I tend to spend a lot of money. It’s actually really bad how terrible I can be at times with my finances. I first learned about a no spend month while searching the deep depths of the internet on budgeting and financial planning to get my life and spending compulsions together.
So what does a no spend month look like for me and why did I chose February? First off I chose February since it is the shortest month of the year which means less days to screw this up. I also tend to spend more money during the winter months due to the cold and lack of outdoor activities that I enjoy doing. A no spend month means just that; no extra spending at all.
This means, sadly, no more random trips to Target for essential items but inadvertently shopping the dollar spot for hours as well. No more random dinners out and ordering take out due to laziness or grabbing those afternoon lattes and teas that I mostly could do without.
No Spend Month
- No extras. This means no buying random home decor at T.J. Maxx or dollar spot items at Target.
- Meal planning. One area that I spend a ton of money in is food and going out to eat. I am terrible at meal planning and tend to go to the grocery store daily or every other day. Sitting down and planning out meals and seeing where there may be potential for savings is one thing that I am going to focus on this month.
- Track everything. Everything that I do spend money on such as bills, groceries and necessities will be tracked. This will allow me to know exactly how much I am spending and where.
- Eliminate random spending. Yes this means that random afternoon coffee I think I need; gone. So this may be a month that I am super cranky.
- Re evaluate subscriptions. Looking at those expensive Netflix and Hulu monthly fees as well as fitness subscriptions such as Peloton and Beach Body. Do I really need both? Probably not. Looking at these extra costs will help me reign in some of these extras that cost money every month.
I know this won’t be an easy month for me (hello, compulsive spender) but I am really looking forward to building a savings account for both myself and my family. There will be a couple exceptions this month because we already have a committed activities during February vacation with the kids and a birthday dinner for me but other than those activities, the spending will be severely limited.
Have you ever done a no spend month?
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