View Full Version : January No-Spend
Thought it might be fun to post a monthly no-spend (or no-buy or no-shop) challenge) for those who would like to join. I won't be joining in January as I am planning to do a birthday to birthday challenge, and my birthday isn't until the 28th. But I'd love to hear what others are doing. Maybe you'd like to spend on only utilities. Or maybe you decided to stop buying new clothes only. Or maybe you won't buy anything new for the month. Whatever it is, please feel free to set your own rules and post about it here!:)
I will attempt to have 10 no-spend days for the month.
So good to see this thread start up again. (It's been a while, hasn't it?) Hmm... I really need to get serious about tracking my spending this year, so I'm game shooting for 15 no-spend days. Have one in the bank so far as I didn't spend anything on New Year's day.
No spend is hard for me, as i generally take a taxi home from work every day. But no shop is doable. I'm going to add this on as a "bonus" to my 12x12 goals -- 12 days a month of no shopping. I think that is more than doable, as I generally try to lump my shopping into errand days anyway.
lhamo
early morning
1-2-12, 4:18pm
Oh I need to get back to this - I'm trying for 10 no-spend days. Main difficulty is gas - we don't very live close to a station, I drive a LOT, have a fairly small gas tank, and I don't like to have it below half full. But so far for the month, I have 2!
early morning
1-7-12, 8:36am
Well, Wednesday was a no-spend day! That makes 3 for me. I try really hard to consolidate errands, plan my gas stops, etc - but DH seems to manage to be out of something he "has to HAVE!!" sooo frequently. And I've found that if I refuse to get it, he will often drag himself out of the house and buy himself all sorts of treats, which is bad for the budget and the relationship...when he's having good days, we can talk about it and put off the expenditure until we need several things, or make a grocery run, but when he's bad, that just won't fly. So I'm always pleased by no-spend days!
Three no-spend days so far: the 1st, 4th and 6th. Woo Hoo!
Today will not be, as I will make a grocery and Target run.:cool:
I'd like to not spend on weekdays, and spend only on groceries and absolute essentials on weekends. Usually pretty easy unless friends invite me out for drinks or dinner. I want to try to invite them over instead so we can drink at home (maybe even some homebrew!)
Out of nine days, I've only had three no-spend days so far. That's not enough if I want to keep on track to reach my goal of 15 days for teh month, but that's the purpose of this exercise, right? To keep no-spendng in the fore of my conciousness so I'm aware of my need to be thrifty. Onward!
Enjoying reading everyone's posts!
Three no-spend days so far: the 1st, 4th and 6th. Woo Hoo!
Today will not be, as I will make a grocery and Target run.:cool:
More no spend days:
1/10, 1/12--5 so far.
Doing much better on my no-spend days. So far have 8 no-spend days and we're almost half way through the month. My goal was 15 so I've got seven left to go and two and a half weeks to accomplish that. (Almost went out to dinner tonight, but changed my mind so I could get one more squeezed in this week.)
early morning
1-17-12, 10:29pm
Finally managed another no-spend day on Sunday. Thought I'd have another today but the weather's turning nasty and I didn't want to have to fill up the tank on the way to work in the morning...
More no spend days:
1/10, 1/12--5 so far.
1/15, 1/17, 1/18---8 so far. :)
early morning
1-18-12, 8:56pm
yay Fawn! I'm at 4 and holding :P
I'm doing a sort of focused, targeted, no-spend thing for what's left of January and possibly February. When I retired in September, I began going through the house, decluttering, reorganizing, and redecorating, and vastly overestimated the speed at which this could be done by one 66 year old woman. I bought a lot of stuff I knew I'd want when I saw it on sale and am now surrounded by partially assembled furniture and lots of boxes. This isn't what I had in mind.
So my no-spend resolution du jour is to not buy another thing for the house until all of this stuff is assembled, resting in its chosen place, and the boxes and wrappings are outta here. I actually prefer a spacious, Zen-like atmosphere in my home, somewhat like minimalism but not as extreme, but you'd never know it if you walked into my living room right now. In fact, you'd probably laugh your pantyhose right off.
yay Fawn! I'm at 4 and holding :P
I'm slowing down......1/23--9 no spend days so far.
flowerseverywhere
1-25-12, 8:36am
since we went down to one car, and DH went back to work I only have use of a car one day a week. Most evenings I don't go out so I have little access to stores. It has been interesting to say the least but it has curbed my spending in a major way. 19 no spend days this month so far. Most days I figure out what to eat with what we have in the house and kept a list by the back door so I was very organized. Adding to it is I have done a major decluttering the last few years and finally got to the point where everything is done. Every surface is clean, every drawer straightened out, closets organized. I don't want to wreck it by buying anything. All I need to do is look at the receipts from everything I donated and that turns me off from spending. I also gave so much stuff away or sold it.
Another good thing was not only did I not spend but when I cleaned out my craft/sewing room I found a lot of projects that I had started or had all the materials for and never started so I am working on them now. The few gifts I give during the year will be handmade this year.
It's like eating right or exercising or meditating- you get used to it.
Wow. I have I had a string of no-spend days! Six in a row! Of course, that's 'cause I was sick in bed for the last five and haven't even left my house in almost a week. Must be some kind of personal record for me. However, It's definitely NOT the way I would recommend fullfilling anyone's no-spend commitment. We'll have to see how I do the rest of the month.
early morning
1-25-12, 7:40pm
Oh Nella, I hope you're feeling better! Yesterday was a no-spend, and Saturday too, so I'm up to six now. I need four more. Today and tomorrow are out for sure :~)
early morning
1-31-12, 7:32pm
Got one more no-spend on the 28th, and that was it... only 7 for all of January, boo. Next month I'm only counting MY spending days, not the family's!
I'm slowing down......1/23--9 no spend days so far.
Three more: 1/25, 1/26, 1/27/
Twelve total...I'm pretty pleased.
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