We’re one week into our no-spend month and things are going fine. When I announced that in April we would be having a no-spend month, I was excited that some of you wanted to join in or follow along. I am eager to hear how you are doing!
Honestly, I wasn’t sure what documenting my progress throughout the month would look like. I didn’t think there would be much to say. I wasn’t going to spend anything. End of story. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that it would be good to share the things I’ve done to prevent us from spending money.
What we’ve done to prevent spending
- For a friend’s baby shower, I gave a gift that was a combination of something cute I made and something from my baby gift stash that I stock when I get kids clothes super cheap.
- I made up a gallon of powdered milk so it’s convenient when I need milk for recipes. We reserve the regular milk (we still have just over 2 gallons) for drinking and cereal Sundays but use powdered milk in pancakes and any other baking and cooking. When the regular milk is gone, it will be powdered all around.
- I continue to pack lunches for my daughter and my husband and cook from scratch at home.
- Probably the main thing we’ve done to prevent spending is just not go to the store. I surely wouldn’t be able to resist those Cadbury mini eggs and creme eggs that would insist on jumping in my cart. (I’m really going to miss those those year.)
Temptations
To appreciate this temptation, you have to understand that when we were in law school I would go yard sale shopping every Saturday morning (and sometimes on Thursday and Friday). We lived in the perfect area for yard sales. We got so many wonderful deals on pretty much everything we needed.
Then we moved to the boonies. Yard sales here are few and far between. In a year and a half I think I have been to three. I have been to some in town if we happen to be in town on a Saturday, but that’s also very rare.
I saw that a church near the elementary school was having a yard sale over the weekend. I weighed it in my head for a couple days before making my decision. I decided that I would go because it was yard sales close to home (by close, I mean only 10 minutes away). I gathered up all the cash I had here and there and went after picking up my daughter from school.
While there were lots of things, it was a very poorly organized sale. I’m kind of a yard sale snob (even in the boonies, apparently) because I have considerable experience in yard sale shopping and organizing. I have a hard time when nothing is priced and you have to ask about everything. I asked about a few things, but prices weren’t very reasonable (especially considering you had to dig through dusty boxes to find anything). Maybe it was all for the best. I went home with all the dollars I had scrounged up.
On the horizon
- I always make my kids (and sometimes the whole family) something special to wear on Easter. I’m a sucker for matching, so it’s usually a dress for my daughter and matching or coordinating ties for the boys. I need to look through my fabric stash and pattern stash to see what I’ve got and get a plan underway!
- In my last shopping trip on last month’s budget I bought $6 of Easter candy: 3 bags and not any of my favorites (otherwise they might not make it until Easter). I’m planning to made some homemade Easter treats for Easter baskets, but that will have to be a last minute thing if they are going to last!
- Next week I will be posting our no-spend month menu to give you an idea of what we’re eating.
How are you doing?
I look forward to hearing how you are doing, whether you are having an all-out no-spend month or doing some calculated budget downsizing for the month.
- What successes have you had? How have you avoided spending?
- What challenges or temptations have you faced?
I just came across this post after finishing my version of a no-spend month! I vowed for the month of June not to buy anything I couldn’t eat. I was inspired by Francine Jay’s “The Joy of Less” and have been trying to reduce the clutter in my house, and I took a month to evaluate my impulses to spend money on “stuff.” My main weaknesses were skin/beauty products (lotions, face creams, lip balms, hair styling products, etc.) and nutrition supplements (maca powder, lucuma powder, camu powder, cacao, hemp seeds, etc) so those were off limits during my “consumer fast” as well. I feel like I did very well, and I am getting used to the idea of waiting a week or a month to see if I really want/need something that I thought I needed. I definitely learned a lot about myself! Thanks for sharing your story!
Great job Gira! I think you’re right– it really teaches you delayed gratification. That’s neat that you learned about your habits and weaknesses and took those into account.
We have considered doing a no-spend month on another blog, but after reading the “rules” we realized we are already not spending on anything that we’re not supposed to spend on :/ Just food. Yours sounds better but would involve spending money and lots of planning in advance which is kind of difficult with both parents working. Still, I may do this sometime later.
I figure everyone can tailor the rules to their own situation. For us, it didn’t take much advance planning because we already have food storage. The no-spend month just forced us to use it. My personal rule is that I have to stay within the food and household budget for the month before and after. For some people, a month is too overwhelming, so they opt for a week or two of not spending. Whatever works for you and challenges you!
I always think it’s funny when I read frugal posts and their first advice is to go HERE and buy THIS for only this TINY PRICE. To me, that’s anything BUT frugal. My main strategy for saving money is to just keep my BUTT out of the stores! I am aware that I have a significant – see it, want it, buy it problem, so the best way I cope with that is staying away as much as possible. I won’t go into a Walmart or a Target if my life depends on it – something about “cheap” translates in my head to “free” and I suddenly find all sorts of things I just can’t bear to live without. Instead I make a list and send my husband, or get it online (for some reason, I have a lot more control online). I think I might have a difficult time with a total No-spend month, but I do put certain credit cards in a time-out from time to time or just cut them up altogether. I think it’s a great strategy.
I totally know what you mean about Wal-Mart and Target. When you walk in, you may as well forget about the list. Those great clearance finds just seem to jump in your cart. That’s awesome that you have more self-control online (and that your credit cards get “time-outs”! 🙂
I love this idea of a no spending month. What about gas though? You gotta buy that, no? I agree on the “not going to the store” part of it, it’s really hard for me, because I live right next to a mall with a Kohls and TJ Maxx.
~Zhenya
http://beingzhenya.com
We still buy gas (and insurance, etc). My husband works an hour from home, so we couldn’t do without gas! Living right next to shopping would be especially hard. Since I live in the boonies, I’ve got it easy! 🙂
Stopping over from SITS and so glad I found you . I’m excited to follow your progress. My husband and I are getting ready to do a reno and I would love to slow our spending way down to set aside money…my husband is not convinced it possible, I know it is. I am encouraged to start this month
I love this. Every single bit of it. (On an entirely separate note from saving money, I am a total sucker for matching my son and daughter’s clothes, too.)
I’ve bookmarked your site, and have also begun following you on Twitter and Pinterest. You’ve got some really good stuff here. I’m going to revisit your blog later tonight after I put the kids to bed — right now they’re hanging off me like appendages.
Stopping by from #SITS.
Haha I know what you mean about those extra appendages Courtney! I’m glad I’m not the only sucker for matching kids clothes! :)Thanks for following!
This is my first time hearing about your “No Spend” month. I love the idea, but I’m not sure my husband would go for it. (half of his working time is spent in coffee shops and bars with free wi fi) But I’m loving all the tips you’re giving. Good luck getting through the rest of the month, I plan to follow along for the rest of your adventure and can’t wait to see how it goes!
You can set your own rules and limits. The idea is for it to be a fun challenge to get you to spend less. Your husband could have a certain budget for his work food (we do this since my husband has a weekly work meeting where he has to buy breakfast), but you could go without buying groceries, entertainment or clothes. Or you could do it for just 1 or 2 weeks. Just be creative and challenge yourself. Be reasonable, but push yourself a little.
I like your idea of having a baby gift stash when you find good prices on nice clothes!
It is especially great now that we live in the boonies and I can’t just run to the store. Finding things on clearance, I can still give nice gifts, but it doesn’t cost so much.
We have a large family and eat a lot of fresh food, so I don’t think we could go that long without spending money on food, but it’s nice to hear from other frugal moms. You have some great tips! 🙂
There’s nothing really magical about a month. It’s just something to make it a challenge. Any creative way you can find to challenge yourself to spend less would work. We’re only “competing” with ourselves, after all. 🙂
In a normal month, we usually only grocery shop once, maybe twice in a month. We have a large garden, so we have lots of fresh produce. Right now we have lettuce, asparagus, chard, spinach, and a couple other greens. We buy fruit in bulk and store it so it lasts for nearly the whole month. Some people have set their no-spend month “rules” that they are only allowed to buy fresh produce during the month, no other staples. Thanks for stopping by Dee!
You’re doing awesome, Stephanie!! We are doing well on our super strict budget too. A friend wanted to meet yesterday and we talked a long while about lunch out, but changed it to the coffee shop, where I ordered a $2.57 cup of mint tea – whew! That was a close one. My other big challenge this week is that the girls want new Easter dresses. I’m having a tough time with this one, but for now, I’m sticking to my less-spending guns in all areas. Only three weeks to go. 🙂
Good for you Laurie! I hope April continues to be a great month for your budget!
Do your girls (their teens, right) sew? Could they sew themselves a simple skirt from fabric you already have (here are some ways I get fabric free or cheap). Then they can have something special to wear on Easter Sunday and it won’t cost you anything.
It’s awesome that you’re having a no-spend month. I don’t think we have enough space to stock up on food for a whole month, but if we did I would try it. For the most part, we go grocery shopping once a week and eat out maybe twice a month. I’m also looking forward to seeing your menu!
Storing food for a month doesn’t take as much space as you’d think. We have a very small living space and we manage to store quite a bit.
I don’t think I could do a no spend month. I have such an overwhelming desire to spend. I am though trying to do 2 no spend days a week, breaking in gently. Good luck, I look forward to reading your updates and following your progress.
That’s great Victoria! Do what works best for you! It’s good to set goals that are challenging but still doable. We’ve been being frugal for a long time, so going a month without spending is doable, though still challenging enough to make it fun.
Forgot to mention that we came in $65.69 under budget this week! The bad news though is that today we had our flying squirrel problem taken care of and I had to borrow money from savings to write a check for $1,100.00 for that.
Reading “flying squirrels” makes me laugh every time. I thought they existed only in cartoons 🙂 But writing a check that big would make my cry, not laugh.
Great job being under budget for the week!!
I have the same Cadbury egg problem, but thankfully (?) I am not eating candy AT ALL for a time to see if the sugar is triggering my migraines. (I’ve been having them more often than normal, and I get super bad ones with blurry vision, slurred speech, pain so intense in my left eye that I feel like a knife is going thru it for hours, numb right hand/arm/face/nose/lips, chills, & I throw up for hours on end.) Getting back on topic though, I’m not sure how this happened, but I totally forgot about the NO SPEND challenge. I ordered the kids 2 Patch the Pirate cds and I got quite a few things at Walmart today–but I had coupons, and wanted to stock up while I was there…that will keep me from having to make multiple trips out there when I run out of stuff ad that will save on gas. At least that’s how I’m justifying my spending, ha ha.
Liz those migraines sound absolutely miserable! I hope you find the trigger soon. It would be really hard (for me) if it were sugar, but those are some serious symptoms, so it would be worth giving it up.
Saving trips to the store is always good 🙂
Ooohhh, I use to be so addicted to the Cadbury Eggs too. And you are right, they would be long gone before Easter even got here.
I love your idea of a no spend month and I look forward to seeing your menu.
Everytime I try to spend less on groceries I still find myself going every Saturday for something. Even if it is just fresh produce because I enjoy making us salads for lunch. (we work at home).
Last month we spent several hundred dollars over our limit, so I really want to maximize what we already have for this month, and maybe just spend a bit on a ham for Easter Sunday.
Good luck with your no spend month 🙂
One of the nice things about living in the boonies is that we can’t just drop by the store on Saturday. The nearest grocery store is 45 minutes away, so we really have to plan in a trip.
That sounds like a good plan- to use what you’ve already stocked up. Easter is a great time to get a good price on ham! If we weren’t having a no-spend month, I would probably buy a couple hams to freeze too.