Introduction

Welcome!

This blog will be in the format of a series of challenges, each lasting one month, in which I'll try out various ways of saving money.

The plan for the first few months is as follows:
January: Food thrift
February: Cessation of all 'luxury' spending - food and essentials like cleaning supplies only!
March: Living on 'benefits' (ie the weekly amount the Government provides as Jobseekers Allowance)
April: Attempting to cut transport costs to the bare minimum

I may end up switching March and April depending on what fits best with my schedule, but for now that is the tentative plan. I'll add challenges for later months as inspiration strikes!

Who am I?
I'm a 23 year old female living in a privately rented flat (about the size of a postage stamp) in London's Zone 2. I work full-time as an editor in legal publishing and also have various bits of part-time income from AQA and tutoring.

Why am I doing this?
You might be wondering exactly why I'm doing this, given that I'm (thankfully) employed, live a fairly comfortable life spending what I want and don't have any real need to conduct experiments in thrift.

Well, it's partly influenced by the global financial situation - although the last thing the politicians want us to be doing is being thrifty and squirrelling our money away rather than propping up the High Street, for many people there isn't a choice - it becomes a necessity for an increasing number of people as the recession hits. I've read blogs on moneysaving for some time now, as well as the excellent MSE forums, and they are a valuable source of information for those who need to cut back. So I hope this blog may be a help in that sense.

Secondly, it's the time of year when we are overwhelmed by the excesses of Christmas and the New Year and desire to live a slightly simpler life. I did some tidying today (despite the superstition which says it is bad luck for the year) and was slightly repulsed by the sheer amount of stuff I've managed to amass. Many of the challenges I will attempt will also have the effect of limiting this needless consumption. After all, spending your money wisely hurts nothing and no-one.

So, onwards to the introduction for the first challenge!