In January I decided to do a no spend challenge for the month. There were a few reasons for this 

• I needed a new challenge to try 
• My goal for this year is a financial one
• January is the quietest month in terms of birthdays and events 
• I needed something to kickstart a frugal mindset that I hope will carry me through the rest of the year.

I set myself some rules for the month:

• Money can (and should!) be spent on rent, bills and essentials like groceries, toiletries and petrol.
• Money can be spent on parking should an activity be free. The reason why I am including this is that we have several press reviews at the theatre coming up over January, and while the tickets are complimentary we pay a few pounds for parking.
• Should I need to go somewhere, I am allowed to spend money on bus fare, but not on a taxi unless it is an emergency (Note: I never learned to drive, hence why I am including this).
• I am not allowed to spend money on non-essential items, including new clothes, books, takeaways, snacks, meals out, taxis, drinks at the pub etc.

Week 1 was surprising. I figured that after the excess of Christmas the best way to cut back on spending was to start with food, and that’s exactly what I did. I spent £9.91 on groceries – mainly fresh fruit and veg – and combined that with the food left over in the cupboards, fridge and freezer. We had no takeaways, didn’t eat out anywhere and had no snacks at all. We also spent £10.50 on parking when we went to the theatre (we’re on the press team so the tickets were free), taking it to a grand total of £20.41. When looking at everything we would normally spend in a week, we saved about £111. 

Week 2

We continued into week 2 with the same criteria and mindset. I did a food shop again from Aldi, this time spending £8.25. We still had staples left over – potatoes, pasta, rice, frozen fish – and random boxes of frozen party food etc, so I followed the same pattern I had from the week before. I made three meals a day, utilised leftovers and got a little bit creative with some meals – who knew that vegetable samosas would go so well with homemade soup?? 

I also bought a large bar of chocolate in the middle of the week for £1 – my sweet tooth had kicked in and I wanted to reduce the cravings. I thought at the end of week 1 that I would have to purchase toiletries but discovered that I had some from a 3 for 2 purchase in the cupboard that I had bought before Christmas, so that was a nice surprise!

Total spend: £9.25

Total saved £30.05

Other expenses 

We also had a show at the theatre so we spent £10.50 on parking. 

Other savings – to see my full list of savings visit my week 1 blog post here as the level of spending is the same.

Money saved on food with no takeaways, meals out, breakfast deliveries or weekend lunch: £62.00

No film rentals or purchases: £10.00

Total expenses: £19.75

Total saving: £102.50

Week 3

We were running low on staples by this point but I wanted to stretch it out as much as possible. I once again did a shop at Aldi, this time spending £12.71. I bought white bread instead of brown, as this was the only option available.

What I really enjoyed this week was coming up with different ideas of how to combine the different foods and cook in bulk. Soup became a go to meal and can be changed up and bulked out by adding spaghetti pasta, almost like a ramen style dish. Wraps can make brilliant pizza. Stir frys with frozen vegetables and passata goes brilliantly with pasta, rice and jacket potatoes. Potatoes can be chopped, boiled and added to a Spanish-style omelette. Frozen quorn sausages make a great sausage casserole. 

I was a bit naughty this week and bought two large chocolate bars for £1 each. The lack of sugar was really beginning to kick in and I noticed my cravings were quite strong. 

Total spend: £14.71

Total saved: £25.29

Other expenses 

We also had a show at the theatre so we spent £10.50 on parking. 

I also bought a tub of fizzy sweets while at the theatre: £6.00

Other savings – to see my full list of savings visit my week 1 blog post here as the level of spending is the same.

Money saved on food with no takeaways, meals out, breakfast deliveries or weekend lunch: £62.00

No film rentals or purchases: £10.00

Total spend: £31.21

Total savings: £97.29

Total spend for the month so far: £71.37

Total saved so far based on average spending (by the end of week 3): £310.83

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