5 Actions for a No Spend July

Welcome back to my blog, and my no spend month has begun! Regular readers will know that a no spend January is something I usually do, but I often do a second month without spending.  So a no spend July it is!

As we are planning on moving house in the next few months, there are going to be a lot of expenses. Moving house costs so much! The stamp duty is ridiculous. Add to that the fact that we currently have no lodger and eBay is totally flat, and a no spend July makes a lot of sense. Here’s the plan.

1# Eating from the pantry

I have been making a point of eating as much as possible using what we already have. The truth is, I like to keep a well stocked pantry and it is handy for lean months like these. 

I have made a long list of potential meals for the month and worked out what we will still need to buy to make them work. A no spend July doesn’t mean NO supermarket shopping at all for me. But I do keep the grocery bill low by only buying absolute essentials.

As well as eating from the pantry I am on the look out for free food, both via the Olio app and, when I visit my parents, at the community fridge near to their house. Both are great for preventing food waste, and some free stuff helps the locals with their budgets too. I picked up bread, physalis (those little orange fruits often decorating cakes – delicious!), cakes and new potatoes from the community fridge this week.

2# Eating from the garden

We are certainly going to have a lot of courgettes coming through this month, along with some delicious cucumbers. I have also picked a lot of raspberries, meaning that I haven’t had to buy much fruit. 

The tomatoes are coming along too and we have grown some salad leaves. The runner beans aren’t doing well at all, which is a shame as we love them!

I can do a lot with courgettes, luckily. Over the years I have found what to do with a glut. They are nice roasted on a tray bake, made into fritters, as soup and in a big pot of ratatouille. It all helps on a no spend July, when we are aiming to keep our grocery bill super low.

3# Decluttering and selling stuff

Obviously, there is going to be a lot of sorting and decluttering before we move. Last week, I showed you the bags I had sorted so far. This week I have been up into the attic to decide what can stay and what needs to go. 

We have a lot of Christmas stuff, which I didn’t manage to whittle down that much. If we use it, which we do, then I will keep it. However, there were some large bits like lamps and pictures in the attic that I have photographed and put onto Facebook Marketplace to sell. We won’t get hundreds for them, but may as well get a few £££s.

4# Revising my budget

I have been filling out my budget book (my affiliate link) frequently to track my spending. It really helps to see where the money is going to. So far this month, there isn’t much in the spending column, which is great! What you expect on a no spend July. It is just a few groceries and some petrol so far. 

It’s so useful to make a budget and track it as you go. Some people prefer an app or maybe a spreadsheet, but I find an actual book less hassle to update when I need to. Mine came from Amazon and I think it was a good investment.

5# Making the most of the good weather

As the weather has been so sunny and warm recently, we have been making the most of it to sit outside under the gazebo with a glass of wine, take nice walks through the woods and have a mosey around some of the pretty areas near to us. 

We had an evening stroll to Wivenhoe along the river last week. It was stunning.

When we go out we always take a flask, some water and food. This saves us lots of money and it is always worth being organised.

So these five frugal things have kicked off my no spend July! Do you write a budget and which method do you prefer? And do you have periods when you try to spend nothing at all?

I’m linking up with this Cass, Emma and Becky in this week’s ‘Frugal Friday’ linky.