Cutting Costs, Growing Wealth: My 2024 No-Buy List

2023 was financially challenging for many of us. How I’m rebuilding my finances in 2024.

Budgets, savings, and, at times, even investments (depending on what you invested in) took a hit as inflation rates reached new heights globally. Despite inflation stabilising in the UK in the last couple of months of 2023, British prices have obviously not returned to pre-inflation levels. By the way, the UK economy is struggling increasingly for many reasons; reasons I’m not going to dive into, as the mainstream media are doing a great job of covering the self-imposed tragedy of the British economy.

When times get difficult, the arts and creative sectors are usually affected the fastest and hardest, as austerity is always directed at what many governments perceive as “non-essential” to human existence. I completely disagree with that sentiment, but this is another story. In short, the people in the art sector struggle to make ends meet, to survive and to find funding even more than before the pre-COVID and pre-inflation times.

Depending on who you listen to, 2024 might be even more financially challenging than 2023, and some even predict a repeat of the 1929 Great Depression. Those who predict that also say that 2024 will be fantastic for investment opportunities if one has heaps of resources sitting around. Personally, I try to tune out such predictions as they aren’t good for mental health and aren’t really constructive for people who save and invest money in small quantities.

Since I started investing, I’ve invested monthly without waiting for a massive financial crash to arrive. I can’t predict the future and the market, but honestly, neither can the majority of investors. My mantra is that steady monthly investments are the key to a healthy investment portfolio.

Unfortunately, in the past year (I know the financial year isn’t over yet in the UK, so I still have time), I haven’t made as many big investments as I planned. For most of last year, I was still a student, working only part-time; I also took some time off to have a little breathing space to recharge, and, of course, prices have been going up as if there were no limit to it. It doesn’t matter that UK inflation has slowed; relative prices have remained high, and wages aren’t keeping up. In reality, it means I can buy much less than I could, say, a year ago. For instance, during the pandemic, I paid £1 for organic lettuce; now, discounted lettuce costs £1.20, coming down from £1.50. Shopping at the zero-waste shop became at least 20% more expensive than a year prior (2022). Public transport is ridiculously pricey, and if I have to go to the office, I can’t cycle or walk. Takeaway food from market stalls is as costly as eating out in restaurants. Clothing in charity shops has gone up so much that often it’s cheaper to buy a new item (you can still find some bargains, especially for kids, but you need to be lucky).

Many people who didn’t struggle before the inflation suddenly have to cut back on many things that were once normal and casual for them. Children, single parents, women, who traditionally have lower savings and investments, as well as people in low-paid jobs (often in the essential sectors such as health care), suffer the most. Cutting spending and keeping a very close eye on the budget are usually everyone’s first priorities when times are tough. However, the best time to save and invest money is when the times are good (this is not to say you shouldn’t save and invest when the times are difficult), and our smart, financially conscious choices aren’t seen as deprivation.

Instead of spending our hard-earned money on items that we hardly ever use (the Minimalists podcast could be a good choice if you struggle with overconsumption) and that eventually end up in charity shops, put that money aside towards savings and investments. Your future self will be very grateful for that.

2024 will be all about healing my investments and savings so I can pursue other opportunities that I feel will benefit my family and me more in the long run. To do that, I’m cutting down on the following items from my budget:

• Clothing – not buying anything unless it’s underwear or clothing for kids.
• Gifts – in 2024, they are all going to be hand-made, second-hand, or experiences. Gifts for kids might be an exception, but I’ll see if I’m going to buy things or, rather, experiences for them.
• Jewellery – not buying anything unless it’s second-hand or local and from a place I’ve never been to before.
• Take away tea and coffee. I hardly ever do it anyway, but even if I do it 20 times a year, that could come to almost £100 a year.
• Cakes, cookies, pastry, etc – I’m a good baker and can make cakes and cookies myself. On average, a slice of cake in London costs £5. In contrast, the London living wage is currently £13.15, but not many companies really pay that; £11.95 per hour is more common. The national minimum, on the other hand, is £10.42 an hour for people who are over 22, and it’s going up on the 1st of April to £11.44. So, if you pay £5 for a slice of cake, that is about half of your hourly wage. And, for under £10, you can bake one whole cake, which is a great skill to have and also a fantastic gift.
• Baked goods at M&S for the kids – every trip to the local M&S costs me at least £5.
• Ready-made meals during the week – I hardly ever do it, but I got into the habit of buying ready-made food every time I go to the office, which, at the moment, is once a week. That one visit usually costs me about £10, so in total, about £400 a year.
• I would like to cancel at least one of the subscription services: Netflix, Disney+, or Amazon. I’m not yet sure how feasible that is with two kids at home.
• Books – I have a ton that I still need to read, and I’m planning to utilise my lovely local library.
• Random stuff under £5, and that includes charity shops – I’m sticking to my list of items I need/want for the flat.
• Kids’ magazines or hair accessories for my daughter – she already has way too many of those. An exception might be when I go away and promise to buy her a gift.
• Birthday or Christmas cards – I can make them myself.
• Alcohol – we hardly ever drink anyway, but I consciously do not bring any alcohol to my house.
• Tonic water – I like it, but it is not sustainable in the long run.
• Sweets on sale – I realised I mostly buy them not because I need to, but just because they’re on sale, and I don’t even like sweets (I love baked goodies).
• Single-use items.

Now, a rather shorter list of what I am planning to buy in 2024:

• Second-hand items only – if I need them or if they’re on my list of items to buy for the flat. I have a list of things I would like to buy for the flat and my garden, but I will try to source as many as possible second-hand. I know it will be more time-consuming, but I’m really tired of working only to see that money go out of my account.
• Candles, but only when I run out – for now, I have a hefty supply.
• Seeds and items to reorganise my balcony garden to make it more functional.
• Experiences as long as the prices are reasonable – a lot of the live concerts and even art exhibitions have become unaffordable in the UK. Often, entry tickets for a family of four cost just silly amounts (£100 is average), and that is usually without travelling costs, not to mention getting food and drinks (kids are always hungry and thirsty).

This is my financial adjustment plan for 2024. I think at times in 2023, I wasn’t frugal enough. How my plant will work out, we shall see. But what I know, and I’m really conscious of, is working so hard only to have little money left at the end of the day because I was unconsciously spending it. Time is the only commodity we can’t have more of. So, we all need to be very careful with the time we have left. 100% perfection isn’t possible, but even if I’m good 60-70% of the time, I will be able to save and invest more and possibly finally visit one of those distant places on my bucket list.

I hope you have made or are going to make your personal list, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that you stick to it and your financial goals in 2024 as much as possible.

PS. I’m #MadeByDyslexia – expect big thinking & small typos.