Well here we are at the start of a No Spend Week, my purse, containing this weeks £70 will stay deep in my bag, available only for dire emergencies.
Spotty Jug is on standby to recieve the full £70 at the end of the week, he's looking very pleased with himself at the moment is Spotty Jug, his little belly is bulging with £354.50 of my saved money.
That means since the Challenge began I have managed to save an average of £29.50 a week, so that means I have been spending £40.50 on our every need.
Oh, I'm sure I can get that even lower once the growing season is underway and with some forward thinking and clever planning I can extend the season by doing more successional planting and growing more stuff that we can bottle and freeze to keep the spend down even over the leaner Winter months for as long as possible. I have one more cupboard to sort through today and then the freezers to sort out so I can see exactly what is available for chomping our way through this week.
The shops will miss me this week, well maybe not, I've not exactly been a very good retail consumer up to now this year, spending pennies instead of pounds and turning down all offers of store cards. Browsing rails saying 'that's nice' and 'isn't that pretty' but when offered the chance to buy my only retort has been 'I don't need it, I've got all I need'. It's refreshing and clears the mind, and the best bit about a day's shopping is the getting home and taking from your bag only the things that you did NEED and putting the few items away into the spaces that await them, not fighting to get just a little bit more into already over crowded cupboards.
I begininning to feel liberated, I like this Year of Living Simply.
Sue xx
Good luck! I have done similar challenges and managed a challenge a year or so ago when I was saving for the wood burner and allowed just £100 for the month for everything for 4 of us. There was nothing spent on clothes, books, shoes, toiletries, any luxuries of any kind at all, household items, gardening stuff, treats like magazines or sweets for anyone - and I put away a lot of money at the end of the month. Having well stocked stashes of food, toiletries etc helped no end - but it can be done. Well done for just trying but I am sure you will have a good week!
ReplyDeleteIt has taken me 3 months long to get through the food in our freezer! It was in dire need of defrosting. Now I have to fill it again, how much will that cost!
ReplyDeleteGood luck - I think with all your planning etc you'll manage the whole week :)
ReplyDeleteOoh Jo, think of how you could fill your freezer frugally and wisely. Shop when the supermarkets/shops have reduced their products. Decant bargain packs of meat into useful portion sizes,labelling carefully. Buy lots of reduced priced tasty breads when they get to 10p at the end of the day.
ReplyDeleteA freezer works so much more efficiently when full, uses less power and there's less strain on the motor so it lasts longer.
You could have a freezer full of bargains in NO time at all.
Sue xx
Good Luck! Just to let you know, I have nominated you for a Versatile Blogger Award.
ReplyDeletehttp://sconchtextiles.blogspot.com/
Glad its not just me then..i am saving for a surprise for my hubby...so i am cutting down on my shopping again..i think asda will miss me but i won't miss it....i love making meals from stores and supplies in my cupboards and freezer..you can get very inventive lol..
ReplyDeletetake care
sara,fern,iris
Well done I am going to be checking your blog as much as possible. I want to see how well you do.
ReplyDeleteFrom time to time we stay in a town apartment for business reasons, and i know how tempting it is just to "pop out" to the shops, back at home in the sticks it's a lot further to go so I tend to shop a lot less - another good reason for living in the country!
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