In this post, I discuss important tips for a successful no spend month. Our family just finished one and, although there were some big challenges, it was a great learning experience.

I spent the month of January, along with my friend and fellow blogger Shannon Torrens, focusing on not buying anything new. It was a logical step to take, while we work on decluttering our rental house – in preparation for our big move. Later in this article, I will give an update on how our month went. First though, I want to encourage you if you are thinking of doing a no spend month for yourself.

 

TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL NO SPEND MONTH

Before you embark on your own no spend month, I recommend that you take into account the following tips.

 

CHART YOUR TYPICAL EXPENSES

Whether you budget or not, it is going to be important to have an idea about how much you spend in a typical month. This information will be especially helpful at the end of the month, to see how much you saved. Knowing that you are saving money might give you a boost of motivation.

In a future post, I will discuss how our family does budgeting using the free app Everydollar. Most of our budget categories don’t change, dollar wise, from month to month. The four categories that are the most variable for our family include: auto/gas, groceries, restaurant, and miscellaneous. Because of this, we chose to chart the expenses for these four categories before going into our no spend month – with the hope that we would see some savings.

 

 

SET THE RULES

It is unlikely that anyone’s ‘no spend month’ actually means not spending a single cent. That would be basically impossible. Rent needs to be paid, utilities have to be kept up to date. And, of course, you and your family are going to need to eat. The great news is that you can make up your own rules for a no spend month.

Our rules were pretty simple. You can read about them in this post. Essentially, our main goal was to bring nothing NEW into our home. That meant that we were free to spend money on food and restaurants, if we chose. It also meant that consumable items, such as shampoo and toilet paper, could be purchased.

 

START WITH AN OPEN MIND

Knowing that you COULD be purchasing something, yet holding back, can be a difficult thing to do. For that reason, I recommend that you think about this month as a learning experience above anything else. An experience that will help you understand your buying patterns.

If you start the month simply thinking about all the restrictions that lay ahead, you may find yourself more frustrated than you need to be.

Likewise, it is important to note that things won’t go perfectly as planned. If unexpected purchases arise that you simply can’t avoid, or if you slip up and buy something that you weren’t supposed to, don’t despair. Know that one false move shouldn’t derail the entire plan. In those instances, be prepared to pick yourself up and start again. This is where having an accountability partner is key. They can help you stay on the path to success. Shannon was mine, and it was great to take on the challenge together.

 

OUR NO SPEND MONTH

As I mentioned earlier, during the month of January, our family worked hard to not spend any money – specifically on any new THING. There were a few hiccups along the way, but ultimately we learned a lot of useful information about our spending habits.

 

 

WHAT WENT WRONG

Starting this challenge on the first of January seemed to be a logical choice. With Christmas over, we knew that our expenses would probably be down. In addition, the start of the new year gave us an extra boost of motivation.

Unfortunately, the month of January also brought with it severely cold weather to Minnesota, where we live. And it just so happens that only two days into the challenge, the battery in one of our vans was found dead when we went to start it. Ironically, two weeks later our other van’s battery also needed replacing. In total, we ended up spending over three hundred dollars on replacements.

Though it wasn’t fun dealing with those unexpected expenses, the batteries were indeed necessary. And delaying the purchase of them was not an option.

I also had a minor purchase slip up. A friend of mine started selling handmade watercolor paintings, and I purchased one for the girl’s bedroom. It wasn’t until after I sent her the money that I remembered that this would be considered a breech of the rules. Thankfully, she was kind and told me she would hold onto the art piece until the challenge was over – as not to add an extra item to the house.

 

 

WHAT WENT RIGHT

From the start of the month, we kept a record of any item that was a potential purchase. It was our intent that we would keep the list, to make the purchases in February. Interestingly though, quite a few of those items ended up getting crossed out. We either realized we didn’t actually need them, or found something similar that could be used in it’s place!

 

We were very careful to stay out of the stores. I actually think that is one of the biggest keys to success during a no spend month. I typically have a habit of going into one of the big box stores for one of two consumable products, and then becoming distracted. Suddenly, I find myself leaving the store with quite a few unnecessary items. During the month of January, I am happy to report that I did not enter Target a single time – and Walmart only once!

 

Even the kids got in on the action. They had received gift cards from family at Christmas. While normally they would be begging us to take them to the stores, this time they were much more patient. They recognized that we were holding off on making purchases and figured they could too.

In fact, when the month was up we went into the stores to do a little window shopping. Only one of our five kids ended up making a purchase. The rest decided to save the money for something they really want. It made us happy to know that the no spend month was a great learning experience for them as well.

 

THE BOTTOM LINE

If you have read this far you may be asking yourself one question. How much money did you save? Because we tracked all of our expenses, I am able to break that all down for you!

Essentially, we were looking at our four most variable categories: auto, groceries, restaurants, and miscellaneous. Here are the details on how the month of January compared to an average of the three previous months (December, November and October).

 

AUTO

As mentioned earlier, this budget item was most affected. Those two car batteries were large ticket items we definitely weren’t looking at spending money on.

Auto budget average over past 3 months: $202. Amount spent in auto budget during January: $468

That means that we overspent in this category by about $266. A bummer, yes. But like I mentioned, they were necessary purchases. The good news is that the batteries are high quality, and should last for quite a while.

 

GROCERIES

Our grocery amount stayed pretty consistent throughout the no spend month. One thing I did try to do was use up pantry items and canned goods. In the end, we were ahead in this category only slightly.

Grocery budget average over past 3 months: $815. Amount spent on groceries during January: $790.

A tiny savings of $25 in this category.

 

RESTAURANTS

Because we have a large family, we tend not to eat out very often. It is just too expensive. One meal out can be over one hundred dollars easily. That being said, we do enjoy the occasional treat night out and do keep a line item in our budget for restaurant expenses.

Restaurant budget average over past 3 months: $146. Amount spent on restaurant food in January: $130

Another tiny savings of $16.

 

MISCELLANEOUS

This is the meat and potatoes portion of this challenge. Where the other categories do not typically involve ITEMS to purchase, this category has a lot of wiggle room. The miscellaneous budget includes toiletries, clothing, kid field trips, and a whole slew of other things. It is the category that has the most grey area, and the budget item that gets the most abuse each month if we aren’t careful. It is easy to overspend in miscellaneous.

I was happy to see that making more intentional purchases really made a difference in this category during our no spend month.

Miscellaneous budget average over past 3 months: $890. Amount spent on miscellaneous items in January: $330.

That is a HUGE savings of $560!

 

With all the categories added together, we ended up saving $335 during January, simply be being more mindful of our purchases. In our household, that is a big chunk of change!

 

GOING FORWARD

We had friends who wondered if taking on a no spend month would simply result in a spending binge directly afterwards. In effect, erasing any progress that was made.

At fifteen days post challenge, I have definitely seen a more relaxed feeling around spending. However, our resolve to be more intentional is still going strong. We were never looking at this experiment as being a one and done event. Rather, we felt that the no spend month could be a jump start to a life long habit. As with any new habit, it will take a while to figure out what works best for us.

We will continue to keep a list of potential purchases, and waiting a few days or even a few weeks before committing to them. I also plan to be careful about sticking to the shopping list when entering those big box stores!

 

PIN THESE NO SPEND MONTH TIPS

If trying out a no spend month is something you are interested in, be sure to save these tips! I definitely encourage you to give it a try!