It’s time for a brand new Tenner Week Challenge! I’m going to be doing some extreme budgeting for the next seven days, keeping personal spending below £10, and I hope you can join me. The full Tenner Week rules are here if you want all the details, or you just want to refresh your memory.

It’s a great way to take a break from spending and improve your money situation, and this time around the theme is ‘Spring clean your finances‘, which should help even more. As always there’s something new to try every day in the form of a quick or simple activity to keep things fresh.

Tenner Week Feb 2020 Schedule

• Sunday: Sunday Stocktake activity (optional, see below)
• Monday: Financial filing
• Tuesday: Where does all my money go?
• Wednesday: A quick look down the back of the sofa
• Thursday: Debts (or assets)
• Friday: Fun with freebies
• Saturday: Find a better deal
• Sunday: A simple plan

Sunday Stocktake

This is a completely optional activity, but I’ve found over the years that it only takes a few minutes to complete and it can be a great help with the budgeting. All you need to do is have a good look around your home to see what’s already available to you right now. You can even think of it as an exercise in gratitude – you may not realise how much you already have, and it’s usually a reassuring reminder.

Start with your food and drink. What do you have in the house? Make a note of everything, including the contents of:

• Fridge and freezer
• Cupboards
• Bread bin
• Worktop canisters
• Tea caddy
• Biscuit box or jar
• Secret chocolate stash
• Fruit bowl
• Baking box
• Garage or shed
• Wine rack
• Windowsill herbs
• Kitchen garden or allotment
• … etc

You might want to freeze one or two things, such as milk or bread, so that you have some left to use towards the end of the week.

If you have time, you might also like to make a quick menu for the week, making sure that you use up perishable ingredients before they have the chance to go off. After all, this challenge isn’t just about saving money, it’s always been about preventing waste and making the most of what you have.

Other things you might like to take stock of:

• Entertainment: subscriptions, downloads, books, library cards, what’s on Freeview, art materials, anything to do with hobbies, etc
• Mending: DIY equipment and materials, sewing stuff, and so on
• Storage: Files, folders, boxes, dividers, bags, racks, jars

All these are handy for keeping busy and simply enjoying everyday life.

That’s it for today, see you tomorrow for Day 1 of the new Tenner Week Challenge!