Why do we need a No-Spend month? Well, two months ago my family and I experienced a fantastic couple of weeks vacationing, traveling with friends, vacations-within-the-vacation, adventures, visiting exotic locals and enjoying delicious restaurants, sometimes with friends.
It was an absolute blast, making memories that we hope will last us a lifetime.
But then came the credit card bill. Ouch. Not a break the bank level credit card bill, but maybe more of a pump-the-brakes level credit card bill. A lets-talk-about-this-after-the-kids-go-to-sleep credit card bill.
A quick aside on credit cards and vacation planning: We’ve had a firm rule in our marriage which is we pay off our credit card statement completely each month. Don’t pay interest and don’t purchase beyond your capacity.
It means that when it somes to vacation we are pre-paying for some portions of the vacation (the lodging and the tickets) and some parts are post-pay (food, travel and activities). This allows us to keep track of our optional vacation spending and normally makes the final bill pretty reasonable.
But the result was us deciding to do a “No-Spend August” which is really a misnomer since we still do have to spend money, but we decided to make some temporary changes to our spending habits in an effort to reorient our spending patterns after a couple of weeks of living large.
What we mean by No-Spend Month
Time to slow the amount of outflow. There are certain things that we have to pay for (groceries, bills, mandatory saving, school fees, school activities, etc) but there are other things we don’t have to pay for. Those are the things that need to go on the “No-Spend” list.
What was the Impact of a No-Spend Month?
The good news is we saved money. It was noticable. We have a pretty structured savings system which includes saving for emergencies as well as long-term savings for impending bills (in our country you often have to pay for your rent in advance, in cash and in multi-year increments) and we were able to do that.
One of the main impacts of the no-spend month wasn’t the total dollar amount saved during the month, but it was resetting the spending patterns defaults. After a couple weeks of high-stimulation and spontaneous spending, it was important to reset into a more normal routine. Get back into habits of waiting for a week or two before an optional buy (it is amazing how often waiting for a couple days makes that nearly-irresistable buy totally resistable) and moving toward simple living and simple eating helps my peace of mind (and my waist line).
How to do a No-Spend Month
Doing a no spend-month means that there does need to be some additional planning. Some things can’t be avoided. When our youngest tore the sole off his sneakers, we had to get a new pair, we couldn’t say “Just go barefoot for ten days. Sorry, no-spend month.” When school club fees were due we just paid them. But we did look to see where we could save a little extra, and it turns out there were a number of things we could do:
- We meal planned for the week.
- We dug through the deep freeze to see what ingredients we had on-hand for the month.
- We bought extra eggs and veggies to make low-cost meals.
- We (I) ate oatmeal for breakfast instead of expensive granola. Double bonus: The oatmeal has way less sugar.
- We highlighted extra low-cost activities with the family. Instead of a Saturday of going into the city to hit the mall, catch a movie and eat out at a restaurant, we went hiking with friends and brought our own snacks. We ended up having a light lunch out, but saved a ton relative to eating at a higher-end restaurant.
- We limited coffee out to times when we were meeting with friends.
- We decided to utilize the things we’ve already paid for for recreation. It’s easy to just spend money when you’re bored, so we doubled down on using our library cards, school library, going running, blogging, intentional learning, and reading.
TOTAL SAVINGS: I’m not going to write a number here. Sorry. But I will say that it was 8.75% of our monthly income. That’s a sobering number, especially when you think that for many Americans, that 8.75% is about half of what’s needed to save for retirement.
Here’s what we cut to reduce our optional spending:
- No Online Shopping – This was cut to a minimum – No Amazon. No Tokopedia.
- No Ordering Coffee – My wife is a teacher. So buying a pick-me up during the day is not a big deal. But for August she brought coffee from home in her travel mug. I just love coffee and coffee shops. I don’t have an excuse.
- No Eating Out for Dates – We stayed in and cooked together. Omlets, left-overs, etc. Mostly simple meals. We still enjoyed our time together.
- No Eating Out Generally – Eat meals at home whenever possible.
- Buying Optional Gadgets – No new watch band, no new apps, no new gear.
- No A.I. Subscription – I still need to research this to figure out the use case and how it’d help me. I love tech, so I need to know myself here and just wait a little. (Technically no savings.)
- No Buying New Sports Gear (no new soccer cleats for the boys since the ones they have work just fine, no running socks for me)
- No Buying New Books – Library books only. Thank God for resources of the Columbus Library.
- No Buying Vitamins or Health Supplements (just wait until next month).
How much does a No-Spend Month Hurt Emotionally?
Yes and no. In the moment, it took a little bit of self-restraint. But after a couple of weeks, it started to be normal. Then it openned me up to enjoy other things.
It turns out I like having the freedom and resources to buy anything I want any time I want them. But that also makes me into a person I’m not sure I really like. I do like the idea of being a self-controlled person. I don’t like the idea of being impulsive.
So, in the intermediate-term, I would say no. It’s not difficult.
But where I’m the most excited about is the long-term potenital of being a simple liver. I like the idea of focusing on what matters in life. I like the idea of not being stressed out about finances. I like the idea of taking all the mental energy that would have been used worrying about money problems and redirecting that energy toward truly worth-while things. That’s exciting to me.
Will We Do Another No-Spend Month in the Future?
Yes we will. We have family members visiting the country in two months and we’ll go on vacation with them. So in between the last trip and the next trip is three months. We’ll do one No-Spend month, two Low-Spend months, and then be ready for our next trip.
Is this No-Spend Pattern Sustainable?
I think that having a regular No-Spend or Low-Spend pattern is possible becuase we have a very rich, rewarding and enjoyable lifestyle as our default. I think the mistake is assuming that spending more money automatically means that our life is better.
Our family has low-cost hobbies (reading, writing, board games, running, soccer, hiking, camping, spending time with friends). We live in a low-cost of living country, so many food staples are pretty cheap. We drive old vehicles. We are healthy and surrounded by great friends. The reality is that we are incredibly blessed whether we’re in a No-Spend, Low-Spend or High-Spend month.
Conclusion
No-spend month for us is really a low-spend month. But having a low-spend lifestyle as your default frees you up to do other things in the future.