Join the No Spend Days Challenge
Join the 2019 No Spend Days Challenge! No-spend-days are personal endeavors to become more aware of what you spend your money on day to day. Some choose to spend nothing for a day, weeks, and even up to a month. Use the rules below to craft your own No Spend Days Challenge and make 2019 the year you become in-tune with your spending habits.
How to complete the challenge:
1. Pick a certain number of days (consecutive or non-consecutive) out of each month to go “no spend”
The whole point of this challenge is to show you what areas of spending you struggle with and where you can live without or with less. As such, you should choose the amount of days that will best reveal to you these answers.
If you want to start off slow, you could do one day a month for the first few months, and then ramp up to a few days a month, and then move to an entire week of no-spend. Or, you could jump right in and choose to do one week per month of no-spend.
The benefit of longer no-spend periods is that it truly reveals both your good and bad spending habits. Some people even choose to do a month or even a year of no-spend as a way to “reset” their spending habits.
2. Set your rules. Is grocery shopping allowed, or will you go “pantry shopping? What constitutes an emergency?
For shorter no-spend periods (a day or a week), you may choose to go completely no-spend. That means no errands, grocery shopping, going out to eat, etc. For longer no-spend periods, you may decide to set a weekly budget for the necessities (such as groceries and toiletries) and make sure that you do not spend over that amount.
Monthly bills such as utilities, rent, an internet are exempt from this challenge as they are considered necessities for all.
You must also decide what counts as an emergency. Some people may consider their car breaking down an emergency while others may decide that they can live without it until the challenge is over.
Choose the rules to fit you and what you would like to get out of this challenge. It should definitely challenge you, but you shouldn’t skip your mortgage payment or a doctor’s visit for the sake of no-spend.
3. Make sure everyone is on the same page.
If you have a family or significant other, you must make sure that you and your partner are on the same page with this challenge. If everyone isn’t on board, or there is a misunderstanding about the rules, the challenge will not succeed.
The best thing to do is create the challenge together. Once everyone is on board and everyone understands the rules, you are ready to begin the challenge!
4. Stick with it!
This is the hardest part! You will have to decline invitations to social events, do without, be a little uncomfortable, and make some hard decisions. But remember – that is the point!
The best part about this challenge is that it reveals what is important to you and what isn’t. For example, you may realize that going out with friends or going on nice dates are extremely important to you, but that you also have a problem with impulse buying. Now that you know this, you can work on your impulse buying so that you can spend more on going out.
Just remember – don’t give up! You’ve got this!