Finally fed up of having no money at all at the end of the month, Tom suggested in the middle of December last year that for the whole of January we only live on £2 a day in order to really see how much we spend on pointless things and to limit how much money we blow on luxuries (McMuffins when there's cereal in the cupboard, eating a curry when there's chicken and rice already bought, etc...)
To be fair, December's always an expensive month, and at the start of the season of goodwill I'd decided I would make half of my presents for my family and friends, and buy the other half of them from charity shops and antique stores. This saved me an incredible amount of money compared to other years, but the Christmas dinner ingredients were what rinsed us this year; £100 on the first 'big shop', but then I went back the following day for the forgotten cranberry sauce, then the next day for Baileys... and probably spent another £50 on top. SCARY AMOUNT OF MONEY!!!!!
Tom's tried the £2-daily thing before: he says he saved most of his wages that month, and it put him in a good position to pay off some long-standing bills and debts.
Sounds awesome, right??
I mean, we're planning to buy our own house in the next few years, and this seems like a sure-fire way of putting away some decent savings at least once a year. The ultimate plan is to do this quarterly; so January, April, July and October, should it go well.
THE FRULES (frugal rules, geddit??)
1) £2 a day to use on food, drinks, anything else you can get for that amount.
2) If you don't spend your money that day, it can be carried over to the next day so you have a larger budget.
3) Direct debits, bills and petrol come out as normal, as we'd be in big trouble if these were left unpaid!!
4) Make a list of exceptions because they were already planned (i.e. I have haircut. VERY ESSENTIAL.)
5) Any cash earnings we make over the month can be added to our daily budget.
6) We give eachother our debit cards for use in absolute emergencies only.
PREPARATION:
1) Bought in pasta, tinned veg and fruit, cereal, bread to freeze, squash, drinks, cheap and therefore big bottles of toiletries and other things that can be stored up over the month.
2) Tell all our family and friends, rack up the sympathy vote, and get them to save any food they don't want AND ask them to make extra when they cook big soups etc, and give it to us.
3) Keep freezer bags in my handbag for unexpected doggiebags!
4) Withdraw £62 from the bank and change up into pound coins ready to spend!
5) Take advantage of having food at work.
PLACES TO GO:
1) Fruit and veg markets tend to give you really good deals on decent produce towards the end of a market day, usually giving it away in bowl-loads for little money. We go to these fruit and veg stalls with the man we support, and he saves so much money there, instead of going to Tescos.
2) I'm very lucky to have parents who own their own pub, and apart from getting largely discounted dinners there, the kitchen always has a lot of left-overs, especially on Sundays after roasts!!
3) Vouchers and coupons for places such as Pizza Express, Cafe Rouge and Pizza Hut are largely available online to get a cheap meal with - one for if your budget has built up over the days. Try your luck at vouchercodes.com.
4) As a general rule, I always head to the reduced isle in supermarkets to see what's on offer. Some items aren't always worth it, but then you also find things you maybe wouldn't normally go for for little money. If you don't eat it that evening, freeze. And, the later in the day you go, the bigger the reduction!!
Any other ideas we haven't thought of? Comment below!!
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