12 Days no-spend - AND A NEW JOB!

Well, so far going alright. Total number of coffees purchased - 0! Except one free one that I'd saved purely for this month ☕. 
I walked to and from work on Monday saving myself that petrol, and also home from watching my sister's netball game Sunday. Weather finally warming up which is making this whole walking thing much easier. One thing that is painfully obvious though, is Adelaide's public transport suuuucks.

This last week hasn't been without its challenges. I got a new job! Yay! In disability care. But this has meant significantly more driving (interview, training etc..) And the job itself requires me to drive my own vehicle to visit clients - bugger! What a timely new job 😒 - but obviously money will be nice....! Tomorrow will be my first day, and I think I'm yet to mentally prepare. Safe to say my nerves are getting the better of me today. Must find a way to switch off and relax without getting too anxious.

I've spent more than I intended to on groceries, but this is also because I bought things in bulk that were on special that I use very regularly, therefore saving myself money in the future! I'd be crazy not to...! In particular, chicken breasts, which were half the price I normally buy them for. It's something I buy often to cook with, so this saved me $14 I would have spent paying full price. I skimmed some catalogues and bought veggies that were in season and super cheap along with some kan-tong asian sauces. My dinner tonight - Chinese BBQ Chicken (with mushroom, broccoli & green beans) with brown rice ended up costing $7.68 for the whole meal - probably four serves - which will do me for lunch & dinner tomorrow too. And it was sooo good! And quite healthy, too 😄

• Chicken breast x2 - $3.50
• Green beans - approx 18c
• Broccoli - $1
• x1 onion - approx 10c
• Mushrooms x4 - approx 75c
• Jar Chinese BBQ sauce - $1.65
• Brown rice - approx 50c

Total - $7.65 

YOU CAN HAVE DELICIOUSNESS AND HEALTHINESS ON A BUDGET! Mind = blown.

That's all for tonight ✌

The first week! The No-Spend challenge so far...

So! I have commenced the no-spend challenge for the month of September. So far? Not so bad. I do think however my goal of hardly driving was a tad ambitious... and here's why. 'Technically'.... Spring was supposed to arrive. Technically.

My first day of the challenge! Friday last week, we had one day of amazing sunshine. There I was, truckin' on home listening to my music and snapchatting my accomplishment to friends after successfully catching the right bus home from an appointment (See me there, to the left? Looking all smug and content?) - which I would have normally driven to, and hey.. both bus trips somehow cost me 96c combined... so not a bad saving there! - By midnight I'm tripping over my cats to move my washing inside because the sky opened up and dumped a year's worth of rain on probably only my washing. (Most Adeladians would fondly recall being awoken at 2:06am this night by mysterious, ominous thunder! The mystery made headlines, social media exploded, we were so confused. It was thunder guys.. thunder).
Aaaaaand for five days now the downpour continues. This has made my commitment to less driving more difficult, simply because the allure of being warm and dry in the car on the way to work is significantly more attractive than the alternative. The magical season of spring was supposed to arrive just in time for my challenge, but alas... Adelaide weather is dumb, and winter is still with us; overstaying it's welcome, dampening my clothes along with my spirits.

My first no-spend weekend was a pretty big success. On Friday I had some friends over for an impromtu BBQ. Usually this would mean a mad dash to the shop... $30 - $40 later I would have bought too many snacks & drinks, more food than needed for the BBQ and disposable everything to save on clean up. This is where your wonderful, supportive friends step in! The good old fashioned BYO = not as stingy as it sounds. With ingredients I already had, I whipped up a large cauliflower & macaroni cheese bake, and when friends asked what to bring, I suggested one thing each. And together we had a very reasonably sized dinner and enough snacks to last us into a 2.5 hour game of Cards Against Humanity. Stress-free, and I left the cleaning for the next day.

Cutting out that mad dash to the shop saved a lot of money. And my goal of driving less would have also meant really planning the 15min walk, which helped to stop me and make me think - is this REALLY necessary?

Now Sunday was going to be a challenge. 
I caught up with a friend who was visiting from Sydney whom I hadn't seen in months. What do we do when we catch up? Go out for a meal of course, and definitely a coffee.. or three. Coffee is of course my weakness. 
We made the plan and I informed her of my challenge. Her partner, her sister & I all headed off for a 'coffee' (I'd made my peace with the fact I would be drinking water, while staring longingly at the coffee and trying hard to refrain from stealing a sip when she turned her head..), but despite my firm objection, she shouted me a coffee anyway! I could have kissed her. But my mouth was occupied. Savouring every magical moment spent with my coffee. I mean with her! Not the coffee....
They all bought breakfast and I refrained. I just cradled my sweet sweet mocha like the heavenly blessing it was.

The rest of the week... well, due to Winter's blantant subbornness I, of course, failed at walking. Instead I conceded to driving my car a little instead of walking. But still driving as little as possible, making the most of the trip by doing other things I need to do, and have still maintained my minimal spending when buying necessities. 


However, I have not once caved to buying a coffee! Which I knew would be a tough habit to curb... but making do with some 'decent' instant coffee has been a good compromise 👍




To sum up this first week... I'm doing alright. Not as well as I'd hoped, but still committed to this thing and giving it everything I can while adjusting to the sudden changes and boundaries I've set myself. Until next time! 👌

The No-Spend Challenge

So as previously mentioned.. I've decided to challenge myself to a 'No-Spend month' for the month of September. 

Anyone who knows me knows I'm basically always broke - yesss I'm THAT friend 😂 so I've decided to take up this challenge to try and kill some bad habits and acquire some discipline. Its a month of living on the bare minimums, driving only if there's no other option - maximum walking & public transport - hopefully getting fitter too! No luxuries, no coffees out with friends! 😭

This definitely does not mean scabbing lifts or accepting people shouting me things.. at the end of the challenge you still want your friends to like you..! I know most of these things might not be challenges for a lot of people but things like public transport are new to me (or... like 15 years old).

I'll update this blog as basically a way to document my progress, and hey if anyone is reading this and is interested in following me on this challenge - welcome! 

Hello blog world.......

Well.. hello! I'm new to the blogging scene so we'll see how this goes. I've decided to embark on the No-Spend challenge for the month of September and it was suggested to me I should blog my struggles and accomplishments as I deprive myself of any and all luxuries and unnecessary spending for a whole month. Stay tuned!