We spend a lot daily, and if we start counting our expenses, it will be more than we expect in a month. The reason behind this is we do not account for it to make it less or change it in a balanced pattern.
So if I say that there is a pill, that will gradually make you feel about where and how to make changes in your expenses. And it is a “NO SPEND MONTH.”
No spend month is a challenge when people are trying not to spend money in a certain category or categories for a designated amount of time. For example, people will not go to restaurants the whole month, avoid cigarettes and alcohol the whole month, avoid car driving, etc.
Yes! A no-spend month is the only pill that can make you realize that money is not always for spending on lame expenses. You can have a regular idea of spending in a stoppable way. I mean that you cannot go for a month without spending the money, and because of this habit for such long years, it feels impossible to cut expenses.
So that is why this is being called a no spend a month. So once you go for it as accepting it as a challenge, you can become more willful for attempting not to go for some lame expenses.
Now the question here is, what is actually a NO SPEND MONTH?
So the no spend month is what it describes from its words, it is a challenge to spend nothing in a month. It is especially nothing serious to take, like to spend nothing whether you need something badly.
The process is quite simple; all you have to do is to take a paper and a pencil and write down all the grocery items and foods or frozen food that is already in the upper portion of your fridge and write it down with the quantity and the days for how long will they last and use them for a month to spend no money.
Then make the other list on which you have to write those necessaries that are more likely, to be related to medicines or first aid part and buy them first. Then write down what others are there to buy for this month and make them delay for a month. Of course, in the first month, all you have to do is make a start; you may not make it through a whole month but for a week or two is not bad. Then for the next month, you can try this challenge again.
That is not a big deal because making this challenge is to change the bad habitus, which is spending a lot of money on those items that we might think we need. Still, we do not need them in reality, but in psychology, we have made our mind that other people are buying that specific commodity, so I should be buying that too.
That is what the attitude of a child is. They tend to like those in other kids’ hands, and they want them to without realizing whether they need it. So try to make that thing remove from your mind and start making decisions rationally. This challenge will help you think out of the box and make changes in your habit.
How this works, and what you have to do in this challenge?
You have to use some of the items you already have available in your home.
Without realizing what we need and what we do not need w buy things to eat as well, that is the reason behind that there was no space left in our fridges and the month-end when things got spoiled we waste them; this should not be happening after you take this challenge in for a month whole.
As I have mentioned above, make a list of those items that are already present in your fridges to eat and have some fresh taste left in them. Then download the app MUNCH” munch is the app that will allow you to make the desired eatables from the resources you have in your home.
For example, whatever ingredients you have in the kitchen, you name them in the app, and the app will provide you the recipes you can make from those ingredients, so you need not spend a month in a hell boring way. You can make much out of it.
Now come to the other commodities!
After the food, you have to make a list of other available items in your home, and you can use them for different purposes.
For example clothes, shoes, detergents, soaps and all other things.
For cleaning purposes, shampoos or chemicals, you can use the detergent you are using for laundry. That will leave any side effect on the surfaces of your home if you know how to clean your house after all. You have to do the duties for your partner to do laundry for one time and the other time you can do your laundry by yourself.
For cleaning, there is the same method. If you want, you can apply. Do the cleaning by your own self for one day and let your partner do the cleaning of the home?
By dividing the duties, you can make it easier for both of you to have less spending attitude over the house’s basic chores. I have seen many people cleaning and laundry by themselves, and I also know many who ask the cleaning companies to send their workers to do the house chores.
As for spending money on different house chores, it is not that difficult to do; when you can easily clean at least your room and then the other room on the other day, you can easily save quite a lot on the cleaning category. And specifically, in a no spend a month, you can give it a try and make yourself comfortable with it. Once you know how to do the things you can manage them in the next month quite superbly.
A no-spend challenge will motivate you.
The biggest role this challenge will be playing in your life is to motivate you to take care of your things and chores by your own selves. If you keep on spending money and ask others for their services, you will never make a single penny save in your accounts of saving.
Why am I saying this so? Because I have been through this too when I was making money, I got messed up with my routine. I barely do not know how to manage things, which actually made me feel upset, and to get rid of this, I started asking the companies to send over the workers for a day to clean my space to do my laundry, and usually, I deliver food from outside and make the payments so I can stay in a comfortable life.
But little did I know that this life of luxuries and making myself comfortable will bound me to stay in this trap I will never be able to save anything for my old age and future.
These confusing things started haunting me, what to do, and what not to do. I was so confused. Inside I knew that this is not going smoothly because I spent too much and am keep on spending, and if this will be going like this for any longer, I will be drowned. But after a little time, I decided to take up this challenge and start this challenge a month or two ago.
The challenge motivated me to start working and serving myself first and stop asking others to do my work. Then stop buying food from outside and spend good quality time at home for the sake of your mental health and peace.
When you have a good time at home, you can make the changes in your home by yourself, and you can cook for yourself, the healthy delicious food has no comparison to outside food? It’s natural and hygienic, and it costs you nothing more than one percent of how much you already spend outside for food.
It can make you aware of your spending problems, and it can change your spending attitude easily.
The other major factor this challenge plays in your budgeting and spending behavior is to let you know where you are spending more and where you need to spend more. Most of us do not know what there on which we can make a compromise or delay very easily is; for example, if you are buying the beverages for a month in your grocery items, you can compromise on them very easily. Isn’t it easy?
You can buy one drink at a time, and if you are not feeling to drink them, they will expire, and your money is wasted. Try to buy a limited amount of food and drinks and buy them fresh so you can consume fresh food and drinks. It will save you money and boost your health routine and status.
The challenge of no spending month will allow you not to know the problem of your spending behavior like somewhere you need to bargain, but you don’t. Somewhere you buy things by looking at your friend’s cart, and you do not need it. Sometimes you spend money to eat food outside, but you do not feel good to eat outside on the day but because of your friends get together you spend money on food for showing them off or saving your face to feel not low.
A no-spend month can help you remove the unnecessary.
Declutter means to remove those items which are unnecessary in your life, or it can be in your home after you go for the challenge you can easily develop this habit in yourself to declutter the things; this habit will not only make your life easier and simplifies because of less messy thing and fewer things to manage and remember, but it will also allow your budget to make a huge portion of your income to be saved on a monthly or weekly basis.
The thing is that no spend month is quite a way to help you save more and more and let you know that you can be more at peace if you spend less on unnecessary things. As I have discussed, I have talked about needs and wants in the previous article, identifying your needs and wants.
By going through this challenge, you will be able to cut off your bad habits of spending more on wants than your needs and cut off the extra expenses you can survive without them. The other benefit is to make things removed from your life which is useless to buy.
Like less space in your home and you are buying heavy furniture. However, you can buy some light and portable stuff to keep a good breathing space in your home and save more by spending less. And buy only what you need, nothing extra can count on.
Of course, you can have fun in the challenge without spending anything, like you can buy movie tickets on coupons, try to apply in giveaways, and you will get fun rewards in return.
So there are a lot of ways to have fun without money. And these ways will come to mind according to your taste right after you accept this challenge and you know that you do not have to spend, and in that bound feelings, you will make way for having fun. It will be more fun when you know that you will have a huge amount of savings just from the income that you did not spend by the end of the month of the challenge.
How to start your next no spend a month after the first month.
Now, this is a question that is quite tricky and amazing in both ways, like for those who have gone through the first month of no spend month challenge. They want to have the other month this challenge, but once you buy the grocery for a month, that will not be considered the no spend a month because you would be spending on groceries.
So, take the incense of the challenge, what this challenge is for and what they are making us or molding us into. When you know the idea of how to deal with the spending money maters, you will be easily doing your stuff on your own self, and you will know you can do it.
Once your one month challenge is gone, you can buy the stuff you need by applying the limitations of wants and needs; after that, you can continue to spend the whole month compromising on the lame wants or stopping yourself from unnecessary wants.
Tips:
There have been many ways to save money, but people around us keep coming up with why the average income person has to go for savings and does not spend as they want.
So the answer is quite simple: many people around us are billionaires, and many live below the poverty line. We can be the middle one, not too rich, and fortunately not too poor. The reason behind savings is that you are less likely to spend it with your families when you start making the income.
The poor have no money, but they are living with their families in a room. Many may not have the rooms even to live in camps, one camp and many families adjust. And rich people have money but less time to spend with their families. Suppose you take the example of an actress who is a mother too. She spends the whole day shooting and travel the state to state every month how much time will she give to her kids. these are natural things, not a judgment.
Of course, there are exceptions everywhere, but more likely in different regions worldwide are living like this. so consider yourself the luckiest person you are earning a stable income and have a lovely family.
The savings will allow you to have more time to take off from your work and spend with your family and yourself. This saving habit will allow you to take early retirement and spend the beautiful days with your daily. The most important happiness lies in the simple life where you have peace of mind and a loving family.
Surely you can spend life alone by spending all of your money without saving anything but the decision is still in your hands before it’s too late to think whether it is worth taking this chance and make the amendments in budget and save the energy for other things in life or not.
Good luck!
After leaving Wells Fargo Bank in 2014, Daniel began a career as a finance consultant, advising companies and individuals on economic policy, labor relations, and financial management.
At Promtfinance.com, Daniel writes about personal finance topics, value estimation, budgeting strategies, retirement planning, and portfolio diversification.
Read more on Daniel Smith's biography page.
Contact Daniel: daniel@promtfinance.com