I will be honest. The days leading up to the new year brought on some anxiety for me. You see, we had planned back in September to do a Yearly No-Spend Challenge in 2016. And, well, I’m the spender in our marriage and I was terrified that I was going to be the one who just couldn’t cut it.
While it’s definitely been an adjustment period, I’m very happy to say that our first month of the Year of No Spending as been a success. We still have places where we can make improvements, but overall we have made a lot of progress and learned a few things along the way.
If you are considering a no-spend month or year, you may be surprised by some of the things you find out about yourself! Here are a few things we have learned so far.
1. We have budget “leaks”
After reading Lydia’s post about budget leaks last week, I realized that we had a few drips in our budget. We aren’t ruining our budget with big purchases, but rather nickeling and diming ourselves into the “poor house.” It’s been the $5-$15 Amazon purchases, the $3-$5 weekend snack trips, and the small overages in our grocery budget that has caused us to go over budget so often.
We have been following her tips. I loved her tip to look over your bank statement to see where the money is going. She mentioned that if you are spending money at fast food frequently, but aren’t contributing to your savings then things are out of balance. I loved that statement and have taken it to heart. Like I said above, we aren’t big spenders. However, in the past we have spent before saving and that’s be very eye-opening.
We are going to change this and save first.
2. We had a shift in mindset
I began to analyze each purchase and question whether it was 100% necessary. Things that I used to say were necessities suddenly became wants. I think this challenge has really shifted our mindset from what are really needs and what are simply wants that we can live without for the time being.
Since we are doing this challenge for the entire year, we aren’t depriving ourselves at the grocery store. We are purchasing a few fun food items from time to time. However, I’m being a little more picky with those purchases.
3. We saved money
While we weren’t able to save as much as we had hoped, we paid off our credit card from Christmas (and canceled it! YAY!) and funded my annual eye doctor appointment, our yearly car registration, and our dog’s annual vet appointment. Even through all of this, our savings account increased by just shy of $500 so we are thrilled!
I know that our year of no spending is directly related to the amount we were able to save! In past months, this money would have just floated out of our hands without us even realizing it. Making the habit of not spending unless completely necessary really helped us pad our savings account just a little bit more.
4. We found our catalyst
I’ve heard of so many people doing it, but never would have believe that it would make that much of a difference for our family. However, it has completely changed how to view spending money!
Our budgeting catalyst is a simple 89 cent notebook from Target where we write down every single purchase we make throughout the month. There is just something about writing down your purchases that makes you really consider each dollar you spend. And as ridiculous as it sounds, I’ve avoided buying things just because I knew I was going to have to remember to write it down!
5. We want less “stuff”
As our mindset has shifted, so has our views on the amount of “stuff” we own. Last spring, I read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I was almost 8 months pregnant and nesting like crazy. However, I wasn’t able to fully go through our entire house using the methods suggested in the book after Ben was born. The rest of the year was consumed by adjusting to two children. Now that we are starting a fresh year, I’m ready to jump back into decluttering even more.
Our shift in mindset has really helped me to see that bringing in less “stuff” can really change the dynamic of your home. As I look around my house, I’m constantly asking myself, “Would I spend money to buy that item again?” If the answer is no, out it goes! It’s been so refreshing to not only get our finances in line, but also to get our house a little less cluttered as well.
After only one month of our no-spend challenge, my anxiety has really gone down. I’m so happy to see that I CAN DO THIS! I’ve found that the peace of mind of knowing that we are preparing for our future trumps the stress of not knowing where our money is going any day of the week!
Elly says
Hi, I just stumbled on your blog on Pinterest. Our lives are about as different as they could be (I’m 47, live in Australia, and we weren’t able to have kids) but some things are universal…. like living on a budget. We chose to “work less, live more” so for the last 15 years we have both worked part time. In that time we have renovated a house, sold our house and lived in England on a canal boat for two years, and now we’ve just finished building a little house back home in Oz. We are homebodies and like nothing more than both being home together. Like you, I’m firstborn and a definite TypeA. I actually found your blog because I noticed your post about house cleaning! While we were living on the boat I read something about 5 minutes a day cleaning and I loved it. I do 5&5. Five minutes cleaning one thing (the loo, or the fridge, or the shower) and five minutes tidying one shelf or one cupboard. My husband does the floors and the dishes so this is working well for us. About once a month we spend an hour together giving the house a good once over. I know it’s different with kids in the house but you’re absolutely right that just five minutes can achieve something. Love your blog!
Kaitlin says
Oh Elly, what a beautiful life you seem to live! I love that you and your husband have lived for life, not for money. It’s a rare thing these days. Thank you so much for your kind words. They really do mean so much to me. I’m so glad you stumbled upon my blog. It’s so fun to meet people all over the world!
P.S. I read this comment in my head with a darling Australian accent which I’m sure you have! 😉
Carrie Willard says
Hi Kaitlin,
I too followed a link from Pinterest. I embarked on a No Spend Summer (not sure if I could do a year, wow that’s inspiring) to boost our savings efforts. We’re aiming to have a down payment for a home by the end of the season. Thanks for these tips – yes, finding leaks in the budget is key and I love tracking. We use the EveryDollar site and app, which is free, but paper works fine too!