In case you missed it, at the beginning of the year I shared that we were trying our very first no spend month (you can see that post here and I strongly recommend you read it if you too have found yourself asking yourself “where is all the money going?!”). In fact, at that time we decided to try for a Two Month No Spend Period, mainly due to the fact that I felt like our financial health and spending habits were in chaos and I wanted to give ourselves ample time to re-evaluate, re-work and re-organize the way we as a family budgeted and spent.
So, with January and February now behind us, I thought it time I share my honest review, what worked for us, where we fell short and what obvious and not so obvious benefits we learned.
How Long Should You Do a No Spend Month?
Truth be told, I think this is a highly personal choice. I heard from so many of you that you do a “no spend week” each month. I heard from a few of you that you were committing to a “no spend year”…some out of necessity and some in the hopes of future goals (wanting to save for a down payment for a first home, another hoping to take the savings and go on a trip around the globe). I think what’s important is for you to figure out the “why” you’re doing this to then determine the length of time that’s right for you and your family. For us, purchases made through convenience had gotten out of control (again, I explain all of that in this post) and it became very clear to me that in order to get back on track I needed to set the following ground rules:
No Eating Out
Grocery Shopping Only Once A Week
No Target Runs
No Online Shopping of Any Kind
So, How Did We Do?
I think in order to be completely fair and transparent with you guys, we need to break this into two time lines…the first 6 weeks and the last 2 weeks!
The first 6 weeks we crushed it!! We stuck to our plan, we didn’t deviate and we saw huge benefits! We didn’t eat out or drive through at all. And surprisingly that turned out easier than I expected! The kids only asked for Chic Fil A once after school and when I said we were going home to cook, they didn’t complain. And oddly, never asked for it again during the first 6 weeks. Grocery trips were limited to just once a week, preventing those unplanned purchases and forcing us to meal plan better (you can see our recipes here). I didn’t step one foot into a Target (first world problems for ya!)…and while the first week I had an odd sense of FOMO, after that it actually started to feel empowering. And for online shopping, by taking it off the table (besides the Amazon subscription I had signed up for to provide our household toiletries for the month)…allowed me to better inventory where it was I was more likely to make impulse buys online.
In hindsight I’m so glad I originally committed to more than just one month. It ended up giving us more time to really fine tune the processes we had started to implement for ourselves, and it also gave us the needed time to really evaluate the budget and where our money was going. With six weeks, that gave us a total of 3 paychecks (Jan 1, Jan 15 & Feb 1) to really comb through everything. Having an extra two weeks after January proved to be the sweet spot where we really saw the benefits of a no spend month and where we really made some great decisions for our plan and budget moving forward as a family.
The last two weeks. After feeling like we had accomplished everything and more, it became apparent to us that it was ok to loosen the reins. Brian and I spent money on takeout for at home date night, and I did take the kids to Chic Fil A on a particularly beautifully sunny day for milkshakes (in the past I would have ordered the whole kit and caboodle, this time around, I found it easy to make compromises and better intentional choices…eat lunch at home to save some money, but splurge out for a milkshake, etc). All very simple concepts, but ones that I had frankly lost the ability to see and implement prior to a no spend month…again, purchases through convenience and all that.
Near the end of February, after losing 20 pounds (you can read about the start of that journey here), and receiving birthday money…I treated myself to a wardrobe shopping trip (I shared all my $35 and under finds with you in this post) and therefore my first trip to Target. It was funny that after not shopping for awhile, how intentional my choices and decisions where. I didn’t find myself to be so easily distracted by items not on my “list” and I found it extremely easy to stick to the budget I set for myself prior to shopping. It was fun, it was enjoyable and best of all it was met with no guilt or buyers remorse afterwards. Huh? Is this what successful adult-ing is all about?
So, while we didn’t keep to all of our rules for the entire two month period, we did for most. And the funny thing is, that some of the initial rules have currently been extended for a longer period and possible long term lifestyle choice. For example, around our food. We now grocery shop just once a week (recently I shared how we cut our food budget in half!!) and Brian no longer eats lunch out at work, but rather brown bags it! Funny to see how some of our short term rules have stuck!
The Benefits Of A No Spend Month
The obvious of benefit of a no spend month, was that we saved a boat load of money! It was shocking to see how much we spent each month, especially on food (you can read all about that here including the real dollar amount that we had been spending ~ ugh!). It was shocking and it was eye opening. It also was a huge blessing to feel like we had more access to our own hard earned cash.
And possibly one of the most surprising benefits had to do around time. By restricting and taking off discretionary spending off the table, it was amazing to see how much more time we happened to have. I had clearly made “errands” my excuse to be “too busy” to cook, or plan or whatever. And by being “busy” all the time, it put me in a position to always feel like convenience buys were a necessity, I felt stuck and I felt like I had no choice (laughable, yes! in hindsight, silly, but when you’re living in chaos, easy, rational decisions can feel hard or nearly impossible). And with all that new found free time, I started cooking again…and enjoyed meal planning again. Therefore, we as a family enjoyed our time around the table again. Food tasted better and it ended up resulting in positive benefits for my waist and my wallet! This new found time also allowed me to have more mental clarity and freedom to think again. Think about our goals, think about our budget, think about how & on what we spend money, think about our future, think about how to get where we want to go. And this led to a sense of pride and confidence and peace! And when you find peace, you find gratefulness. And when you find gratefulness, you find Joy.
And that my friends, has been the greatest benefit this no spend challenge has brought to me and my family.
Joy.