No Buy May 2010

Last May I joined others on the DISBoards in something that call 'No Buy' months - the objective was to have as many days in the month where you spend nothing at all. Some would set out a monthly budget and targets for how many 'no buy' days they aim to achieve. I used it as an exercise to record what I spent, now I'm going to do it for a second time I can use that experience to make budgets and targets.

This is what happened with my spending last May:

May 01 - £0
May 02 - £0
May 03 - £0
May 04 - £200.77 (£36.87 quarterly TV Licence Payment); (£39.26 monthly minimum Credit Card payment); (£34.65 monthly Car Insurance); (£75.00 monthly savings direct debit); (£14.99 monthly Lovefilm subscription);
May 05 - £0
May 06 - £11.00 (£6.50 taxi into the city); (£4.50 drinks);
May 07 - £27.00 (£27.00 disney pins);
May 08 - £0
May 09 - £0
May 10 - £295.01 (£50.01 Full tank of fuel); (£245 rent);
May 11 - £0
May 12 - £0
May 13 - £11.00 (£11.00 disney pins);
May 14 - £62.29 (£1.30 lunch); (£17.04 part payment for Wii game pre-order); (£43.95 new clothes & delivery);
May 15 - £5.42 (£2.92 postage for pin packages); (£2.50 cotton pads);
May 16 - £0
May 17 - £3.50 -(50p birthday fund @ work); (£3.00 badges @ Mr Hudson gig);
May 18 - £0
May 19 - £44.30 (£43.20 train tickets to London); (£1.10 lunch);
May 20 - £224.40 (£224.40 hotel booking for London);
May 21 - £5.00 (£5.00 dinner from the supermarket);
May 22 - £122.29 (£4.50 car park); (£40 dress and jeggings); (£74 maxi skirt, vest, tunic); (£3.79 razors);
May 23 - £49.89 (£49.89 savings);
May 24 - £1.10 (£1.10 lunch);
May 25 - £0.60 (£0.60 lunch);
May 26 - £0
May 27 - £0
May 28 - £204.38 (£4.50 work shop x15 products @ 30p per product); (£199.88 savings);
May 29 - £0
May 30 - £0
May 31 - £0

Total 'No Buy' Days = 15
Total Spent = £1327.35

For May 2011 I'm going to target the same number of 'No Buy' days and hopefully achieve more. A lot of my outgoings have increased over 12 months, including rent and fuel and insurance for my car. I did save well over £300 last year, I hope to save more and spend less on other things like clothes, food and random purchases. I'll also be transferring the balance from my credit card to a 0% card and hopefully pay that off very quickly.

With a week to go until the beginning of May I'm confident that throughout the month I can save more and spend less. Also, at the end of May I'll see the first increase in my pay from the pay rise I received last week and the company bonus will also be paid out at the end of May (it should have been paid at the end of April, but was delayed).

May will be a good money month! Even better than last year.