Have You Tried a No Spend Challenge?

[Eagle]

Have you tried a no spend challenge? What did you learn and how much did you save?

So in October (click for the first post on October 1st) we did a no spend challenge. We set our sights not to spend money on anything outside of our basic necessities and eat from our food pantry/freezer as much as possible. We limited grocery shopping to essentials only.

Our goal as a family of 4 was to save $800 in October 2014. 8)

These are the things that we sought to avoid:

Our goal as a family of 4 was to save $800 in October 2014.

These are the things that we sought to avoid:

*No eating out at restaurants.
*No Starbucks.
*No shopping at stores.
*No shopping online.
*No excess entertainment (we already subscribe to Netflix monthly, but no Redbox or Amazon Online rentals).
*No extras. (chocolate, manicures, pedicures, games, etc.)
*No home décor.
*No toys. (We tend to buy $1 toys at Target)
*No crafts or hobbies.

We are happy to report that we more than doubled that savings goal!

Read more here about what we learned 31 days later.

[phantom]

No Starbucks in October!? That means you missed the Franken Frappuccino! I don't think I could deal with such a void in my life.

In all seriousness though, way to go! Good job sticking to your plan and surpassing your goal.

I've never tried a no spend challenge myself. I like to think that I already do a good enough job of keeping my spending in check. But, I did buy a Franken Frappucino, so maybe I'm not as good as I'd like to think.

[creditcardfree]

Excellent! Isn't it amazing the stuff we can live without if we make a conscious effort. We have done no spend months, but I can't say we beat you in our savings.

[Eagle]

No Starbucks in October!? That means you missed the Franken Frappuccino! I don't think I could deal with such a void in my life.

In all seriousness though, way to go! Good job sticking to your plan and surpassing your goal.

I've never tried a no spend challenge myself. I like to think that I already do a good enough job of keeping my spending in check. But, I did buy a Franken Frappucino, so maybe I'm not as good as I'd like to think.

Lol. You'd probably be surprised with what you could do without...

[Eagle]

Excellent! Isn't it amazing the stuff we can live without if we make a conscious effort. We have done no spend months, but I can't say we beat you in our savings.

It is true there's a lot of stuff we can live without with a consorted effort.

In all fairness we get paid weekly so this past month in October we got paid 5 times.

[dawnwes]

I need to do this, if only for the cleaning out the pantry aspect! Our freezer is full and it has GOT to get cleaned out.

We also have about $400 in restaurant gift cards that are over a year old. We either forgot to take them or decide we don't want THAT food. It is crazy. They need to be used before we go to any other restaurant! Some of them are even for Starbucks, although I rarely go to Starbucks unless I am meeting a friend.

[Eagle]

I need to do this, if only for the cleaning out the pantry aspect! Our freezer is full and it has GOT to get cleaned out.

We also have about $400 in restaurant gift cards that are over a year old. We either forgot to take them or decide we don't want THAT food. It is crazy. They need to be used before we go to any other restaurant! Some of them are even for Starbucks, although I rarely go to Starbucks unless I am meeting a friend.

Here's one version of the pantry challenge:

Pantry Challenge- #1

(We recommend that you start with this one! It’s a great way to get a month with extra savings right in the beginning, to declutter, and to be able to get rid of those cans that you never make a meal out of…. Just think, when it’s all gone, you can start fresh! Skip this challenge if you do not have anything --- and we mean COMPLETELY BARE…. If you have enough to make 5 meals, then still, do the Pantry Challenge first. It will just be a shorter challenge for your family.)

• Empty your fridge, freezer, pantry and cabinets
• Write down every item you already have with quantities
• Create as many meals as possible, only needing to buy minimal ingredients, using what you already have. Do not buy additional meals until these meals are gone.

Wow! $400 in restaurant gift cards? That would be a good month or two of eating out for us.

Go for it! You can do it Dawnwes!

[dawnwes]

Wow, don't think we could do down to completely bare, but we can certainly get closer.

We are planning to move in the Spring too so decluttering the food will help with that.

I will still buy bread, milk, eggs, produce, but we should be ok with a lot of the rest.

Here's one version of the pantry challenge:



Wow! $400 in restaurant gift cards? That would be a good month or two of eating out for us.

Go for it! You can do it Dawnwes!

[snafu]

Eagle, good job to you and family for co operating resulting in a spectacular outcome. We regularly do 'no spend' challenges with slightly different targets. 1st we don't buy items that are not a list for our various categories. Since downsizing to condo space constraints had us all agree that each item bought had to replace something similar or similar size to maintain or reduce the volume of stuff.

We get a constant flow of visitors over the summer so by September I'm looking to reduce foods in pantry, deep freeze and leftovers in ziplock bags in the fridge freezer which gets more complicated by all the locally grown fresh produce finally available. I'm always flummoxed because visitors 'help-out' by picking up items they like at the nearby grocery or worse...something from a specialty store that I struggle to serve.

Just as I make a small dent in inventory, it's Thanksgiving [2nd Monday] October and no matter how carefully I plan there are even more leftovers. As opposed to 'no spend days,' we limit spending to days when automatic payments will withdrawal [property tax, condo fee, heat//electric/ water, CC, annual insurance etc]. I admit to manipulating payments so that I pay utilities the 1st Wednesday of the month because it's 'discount day' at the nearby best priced gas stn., according to Gas Buddy. I always add to my investment portfolio the last Tuesday of the month as it's always a big sell-off on our stock exchange. It's a slow day at the grocery so my list and I can walk in and get it done without ghastly long lines at the till. I'm still of the belief that saving pennies allows dollars to accumulate.

I'm always on the search to reduce costs. If I keep limited/low bank transactions it eliminates bank charges for example.

[creditcardfree]

I need to do this, if only for the cleaning out the pantry aspect! Our freezer is full and it has GOT to get cleaned out.

We also have about $400 in restaurant gift cards that are over a year old. We either forgot to take them or decide we don't want THAT food. It is crazy. They need to be used before we go to any other restaurant! Some of them are even for Starbucks, although I rarely go to Starbucks unless I am meeting a friend.

If you would rather have cash then eating out you can sell gift cards for cash. You get less than the full value, but $350 in your pocket might be better than $400 worth of something you don't want. There are quite a few legitimate companies...do a search online and you will find some like giftcardgranny, raise, cardpool and more.

[Eagle]

Wow, don't think we could do down to completely bare, but we can certainly get closer.

We are planning to move in the Spring too so decluttering the food will help with that.

I will still buy bread, milk, eggs, produce, but we should be ok with a lot of the rest.

Good luck! It will be fun and challenging.

Great opportunity to de clutter too in view of the move!

[Eagle]

Eagle, good job to you and family for co operating resulting in a spectacular outcome. We regularly do 'no spend' challenges with slightly different targets. 1st we don't buy items that are not a list for our various categories. Since downsizing to condo space constraints had us all agree that each item bought had to replace something similar or similar size to maintain or reduce the volume of stuff.

We get a constant flow of visitors over the summer so by September I'm looking to reduce foods in pantry, deep freeze and leftovers in ziplock bags in the fridge freezer which gets more complicated by all the locally grown fresh produce finally available. I'm always flummoxed because visitors 'help-out' by picking up items they like at the nearby grocery or worse...something from a specialty store that I struggle to serve.

Just as I make a small dent in inventory, it's Thanksgiving [2nd Monday] October and no matter how carefully I plan there are even more leftovers. As opposed to 'no spend days,' we limit spending to days when automatic payments will withdrawal [property tax, condo fee, heat//electric/ water, CC, annual insurance etc]. I admit to manipulating payments so that I pay utilities the 1st Wednesday of the month because it's 'discount day' at the nearby best priced gas stn., according to Gas Buddy. I always add to my investment portfolio the last Tuesday of the month as it's always a big sell-off on our stock exchange. It's a slow day at the grocery so my list and I can walk in and get it done without ghastly long lines at the till. I'm still of the belief that saving pennies allows dollars to accumulate.

I'm always on the search to reduce costs. If I keep limited/low bank transactions it eliminates bank charges for example.

Yes, getting produce and groceries on sale is a great thing too! Good reminder. We try to go regularly (once or twice a month) to a discount store that typically has a lot of organic stuff. Got to watch the expiration dates but typically we can get good deals.

We have a lot of family here during November & December. So for us October was a good month to try it out.

[realbankingadvice]

Wow that sounds interesting

[Ashcroft]

I have joined it 2 times ! having 2 meals in a day, no taking a shower for a week, no car, no motorbike, just use bicycle, no TV, no Pizza...finally, I save 100$, amazing

[LivingAlmostLarge]

It's really impressive. I am doing this detox cleanse which just by nature leads to not eating out and it's interesting how much more in groceries we spend but also save by not eating out. I'm hoping to see the real benefit in my waist.