Low & No Spending In 2021

2020 was a year spent paying off debt and saving as much money as I could in the process.  In 2021 my goal is to remain debt free and continue to save as much money as possible in order to increase my wealth in preparation of retirement.  In order to do this I plan to have a year of low spending as well as no spending in a variety of areas.

To begin with, I started the year knowing I needed to replace my work pants and add a new pair of work shoes.  My goal was to accomplish this by spending as little as possible and I was able to do that by shopping for items on sale as well as with a coupon.  I picked up two pair of black dress pants for $30.  I shopped for shoes at an outlet store and was able to find a pair on their clearance area for only $30.  Unbeknownst to me all of their clearance shoes were an additional 50% OFF so they only ended up costing $15.  Even better I used money I had earned by selling items I no longer needed to pay for these items so essentially my work wardrobe updates cost me nothing out of our regular household budget.

 

I decided to double our Christmas budget this year from $100 to $200, although I may not need that much for what I have already planned.  If that is the case I will either put any extra $$ into savings or use it for next year.  I have financed that budget the same way I did my work wardrobe by selling items on eBay that I no longer want or need.  In order to limit my Christmas spending I plan to make a lot of gifts using items I already have in my sewing and craft stash.  Food gifts from our kitchen using items we already have on hand will be another large part of our gift giving as it was last Christmas.

 

The pandemic was helpful in that it forced us to figure out ways to take care of things while we were in lockdown.  One of those things was hair care.  Instead of going to the salon for my semi-annual haircuts I figured out how to cut my hair on my own and it turned out pretty well too.  I have always cut the girl's hair and I will continue to cut my own hair this year as well.  I do not color treat my hair anymore and find that inexpensive shampoos and conditioners work just fine.  I buy my shampoo and conditioner at the dollar store or on sale with coupons so I rarely spend more than a dollar a bottle.  Making sure I don't overuse these products makes them last longer too so I don't have to purchase as often.

 

I plan to spend very little on household cleaning products and laundry supplies.  I am pretty well stocked with the basics so I won't need to spend much this year, if at all.  If I do decide to buy anything it will most likely be to stock up on laundry detergent.  I am hoping to find brand name detergent at the dollar store or get it on sale with coupons for the same price or lower.  If not, I probably will not purchase anything.  Toiletries is another area I do not have plans for any spending.  I have all that I need and then some so I will just use what I have for the time being.

 

Eating out and entertainment is going to be a pretty easy way for us to keep our spending minimal.  The continuing pandemic is seeing to that.  For now, that is quite fine.  We have plenty of no cost entertainment options as far as television, music and movies go.  Any dining out will be infrequently and done for minimal cost.  I have always enjoyed dining out and after a year of virtually no dining out I am actually looking forward to this indulgence on a small scale.  I think it is prudent to limit dining out not only as far as finances go but to minimize exposure to COVID.

 

I've already touched on the fact that we've cut back our grocery budget for 2021.  I plan to cook from items we already have on hand, replace what we use, make wise use of our leftovers and keep any food waste to a minimum.  I use washable containers for food storage and I try to wash and reuse plastic bags as much as possible so I don't have to buy them often.  I also like to be cognizant of what I am adding to the landfill and reuse or recycle as much as I can.  I'm not a huge fan of disposable items so I don’t buy napkins or paper towels.  I make my own cloth napkins and cleaning rags.

 

Do you have any low or no spend endeavors planned for this year?  Any big things you are saving for?  If so, what are some of ways you plan to keep from spending your hard earned cash?