Is your budget suffering a holiday hangover? Were you caught in the government shutdown? Or are you just interested in getting control of your cash? A no-spend month could be the right first step to take, and NerdWallet is sponsoring one for February.
To be clear: That doesn’t mean no more fresh fruit until March, or having to shine on a prescription refill. A no-spend month is actually more like a “spend-super-intentionally month.”
On the NerdWallet “Community” message board, my former MSN Money colleague (and now NerdWallet columnist) Liz Weston describes the event as a month where you try to avoid any non-essential spending. Each participant gets to define what is and isn’t essential.
Having done a no-spend month before, Weston describes it as “kind of magical.” Specifically:
“Not only do we save money, but we get creative finding no-spend workarounds when unexpected situations pop up.
“We get clearer what’s a necessity and what isn’t, which can really help us get a grip on our spending going forward.
“We appreciate that having any discretionary spending is a blessing. For many, every month is a no-spend month because they don’t have any extra money beyond what it takes to survive (and sometimes not even that).”
Sound good?
Joining the no-spend challenge
You don’t have to become part of the NerdWallet community to do this, but I think it’s a good thing to try. Not only do you feel more a part of things, you might inspire others with your ideas, or gain inspiration from other people’s postings.
I’ve joined the community board on this, even though DF and I live a low- or no-spend lifestyle pretty much all the time. It’s a game for us. We egg each other with stirring tales of thrift.
In fact, as Weston noted, this could be one of the biggest benefits of the challenge: Finding out that the workarounds and the substitutions and the creativity not only aren’t that hard, but can actually be gratifying. We might learn that we don’t always need that whatever-it-is that we’re holding in our hands or staring at online.
The corollary, of course: If we learn to say “not now” to nonessentials, we can say “yes please!” to the ones that really matter. My personal mantra is, “I save where I can so I can spend where I want.” Maybe it could become yours, too.
A no-spend for non-joiners
Of course, you can do all this without joining the NerdWallet community. In that case, I hope you’ll share both your plans and your progress. You can do that in several ways:
- By leaving comments on this post, for starters
- By leaving comments on the Surviving And Thriving Facebook page
- By leaving comments on future posts on this topic, which I hope to remember to post every Friday this month (your comments on the FB page would certainly keep me on task)
For me, the biggest challenge is that I might need to go to Phoenix again. My daughter needs cataract surgery and obviously won’t be able to drive herself home that day, or to the next day’s follow-up appointment. It will be good to spend time with her, given that our last visit was so damned fraught. (The chance to walk around in shirtsleeves, on ice-free sidewalks, will be a nice break for me as well. It is darned slippery here right now.)
I would consider that essential spending and not sweat it overly. It might be a moot point anyway: Since referrals and pre-authorization are taking forever, her appointment might not be set until March.
My other issue would be the weekly meetups with my pal Linda B. Generally it starts with a movie and/or lunch out, unless it’s lunch out and then hanging out at her place working our way through her DVR queue. We take turns paying for lunch and each covers her own movie ticket.
Two possible fixes for the no-spend month:
- I ask Linda to pay for all the lunches in February and return the favor in March, or
- We meet up after lunch, either at her place (free entertainment) or at the same-price-all-day Tuesday movie (I have a discounted gift card).
Then again, there are those who say that movies, or Harley’s Old Thyme Café, are essential spending.
The self-disciplinary aspect of a no-spend month can be good even for those of us who think we already have a handle on our spending. It never hurts to take a closer look at what we do vs. what we think we do.
So who’s in? I look forward to hearing about your adventures in financial improvisation, and at the end of the month I’d love to hear what you’ll do with the money you didn’t spend.
I am definitely going to give it a go. Although we don’t spend much extra due to being in the middle of our house selling and renting an apartment, (paying for two places is more expensive than I care to deal with) I can still find one or two things to skip over this month.
Remaining steadfast in the face of pressure is being truly mindful. Go you! And please do check back in.
I’m trying to do this all year. Being mindful of my spending and only spending on things that bring value will be my mantra.
I thought about doing an all our No Spend in February, but instead, it will be a No Spend on clothes, accessories, planning supplies, make up, etc. I will still be allowed to eat out, have “experiences” etc.
I will work on selling things and bring more money in for the month so in essence I won’t use any money from the budget. 🙂
We are going to give it a try! Going to make homemade cards for valentines for grand kids and homemade treats for starters. It’s like a game
It’s a very fun game indeed. DF and I will preface a frugal hack, or an amazing find, with the phrase “another stirring of thrift…”
If the grandkids are able to help you make those treats, you’ll get a twofer: Quality time with the children plus saving tons over what the same cookie/cupcake/whatever would have cost at the store.
Make that a three-fer: You’re teaching them useful life skills, i.e., learning to cook and learning that you don’t have to buy everything. Sometimes when DF has his granddaughters over he’ll suddenly say, “You know what? Let’s make bread” or “I think I want some cookies” or “Lightning cake sounds like a good idea right now.” Then he gets them involved in the process. And I remember that when one of my nephews wasn’t even four years old he could make cornbread from scratch (although I did crack the eggs and pour the oil).
Do check back in and let us know how the card- and treat-making turn out.
I just wrote a check to the credit card company which was way too high, but I had to charge car repairs.
I’m in. My biggest “sin” is going to the dollar stores and buying decorative items. I did not realize until I added it up that I spent over a hundred dollars there last month! For stuff!!
I will start by eating all meals at home, forgoing my daily fix of diet Dr. Pepper, and absolutely no new clothes.
My friends and I have challenged each other to see how long we can go without spending on anything but essentials. Of course we all threw in five bucks and the winner gets to choose to what charity it goes. The only problem I will have is that I have trained my car to turn automatically into any parking lot that is by a dollar store…
I love, love, love the “friends challenge/charity wins” idea. Thank you for sharing it.
And I hear you on the dollar stores: We don’t have any here, so when I visit my daughter in Phoenix we stop at The Dollar Tree a few times (next door to the supermarket, pretty hard to avoid). Soooo many opportunities to go a little overboard: Oh, look, glow sticks shaped like fairy wands — wouldn’t DF’s granddaughters love those! Oooohhhhh, gingersnaps. Can’t believe that huge bottle of shampoo is only a buck! Good heavens, these little packages of Mexican chiclets are arranged like mosaics — definitely Christmas stocking material.
I try to keep the buying under control and I usually do. Usually.
Pro tip, though: I found some great hardback fiction (not junk, I swear!) at the Dollar Tree. Some of them became Christmas gifts.
We just went through no-spend-month in January with the government shut down! With no guarantee of wages in sight, we cut out all discretionary spending. With three kids, it was a challenge to go without all the things they are used to but we talked quite a lot about the shutdown and budgets and they were definitely on board. I think it was good for all of us in a way. We are generally thrifty but could always be more so. The shutdown made us all more aware of spending on wants instead of needs.
Wow. That must have been very stressful.
Now that money is coming back in, are you planning to do anything differently?
Yes, I hope we can keep discretionary spending a bit lower so that we can put more in savings. We had enough saved to get us through two or three months but I see now that we probably should have more. It was a good wake-up call, if a stressful one! The nicest thing was that we had so many friends and family members offer to help us out with loans and such. Thankfully, we didn’t need to take anyone up on their kind offers but it was so touching to know they had our backs!
Hmmm…I’m on a thin budget this month, but I think I already blew the no spend at Sally’s Beauty Store. I’m hoping to find products there that over the long haul will work better and cost less….including hair dye. lol
There are several other items I’m tracking to nip things down as much as possible. I can’t guarantee….buy I’ll give it a go. Even if I fail a bit, it still should be better for the budget overall.
Please do! And share your experiences for others.
Also, look for the link to “Challenge Yourself to Save” elsewhere in the comments. It may contain some tactics you’ve never tried.
My problem is grocery spending. I’m a female senior citizen who lives alone but still spends at least $600 monthly. Whether grocery or retail, I need to break my shopping habit and hope to learn from this exercise to spend more consciously. Thank you to all for the help and encouragement we can provide for one another.
Is your downfall just not wanting to cook? Plenty of seniors (especially female seniors who’ve spent decades cooking for others) feel the same way, especially since supermarkets carry more and more precooked meals. I’ll admit that when DF isn’t here I’m tempted just to eat cheese and crackers for dinner because cooking just doesn’t seem like the effort.
Last night he was heading off to a concert and I cajoled myself into making a stir-fry out of a little leftover roasted pork, three-day-old rice and such veggies as we had on hand (onions and carrots plus homegrown celery and peas from the freezer). The liquid was part of a bottle of Asian BBQ sauce someone had given us plus rice vinegar, a dash of sugar, a bit of ginger, some garlic, a few drops of red pepper sauce and a splash of Worcestershire. It tasted not-quite-right, so I cut a fresh mandarin orange in half and squeezed it into the mix. That did the trick, and the result was quite savory. So much better than just crackers and cheese, especially since I was coming off an illness and had been eating rather sparsely for days. (If nothing tastes like anything, just have a few spoons of oatmeal for dinner and drink more tea.)
Cooking also helped clear out the fridge, which brings up another reason for overspending on food: not eating everything that’s bought. It’s easy to half the last quarter-bowl of soup or the leftover vegetables go very, very wrong in the fridge. We either don’t feel like eating it or we just forget it’s there. Thus we have to spend more money because we can’t eat what we already have. Obviously the freezer is a good way around this, but it’s necessary to develop the “use or freeze promptly” habit and hold ourselves to it.
Or maybe you overspend because everything just looks so darned good. When I’m in the store in the depths of winter and see beautiful red cherries flown up from Chile, I almost lose my mind. But then I see the price — $9.99 per pound — and realize, “I don’t even want to spend that much on meat.” Or I’ll hit the market right when they’re bringing out freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, which are super-tempting. But should I spend $6 for a handful of cookies? On a special occasion, maybe, or as a just-because-I-want-it every now and then. Otherwise, though, these little (or not so little) expenditures here and there add up to a major budget derail.
I appreciate your honesty — and believe me, you’re not the only one this happens to, not by a long shot. No doubt other readers will offer tips. As you come up with your own tactics, I hope you’ll share them.
When it comes to groceries, having a budgeted cash envelope works best for me. Planning meals ahead of time also helps. I put the amount I want to spend at the beginning of the week in the envelope, and when it’s gone, it’s gone. Then I have to make do with the staples I have on hand. I don’t refill it til the next week. This keeps my grocery spending from going out of control.
We are definitely in for the long haul this year. Lost our last tax deduction (sniff sniff – but she graduated summa cum laude and with no debt!) so had to adjust withholdings so we don’t owe next year. Essentially taken a close to $200 a month pay cut. Will work out later this year, when a loan is paid off, but until then, tight belts!
With highest honors — congratulations! Good on her, and good on you for adjusting your withholding now, rather than being (badly) surprised later.
Once again, here’s the link to the “Challenge Yourself to Save” chapter of my first book. Maybe it will have some tactics you haven’t already tried:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WcyrT1_92_qh6cphpc_kKvwK5O8CLumZa_rPwiFg37c/edit
Looking forward to your contributions, either this coming Friday or every Friday in the month.
I pretty much live a “no-spend” life … especially this year since I’m saving up for a trip to Ireland next year. Definitely saving everywhere I can so I can spend on travel!
Then may I recommend, once again, the link to the “Challenge Yourself to Save” chapter, to be found elsewhere in the comments? Even seasoned savers have found new ideas in it.
And: It’s free!
I have to be pretty frugal, due to living on a fixed income that’s way below the poverty line. Looking forward to this as tips and encouragement are always appreciated!!
I hope you’ll share some of your own tips, even as I wish they hadn’t arisen from such straitened circumstances. Let us know how you build a life that works.
Count me in for a Super-Mindful Spending February. I have a backlog of well-intentioned food purchases in my pantry and freezer that need to be used up. We live in a rural area, and I tend to get Food FOMO when I make my quarterly stock-up trips to Aldi and Trader Joe’s. So many temptations! Meal planning this month will start with what’s in stock at home, rather than whatever pops into my head that sounds good to eat.
One challenge this month will be planning a fun President’s Day weekend for the kids and me. DH goes to a work-related convention every year on that weekend. In past years I’ve taken the kids, and sometimes a grandparent or two, on a three-day road trip. This year money is squeaky-tight, so we’re foregoing any plans that require hotel stays and multiple meals out. My main goal will be to have as much fun as we can with as little out-of-pocket expense as we can. I might budget for a restaurant meal or two, at lunch time when prices are lower — and leftovers can be that night’s dinner.
“Food FOMO” is the name of my next rock band.
How old are your kids? Would being a day tourist in your own hometown/nearby city work?
Or maybe have a picnic at least once, and maybe camp out in the yard if you have a tent and sleeping bags and good weather; if not, make the picnic and campout in the living room.
Build blanket forts. Get a ton of library books. Let each kid choose the film for a movie night, complete with popcorn — and no complaining about the movie choice, even if it’s something at least one of you loathes (each of you will get a turn, after all).
Look up recipes you’ve never tried (for sweets or entrees) and make them together. Visit the supermarket (or an ethnic market if possible) and buy and cook something you’ve never even heard of before. Or go to a restaurant and try something utterly new.
Take part of a day to be good Samaritans: Shovel a neighbor’s sidewalk (if applicable), pick up trash on your block, leave quarters here and there for people to find. Bake cookies and take them to the fire station in your neighborhood.
And if you find a frugal way to do a road trip, please come back and share the details.
My two are 12 1/2 and almost 15. Their palates are much more adventurous now than when they were younger, so new recipe testing is on the agenda, definitely.
One of our local community magazines publishes an event listing each month, and they’re kind enough to star the events with free admission. We’ll mine that listing for ideas, too.
My partner used to take his older son (who also had an adventurous palate) to restaurants they didn’t usually frequent and say, “Let’s try something we’ve never eaten before.” On one such visit, his son asked the waiter “Do you have anything purple?” They wound up eating some kind of spicy eggplant dish.
Would the kid have ordered eggplant on his own? Probably not, since DF had never cooked it.
A friend said the same thing about a local Mongolian barbecue: His kids would happily eat whatever they selected because they got to select it. Extra chicken and no green peppers? Go for it. The sweeter BBQ sauce vs. the hot chili style? Be my guest.
In your case, though, cooking together could be a lot of fun. Hope you’ll share some of the results when I put up a “how’s it going, everybody?” post on Friday.
No Spend February sounds like a great help for me to stay focused! With moving house+holidays in Oct-Nov-Dec, we had to relax our tight spending control just to stay sane. Last month (like every January) was a big stock-up month for A) all the bulk items that we’d run out of during the holidays and B) some new organizational tools and other items to support my new year’s goals. So now it’s finally time to calm down into frugality mode.
Focus, mindfulness, intentional living: Call it whatever you like, everybody. Just practice it.
Just chiming in to cheer you all on. I did this for years, long before it became a “thing”. I chose February because – duh – it’s the shortest month. Every year, I’d re-read Amy Dacyczyn’s “The Complete Tightwad Gazette” for inspiration. Later, I followed every frugal blog I knew (waving to Donna, Trent, JD, Jacob, Kristen and Katy – MMM didn’t exist back then). I’m reporting in from the land of FIRE to tell you it works, it really works! Good luck and best wishes to everyone striving to reach audacious goals. You can do this!
Always good to hear a success story — thanks for sharing yours.
And thanks for reading.
Diane, I think you and I read the same blogs — I recognized every name on your list!
I’m going to try to cut my grocery spending and food waste in February. Your comment on the stir fry was like a lightbulb going on. I ate a vanilla cupcake for dinner the other night because it was just me and I didn’t want to cook. I should have done a fridge check.
When a friend and I want to get together, we look high and low for any gift cards that we haven’t used…or those with small balances and bundle them together. Sometimes it is grabbing to-go coffee at one place…small lunch take-out to split at another. It makes it a bit of an adventure and often, those cards go unused.
This! Sometimes a card with only a few dollars on it gets tossed in a desk drawer and forgotten.