shop to get food for us two and the threenager. Got a McDonald's on the way home because I wasn't in the mood to cook. Just going to write this day off.

 

[Jellycat369]

Day 11

Work from home day, no money spent Also completed an application for a new job which if I got it would double my income, so fingers crossed for that!

 

[Milfordcubicle]

I am currently waiting on £350 of returns from my impulse buying. I spent an hour unsubscribing from all tempting emails and I am staying off TikTok as I get so sucked in shopping on there (and then send 90% of it back cos it’s rubbish)
I have cleared my clearpay so I’m ignoring the £2k limit on there.
i have a literal whole room of vinted to list but I’m unwell at the moment so will be doing that when I can actually get out of bed!
I feel really inspired to stop buying crap. It’s a total dopamine thing to ADHD me and I’m trying to get the buzz from not parting with my hard earned cash.

 

[Geranium]

My no spend month has gone really well.
I’m a terrible Amazon impulse shopper so this last month everything I would normally buy on impulse I left in my basket. Yesterday I looked at my basket in shock - well over £150 of mostly crap. Why did I feel I couldn’t live without some small plastic pouches to organise my handbag? A new kitchen compost bin while my old one is fine? More cinnamon whilst my jar is still a quarter full and there’s no world shortage?
Also an ice cube tray for Stanley cups, fitted sheets we don’t need, a fancy electric candle lighter when I always use matches, an aspidistra plant, a cute contact lens case….
….. it goes on. Some things are being bought as I’m getting rid of black plastic kitchen utensils and I’m leaving my phone downstairs at night now so need a simple alarm clock but it will be less than half of the original list. I’ve shocked myself.

 

[blueblue]

I think instead of no spend I'll do mindful spend. My circumstances mean I just need food, petrol, essentials on what seems like a daily basis so rather than being tough on myself for that I'm celebrating the fact that for a few days I resisted the urge for a pay day treat which would have been a trip to Glasgow Fort dropping approx £200 across Five Guys, H&M, Lush, M&S etc.

 

[Aceofspades]

I’m actually willing Friday (pay day) to come round - but not for the obvious reason! If i can get to Friday with nothing going wrong (pray for me) I’ve managed to save £300! This will clear all of my outstanding next bill. Then I can move onto my other debts.

this wouldn’t be doable every month, as a PP has said, I’ve been eating up everything from the freezer/cupboards etc, so I’m gonna have to pay a little more for food shopping next month (my downfall) but I’m so buzzing with myself

 

[Shimmering]

I was bored and about to go to the shop for snacks, but instead I opened a recipe book that I bought years ago and barely use, got out my stand mixer that I bought years ago and barely use, and made cupcakes - I had all the ingredients in already (plus about 3 packets of cupcake cases!) While the cupcakes are baking I've cleaned up using some of the mass of cleaning products I own.

I've made 21 cupcakes! Me and my kids will eat them

It's just so strange to me to actually use things I already have maybe that's absolutely pathetic at my age but I'm hoping to start new habits!

 

[HotesTilaire]

I looked over my bank accounts for the last few months. I’ve managed to reduce my “buying crap from Shein” by nearly half, which is good.

I’m usually spending about £400 per month on groceries and shopping. I need to drill into that a bit more because I don’t have that much to spend each month.

 

[Curiouscupcake]

After what feels like spending money like water the last week or so, I’ve tallied our debts and redone our budget. No spend days are definitely going to help, although I need my partner on board. We were meant to have it all paid off last summer, then December, then January and now it’s April. It’s now affecting a trip we were planning to take which is now pushed back a few months as we just couldn’t do it at the time we planned originally. Sometime it is just such hard work mentally as we don’t live extravagantly but I’ve noticed things end up escalating… for example buying a phone, my partner ends up buying a more expensive one just because they need the latest best one, or doing some DIY, it then ends up we look at something way beyond the original job that needed doing. Even a small job is now involving someone coming in and doing it so another £70 unplanned. Our credit card is also mainly things that aren’t really necessary like takeaways.

So in the interest of committing…. And I know it’s isn’t exactly on topic but it’s all part of the same thing….

Credit card 1 £1,118.79
Credit card 2 £2,658.30
PayPal credit £116.65

I am going to update these weekly so I have a bit of accountability if they go up and also to make smaller payments if I can to help reduce them quicker. I am aiming to have them all paid in full by the end of April.

I’ve also printed a monthly no spend tracker to plan out my month and aim for no spend days, or minimal where required.

 

[blueblue]

I'm finding it interesting how society is totally built to drive us to spend. For example I'm half congratulating myself on not "really" spending while at the same time today I've paid for petrol, therapy, postage for something I've sold on ebay and a replacement part for my tumble dryer. All necessary and all in support of my life but even a no spend day is spendy!

 

[50degreesnorth]

Eating out of the freezer/finishing Xmas over-buy has drastically reduced my food bill this month - and there’s still stuff to go.

I’ve managed to put £350 into savings this month, pay the deposit and flights for my holiday - and, despite NOT going on Vinted/january sales - curiously am not naked. Who knew?

 

[HotesTilaire]

I did an impulse buy of £4 in the coop on some treats earlier because I'm on my period!! But I have had a planned spend for new passports so it will have to be a no spend rest of the month as I'm now skint!!

Medical exemption.