No Buy May 2011: Week Four (and finish)

I was a huge £294 better off at the end of May, I had that amount of money left when I was paid - amazing! My payrise took effect from May 1 so I saw that come into my pay last week as well as the quaterly company bonus. Overall, May was an amazing money month and I think No-Buy really helped.

May 01 - £0
May 02 - £0
May 03 - £198.77 (£37.62 quarterly TV Licence Payment); (£19.63 monthly minimum Credit Card payment); (£41.52 monthly Car Insurance); (£100.00 monthly savings direct debit);
May 04 - £47.24 (£47.24 Asda grocery shopping);
May 05 - £61.30 (£61.30 Emirates Cup tickets);
May 06 - £0
May 07 - £65.00 (£26.00 dress from Dorothy Perkins); (£36.00 haircut) (£3.00 car park);
May 08 - £0
May 09 - £0
May 10 - £0
May 11 - £0
May 12 - £1.20 (£1.20 staff shop @ work);
May 13 - £0.30 (£0.30 staff shop @ work);
May 14 - £2.95 (£2.95 magazine);
May 15 - £0
May 16 - £312.50 (£312.50 rent);
May 17 - £0
May 18 - £62.02 (£62.02 full tank of diesel for my car);
May 19 - £0
May 20 - £0
May 21 - £0
May 22 - £0
May 23 - £47.86 (£41.00 water bill); (£4.07 Lovefilm); (£2.79 eBay magazine);
May 24 - £0.90 (£0.90 staff shop @ work);
May 25 - £0
May 26 - £79.25 (£79.25 train tickets);
May 27 - £33.40 (£33.40 gig tickets);
May 28 - £0
May 29 - £0
May 30 - £66.98 (£30.00 Next - hoodie); (£6.99 Waterstones - Berlin guide book); (£3.50 magazine); (£10.50 John Lewis - OPI nail polish); (£15.99 New Look - top);
May 31 - £115.47 (£19.47 monthly minimum Credit Card payment); (£96.00 London 2012 tickets);

Total 'No Buy' Days = 16
Total Spent = £1213.94

No Buy May 2011: Week Three (and a bit)

I slacked in updating for week three, so I'm catching up! I hope I don't miss any spends out because I've been forgetting!

May 01 - £0
May 02 - £0
May 03 - £198.77 (£37.62 quarterly TV Licence Payment); (£19.63 monthly minimum Credit Card payment); (£41.52 monthly Car Insurance); (£100.00 monthly savings direct debit);
May 04 - £47.24 (£47.24 Asda grocery shopping);
May 05 - £61.30 (£61.30 Emirates Cup tickets);
May 06 - £0
May 07 - £65.00 (£26.00 dress from Dorothy Perkins); (£36.00 haircut) (£3.00 car park);
May 08 - £0
May 09 - £0
May 10 - £0
May 11 - £0
May 12 - £1.20 (£1.20 staff shop @ work);
May 13 - £0.30 (£0.30 staff shop @ work);
May 14 - £2.45 (£2.45 magazine);
May 15 - £0
May 16 - £312.50 (£312.50 rent);
May 17 - £0
May 18 - £62.02 (£62.02 full tank of diesel for my car);
May 19 - £0
May 20 - £0
May 21 - £0
May 22 - £0
May 23 - £47.86 (£41.00 water bill); (£4.07 Lovefilm); (£2.79 eBay magazine);
May 24 - £0.90 (£0.90 staff shop @ work);
May 25 - £0

Total 'No Buy' Days = 14

No Buy May 2011: Week Two

It's been a fairly quiet week, it's really easy to save money at work - well, until they introduced daily sample shops. But at 30p per product, I can't see myself spending that much.

May 01 - £0
May 02 - £0
May 03 - £198.77 (£37.62 quarterly TV Licence Payment); (£19.63 monthly minimum Credit Card payment); (£41.52 monthly Car Insurance); (£100.00 monthly savings direct debit);
May 04 - £47.24 (£47.24 Asda grocery shopping);
May 05 - £61.30 (£61.30 Emirates Cup tickets);
May 06 - £0
May 07 - £65.00 (£26.00 dress from Dorothy Perkins); (£36.00 haircut) (£3.00 car park);
May 08 - £0
May 09 - £0
May 10 - £0
May 11 - £0
May 12 - £1.20 (£1.20 staff shop @ work);
May 13 - £0.30 (£0.30 staff shop @ work);
May 14 - £2.45 (£2.45 magazine);

Total 'No Buy' Days = 7

No Buy May 2011: Week One

I've been forgetting to record my daily spending, so looks like I'll be going with weekly check-ins from now on?!

May 01 - £0
May 02 - £0
May 03 - £198.77 (£37.62 quarterly TV Licence Payment); (£19.63 monthly minimum Credit Card payment); (£41.52 monthly Car Insurance); (£100.00 monthly savings direct debit);
May 04 - £47.24 (£47.24 Asda grocery shopping);
May 05 - £61.30 (£61.30 Emirates Cup tickets);
May 06 - £0
May 07 -

Total 'No Buy' Days = 3

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.