Tip Store: Shopping: No Spending Month

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​Skip the Specials and Save Big for No Spending Month

No Spending month has boosted our savings by almost $100 already, and simply because I've not bought the specials. I love a bargain, and our stockpile is slowly, slowly growing with the basic grocery items we need. Where I come a cropper is those too good to resist but really not essential specials. The catalogues have been full of them lately, things like Tim Tams and Mint Slice on sale for half price, chips half price, Prima juice boxes half price at Coles, 500g bags of chips  - all things we love and would happily enjoy, but even on half-price sale we don't need them and they're not really included in the grocery budget. On top of that, I don't need the extra kilojoules (My Darling doesn't either but don't tell him, he'll deny it). The juice boxes are convenient to grab and put in My Baby's bag for when we're out, but he is just as happy with water. This week alone I've skipped the specials and not spent $22.30 on things that weren't on my list, even if they were on sale. Don't get me wrong, I could have easily bought the Tim Tams, Mint Slice, juice boxes and chips but it is No Spending month and I'd rather use that $22.30 to boost our Emergency Fund. And if I stick to not spending on specials we don't really need, I figure our EF will be around $500 (or more) healthier at the end of the year and my thighs won't be a few thousand kilojoules bigger.
Contributed by Sarah Andrews