I wanted to tell you about a great challenge to get you out of a shopping habit and gain some perspective on what you already have.
Rachel at Small Notebook has been making July “No Spend Month” for four years. For her family this means setting aside a certain amount of money for groceries, household items, gas and fun. Fixed expenses and gifts for others aren’t included in her no spend month budget. I think this is a gem of an idea for getting back to basics and learning to enjoy what you already have.
Here are Rachel’s reasons for having a No Spend Month:
You’ll save money on what you might normally spend on dining out and impulse buys, but what you’ll really gain is a renewed perspective on how much you have and what you can do with it. You’ll get to be resourceful and creative when you can’t run out to the store to buy something.
There will be awkward times when we notice how much of our thoughts are consumed by stuff. This is not going to be easy, but it will be worth doing. – Rachel Meeks of SmallNotebook.org
We’re not doing a No Spend Month in my household but we are doing a Spend Less Summer. I’ve taken quite a few stabs at curbing spending in the last few years. When we were paying down debt I had a lot of intensity for cutting casual spending and not buying anything that wasn’t a need. While I still don’t buy a lot of stuff our casual spending certainly has some fat in it.
Chris and I want to enjoy all the fun the island has to offer in the summer months while using our train passes, horse tram passes and packing a picnic to do it. Increasing our savings would be a nice result but mostly we just want to get in the habit of making our fun be free activities. Never too early to teach Henry that fun does not equal spending money.
We’ve had some terrible weather in the last month (don’t get me started – it’s near wintery here!) but instead of paying for a drop-in at the play centre I’ve been bundling Henry up for some beach time. Even in the rain. He’s really enjoying playing in the sand right now and I’m enjoying the ease, and no cost, of having the beach so close. We have a lot of sand in the stroller and tracking into our apartment but it’s nothing the vacuum can’t fix.
Anyone tried a No Spend Month? Any revelations about your needs and wants?
PS. Andrea at a peak inside the fish bowl also does a no spend challenge. It’s in January and February to help you get over holiday over consumption and she calls it a shopping embargo.
It’s funny how I ran across this article the month I’ve got a ton going on! But when I realized I am going to have to spend a lot this month for a wedding, bachelorette party, and still want to make a trip next month I finally said “I have to budget!” I’m new to being in control of my own finances as a broke, college student, and parttime worker. But I really want to not be living paycheck to paycheck and to not have to worry about emergencies and the future.
I love the idea of making a game or experiment of spending less. This kind of thing works for me. I can’t have a ‘no spend’ month currently, but I’m certainly going to be looking at activities that cost nothing during the hols this year!
Thank you for the recommendation, Rachel! I hope you’ve had a good weekend.
I’m IN! 🙂 I’m planning my meals more than I used to. I have cut down to one box of cereal per child ( and they have to pick something that at least another one will also eat) so thats 4 boxes of cereal compared to the 8 or 10 opened cereals we used to have to discard because somehow they would get bored. I’m giving up on doing my nails while every other week I deposit that cash into the savings account. I used to clean the car once a week, now I spot clean inside, wipe it down and vacuum it every two weeks. And I’m glad when it rains for its a free wash, HAHA. Other than that I realize that even though I want to be prepared for emergencies, the best way for me to cut down on spending is to actually leave the plastic demon at home and carry very little cash with me.
Very timely for us. Just had baby #3 a few months ago. Since then, we’ve had very little time or attention to put on the budget. We caught up and closed out June and declared our own “No Spend July”. It’s hard to say no, but we’re desperately needing to regain control of ourselves! 🙂
A few years ago i totalled up how much i was spending on books and magazines, which came to about £50 a month for books and about £32 a month for magazines. I wouldn’t have minded too much if i had the time to read that about of literature in a month but i really didn’t. I set myself a year of not spending on those two items and did very well. My daughter bought me a subscription to my favourite magazine and i bought 5 books throughout the year and 3 of those were given has presents. I now only buy new books at least when i can’t obtain them ay other way and buying a magazine is a rarity.
We’re having an all needs, no wants July and focusing our additional spending on home maintenance. However, with the help of family and friends, we’ve been able to do a ton of work for very, very little money. We’ve paid them in food and drink during the work and in future labor hours at their homes. We actually had so much fun, we’ve agreed that each family get’s free labor for one weekend per year and we’ll rotate. It really was a blast, and we got so much done!
In the process, we also decluttered and packed our excess in boxes that are now in the garage. We are planning a family “downsizing” sale for later this summer and what’s left will be donated.
Our house looks so clean and tranquil, I don’t want to go anywhere! The kids are having more fun playing with fewer toys in a neat space and aren’t overwhelmed at pick-up time.
We are taking a large family vacation (my parents are paying for the cabin), but we will be eating 100% home made meals, no movies, no video games, lots of fishing, swimming, hiking. So except for gas, it won’t be more expensive than staying home for the week.
WOW and I just saw that you are on the Isle of Man doing this!!!!? Wowza! Even more inspired!
I love this idea… it really caught my attention in my inbox. Particularly having a little boy I always seem to have my purse open and even more so being a stay at home mum in London! Think I will follow your lead for the rest of the summer, and do some clutter clearing too! In an odd way I find this rather exciting!
We have just finished a “spend MORE” June, so we really need a “spend LESS” July! This will be hard since I am a teacher and we start school on August 2. I usually buy things for my classroom, but I am going to try to be resourceful and also ask parents for donations. I already have someone practically begging me to give her a list! Little things like candy for the candy jar can add up fast. As for home….our freezer and pantry are so full that stuff falls out when I open the door, so I really need to rethink our grocery lists and use up what we already have. I’m taking the kids to have pictures made this morning, but after that….the credit card is going into a time out!
Although not specifically a “no-spend” time, I’m finding that getting rid of a lot of stuff is quietly keeping my purse closed, too. Perhaps I stay at home more or read more or whatever, but some places I often used to go, just to browse, seem to have fallen off my radar (and gleaned me some strange looks from friends!). Personally, I think this is great. I do still buy some stuff, mostly online, because I can’t get some things physically here in Switzerland that I might like (books and DVDs being a case in point – little choice in English and miserable libraries! And the streaming services don’t offer films in English to residents abroad.). On a recent trip “home” to England (visiting relatives, I haven’t lived much of my life there, actually) I found there was very little I wanted to buy – a couple of cheap dresses and a skirt because again, Swiss women mostly wear trousers and I like a skirt now and again so had a better choice (and in my size, another hindrance in skinny Switzerland) and for nostalgic reasons, a particular brand of chocolate. The customs may also have been surprised to find mixed spice, jelly and English mustard, but otherwise, there was nothing we needed or wanted on our brief shopping trip to a supermarket!
Overall, I am gaining a nice peaceful feeling – my family is growing up and moving away, my shopping needs have shrunk to a great degree, I am healthy and lucky and have all I really need. I don’t mind paying for organic, now, as it easily fits in my budget when I’m not having to buy large quantities of foods at “best” prices or anything. Some of the calm is to do with my period in life, unlike you with a young family, but the minimalist approach has definitely been very freeing. I can only imagine what life might have been like 10 or 15 yrs ago if I’d had the same attitude…!