Sistabliss Tribe is coming together for a challenge, a No Spend Month. Challenging ourselves to curb spending in an attempt to love everything we have instead of wanting to have everything we love. Whether you are saving money for something in particular, need to reduce your outgoings, or want to be more content with your life and what you have, then join us and take on the No Spend Monday challenge this March. With free budget planner templates, tips and a Facebook group for support, you will be smashing your goals this month.
What is a No Spend Month?
A ‘No Spend Month’ doesn’t mean spending no money for an entire month. Unless you still live at home with no regular outgoings, you will have to spend money. This challenge simply means no non-essential spending. Those coffees, lunches out, and ‘just-because’ treats all stop, for one month.
How can a No Spend Month Benefit more than just your finances?
A No Spend Month can do more than just bulk up your bank balance. I took on the challenge for another very important reason. Sometimes I slip into a terrible habit of wanting… well everything I don’t have. A very pathetic pity party of “why can’t I just be rich and have everything I want” vibes. Not ok. There are two cures for this feeling: 1. A lottery win. 2. Learning to recognise and appreciate everything I have. Since I can’t control the first, I opted for solution number two.
For instance, you scroll through social media, watching influencer instagram stories and pine over their excessive quantities of possessions. The clothes, products and bags, not to mention the trips, exclusive events and spa days. They can often make us feel inferior, as if despite working our butts off we still haven’t ‘made it’ because we can’t afford everything we want. They make us want to buy buy buy! That’s how they get their commission right? As this form of marketing explodes, these feelings of greed and lack of appreciation are inevitable for us, the unsuspecting audience.
Everything you see in your home used to be money, and all that money used to be time.
By challenging yourself to avoid those triggers and resist the urge to spend money, you will have to look more at what you already have and be creative to use those items to meet your needs. We don’t need things to feel content. That new bag can only bring temporary feelings of joy but never contentment. Contentment comes from appreciative of everything you have, from recognising how far you have come and what you have achieved, and never wanting more than you need.
Top Tips to help you succeed
Now i’m not going to lie to you, a No Spend Month isn’t going to be easy. The fact that the challenge is asking you not to do something, doesn’t make it any easier than a challenge demanding positive action, like a 30 day squat challenge. We’ve all tried and failed that one right? So here are some tips to help you prepare, to alter your mindset, and keep you on the path to success!
Plan your month
It’s all in the planning! Using a diary, calendar or just good old pen and paper, plan out your whole month. Recording all your plans and any special occasions. Not forgetting birthdays or other people you need to buy gifts for, any invitations you might have received, any appointments you might have booked in advance. You will need to decide what activities are going to incur cost, and which of those you can justify as essential. Once you have decided which of these one-off (not scheduled monthly outgoings) costs are essential, set a budget for each of them.
Monthly Budget Planner
This will be your holy grail! A budget planner will keep you on track and accountable for your spending. Sometimes when I go to buy something, I think about having to record it in my budget planner, and I instantly pop it back on the shelf.
After months of designing and tweaking my own budget planner, I have produced a download to print, to add to your existing planner, or to use on a tablet.
Record your expected income and regular outgoings so you can set budgets for groceries, travel and planned spending. Keep a record of all your outgoings to track your success (yes, success! You are going to smash this challenge!)
Know your weaknesses
Write a list of your unnecessary spending habits. That might be, for example, coffees, lunches, clothes, snacks, alcohol, or taxis. Once you identify where your funds are disappearing to, you can make preparations to help you avoid wasting money.
One of my main weaknesses is buying lunch out. Whether that’s at work or at the weekend whilst i’m out running errands. So to combat that risk, i’ll be using the next tip…
Meal planning and preparation
Plan all your meals in advance, ensuring you have plenty of food in the house for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. I like to plan 1-2 weeks at a time, depending on our schedules. Meal planning not only reduces your chances of eating out or regularly popping to the shops, it also helps you to keep track of your food spending and stick to a weekly food budget.
If you can, prepare lunches in advance, so there is no risk of you leaving the house without your lunch. I am terrible for buying food at work after forgetting to buy enough food or prep a lunch in advance. To combat this I set reminders on my phone the evening before reminding me to prepare tomorrows lunch.
Online food shopping
How many items “accidentally” slip into your shopping trolley as you wonder the aisles? My guilty pleasures that often just appear on the checkout belt as if by magic are bourbon biscuits and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. For about two months I have ordered all our food shopping online. Not only do I stick to our meal plan shopping list, but I can also see what I am spending before I spend it.
Avoid email marketing
Urrrggahhhhhh! Email marketing is a cure and a curse. Often full of money saving offers, signing up to these emails can help you save money on planned purchases, but more often than not, they entice you to part with more money than intended! “Sale now on”, “50% off everything”, “Last minute holiday deals” pop up on my phone lock screen all day and they are hard to ignore.
If you might be vulnerable to this type of marketing, unsubscribe from these lists or redirect emails from those senders to a separate folder which you don’t get notifications for… a less drastic option if you can resist the urge to peak!
Join the No Spend Month Challenge!
You are not alone, join the Sistabliss Tribe No Spend Month Challenge this March to smash your goals with the support of other wonderful women. Here are some ways you can get involved and find all the tips and support you need to get started:
- Follow Sistabliss Tribe on social media to keep up to date on our challenge progress, successes, tips and tools. You can find Sistabliss Tribe on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.
- Join our Facebook Group – Sistabliss Tribe Women’s Wellbeing Chat where the tribe chat all things women’s wellbeing in a safe and supportive space. Here you can share your No Spend Month Challenge successes and seek tips from fellow sistas.
- Download your free budget planner template.
- Check out and bookmark this website, where you can find tips and tricks to save money, from beauty on a budget to homemade gift step-by-step tutorials.
- Subscribe to get email notifications of new blog posts, so you get the latest Sistabliss Tribe updates, tips and resources straight to your inbox.
Now you are armed with the tools and tips to smash your No Spend Month Challenge, I wish you the best of luck and look forward to celebrating your successes with you.
Don’t forget to follow Sistabliss Tribe on Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.
Leave a Reply