If you are in need of some fast cash, spent way too much recently and need to recover or are looking to jumpstart your savings, you need to do a no spend challenge. There are lots of different ways to do no spend challenges, but you can definitely tailor it to fit your life and your needs.
No spend challenges can seem a bit redundant for those of us strict budgeters. Is there actually a difference between living on a tight budget and a no spend challenge? Absolutely!
When you budget, even if you are budgeting very strictly, you are still spending money on some variable expenses like toiletries, coffee, cosmetics, clothing, etc. During a no spend challenge, you cut all of the variable expenses that you can.
It’s an extreme budget for a limited amount of time.
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Why would someone do a no spend challenge?
Initially, a no spend challenge sounded like a form of torture to me. But, after learning more about it, I realized there are actually some amazing benefits from doing one that goes beyond money.
A no spend challenge is a great way to focus for a period of time to help you save a chunk of change. This can be used to:
- Jumpstart an emergency fund
- Pay off debt faster
- Reset your finances after the holiday season
- Fund a purchase you would like to make (vacation, car, saving for baby)
In addition to the money saving aspect, a no spend challenge will also teach you about simplicity. You will be stretched out of your comfort zone to get a little creative, a little resourceful and a little minimalist during the no spend time period.
It’s almost good for the soul to not spend money and use what you have instead of buying new. You will develop the willpower to do these things because it is only for a finite amount of time. There will be an ending. This can help train you to become more frugal in your everyday life where there isn’t an “end date.”
How long is a typical no spend challenge?
This is the awesome part, you get to decide how long you want to do this for! There is no right or wrong when it comes to the duration of your choice to not spend money. It is whatever works for you and fits with the goal you are trying to accomplish.
A common length for a no spend challenge:
- One day
- One week
- One month
Less common lengths for a no spend challenge:
- 3-6 months
- One year
How long you want to do this is really up to you! I recommend starting small at first and working your way up to longer periods of time. Unless you have the willpower of a saint, it may be a bit much to jump straight into a month of this in the beginning.
One week seems to be the sweet spot when you are just starting out. Anyone can do anything for one week, right? This will help you learn how to not spend money and also, what you would need to keep in mind/prepare for if you amp it up to a month of no spending.
What money can be spent during a no spend challenge?
During a no spend challenge, you can create your own rules of what you can and cannot spend money on. If you want to save some serious money though, you really should only be purchasing essentials.
Obviously, you will have to spend money on your fixed monthly expenses (mortgage/rent, utilities, insurance, debt payments). Then you should also figure out what variable expenses you will keep.
Expenses to keep (all of your “needs”):
- Groceries – you may allow dairy and produce purchases throughout you no spend period
- Gas – you may put a limit on it to really challenge yourself, but you have to get to work, right?!
- Doctor appointments – you may want to keep them on the schedule if they were difficult to book
- Childcare costs – if your kids are in daily care, you won’t be able to cut this. If you use a sitter for lots of date nights, you can definitely cut this!
- Events – If a party/wedding/shower had already been planned, just prepare for the cost, but try to keep it as low as possible. If you are hardcore, you can back out of this altogether.
Expenses to ditch (all of your “wants”):
- Utilities – honestly, if you can cut cable, downgrade your internet speed, find a new cellphone provider for less, you may be able to cut down your utilities cost……and it isn’t a bad thing to keep the change permanent.
- Restaurants/eating out
- Clothes
- Non-essential food items – cut coffee, treats (cookies, candies), use our $100 meal plan for a month of meals to really cut your food budget!
- Toiletries – obviously toilet paper is a must, but can you hold off on other things for a week? A month?
- Cosmetics
- Haircuts/salon visits
- Entertainment – find free things to do.
- Pets – hold off on buying any chew toys for a bit.
Even if you are already living on a tight budget, there are things you can still take away for a period of time to really ramp up the savings.
How should someone prepare for a no spend challenge?
When you are getting ready for a no spend challenge, the number one thing I do not want you to do is “stock-up” in preparation.
What I mean by this is do not go out and load up on toiletries, cosmetics, desserts, clothes, etc. You are to continue living like you have been up to the point of your no spend challenge. Otherwise, you will end up spending the money you save during your no spend challenge before it even starts.
Do you see what I mean? It will just give the illusion as if you did a no spend week or month, but in actuality, you already went above your normal budget and spent the money prior to the no spend time period. Do not do this.
Continue to live like you usually do and do not “stock up” for your no spend challenge.
What I do want you to do is think about what is going to be the biggest challenge for you. What will be your weakness? Where are you really going to feel like you are suffering in life if you are not spending money?
Example #1. I really feel like I’m suffering if I don’t have treats in the house. I would prepare for this weakness by showing myself I have the ingredients to make cookies if I really need to. I have a bag of chocolate chips if I really need a chocolate fix. I have options and I will make it.
Example #2. My husband really likes to order out for pizza on Fridays. He will feel like he is suffering if we can’t do that. He would prepare for that by knowing we have frozen pizzas we can jazz up on our own to make it feel more like delivery. He will still have pizza and life will be okay.
Example #3. My family feels “cooped up” if we aren’t out and about doing something on the weekends. Instead of going to paid activities, I would research free activities prior to our challenge, put them on the schedule and start talking to our kids about them to get everyone excited about it.
If you know you are going to feel tempted to cheat, develop a strategy to help keep you on track. This may mean you:
- Have an accountability partner
- Keep motivational quotes around you
- Have your “Big Why” or reason for doing this posted somewhere visible as inspiration
- Have a list of goals you want to accomplish with this money to remind you why you are doing this
- Keep track of the money you are saving to keep you inspired!
It is so so important to remember this no spend challenge is not your life forever. This is just a moment in time of brief financial fasting to HELP accomplish your goals even faster. The no spend challenge is there to support you on your financial journey. It is not trying to torture you.
The best trick for sticking to a no spend challenge.
Throughout a no spend challenge you are definitely going to run into temptation and moments of weakness and exhaustion. That’s just life. If you do this one thing, it may just be the difference between big savings and a blown challenge.
Keep a list.
During your no spend challenge, keep a list of things you think you need to have, but can’t purchase at that time. It can be the smallest thing or a big item. If you think you need it, put it on the list.
This will serve three purposes:
- You won’t forget what you need.
- You will immediately feel less suffering and less tempted to buy it during your challenge.
- You can assess how you are living your life after the challenge.
The list will be a safe place for you to write down all the expenses you would like to have or think you need to have during the challenge. Then when it’s done, you can go back to your list and decide what to do with it.
This is kind of the fun part where get to learn more about yourself. You can see what things you really “need” versus stuff you just think you need, but could actually get by without.
When you look at that whole list, you will start to see where your priorities are in your spending. Maybe you spend more than you realized on toiletries (you just can’t say no to a Mrs.Meyer’s product that smells so good, or the 6 new Febreze scents they just released for the season).
Or, maybe you are more focused on your appearance than you knew (you are dying to go to the salon for a mani/pedi, get your brows done, see what new products they have, get your roots touched up, etc.). This may help put your spending in perspective and help you make adjustments long term.
The most important thing not to do after a no spend challenge.
Alright, you survived your challenge! You are feeling amazing! You took all that money you saved and you want to use it for what your goal was, but you have so much stuff you need to go get that you are dying without!
What do you do?
Girl! You just put yourself through a challenge to accomplish a goal. Do it!
The number one thing I do not want you to do after a no spend challenge is to spend the money making up for what you didn’t have during the challenge. That makes no sense!!
Use the money for what it was intended for. Then ease back into your normal life and spending (cut costs in some areas if you learned about yourself during the challenge and want to adjust some things).
Do not go nuts and spend tons of money to compensate for the financial fasting you just did. That makes no sense. It would be like going on a diet for a week, doing it perfectly, losing 5 lbs., and then binging on 8 boxes of Thin Mints the very next day. So dumb.
When you go from a no spend challenge back to real life spending, you are not going to feel deprived. If you have 5 items you really believe you have to have, just spread them out over the course of weeks to not hit yourself with a huge cost right after all the hard work you have just done.
Do not waste all the money you saved on things you don’t actually have to have.
Is there a way to track progress?
Absolutely! Use our free No Spend Challenge Worksheet to keep track of the days you are doing this, the money saved and your list of needs during that time. Take it a day at a time, and remember this is not a permanent change. You can do anything for a day, a week, or a month.
I believe you can do this and it will jumpstart your savings for whatever goal you have.
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My no-spend challenge is the last week of the month. Here is what has helped me.
At the first of the month, I put a couple hundred dollars into savings. My thought is that if something urgent comes up, I could move it back into checking. Then I budget for all four weeks of the month with the rest of what was in my checking account.
At the end of the month, I move what is left from checking into my savings account. What helped with this is that I would budget for the entire month, but in reality I did my spending for monthly bills takes place in weeks 1-3. The money I budgeted for the last week then goes into the savings account.
I try to shop in my pantry and freezer that last week. I’m careful with trips that week, so I don’t have to buy gas. It is a week of trying to save the money I budgeted for groceries, gasoline, and anything else I might spend money on the last week of the month. The money I didn’t spend is still in my checking account, then I move it into my savings account the last day of the month (I get paid on the first).
I like how you warn about not over spending after the no-spend challenge is over. The first week of the month is not catch-up spending. It is the regular allocated money assigned to the first payday of the month which for me is on the first day of the month.
I make my budget for the four weeks of the month. I arrange for the monthly bills to be paid in the first three weeks, and also budget for groceries, gasoline and any other nonessential items for the fourth week. I make a list of everything that is bimonthly, biannual, yearly, etc., even birthdays. I make a template for each month including the monthly bills and adjust for seasonal amounts i.e. heating and cooling. Add into the appropriate month bills that come due biannually, semiannually, annually, etc. Now I can see my money for a year in advance. Once this first year is set up, you can copy and paste it into the next year’s budget and make adjustments from things you learned during the first year.