Prep for No Spend January (12/23 thread)

[Anonymous]

Hi! I’ve made us a thread here to prep for no spend January! This can be our December prep thread and we can start a new No Spend January support thread in January! In the comments I’ll post some resources I used last year and feel free to add your own. Ask any questions!

[Anonymous]

The “no-spend month”—where you stop doling out cash for everything except the bare essentials—has become increasingly popular.

Before you start your no-spend month, look at where your money is going each month. Review your paychecks, bank statements, and receipts. Next, divide your expenses into necessities and extras—the latter is what you’ll temporarily live without during the challenge. You can also make a written budget so you can plan for the no-spend month.

Most necessities will be pretty obvious: your rent or mortgage, minimum monthly debt payments, groceries, medications, and insurance. Likewise, you’ll probably find spending categories you can live without, such as dining at restaurants or ordering takeout, manicures, or late-night online impulse buys. These should be added to your no-spend list.

Some categories may not be so obvious. Filling up your gas tank may be necessary if you drive to and from work. However, if you work from home, you may be able to cut gas from your budget and walk or bike when needed instead. Consider each expense before putting it into one of the two categories.

Establish Rules
Before the month begins, make a list of non-negotiable expenses—like rent or mortgage payments, utilities, medication and insurance. Then set aside cash for essentials like gas, as well as perishables like milk and produce.
No-spend challenges should be customized to fit your goals.
You can also set up your challenge to target specific areas of overspending. If you've found that much of your budget goes toward dining out, you could commit to no spending in that category by only cooking at home for a week. If you struggle with online shopping, you could commit to going one full month without ordering anything online unless you need it.
On top of setting a period for your challenge, get specific on how strict you'll be. Will you limit your grocery trips to bare essentials? Will you still purchase alcohol? Will you still pay for streaming subscriptions? Be sure to set realistic goals by balancing what's challenging with what's manageable for you. Setting impossible-to-meet goals risks hurting your motivation.

Plan Your Meals

One benefit of the financial fast is that you’ll use up much of your inventory of dry goods. “My guess is most people have enough food in their freezer, refrigerator and cabinets to last a month,” says Davis. Go through your pantry and fridge, toss anything that’s expired, then plan your meals around what’s left. Some no-spenders bake their own bread (yeast and flour are cheap) and keep a supply of sandwich fixings. (In the same spirit, use up all of your cosmetics and toiletries—like the little hotel soaps and shampoos stashed in a drawer—before you spend any precious cash on more.)

Necessary expenses such as your utilities and housing costs won't change, but food costs can vary greatly. Ordering takeout in a pinch could quickly derail your no-spend challenge, so it's critical to plan out what you'll eat beforehand.

Go Public With Your Goals

Tell your close friends and family about your plan so they won’t innocently tempt you with dinner or concert invitations. This doesn’t mean you have to isolate yourself. “Have people over instead of going out,“ says Davis. “Host a potluck party where everyone brings something—maybe even challenge a group of friends to try the no-spend month, too.”

A no-spend month doesn’t have to be a no-fun month. Try enlisting others—your partner or spouse, your kids, or your friends—to do a no-spend challenge as well. Not only can you hold one another accountable, but you can come up with ways to not spend money together.

For example, if you and your spouse have date night once a week at a restaurant, you could make a date out of cooking together at home every Friday instead. Rather than meeting up with friends for happy hour at a bar, you could take turns hosting BYOB happy hours at home on Wednesdays.

Start Having Fun (Yes, Really)

A month of no spending doesn’t have to feel like punishment. Look for free things to do near home—museums, parks, free concerts. Go to the library and check out a book. Play some classic board games at home, or refocus on your home art studio or that DIY project that keeps getting pushed back. If you’re not driving so much to restaurants, theaters or the mall, you’ll spend less on gas, too. The savings will add up fast.

Be Prepared for Bumps in the Road

Don’t expect everything to go smoothly when you’re doing a no-spend month. Unplanned necessary expenses may come up. Don’t be so committed to your no-spend month that you avoid going to the doctor or refuse to take your car to a mechanic even though the check-engine light is on. Take care of yourself and worry about the challenge later.

Other ideas:
Use any gift cards for something you want.

If you’ve really got to have the gourmet coffee, look for that Starbucks gift card you’ve had in your wallet for awhile!

This is a time to take inventory of any gift cards you may have and use them for things that pop up during the no spend month.

This is a way to [legally] cheat the no spend month system 😉

Borrow an item you need from family or friends.

If you come across an item you just really must have, check with friends or family first to see if it’s something you can borrow temporarily.

Swap free items.

There are many community Facebook groups and sites like freecycle.org where you can both give items away and look for items you may need.

Make a list of things you want.

This strategy is very effective during a no spend month. It works by making a list of things you want and seeing if you still want them next month.

You will most likely find out you didn’t really need those things as much as you thought.

Some other basic rules to consider using:
1 – Only spend money on the things you need
2 – No spending money on the things that you WANT
3 – No spending money that isn’t already an expense you already have.
4 – Find areas where you can cut out expenses and/or SAVE money.

Also other ideas to consider using:
Can Spend: Rent, Utilities / Cable, Insurance, Car / Gas, Medical Expenses, Medication, Cleaning Supplies, Groceries, Necessary Toiletries, Planned Events, Gifts for Birthdays

Can’t Spend:
Clothes, Shoes, Accessories, Eating Out, Coffee Out, Electronics, Home Décor, Extras at Grocery Store, Random Amazon Items, Makeup and Skincare, Nails / Spa Treatments.

[Anonymous]

The YNAB more more challenge is essentially the same this as a no spend month. I’m considering signing up for the challenge in January.

https://www.ynab.com/moremoneychallenge

[Anonymous]

Also consider whether you want to change some element of your life and why.

Things like this and Dry January or 30-day [whatever restrictive diet] -- why do you think you need that? What behavior do you want to change? Is this the best way to do it?

There's nothing magical about a new year.

[Anonymous]

So people are "prepping" by accumulating in December?

Yep. That's the way to finance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
So people are "prepping" by accumulating in December?

Yep. That's the way to finance.

I am not personally buying extra in December to prep for January - but for example, I am looking at my Amazon subscribe and save (mostly toiletries) - and putting off January deliveries to February if I know I really don't need them in January. If I really did need them in January, I would buy them - I would most likely consider toiletries a necessity - though I have a lot of trial size things that maybe I would also take the chance to use up before buying new.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also consider whether you want to change some element of your life and why.

Things like this and Dry January or 30-day [whatever restrictive diet] -- why do you think you need that? What behavior do you want to change? Is this the best way to do it?

There's nothing magical about a new year.

I think that's always good! I think January is a good time for the no-spend month for me, after the end of year excesses.

I did my first no spend January last year and picked up some good habits that I kept up through the year - I largely stopped eating out when it is just my family of 5 (except for bdays or other special occasions) and instead switched to dining out but only socially. It also taught me the habit of writing down things that I wanted to buy, and then thinking on it for a while - to decide whether I really need/want it before buying it.

I am looking forward to what this new no spend month teaches me!

[Anonymous]

I would really like to do a “no spend on restaurants” in January. We eat out way too much and I’m finding that I don’t appreciate it like I used to. The costs have gone up, quality is fine but not great, and with a few exceptions the service is sun par. My husband is really into food and restaurants so he’ll hate this idea but I’m going to try and convince him to do it for one month. I’m guessing we’ll easily save $1000, prob more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would really like to do a “no spend on restaurants” in January. We eat out way too much and I’m finding that I don’t appreciate it like I used to. The costs have gone up, quality is fine but not great, and with a few exceptions the service is sun par. My husband is really into food and restaurants so he’ll hate this idea but I’m going to try and convince him to do it for one month. I’m guessing we’ll easily save $1000, prob more.

You can do it!! Some of the advice I am listening to says to have some "emergency" meal ideas on hand for when you really don't feel like cooking.
"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would really like to do a “no spend on restaurants” in January. We eat out way too much and I’m finding that I don’t appreciate it like I used to. The costs have gone up, quality is fine but not great, and with a few exceptions the service is sun par. My husband is really into food and restaurants so he’ll hate this idea but I’m going to try and convince him to do it for one month. I’m guessing we’ll easily save $1000, prob more.

You can do it!! Some of the advice I am listening to says to have some "emergency" meal ideas on hand for when you really don't feel like cooking.
"

Good idea, thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also consider whether you want to change some element of your life and why.

Things like this and Dry January or 30-day [whatever restrictive diet] -- why do you think you need that? What behavior do you want to change? Is this the best way to do it?

There's nothing magical about a new year.

I think that's always good! I think January is a good time for the no-spend month for me, after the end of year excesses.

So people are "prepping" by accumulating in December?

Yep. That's the way to finance.

Evidently knowing that you're prone to excessive spending in December is something you can only address in January.