My First No-Spend Month.

If you read my post on my 2024 goals, you know that I have a goal to save more money this year.

After being laid off for a year, my savings account was reduced to basically nothing, and I added to my already-annoying credit card debt.

I’m very grateful to have a 9-5 salaried job now, and I can get back on track with some of the financial goals I’d set for myself prior to being laid off.

When I was thinking of ways to save more money this year, it really came down to not spending money. Sounds easy, ha!

I’ve done budgets in the past, and while those worked fine, I needed something more than that. So, I started looking at no-spend challenges.

A no-spend challenge is when you only spend money on what you need to survive — housing, bills, food — and maybe you cut corners elsewhere. You can set your own limits depending on your overall goal for the challenge.

For example, maybe instead of not eating out at all for a month, you only go once.

The more I read about no-spend challenges, I realized they would combine two of my 2024 goals: 1. saving more money, but also using what I have.

You may recall that, in the fall, I was on a mission to deep-clean my apartment and get things organized and refreshed. Well, as I was doing that project, I realized that I have ALOT of stuff.

Sure, I have a lot of clothes, but I also noticed I had around 8-10 jars of body scrub, possibly 20 bottles of facewash, and about six-months of sleep aids.

Why? Likely because I either found a sale, saw a new product I “had to have,” or it was a double-points day, or something. I’d become a sucker for consumerism.

So, I vowed that I would not buy any of these items until I used what I have. Once I use up all that soap? Sure, I can buy more — I can buy ONE more — and so forth.

Even outside of the financial part of this, I told myself no more library books. Why? Because I have roughly 100 books on my bookshelf that I haven’t read.

It was time I stop looking elsewhere for satisfaction, and starting using what I have from books and crafts to skincare and cosmetics.

We’re three weeks into January, and I’ve caught myself a few times getting ready to make an unnecessary purchase, and I stop myself. Sometimes I audibly say, “Use what you’ve got.”

Yesterday, I looked at my checking account to see what it was looking like and I was nearly giddy when I saw that the balance was approximately $900 more than what it would typically be at this point in the month.

That’s money I can plop into my savings account or put toward debt!

All because I used what I’ve got and stopped myself from making impulse purchases.

I typically don’t eat out, so that was not a challenge for me. I also didn’t go to the library (less gas money).

But aside from the “extra” money in my account, I also don’t have to deal with recycling the boxes and packages that would normally be coming to my door. And, I don’t have to even think about my bank account — no balancing the book every few days.

So far, I’m finding this so empowering! I love having a new mindset and finding ways to win in a world of consumerism and capitalism.

Will I feel differently next month? Who knows — I’ll keep you posted, though.

Have you ever tried a no-spend challenge?

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