Have you ever thought “I am really struggling with saving money!”? Do you continually look at your bank balance each month and realize that you haven’t saved $100, let alone $10 after covering all your expenses? If this resonates with you, you definitely aren’t alone. The no spend month is an ideal solution to this problem.
Millions of people with decent incomes across the globe are struggling to save money at the end of the month. Just because you are making a liveable income doesn’t automatically mean you’ll save money after you’ve covered all your expenses. Why? It’s so easy to let those dollar bills slip out of your pocket. Society has trained us to be consumers – spenders of our hard-earned cash.
While it’s ultimately up to you with regards to how much money leaves your pocket each month, you aren’t entirely to blame for a spend-heavy culture. Every day, we are bombarded with thousands of advertisements, telling us we need to buy the newest iPhone model, top-of-the-line pair of shoes or the latest fashion trends.
While we can’t control the myriad of sellers trying to take our dollars, we can start creating positive financial planning habits and saving money. There are so many things to save up for. Whether you need to replace your stove or get your car repaired, the no spend can help you work towards short term financial goals and set positive habits for life.
Don’t know where to get started? Not to worry. The no spend challenge is an excellent way to save money month over month.
Read on to learn about the no spend month.
How Does a No Spend Month Work?
The no spend month is as simple as it sounds: don’t spend money on unnecessary purchases for an entire month. Does this mean that you’ll cut out spending altogether? Definitely not! You still need to pay for essentials: food, gas and utilities. The no spend month is a simple way of cutting out spending on anything you don’t need to survive.
Before you set sail on your no spend challenge, you’ll want to determine what exactly you spend your disposable income on.
One way to avoid spending the money you would normally on unnecessary purchases? Determine the cost of each item you spend money on that you normally don’t. This includes coffee, takeout and clothing you don’t need. Each day, set aside the money you would normally spend and put it in a jar. Alternatively, transfer a weekly amount to a separate bank account.
When Can I Participate in the No Spend Month?
If you decide to participate in the no spend month, try to choose a time where you won’t have a lot of one-off purchases. For example, avoid times like the Christmas season. There are so many temptations to spend money unnecessarily. Choose a month when you know you will be less tempted by holiday distractions!
Another way to keep motivated and on track with the no spend challenge is to pick a specific month where you do not spend money. The No Spend January challenge is a popular alternative to a generic no spend month.
The No Spend January is an excellent way to kickstart good habits for the new year. As one year comes to a close and another begins, many of us want a fresh start with our lives. The new year is an opportunity to reflect on our behaviors and mannerisms over the past year – including our spending.
Alternatively, No Spend November has been quite popular in the recent past. As the holiday season approaches, the No Spend November challenge will get you into good saving habits before the consumer craziness of December. Give it a try.
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How To Plan a No Spend Month
Understand Your Saving and Spending Habits
To participate in the no spend month challenge, the first step is to assess how well you did financially in the last 3 months. You’ll need a printer, paper, highlighter (2 colors) and pen for this task.
Take Inventory of Your Spending Habits
Once you have the aforementioned supplies handy, you’ll first need to take inventory of your bank statements. Log into your bank account and go to your monthly statements. If you’re participating in the challenge in May 2023, you’ll print out your January, February and March statements. I don’t recommend waiting for your April statement – often, by the time you receive it, the next month has already started.
While it might be more accurate to print out each monthly statement for the last year and find out how much you spent each month (12 total), the process is quite time-consuming. The last 3 months should give you a good idea of your habits.
Next, for each month, go through each statement and take inventory of:
- Your necessary spending i.e. rent, utilities, groceries
- Your ‘fun’ spending i.e. movie tickets, entertainment and travel
Take one colored highlighter and mark all of the necessary spending you did in each month. Next, do the same for ‘fun’ spending with the other colored highlighter.
Once you’ve highlighted everything, take a calculator and add up all of the purchases in each category.
Finally, take a look at your statements and determine how much you spent on ‘fun’ each month. Next, determine the average of the last 3 months of how much you spent on ‘fun,’ discretionary items each month. The average amount of your ‘fun’ spending will be your goal of how much you’ll save during the no spend month, as you’ll be forgoing all unnecessary purchases during this period.
Example: Spending From the Last 3 Months
For example, let’s say you spent the following on ‘fun’ over the past 3 months:
- $1000 in January
- $1500 in February
- $1500 in March
1000 + 1500 + 1500 = 4000 / $1333.33
Therefore, you’ll want to try and save around $1300 during the no spend challenge in May.
Going through your statements might take a while, so don’t be afraid to take a break in between. Grab a coffee or tea, or go for a quick stroll around your neighborhood to clear the cobwebs in your brain that might be forming. Detailed tasks like this take a lot of brainpower. Don’t burn yourself out in the process!
Setting Realistic Goals
Let’s be honest – if you’ve never consistently saved money, suddenly going full throttle with ‘no-spend’ can be a huge challenge. If suddenly cutting down on absolutely everything that isn’t necessary to survive in life is too daunting and overwhelming, start small!
Choose a No-Spend Category
You can choose a category to do a no spend month on. Choose from different ‘fun’ categories you might be spending your hard-earned cash on, including:
- Takeout – how many times per month do you order from your favorite Chinese restaurant or pizza place? It’s so easy to hit the ‘order’ button after a long week at work. Takeout can eat up (pun intended) a huge portion of your monthly budget. Before you know it, hundreds of dollars are gone. Instead of takeout, buy some specialty grocery items and prepare a gourmet meal at home! For your regular work week, do meal prep. Your future self (and your bank account!) will thank you.
- Coffee – going through the drivethrough for your daily Starbucks latte? While I won’t get started with a discussion on the latte factor, a $6 daily dose of speciality caffeine can really sink your savings potential.
- Alcohol – how much are you spending on beer or liquor per month? Alcohol is one of the top unnecessary purchases that millions of us make. It also has next to no nutritional value. Cut down on alcohol purchases and buff up your bank account.
- Subscriptions – take inventory of your recurring bill payments. How often do you use Netflix? Do you really need five streaming subscriptions? If completely forgoing takeout, coffee or alcohol for a month is too much, cutting out subscriptions may be a great way to get started with the no spend month. Need entertainment? Check out your local library. Most libraries these days not only have books and ebooks, but they have access to movies, podcasts and music. Take advantage of the resources you have in your community!
How to Do a No Spend Month
After going through the list, make another list of all of the necessary purchases you need to make to survive. For example, you need food, clothing and shelter to survive. As much as it might be nice to do, you can’t just forgo paying rent! This will help you determine what exactly you need to survive.
Logging Your Progress
When the month begins, keep a log of what you spent money on and how much each item cost. Make a note confirming that each purchase was – or wasn’t – necessary. If you slip up, give yourself some grace! The no spend challenge isn’t for the faint of heart. Give yourself a pat on the back for starting this journey.
While the no spend month isn’t easy and you may slip up, don’t get off track. There are many ways to keep you motivated with hitting your goals.
How Do I Stay Motivated With the No Spend Month?
To keep motivated, keep a daily log of your thoughts in a notebook or journal. At the end of each day, write down how you felt after going to the store. Are you happy you saved that $50 on that shirt you were eyeing, or just frustrated? Why are you participating in the no spend challenge in the first place? Keeping a daily log of how you’re spending money wisely will help you reach your short term financial goals and successfully complete the no spend month.
Why Use a Journal?
Journals not only help you keep on track with your spending, but they’ll also help you create a positive mindset. After a few days or weeks, you’ll be able to look back on your writing and see how much you’ve progressed. By taking on the no spend challenge, you’ll be more motivated to stick to your no spend month rules.
Keep motivated by logging your progress in a journal.
Decide on a Large Splurge to Stay Motivated
Another way to keep on track with the no spend month is to decide on a larger-ticket item that you’ll buy after you’ve saved a significant amount of money. Maybe you’ve been dreaming of going to Europe, but you haven’t been able to save up the money. If you’re not sure what you want spend your money on, make a list things to save for. Narrow down the list and eventually choose one item that you value the most. Don’t rush – take your time. Enjoy the process!
Get Your Friends and Family Involved
Finally, don’t go at the no spend month alone. Why not get family or friends involved? When you do the challenge with someone else (or a group of others), you’ll be more likely to achieve your goals. Why? Having an accountability partner will motivate you. You’ll be updating each other on your progress. What’s more is that once you’ve successfully completed the challenge, you can all celebrate together! Each week, take 5 or 10 minutes each week with your family before or after dinner to discuss your progress. If you’re working on the challenge with friends, meet up once a week for coffee to talk about how far you’ve come.
Share your progress with your family or friends each week over dinner or coffee!
Why Is a No Spend Month a Great Idea?
While this method isn’t the best long-term way to save money, it’s a great way to save in the short-term. You can take the money you’ve saved and enjoy it for a weekend getaway, trip to the movies or a trip to the mall for some new shoes!
Once you’ve successfully completed the no spend month, make a note to treat yourself to something small. Why not order in some takeout or go to an amusement park with your family? The no spend month is a challenge, so reward yourself for everything you’ve worked towards.
Limitations of the No Spend Month
While the no spend month is a great way to work towards short term financial goals and work towards a life of spending money wisely, it’s generally unsustainable to keep this challenge up. Why? Extreme frugal living, like completely cutting out discretionary spending can cause some people to rebound and stop saving at all. What’s more is that it’s not an enjoyable way to live life. The entire point of saving money is to enjoy your life both now and in the future. While there’s some upfront work involved in saving money and choosing things to save up for, don’t be afraid of spending money. There is a difference between being frugal vs cheap. When you are cheap, you avoid spending money at all and only focus on pinching pennies. That’s no fun – enjoy your life!
While it’s generally unsustainable to completely cut out spending on unnecessary purchases, a 30 day no spend challenge is a great way to work towards longer-term financial goals and creatively save money. Once you’ve successfully completed the no spend challenge, you’ll be inspired to try new creative savings methods.
Conclusion – No Spend Month
If you’re looking for a great way to get started with your financial goals this year or simply kickstart long-term, sustainable savings habits, the no spend month is a solid way to go. Start slow, take your time and celebrate your progress. Making and saving money should be a fun challenge. Enjoy it!
If you’re looking for other creative ways to save money, take a look at the 30 30 30 10 budgeting strategy, Frugal Friday one-day challenge, penny savings challenge or printable 52 week money challenge.
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Janita is a frugal living expert and owner of Frugal Fun Finance. With over five years of personal experience finding and trying out the best ways to make and save more money, she's eager to share her knowledge. Janita's strategies have helped her save thousands of dollars for funding investments and traveling to over 20 countries.
Janita completed training in personal finance at The University of Western Ontario and McGill University, two prestigious Canadian universities. Her expertise has been shared on GoBankingRates, Yahoo Finance, and NASDAQ.com.
