Although my focus for this year is increasing my income I’m still a frugal girl at heart. I won’t be going hardcore frugal but I will still be implementing those little frugal wins into my month.
In January I find I’m at my most motivated when it comes to being frugal. After the excess of Christmas and the great declutter that comes afterward, I’m more than ready to scale right back and save some money.
Five Frugal Things For January
No, Spend Month
I challenged myself to a no-spend month, buying only what was essential or budgeted for. I’m happy to report I’ve stuck to it. I avoided the temptation of all the pretty new season things in the shops. My prize £250 gift card did arrive so I have treated myself a little but I’m not counting that as it didn’t come out of the budget.
Declutter
After having a huge declutter I managed to sell some things and make some extra money to put in our holiday pot. I used Zeek to sell some unwanted gift vouchers and Ziffit to get rid of some books and DVDs. I’ve also sold some little bits on the local Facebook selling pages. I have a few larger more expensive items to sell so I’m trying to figure out the best way to do it.
Clothes
My eldest daughter Jess gave me a huge bag of second-hand clothing for Jake. There were loads of goodies inside like pajamas, fleeces, and tops which you can never have too many of. Lots are the next size up so I will be storing them for next year.
Energy Saving
As we have had to use central heating a lot more than we usually do I’ve been busy trying to reduce how much electricity we use. I’ve been running around after Chris and the kids turning lights and sockets off that aren’t in use. Do you live with one of those people who think you need every light on in the house, you have my sympathies.
Meal Plan
I have actually managed to stick to a meal plan and shopping list this month. I’ve gone for simple meals that are quick to prepare and make. This means that I haven’t been tempted to indulge in a takeaway.
If you have enjoyed this post you might also like my Five Frugal Things for December post too.
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We have swapped all our bulbs for LEDS…. it’s made a massive difference!
There are some really good Ideas here. We have started to try and cut back on what we buy when we do our food shop. Only getting what we need and to buy more from aldi than Tesco (we do need some things from Tesco that aldi dont do or arent good) #TuesdayTreasures
Some great ideas for frugality. I really need to do something similar myself.
#TuesdayTreasures
I really need to do some of these myself although I’m better at meal planning but the odd takeaway does sneak in! We’re trying to get the kids to switch lights off when they’re not using them. #TuesdayTreasures
You are still doing well. I turn off all the plugs in the house that we aren’t using x
A lady after my own heart! I’ve been having a frugal month and a de-clutter too! Well done to you, sounds like you’ve had an amazing month! #TuesdayTreasures
#tuesdaytreasures I’m not very good at frugal – the word sounds like a mushroom…haha, well done on being good. My moral compass is better for reading these ideas.
I really need to get better at meal planning to reduce the waste – we spend so much on food. I too managed to sell a few bits on eBay and some DVDs on Ziffit – I usually can’t be bothered with the effort and take everything to the charity shop but I’m pleased I did it this time. #tuesdaytreasures
Well done for sticking with your plan! I was doing well with meal planning and sticking to a budget but then our oven broke and rendered all the food I had bought useless so that is waiting in the freezer for our oven to come back to life and we had to do another shop to tide us over. Add in the emergency takeaway that happened on the night of oven gate and the money saved has been hugely compromised! May Feb be kinder to us! #tuesdaytreasures