Have you ever heard about “no-spend” weeks, months, and even year long challenges? I love to read about these and see how people save money. These stories are very inspiring to read. So, I decided to start planning my no-spend challenge. I decided to do one month: February. January will be for planning and preparing for the no-spend month in February. So, this post will outline how to plan for the no-spend month(or whatever time frame you want to do), and the rules or guidelines to use for that month(or time frame).

1. The first thing you want to decide when planning your no-spend challenge, is to decide how long of a no-spend challenge you want to do. Do you want to try a week, a month, a year? When making this decision, figure out what will most doable for you, especially if you have never done one before. Also think about the month or time of year, because you might not want to do it around Christmas or summertime travel.
2. Then decide your why behind it. Why are you actually wanting to do a no-spend challenge? Maybe it’s to save money, cut back on spending, use up what you have, or just for the challenge. What ever your reason, knowing your why will help keep you motivated during the challenge.
3. Evaluate what you currently buy now, that is not necessary and that you need to be mindful of during the no-spend challenge. Some items that you buy that might not be necessary is morning coffee from Starbucks, pack of gum in check-out lane, a magazine, shoes that are on sale, the bonbons for a treat; you get the idea.
4. Develop the rules or guidelines you will follow during that time. For example, if you know you have a dinner date with friends or family, you allow yourself to go to the dinner, but maybe using a coupon. Or if you know someone’s birthday is that month, you buy them the gift anyway. Then also noting that you will not buy extra groceries you won’t need, or stop for coffee on your way to work like you always do.
5. Next, you will need to devise a plan for things you will need to do to prepare for the no-spend challenge, ahead of time. This means, that if you realize you need to plan menus in order to not eat out during the no-spend month, do that before your challenge starts. The idea is to do the prep work for the no-spend challenge, so that you are more likely to follow through and achieve the goal.

These are just a few guidelines to go by for your no-spend challenge. One thing I want to do is to use up a lot of what I have, instead of buying more. Kind of like “eating down the pantry”.

If you decide to do the challenge with me, tag me in your Instagram Stories or use the hashtag #sweenoliachallenge so I can see it and share on our Instagram Stories.

Happy Challenge!

Libby