January No Spend - The Rules

Hey everybody, and happy new year! I hope everyone had a great Christmas and new year.

So, for the month of January I have decided that I am on a no spend, we have been trying to save money to buy a house and it's so easy to buy unnecessary things without realising how much they actually add up and so I am not spending this month.

The rules

1) I am allowed to buy essentials - these include food shopping of course, cleaning and health products.

2) I am not allowed to go out for drinks or food - I find this is probably the one that builds up the cost ever so quickly, just a few pounds here or there adds up. We have two meals booked for my sister and niece's birthdays, and these are allowed ;).

3) I am not allowed takeaways - we eat far too many takeaways and doesn't the price (and calories) add up! Even popping to the £bakery ends up costing more than expected.

4) I am not allowed to buy anything for the children.... repeat... I am not allowed to buy anything for the children - my biggest weakness is buying for the children whether clothes or activities and I really don't need to, I know this. They both already have so many clothes and we have craft things coming out of our ears, so I need to stop.

5) I am allowed to spend Christmas money that the children or I was gifted - I'm still going to try not to spend it, but as it's a gift if I was to use it on something I'm allowed... hehe loop hole.

So, I think that's about it for the rules. Basically I just don't want to spend on anything except essentials.

What I'm expecting to gain?

Obviously I'm expecting to gain, or keep, a little cash. I really need to clear my credit card which went a little higher than I was wanting this festive period and so I'm hoping to put towards that. But overall what I'm hoping to gain is an insight to money I spend unnessarily, yes I love buying for the children but right now they really do have an abundance of clothes and toys and sometimes I just feel like I'm buying for the sake of it. I, also, want to see if at the end I would still want to buy things that I really wanted.

Updates

I'm going to do a couple of updates of how well I have done - or how much I have failed... I am going to note the top things I have been tempted by, whether it be going out for dinner, grabbing a takeaway or buying Tabitha a new dress. Then at the end of the month I'll do a recap and overview and if I've learnt anything from my no spend.

I did a no spend many moons ago, but it was a makeup no spend, and I actually did enjoy seeing how I did so I'm looking forward to this - though I expect it to be much harder now I have children. I'd love to know if anybody else is doing a no spend this month and let me know how you get on! 

Take care everybody and wish me luck!

Natalie :) x