How to Survive a 30 Day No Spend Challenge

Habits have really been the topic around here lately. We talked about routines and habits to start to help the routines. Today we are going to talk about a different kind of habit. One that our society has a really hard time with. Not spending.

Now listen. I love to go shopping just as much as the next person but I also know that money doesn’t grow on trees so every once and a while you need to save it. So to get into the habit of lowering my spending each month I started doing 30 No Spend Challenges.

If you haven’t tried it you should. It really shows you where you bleed out money every month. For me it was trips to Peter Piper Pizza. Now if you aren’t here in Texas you may wonder what that is. Pizza and games enough said. My friends and I would take our kiddos for lunch, load them up with pizza and tokens while we would sit and have some adult conversation. Best thing ever. Until you realize what it is doing to your wallet. Now I am not saying you shouldn’t stop doing the things you enjoy i.e. trips to the fresh bakery down the road. What I am saying is you need to challenge yourself to ring it in every once and awhile.

There are ways to help you survive the 30 days. Lets get into it.

Know your rules.

What are you allowed to spend money on and what aren’t you allowed to spend money on.

-bills

-all bills

-gas/oil for your car

-insurance

-groceries

This category is basically anything that is NOT a want.

What you can’t spend your money on.

-eating out

-new clothes

-going to movies

-new home decor

-coffee ie. Starbucks

This category is basically anything that is a want.

Plan ahead.

Do you best to plan out the months activities in advance this way you know what is going on and what you need to do and not spending money doing it. Also, meal plan. Know what you are going to eat and when so when you grocery shop you only get what you need and not that cute shirt that you saw at Walmart on your way to the bread section.

I have free no spend challenge worksheets! You can find them here.

Find free stuff to do.

This one may be the easiest one to do. Reading is free, the park is free, even just taking a walk is free. The list of free things you can do is endless. The key here is for you to not be picky.

Keep track of your progress

Keep a record of your non spending each and every day. It will help you stay accountable and keep you on track. You can find the printable I use here.

I have faith in you that you can do this. Even if you only do it once a year, I challenge you to find the leak in your wallet. Let me know how it goes.