No spend Month

First day of the New Year, and there are 27 weeks until my OH and I go to Lesbos, in Greece. As a confirmed Grecophile, I 'selfishly' went ahead and booked a fortnight in Molyvos without really conferring with Rob... I'm glad he's happy though and having undertaken multiple checks on various holiday review sites I feel confident that the accommodation i've booked is going to be okay. We are a fair way outside of the town but we both love walking, and I can't wait to visit the markets to get hold of all the fresh Greek veggies and begin cooking!

So why the blog? Well, I wanted to have my own record (basically be accountable to myself and the whole of the WWW!) of our countdown and preparations for it. Counting down to a holiday isn't normally something to blog about, but my aim is get back into the black, pay for the holiday (with spending money!) and still be in the black whilst running a household (albeit just of me, OH, a goldfish and an albino toad!). Although I don't have a bad job, with our current economic climate, I believe there are many ways I can save but still live comfortably. Therefore, my first goal is to have a 'No Spend Month'.

I am a self-confessed hoarder and purchaser of bargain foodstuffs. My freezer is groaning under the weight of provisions and frankly, I am embarrassed of what we have. Therefore, my goal for this month is to have a 'No Spend Month' in terms of grocery and unnecessary purchases. I must admit that I went to my local Sainsbury's this morning - partly to get some fresh air, and partly to 'cash' my National Lottery scratch card winnings in (30 pounds in all!!!) and ended up spending the grand total of 10p! (I did get 3 bags of shallots, a packet of Bachelor's soups and a bottle of water for that (don't ask!)).

Therefore, I aim to not visit a supermarket once this month. I have milk, meat, fish and veggies in the freezer, and a smashing breadmaker. I'm going to make use of some of the brilliant frugal household and cookery ideas from the various forums on Martin Lewis's moneysavingexpert.com website and see how I do. I'd like to think that I could make both February and March N.S.M. month's too (seriously, I have that much in my food store!), but i'll see how things go...

Take care, Lizzie