Last week when I shared about our 2016 goals and the year of persistence, I mentioned our plan for a 365 days of no unnecessary spending. Well, I did realize one thing! There are actually 366 days in 2016 so we will have a bonus day!
This was something my husband and I were inspired to do after reading an article about Scott Dannemiller and his family. They went an entire year without making an unnecessary purchases and then wrote a book, The Year without a Purchase, to document their experience.
We haven’t read their book yet, but it’s on our to read list for 2016. However, we decided to take inspiration from their experience and run with it!
Why 365 Days of No Unnecessary Spending?
- We want to create better financial habits. We have lived most of our married lives as a single income family. We haven’t had a ton of extra cash to go towards “fun” spending, but yet we have a house full of stuff…nice televisions, up to date technology, closets full of clothes, a playroom full of toys, cabinets full of nice dishes, and a garage overflowing with tools and exercise equipment. With such a small amount of extra money, we have accumulated a lot of stuff. Our hope is that this year will create a change in our outlook on spending money. We want to try to consider all of our purchases carefully in the future.
- We want to better our financial future. I’m really excited to see what our finances look like this time next year. Just thinking about all of the money we will save from not spending makes me giddy! This is money we can use to increase our emergency fund savings and pay off my student loan.
- We enjoy a good challenge! We are both competitive so we knew if we set a big goal we would do everything we could to achieve it.
Here is how we plan to implement it through 365 days of no unnecessary spending.
1. No more frivolous spending
I’m going to be honest. We don’t spend frivolously very often. We aren’t big splurges and save for bigger purchases. However, we have been horrible about the $10 or less purchases. They have literally destroyed our budget some months.
2. Use an all cash system
I will talk about how we use a cash envelope system in detail next week. Basically, we will not be using credit cards and will only use our debit card for online purchases or gas, which is merely a convenience issue with little ones always with me. Our online purchases are mainly from Amazon subscribe and save for things like baby wipes. I also purchase most of my grains online which will be purchased with a debit card, but come out of our grocery money for the month.
3. Only purchase needs
We will obviously continue to purchase food, gasoline for our car, and any needs that may arise throughout the year. I think our biggest hurdle will be deciding between what are needs and what are wants. If my husband’s running shoes completely wear out and he starts to have foot pain while running, that is probably a need. That new pair of riding boots at Target is probably not!
Exceptions
- We will still be budgeting small amounts of “blow money” for both Tom and myself. We will take this out in cash and it will only be added to our budget if we are continuing to meet all of our financial goals for the year.
- House project expenses are not going to be included in our no unnecessary spending. We do have a few projects that we would consider a need, but most are merely to improve the look and resale value of our home. Fixing up our home is something that my husband and I greatly enjoy doing together and we just weren’t willing to give up an entire year’s worth of projects. However, any house project will be carefully planned and budgeted for and paid for in cash.
What We Won’t Be Purchasing (that we have in the past)
- New Clothes (unless it’s a need)
- Quick Subway Trips (unless we have a gift card)
- Target Dollar Spot Items
- Home Decor (I plan to DIY a few things using supplies I already have on hand)
- New Movies or Video Games
- Technology
- Toys