I mentioned in my May Aims this month that I am hoping to have a No Spend Month. A couple of people have commented on it, asking what that means. So, it seemed only right to make it into a blog post!
Basically, a No Spend Month is where you only spend on the necessities.
Most people have fixed outgoings that need to be every month, like clockwork. Things like rent/mortgage, council tax, water rates and gas/electricity are bills that occur each month. These aren’t affected during a No Spend Month. Most of the time, these bills are a fixed amount and so don’t change. You pay these, regardless.
There are other things that need spending on each month. Grocery shopping, petrol/travel, entertainment and anything else that might fit into your miscellaneous category. However, these are numbers that can be tweaked. They are changeable, dependent on circumstances. In a No Spend Month, you should aim to spend as little as possible on these.
Now, you need food, that’s not in question. However, could you make some meals from your store cupboard? Look at what you have first and see how many meals that could be from that. Then, your food shopping should be necessities and that’s it; nothing overly frivolous. The point of a No Spend Month is to save money!
Entertainment wise, try and find things to do that are free. Go for walks, play some games (make them up if you have to!), borrow dvds from friends. Things to entertain you that don’t cost anything. This makes you be more inventive and creative, which can’t be a bad thing. That book that you keep meaning to read? Start it! Do some drawing, or write something. There are so many options to choose from that don’t cost you anything at all.
Travel can be a tricky one. Most people need to travel by some means to get to work each day. Whether that’s driving a car, getting the train/bus or indeed by foot. In a No Spend Month try and do as little unnecessary travel as possible. Especially if you are using petrol or have to pay fares each time. Travel is ridiculously expensive and some people end up spending a lot on travel each month. It might not be easy to reduce your travel spends, but see how you get on.
The aim of a No Spend Month is to save money. Whether that’s money to pay off debt, pay it off your mortgage, start your own Ultimate Dream Fund 😉 or holiday spending money. It’s entirely up to you what you do with the money that you save during it! In fact, the stricter you are with your spending during your No Spend Month, you might be surprised at the end of it by just how much money you have left over.
I said in my May aims that it would be a No Spend Month for us. Unfortunately, I forgot that our car insurance and car MOT was due during the month so it’s not gone entirely to plan so far. That’s my own fault for not being more organised. I do think that, done well, a No Spend Month can be a great thing to do to get back on track. I might try and do one again in June, to see what happens.
Finally, don’t forget to download my NSD tracker so you can have a visual aid to help you track your own No Spend Month!
*I’ve now set up a Facebook group all about having a No Spend Month challenge!*
Have you ever done a No Spend Month? Would you be tempted to try one?
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I think I would find it hard to have a no spend month, however, I am always thinking about whether I really need something. If a purchase is essential etc. This has gone a little by the wayside in recent weeks though!
I’m doing a six week no spend with my husband starting June 1st. We both are using it as a a chance to just take a step back, almost like a life detox, to look at what we miss during that month etc. I hope that we can both pay off our credit cards r at least a huge chunk of it and then get putting money into savings!
I’m hoping aswell that it will help me be more creative wi my cooking at home haha
This is the first time I am commenting on your blog. You have a great blog.
This is a wonderful idea! I keep trying to find ways to cut down on my spending every month, but I find myself not monitoring things quite as closely as I should be. June is a good month to really take a close look at my spending and be as frugal as possible so I can hopefully make some larger payments to pay down bills. I am a college student that works full time and try to pay for all classes out of pocket to keep my student loans at a minimum. I will try to do a no spend month for June and July (except for a Tuesday night dinner I have with a group of friends, which is currently budgeted into my spending).
Having a no spend month is a difficult task because you have to spend on groceries and other basic things. We can obviously save some money but not spending at all seems difficult.