I decided to take the month of January and try a no-spend month; I even convinced my husband to join in! I’ve never done it before, but thought it could be a great way to rein in needless spending, and get back on top of our finances after the busy Christmas season. Of course, it wasn’t a completely no-spend month; we still had to pay bills, buy groceries and gas, and I had multiple appointments over the month, most of which were reimbursed by extended health coverage, but some small extras were not. I also had one small business expense when meeting clients over coffee. Ultimately, it was more of a no-spend month in that we didn’t spend on extras, such as going out for coffee, eating out, entertainment, clothing, or other pleasures like kombucha (for me) and beer (for him). Over the course of the month, instead of buying things, I kept a running list of things I wanted to buy, but didn’t actually need.
My no-spend month is officially over, and I’m planning on rolling it over into at least this next pay period. Here are ten insights I gained over the past month:
The list of things I wanted grew dramatically over the first few days, but petered off over time. I started logging things I want or “need” and found that the list was about 6-7 lines long after the first few days, and many of the items came up urgently as if my life depended on purchasing them. Over the next 3 weeks, only 5 more items were added to that list, and many of which are things I’ve actually been thinking about for a while, but have not yet purchased.
I don’t actually NEED that thing. When I went back and looked at the list noted above, I realized the urgency with which I felt I needed that item has gone. I look at the list and think, I could use it, but could also live without it. I also started reflect on other things I really felt I needed in the past, and purchased in the moment: many are things I barely even use now.
A lot of my spending tends to be related to my emotions. As above, there is an emotional component of buying. It’s related to this perception of lack or need. The purchase fills the void momentarily, but then I go right back to needing something else. Now that I’ve taken spending out of the equation, I have to reflect on my other behaviours: I seemed to have done more baking this month than previously and I certainly was on my phone a LOT.
As time goes on, I feel less urge to spend senselessly. I hit a point in my no-spend month, where I felt that I really just don’t need to buy things. All the things I felt I needed, I have perfectly good substitutes for already.
Not spending doesn’t really feel restrictive, it actually feels oddly liberating. At first I was focusing on all the things I can’t do, like take a drop-in hip hop class or pilates at the market. I can’t top up my kombucha or buy this new device I’ve read about. After time, I started to realize that I’m feeling pretty good with what I have in my possession, and things that are already available to me (like my existing gym membership and hot yoga class pass). I started to feel pretty great about not spending, not accumulating, and not bringing more into my home.
Financial goal attainment is much easier when I’m deliberate about every expense. I always was a saver, but lately I’ve fallen prey to purchasing on a whim, even if I didn’t have the money to pay for it. Now that I’m working more seriously towards a few financial goals, it’s so much easier to do when I’m also not allowing myself to eat out and order coffee a few days a week. I can see my goals coming to fruition much quicker, and it makes me question whether or not that coffee I want in the moment is truly necessary.
Not spending is kind of like healthy eating. In working towards an end goal I need to be cognizant of it every single day. There will ALWAYS be a temptation. Even a seemingly small, harmless one - but it can snowball (see number 8). It’s important for me to stay on track every single day, and not make excuses.
One little slip makes me want to go all-or-nothing. I was forced into a work breakfast meeting. Everybody on our team went out and bought breakfast for themselves. I planned ahead, had a breakfast at home, and brought my usual snacks and lunch. I did plan to buy myself a cappuccino so as to not feel too ridiculous, sitting in a restaurant, sipping a free tap water. $5.50 later, and I went back to work thinking that I should order something for dinner, or buy some chocolate covered almonds, or ANYTHING, because I had already spent once so I blew my no-spend rule. It took a lot of talking myself down to remember that sometimes life doesn’t need to be all black-or-white, and because I had spent 5 bucks, it didn’t mean I failed my no-spend month.
I have extra money to put towards other important things - and much extra than I thought I had. I always budget for entertainment, treats, or extras and I always seem to run out of that money. As the saying goes, the more we have, the more we spend. When I don’t have to pay for entertainment, treats, or extras, I have lots of money left over, which can be rolled into my goals. That’s a big win.
It’s oddly rewarding to not spend. I want to keep going! I still haven’t met my goal, and I knew I wouldn’t with only one month of not spending, but I did gain such traction, that I want to keep going! I will probably be a little less restrictive by adding some exceptions like a bit of kombucha or some drop-in fitness classes as they come up, but generally, no coffee, no clothes and definitely no extras. What started as a 30-day experiment is now extending into life as a habit!
To explain the value of my little experiment on a different level, here is a quote from The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist:
Once we let go of scarcity, we discover the surprising truth of sufficiency…It is an experience, a context we generate, a declaration, a knowing that there is enough, and that we are enough.
Sufficiency resides inside each of us, and we can call it forward. It is a consciousness, an attention, an intentional choosing of the way we think about our circumstances. In our relationship with money, it is using money in a way that expresses our integrity; using it in a way that expresses value rather than determines value…Sufficiency is a context we bring forth from within that reminds us that if we look around us and within ourselves, we will find what we need. There is always enough.
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I suggest that if you are willing to let go, let go of the chase to acquire or accumulate always more and let go of that way of perceiving the world, then you can take all that energy and attention and invest it in what you have. When you do that you will find unimagined treasures, and wealth of surprising and even stunning depth and diversity.
And so it is.
If you need some help with budgeting or setting up a no-spend month experiment, please contact me to work together.
Because together, we rise.