So, those of you that have been following my progress for #nospendseptember will know that I haven’t quite stuck to it as originally planned.
I blogged about the shopping detox challenge on 1st September (see here) including all of the rules i’d set that I had to adhere to for the month. My main rule was that I couldn’t spend any money (other than utilities) anywhere other than Aldi as that’s where we do our food shopping.
I’m going to be 100% honest in this outcome post & say that I found it a LOT harder than I thought originally.
I failed on quite a few occasions –
- 5th September – I sold a few bits on Gumtree so had some cash…..technically I guess this isn’t cheating seeing as I didn’t actually spend anything out of my bank (plus my bank cards are still locked up apart from our ‘bills account’ card to use in Aldi, for petrol or in case of emergency). I decided to go to Homesense as I saw some beautiful pumpkin ornaments appear on Instagram which I absolutely loved. I ended up coming out with two, plus an Autumn garland for the fireplace. I see these as an investment as I can use them year round, Joe unfortunately didn’t see it quite in the same light & I got shouted at for ‘cheating’. I also fell in love with some monogram domed candles from Matalan (see here) & I thought they’d sell out really quickly seeing as they are absolutely beautiful, so, you guessed it…I bought them. TOTAL SPENT: £45.00 (ALL CASH)
- 7/8th September – this was our anniversary & I did state in my original blog that i’d be spending money for this, so I don’t feel too bad about it. Our stay at The Pig including food came to £317.00 plus we went for fish & chips/ice-cream in Lymington before coming home. Joe paid for half of this & I paid the other half. TOTAL SPENT: £168.50 (SAVINGS ACCOUNT)
- 16th September – I bought a bedside table off Gumtree for £3.00 then up cycled it for Elsa (see here for tutorial). Again with money from selling things. TOTAL SPENT: £3.00 (CASH)
- 17th September – So this is a huge cheat BUT in my defence, our bed had been up the creak for a long time & eventually broke. I’m not a big fan of tramping it on a mattress on the floor so ordered a beautiful new bed off Ebay! I took this out of my savings account. TOTAL SPENT: £400.00 (SAVINGS ACCOUNT)
- 19th September – our trip to the Isle of Wight was always going to cost something. We spent £11.00 in co-op on some fruit seeing as i’m on Slimming World. We also went for lunch (jacket potato for me!) which came to £20.50 plus it was my stepdad’s birthday so I spent £5.00 on some little pots of homemade chutneys & mustards. TOTAL SPENT: £36.50 (BILLS ACCOUNT & CASH)
- 22nd September – I accidentally went shopping. I had some cash, again from selling some bits, so decided to go to B&M which resulted in various ‘bits’ including candles, fairy lights, a toilet brush & other ‘crap’ basically. I then went to Next Home & bought a little artificial peony set for our bedroom using some vouchers I had leftover from my birthday (9 months ago!) that i’d forgotten about. I ended up popping into Homesense as it was absolute peeing it down & fell in love with some giant angel wings….oops. TOTAL SPENT: £65.00 (ALL CASH)
- 23rd September – again, an investment as i’m decorating for Autumn (is my attempt at justifying making it any better?). I bought these beautiful check cushions from Next (£16 each) & also got my lovely instafriend Katy (@islamay19) to pick up a throw from Matalan (£15 – see here) which was unavailable online & in my local store. I also bought some adorable lanterns from Jemima’s Locket. TOTAL SPENT: £71.00 (PAYPAL SO CURRENT ACCOUNT)
- 24th September: I did an Asda shop as we needed some bits for Slimming World that aren’t available in Aldi, plus bought some baby food jars to try to get Rory used to lots of different flavours & tastes that sometimes becomes difficult when batch cooking & freezing. TOTAL SPENT: £40.46 (BILLS ACCOUNT)
- 25th September: I went out for dinner with my friend Caroline, BUT, decided to go to Harvester & had the ‘simply chicken’ as it’s SW friendly plus only £4.99. TOTAL SPENT: £4.99 (CASH)
- 26th September – this one is totally not my fault. It’s Joe’s best friend Oli’s birthday so we went to there house for a mexican night as well as watching England play rugby. It was protocol to dress up so a trip to our local party store resulted in some sombreros. TOTAL SPENT: £3.30 (CASH)
So, it’s safe to say I screwed up big time.
I have, however, learnt a lot during this month & although I failed, i’m actually quite proud of myself because of the below –
- Joe & I have never ever gone an entire month without getting a takeaway. We spend a crazy amount on eating out & food. I think that because i’m doing Slimming World it’s helped, but also the #nospendseptember has been a huge part of it. We’d save an absolute fortune if we stopped for good which could then be spent on stuff that isn’t such a waste….such as pretty candles.
- I have actually spent a LOT less than usual. Although it looks like i’ve spent loads, I normally go out shopping & pick up little ‘bits’ (basically crap) throughout the week seeing as i’m on maternity leave & there isn’t much else to do.
- I’ve sold things in order to pay for new things. The majority of bits i’ve bought this month has been paid for using cash from selling things, not out of my bank. By repurposing money it’s not costing me anything at all but I still get to buy the bits I love. I’ve got a load of baby clothes & bits to sell when I get round to it so will put this money into a ‘trip out’ fund to do something fun for the littles. It also means that I have less clutter. Win win situation!
- I could have messed up a lot more than I did. I admit, I didn’t exactly do very well, but I have seen various things I would have loved to buy but because I had this challenge in my head, I didn’t.
So, my next challenge is going to be to continue the no takeaway or eating out rule i’ve taken from #nospendseptember & repurpose it onto #notakeawayoctober.
I know a lot of you also did the challenge – how did you all get on?
Love, Charlotte x
I'm so crap at this, I lasted 2 days. I always choose to do it at sale times or at the beginning of a new season which means there are so many pretty things to buy! I did do a whole month in January once and saved £1,000! No shopping, eating out, takeaways, music, make-up etc it killed me but I loved the savings at the end. I've set myself #carbootoctober challenge to sell all my crap. Good luck with your next challenges x
Hi Charlotte, thanks for sharing this. It's definitely made me think about what I spend on a weekly basis. I really like the idea of balancing the books by selling things first. So many people don't like talking about money so it's great to see your views and tips for bargain hunting and saving cash!
I also really liked your post on tidying/cleaning. The point you mentioned about a quick tidy up while your hubby does the bed time routine got me thinking and now I've started doing the same. Just a whizz round can make all the difference. Anyway great blog xx
You make me chuckle Charlotte – the way you've justified things in this post is how I justify each purchase in my head every time I buy something ha! Well done for trying mrs xxxx
I failed miserably but I would have been miserable had I stuck to it 100%….i'd love to try it again maybe in January x
We all have tons of stuff we could easily sell to justify other purchases! It's crazy how much money we spend without thinking about it & although I didn't exactly do very well…it did make me think more every time I 'cheated' eek x
Good luck!! I was equally as rubbish but might try it again. That's amazing you saved that much £££, bet it was the worlds worst month for you BUT think about how much you'd save if you did it a few times a year. We don't NEED all the bits we buy…but they sure do make life that teeny bit better x