No Spend Month Begins

Happy New Years! I'm kicking off 2016 with a no spend month.


 A few reasons why I think January is a perfect month for this:

1) With the holidays just past us we have everything we could want plus some
2) Baby #2 arrives in March so we have to save up for that lovely 3 month no pay maternity leave I'm planning
3) iI's winter and we have no where to be or any events to attend. Won't be tempted to head to the beach for the day or any impromptu trips.
4) We have 2 vacations coming up and 2 weddings to attend right when I return to work from maternity leave. We are expecting an expensive summer. Hoping that a month of cut backs will help us determine things we don't miss and can cut back for good.

If you are thinking of a no spend month why not pick a month you are most likely to be successful? It's about helping to save towards a goal, not to make your month miserable.

Also, think about what "no spending" means and set up the guidelines you will follow. For us it's food, gas, and toiletries only. No entertainment, eating out (we are allowing one "emergency" night for take out...like I said we aren't trying to make our lives miserable), no beer money for hubby, packing lunches, no shopping for clothes or extras. And of course we will pay all standard bills and utilities.

I have a few goals for the first week:

1) Unsubscribe to store emails alerts and remove temptation
2) Swing by a new higher end consignment store and drop off all my daughters clothes from last summer and some summer maternity items I no longer need. I'll opt for 50% store credit payout that I'll get right before #2 is born so I can use it on new baby items. It's nice because unlike getting immediate cash at other places I won't get my payout until no spend month is over.
3) Make iced coffee at home and avoid the coffee shop. I will say...I received some gift cards and I'm going to spread it out over the month and still treat myself. But no daily trips with my own money anymore.


I'm going to try to blog through this challenge instead of spending any free time online window shopping. Share any tips in the comments on how to get started on a no spend month.