Tuesday 3 November 2015

No-Spend November


I can't believe it's November, where has this year gone? (I say that every year but honestly this year has flown). If you're in the same position as me you will be thanking the stars above that last week was EVENTUALLY pay day after a long, long five week month.

Yesterday marked a whole five months in my first full-time "grown up" job (happy almost-half-year work anniversary to me!) and I've almost accepted that I am no longer a student but it appears my student overdraft is still looming - more prominently than ever. So, I've decided to do something about it.

I know lots of students were lucky enough to never have to use an overdraft but unfortunately when you only receive enough loan to just cover the price of your rent and still want to have a life then sometimes it means you have to make use of whatever is on offer. (I did also have two part time jobs throughout my third year of University as well as a loan so evidently I just have a spending habit, oops).

This month I have made a budget - I can't actually believe I am budgeting like an adult. I got paid on Thursday and worked out how much of my wage I'd have left after my rent and bills then I allowed myself £30 for petrol and £30 for my Halloween weekend out in Newcastle (optomistic I know) which left me with.. not a lot.

When I divided the remaining amount by the amount of days left in the month I was left with £11.31 a day and thought to myself, hang on, that's actually not so bad at all. There's no real reason to need to spend £11 every single day and it makes me wonder what on earth I usually spend my wage on so quickly and why I end up dabbling in my overdraft towards the end of the month.

I'm determined to spend on only essentials throughout the week and stop splashing out on lunch, going out for dinner a silly number of times a week and buying unnecessary coffee (you don't realise how much that daily skinny capp adds up to until you cut it out). The plan is that saving during the week will leave me with enough money to do something fun on a weekend. This way I can also enjoy a leisurely weekend instead of living every day that way without the funds to support it like I usually do...

Here's the five main changes/challenges I have given myself that I hope will make a difference:

  • Only one mid-afternoon coffee as a weekly treat
  • No purchase of ANY clothes for the full month
  • Use all ingredients in the fridge/freezer before doing another food shop (this one is also to decrease food waste)
  • Try and make enough dinner for to have for lunch the next day instead of going to the shop everyday
  • Learn to say no to social invites - you don't need to go for every meal/drink you are invited to (hopefully this will help me recharge my batteries after a busy few months)

I'm actually really excited to see if I can stick to it. I managed my whole weekend in Newcastle with a mere £30 spending money so let's see how much I can really save this month.

Let me know if you're doing anything similar!
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4 comments

  1. I'm on a November spending ban too! My little sister put me on it ha! I managed one earlier this year though!

    www.denajayne.co.uk

    xo

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    Replies
    1. Hope it's going well Dena! We can treat ourselves come next pay day haha and then it's Christmas next month which is even better! X

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  2. I've never tried to out a non-spending ban on myself, but I rarely purchase things that I don't need anyways... Please keep us posted on how it goes!

    http://stylesprinter.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's so good! Mine is going pretty well so far. Hopefully by the end of November I will be taking a leaf from your book and only buying things I really need x

    ReplyDelete

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