For 2024 week 1, I spent the grand total of €26.84 on groceries from Lidl and a croissant. This was my only spend for the week as everything else I did for the week cost me nothing. I am doing the Uber frugal month challenge and I’m already seeing the impact in my choices and finances.
I ate all meals at home mostly by shopping the pantry as much as possible and cleaning out the freezer. My Husband shopped fresh fruits so I didn’t need to do a store run until late in the week. I worked from home the whole week which also helped in curbing my spending. I will be in office 60% of the time next week so it will test my ability to stick to the challenge.
I am also doing 1000 hours outside for my child which meant I needed to step outside every day of the week. I am using this as my keep fit opportunity and despite the weather we averaged 1.5 daily outside hours. With this, I skipped the gym subscription for the month. I am not keen on gyming but my Husband is heavily advocating we do it together. I’m not sure I want to spend €89 monthly on gym pass and not fully utilise it. Anyway, spending time outside meant less time on the phone that leads to mindless shopping. I did add some things to cart but with enough time to reflect I concluded they were not needed and deleted them. As part of my declutter effort, I already unsubscribed from mailing lists that enables my shopping. I did not see the numerous offers and it felt good to do without the pressure of “I’m missing out on good sales”. When a friend mentioned there’s awesome sales ongoing for a particular brand I like, I reminded myself that “I have all I need” and said same to my friend.
I did not gift anything so far although I did call a family member I felt obligated to gift that this will not be possible in January. She informed me she wasn’t expecting anything as I recently paid a health bill for her. I personally struggle with gifting so making the call calmed me down and helped stop my overthinking. I will catch up on this in February.
Apart from work, the two ways I’ve kept myself occupied to spend nothing is by writing more, reading a ton and decluttering at least one thing per day. Week 2 starts tomorrow, I head back to work on Monday and our standard routine starts. This will be the true test of the Uber frugal month challenge and my ability to spend only on needs.