We’re a week into our September No-Spend Month Challenge! I hope it’s going as well for you as it’s going for us. If you’re struggling, don’t beat yourself up! Feel free to make adjustments to your rules if you need to. Of course your no-spend challenge is supposed to be a challenge, but it still needs to be do-able and something that you’re excited about. Feel free to share your experience (and encourage others) in the comments!
When I told Mr. SixFiguresUnder I was going to post every weekday in September, I explained my plan was to have Tuesday and Thursday posts directly related to the no-spend challenge with normal Monday, Wednesday and Friday posts. When I told him we would have a check-in each Tuesday, he wondered what it could say. Since our goal is to not do something, if we’re doing well, what would there be to talk about?
He had a point. It would be pretty boring to just announce that the challenge is going as planned and we have nothing to report.
Fortunately we have plenty of other things to talk about. Here are some ideas:
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How did you do? Did you follow your rules?
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What were your biggest temptations?
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What have you learned so far?
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What are you going to do differently next week?
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What ways did you save money this week?
I’ll go first:
In some ways I feel like I have an unfair advantage when it comes to no-spend months. While living in the boonies has some drawbacks (have you seen our gas budget?!), there are some definite benefits when it comes to cutting down your spending. Of course I could make online purchases, but it’s easy to stay away from the actual temptation of going to the store.
That being said, I actually did go into several stores this week. The one exception I included in our no-spend rules was that I would be buying running shoes for my oldest. While our van in the shop I walked with my younger two to several stores nearby. Since my oldest wasn’t with us, I bought seven pairs of shoes to bring home and let her try on. I will be bringing six pairs back to the store the next time I’m in town.
While I was in the store, I have to admit that it was hard to not look around. Really hard. I didn’t let myself look though, because I was afraid I would find something great.
Another habit I had to break was looking at deal emails. I am not even letting myself open them as I know that they would be a temptation. Whatever great deal with free shipping is going on is something I can do without. By not opening the emails, I don’t know what I’m missing and that works best for me.
How Did You Do?
In the comments, feel free to share how you did this week by answering any or all of the questions above.
Out of 9 days, I’ve had 5 when I didn’t spend anything!
However, I unexpectedly went to an out-of-town wake, making a $50 donation in memory of the person and spending $35 on dinner. The dinner was for two people as a thank you to my friend for hosting me on a work night without a lot of notice. I don’t regret spending the money, but it was $85 I hadn’t planned on.
I so agree with everyone else about avoiding shopping temptations – staying out of stores and not reading the sale info!
We are really going to struggle to stay within our $400 grocery budget this month. I’ve had no other temptations, like you, I try to cut them off at the pass. (I got a Kohl’s flyer in the mail today for 15, 20, or 30% off and I didn’t even pull the sticker back. It went right into the recycle bin!) I paid for school pictures this month with money we had budgeted in August to pay for it.
It is only the 9th of the month and we have already spent $314 our our $400 budget. I had to buy some things we rarely have to buy: garlic salt, foil, dog food, etc. and those things really cut into our food budget.
I have already planned and shopped for all my dinners for the month, meat included. For the rest of the month I can spend about $28 per week. We’ll see if we can make it!
Well, we just got back from a romantic getaway without the kids. I have to say, we didn’t do perfect but pretty darn good. We took our own cooler and ate most meals out of it. We had quaint little picnics as we were in a scenic location. We took our own drinks and kept our cooler with us with some ice in it at all times. We even lucked up on one place we visited giving out free BBQ plates! We searched before we left and purchased tickets for a show we wanted to see in advance. I highly recommend doing this because after you get to your destination seats may be sold out, it takes time away from the trip, and you are more likely to splurge if you are already there. Another tip, though hard for some, is drive at night. Traffic is minimal, so no gas guzzling stop and go traffic. It’s easier on your vehicle and you may can skip the a/c because it’s cooler. Also, if you take the kids they may sleep the whole way.We were much more frugal because of the no spend challenge and the 2 times we did eat out were planned into our budget. Thanks for helping us keep some money in our pockets!
Well, I did pretty well for my first week. We over extended ourselves at the end of last month so had to make up for that when we got paid on the 31st. So we started off badly. I had to juggle some bills and I vowed not to spend other than the food budget, bills and gas. No looking at my Brads Deals emails or any other great deals emails I get everyday. To avoid going to Walmart to pick up the things I needed but also getting other things I always seem to find when there, I went online and ordered from Walmart.com. I was able to find everything I needed, a couple of food staples and personal items. And if you order $35 or more, the shipping is free. So I avoided the temptation I get every time I go there.
I did make a dinner menu for the week and look up all the prices online at our supermarket’s HomeShop site. It’s a service they have where you can go online and shop for everything and they give you the prices. You can do this for a home delivery for $10.53, with the first order getting a $10.53 credit, you can have them shop for you and you pick it up for $4.97, or you can make a list and then print it in aisles order. By looking up all the prices at home, I was able to figure out my menu to fit my budget, including meat. But then hubby and I went to the store and picked everything up in person. I found a couple of items for cheaper than I had found online so I saved an additional $2.50 off my $50 budget. I also “shopped” my freezer and came up with a lot of food for this week from stuff I had cooked and frozen, so that really cut down on how much we had to spend.
And my youngest daughter’s birthday is this month. She will be 26yrs old. We are planning on going up to see her on her birthday weekend. I had found a deal last month on Brad’s Deals for a pair of leopard spotted slipper boots that come half way up the calf for only $8.06 shipped! And I had found over the summer a small sewing kit, about the size of a small box, that is snap locked with threads, needles, buttons, snaps, hooks, scissors and more in it from Current’s Warehouse sale for only $4.97. And last, I have a set of 40 lip and eye pencils that I got off of Brad’s Deals in the Spring for only $10, that I bought and put aside for her birthday. So I don’t have to spend any money this month for gifts at all!
My hubby launched a new side business that I am helping him start to market, making dog biscuits! We hope to grow this into make a second income. It’s been slow going but we have hope!
Thank you for motivating me to really think about my over-spending. Your challenge has kept me away from fast food this week!