How much could you save in a week?
We’ve challenged a selection of our team, partners, content creators and the public to only spend their money on the essentials for one week. Check out the My No Spend Week hub for some inspiration on saving. Maybe a ‘no spend’ week could change how you view your spending habits?
We’ve quizzed our diarists how they feel about their spending habits before their challenge week and then after, how they might approach saving and spending in the future.
Today we're hearing from Nicola who is Community, Commercial & Event Manager for The Nottingham Panthers for whom we are their headline sponsor. During her My No Spend Week challenge she didn't spend a penny and managed to save around £100 by making things at home that she would have usually paid for.
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Monday
Starting the week on a positive note both for the budget and for my general health by walking to the local post office to post a parcel, rather than taking the car. I've saved around £2 on petrol already.
Tuesday
Before lockdown we would take our little dog to the groomers for a little pampering. Right now, we are not able to attend so decide to give him a bath and trim myself. I have some dog shampoo in case of emergency, so the cost is just warm water and a little elbow grease. As he’s been such a good boy today (very patient with my efforts!) I want to give him a treat, so I get out some paw shaped silicone moulds I've had for a while and make him some homemade dog treats following a recipe I found online with things I already had in the pantry.
I saved (or rather didn't spend) £40 on his usual grooming treatments and £5 on not buying him a big pack of dog treats.
Wednesday
I woke up today and wanted to give the house a good cleaning top to bottom! I have been wanting to move all my cleaning products over to more sustainable and eco-friendly items recently for both the health of my family and pets and of course, for the planet. I already have some items like clean, refillable bottles and essential oils to make them smell lovely. I go online and look for how to mix myself something that will both clean my house effectively and leave behind a lovely fresh scent. I am quite impressed with the results and hope to keep this going throughout this year. Here I've saved an average of around £5.50 which is what my usual cleaning products would cost me if I stocked up from empty.
Thursday
Whilst walking the dogs in the woods this morning we found lots of pinecones which will make excellent fire starters for our log burner back at home and as we usually pay £2.70 per pack of fire starters, this is an additional saving!
Friday
We look forward to Friday nights in our house as Friday nights are pizza and a movie night. This week rather than spend on an expensive takeaway we decide to make the pizza ourselves from items we already have in the pantry. The results were really surprisingly good, and we will definitely do this more often now as we saved around £30 by not spending it on branded takeaway.
Saturday
This weekend, I decided to challenge myself to use up all the left-over fruit and veg in my fridge before going to the supermarket for my weekly shop. I make a smoothie at breakfast time, some homemade soup for lunch and a huge batch of homemade coleslaw salad that we can serve with meals over the weekend and into next week. I've made around a £12 saving (from totting it all up if it had gone to waste) on this food.
Sunday
Being in lockdown means lots of time spent at home. This time around as we're in lockdown in January we are sadly not able to get out into the garden and enjoy the plants and nature. I would normally buy myself some flowers for around £9 to bring a little nature inside the house at this time of year. However, I decide to look around the garden for some green herbs and plants that I can cut and bring in doors rather than purchase from my local supermarket. I’m actually surprised at how nice this turned out and as I have several large herb plants in the garden how nice this also smells compared to some commercially grown flowers at this time of year.
Your No Spend Week?
So, what do you think? Could you go a whole week and only spend on essentials? No treats or coffees or new clothes? Let us know on Twitter and Facebook and if you’d like to write your own ‘My No Spend Week’ diary – send us an email telling us all about yourself to socialcomms@thenottingham.com. Check out our range of savings accounts and our Essential Savings Guides too for some more tips and tricks for saving money.
The featured content creators have been asked to take part in and keep a diary of their ‘My No Spend Week challenge’. However the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed belong solely to the content creator. The opportunity is open to members of the public too if they also wished to take part in the challenge. There is no commercial relationship between The Nottingham or content creator and any products or brand mentioned in their diary.
*The featured content creators have been paid to take part in and keep a diary of their ‘My No Spend Week challenge’. However the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed belong solely to the content creator and the opportunity is open to members of the public too if they also wished to take part in the challenge. There is no commercial relationship between The Nottingham or content creator and any products or brand mentioned in their diary.
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