Some of you may have seen in my monthly tracker post and in my planner set-up video that I participated in a ‘no spend’ challenge. I know a lot of people are confused as to what it is and how it works, so I thought a quick post might clear things up.
The basic premise is that you don’t spend money for a set amount of time (usually a month). It’s a great idea if you’re trying to save/get out of debt/curb your spending. Or if you’re a total control freak like me who just wants to know where all those cents are sloping off to.
Obviously there are exceptions, but they differ from person to person so I’ll list my exceptions in the hope that it might help you if you’re considering doing something similar. (Note that I don’t consider it spending if I use a gift card or my PayPal balance to cover the cost… or if I use my husband’s credit card. 😉 )
My exceptions to the ‘no spend’ rule include:
- food (grocery shopping but NOT snacks that I might buy in the local shop like muffins, sweets, crisps, or anything from the deli counter, etc.);
- toiletries (like shampoo, toothpaste, mouthwash, etc.);
- bills;
- mortgage payments;
- petrol;
- insurance; and
- medical expenses.
As far as I’m concerned, all those things are necessities. You might have extra “necessities”. For some people, a weekly blow-dry is essential. For others, it’ll be some new stationery. [*cough*]
Other exceptions you could have include payment for appointments or trips during the ‘no spend’ month that were booked before you started the challenge, gifts, coffee with friends, newspapers/magazines, or anything under a certain amount (e.g. €5).
And some people base their ‘no spend’ purely on one category. So, for instance, someone might refrain from buying any new planners for a whole month. Just a random example off the top of my head… Ahem.
For me, a strict ‘no spend’ is too inflexible, so I’m open to bending the rules a little. If I spot something that I really want, it’s relatively inexpensive and I have the money for it, I don’t deprive myself. I don’t consider the month a failure if I spent money on a handful of days. The idea is to make you more conscious of your spending habits and to force yourself to question what’s important to you and what’s just adding to the clutter in your home and the hole in your finances.
I often see people “stocking up” right before a ‘no spend’ month by ordering a huge amount of things online so that they have the deliveries to look forward to and don’t feel quite so deprived. There are also those who binge buy as soon as the challenge is over. For me, spending all that extra money defeats the purpose.
There will always be some grey areas, and that’s OK. I spent a few minutes agonising over whether or not €2 spent on parking while I got some grocery shopping would count against me. In the end, I decided that it did, but I was probably overly harsh on myself there. (My reasoning was that I could have walked to the store, even though it was a 20 minute walk each way in the cold while pushing Scout in her stroller.)
There’s also the chance that an unforeseen or emergency situation will arise — your kid will need a trip to A&E after some unfortunate incident, your dog will decide that the couch looks delicious, or your husband will try to “help” with the housework and untold damage will be done (mainly to your sanity).
The point is that it’s whatever you make of it… as long as you’re retaining the “challenge” element. (If my exceptions included clothes and stationery, I’d be laughing… all the way to the poor house.) As long as you’re being honest with yourself about what you consider to be important to you and what’s just frivolous spending, you’re good to go.
So whatcha reckon? Up for the challenge?
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