Only 3 days to go! I'm getting pretty excited about my month of reigning in the spending, so much so that I've already given up cafes! It's been 2 days now but feels like weeks...
So what am I hoping to gain from this little experiment? I hope to change my spending behaviour and for this to be an ongoing lifestyle, not just for the month. Of course I won't be as strict going forward, but I really want to stop spending so much on groceries and I think switching to a monthly shop (with weekly veggie boxes) would be a really good way for me to do this.
And of course I hope that long term this will save us a substantial amount of money. We have been living like we have two incomes for a year now and it's been me driving this. Having some redundancy money left has caused me to be quite frivolous with my money at times. I'm constantly planning crazy holidays that we just can't afford at the moment. I really need to accept that our holidays will be camping for the next few years and overseas and interstate holidays can wait until I'm working again.
I also hope that I learn to say no to people and not give into the pressure to spend money. There is a lot of pressure to buy expensive gifts for friends and family, and I also really want to re-think the school friend birthday gifts. I've been averaging $20 per party gift, which is pretty crazy as school has only just started and the party invites are piling up.
There is also pressure to go out for dinners/drinks etc. that is fine occasionally but I think I'll start suggesting more inexpensive outings to people. A bottle of wine at home is a lot cheaper than in a restaurant!
Anyway, it will be interesting to see how we go. I'll post every few days with an update. And I might come begging for food when we run out!
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
No spend month planning
It probably seems to defeat the purpose a bit, but in order to get through our no-spend month I have done a small amount of preparation. I have 3 small children and things we cannot live without include formula for one child and disposable nappies (only used for night time; we use cloth for the baby during the day).
We also don't eat meat and don't have a freezer full of tofu! So today I stocked up on tofu, soy and oat milk and a few other 'basics' to get us through the month. I do have legumes in the freezer and cupboard, and aim to eat through all of them across the month.
As mentioned in an earlier post, I'm going to get a small fruit and veggie box each week (or maybe just a few times depending on how we go) as I don't have any frozen fruit and veg except for peas. I do have a few canned peas and carrots too, which I fully intend to use!
I think doing this basic pre-planning will avoid me doing a desperate supermarket run in a week's time. However, as I was shopping today for my 'essentials', I did end up getting a few unnecessary items such as dip and veggie burgers from Aldi. This was the perfect example of why I really shouldn't be allowed in shops and why this month will be very good for me!
Another big part of planning was perusing the calendar and working out if there will be some forced spending in the month.
Both our daughters have birthdays next month, but we are sneakily having a joint birthday party for them on the 30th April! We aren't doing gifts for them as want to move away from giving toys to giving them experiences. We have asked that those coming to the party don't bring a gift but contribute to a sandpit fund and child friendly experiences. I'm not sure if this strategy will actually work, but hopefully it does and we can purchase them a sandpit and take them somewhere fun. (We already have a zoo membership which I will be utilising a lot next month!)
The other big event next month is a very good friend's 40th. There is no getting out of contributing to the joint gift, plus we have already booked a babysitter for the night. I'm going to just write this one off as breaking the no-spend month. My friend is worth it!!
I also needed to find my son an outfit for his school concert - yellow and white clothing with no logos. As we had nothing fitting the bill, I got lucky at an op shop today and found a white tshirt and yellow shorts in his size! A bit more than I wanted to spend at $7 but far cheaper than new. And in before the month of May starts!
We also don't eat meat and don't have a freezer full of tofu! So today I stocked up on tofu, soy and oat milk and a few other 'basics' to get us through the month. I do have legumes in the freezer and cupboard, and aim to eat through all of them across the month.
As mentioned in an earlier post, I'm going to get a small fruit and veggie box each week (or maybe just a few times depending on how we go) as I don't have any frozen fruit and veg except for peas. I do have a few canned peas and carrots too, which I fully intend to use!
I think doing this basic pre-planning will avoid me doing a desperate supermarket run in a week's time. However, as I was shopping today for my 'essentials', I did end up getting a few unnecessary items such as dip and veggie burgers from Aldi. This was the perfect example of why I really shouldn't be allowed in shops and why this month will be very good for me!
Another big part of planning was perusing the calendar and working out if there will be some forced spending in the month.
Both our daughters have birthdays next month, but we are sneakily having a joint birthday party for them on the 30th April! We aren't doing gifts for them as want to move away from giving toys to giving them experiences. We have asked that those coming to the party don't bring a gift but contribute to a sandpit fund and child friendly experiences. I'm not sure if this strategy will actually work, but hopefully it does and we can purchase them a sandpit and take them somewhere fun. (We already have a zoo membership which I will be utilising a lot next month!)
The other big event next month is a very good friend's 40th. There is no getting out of contributing to the joint gift, plus we have already booked a babysitter for the night. I'm going to just write this one off as breaking the no-spend month. My friend is worth it!!
I also needed to find my son an outfit for his school concert - yellow and white clothing with no logos. As we had nothing fitting the bill, I got lucky at an op shop today and found a white tshirt and yellow shorts in his size! A bit more than I wanted to spend at $7 but far cheaper than new. And in before the month of May starts!
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
No spend May: my rules
So May will be a 'no spend' month for our family. There are going to be obvious exceptions to this rule.
As with most 'no spend' challenges, bills, rent, and any medical expenses are not included.
Obvious no-no's will be: eating/drinking out, take-away coffees, retail spending (no purchasing of clothes, gifts etc.), and supermarket groceries.
In terms of groceries, I'm going to allow us a small fruit and veggie box each week ($40 from CERES Fair Food), as we only really have silverbeet in the garden and we would starve otherwise! We have basic grains and legumes in the cupboard (I regularly try to eat through our cupboards), but we still need some fresh food. I'll also allow $4 a week for a few loaves of bread for the kid's lunches and breakfasts. I'll get Adrian to pick up the bread so I don't need to go near the shops (the veg box is picked up from someone's house).
I'll make sure that I have the basics covered for the month (eg toilet paper and nappies) - see my next post on planning. But I won't stockpile.
I'm going to allow use of my Myki travel card (which has $30 on it at the moment). I'll try to limit my use of the car, but we will need it to visit my Dad's farm so I'll make sure there is a full tank at the start of the month.
As with most 'no spend' challenges, bills, rent, and any medical expenses are not included.
Obvious no-no's will be: eating/drinking out, take-away coffees, retail spending (no purchasing of clothes, gifts etc.), and supermarket groceries.
In terms of groceries, I'm going to allow us a small fruit and veggie box each week ($40 from CERES Fair Food), as we only really have silverbeet in the garden and we would starve otherwise! We have basic grains and legumes in the cupboard (I regularly try to eat through our cupboards), but we still need some fresh food. I'll also allow $4 a week for a few loaves of bread for the kid's lunches and breakfasts. I'll get Adrian to pick up the bread so I don't need to go near the shops (the veg box is picked up from someone's house).
I'll make sure that I have the basics covered for the month (eg toilet paper and nappies) - see my next post on planning. But I won't stockpile.
I'm going to allow use of my Myki travel card (which has $30 on it at the moment). I'll try to limit my use of the car, but we will need it to visit my Dad's farm so I'll make sure there is a full tank at the start of the month.
Spending out of control!
It's been over a year since I received a redundancy and left work to have baby number 3. Before I left work I fine-tuned our budget and knew I would have to reign in my spending significantly if I wanted to take a few (maybe up to 5) years off. All very good in theory.
However, since being at home I have managed to spend outrageously, particularly in the following categories:
I'm the sort of person who needs a challenge to change things up. I recently read about a Canadian pair who did a 'no spend' year. Then I started googling and found many others who have done a similar thing. I was inspired. But Adrian was not so keen on having a 'no fun' year.
Then I came across the much more common 'no spend month'. Many people have blogged about their experience of not spending at all (except for bills and medical) for a month. You can make up your own rules of course, and this appeals to me, as I think it will be a good way to break habits. Adrian is willing to jump on board for a month too so that is what we are going to do! 4 days and counting...
However, since being at home I have managed to spend outrageously, particularly in the following categories:
- Groceries - way out of control due to a proximity to the shops and lack of meal planning. I'll order a vegie box, as well as hit Coles and the local health food stores, usually getting 'just a few things' every couple of days. We have been spending over $250 a week. Some families (particularly those who are on 'Simple Savings') spend this in a month! I also spend a lot on alcohol...
- Eating out - we don't go to fancy restaurants or even get take-away meals - our downfall is cafes! I drink soy and a soy latte is often over $4 - usually around $4.50. Some cafes also charge exhorbitantly for baby-cinos, so a quick cafe trip can cost $7. Throw in a muffin or slice and there's $12 gone. Take the whole family out for a coffee and a treat and you blow $25. I have really tried to cut down my cafe visits, but they have become my source of fun and are also my escape when I'm child free. I have a coffee machine at home and really just need to change my mindset.
- Other areas of over-spending include clothes (for myself and the kids - I really need to start op shopping again and asking if I really need it), kids parties and gifts (so many 6 year old parties!).
I'm the sort of person who needs a challenge to change things up. I recently read about a Canadian pair who did a 'no spend' year. Then I started googling and found many others who have done a similar thing. I was inspired. But Adrian was not so keen on having a 'no fun' year.
Then I came across the much more common 'no spend month'. Many people have blogged about their experience of not spending at all (except for bills and medical) for a month. You can make up your own rules of course, and this appeals to me, as I think it will be a good way to break habits. Adrian is willing to jump on board for a month too so that is what we are going to do! 4 days and counting...
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