No Spend January

Welcome to January. The season of resolutions and good intentions. While I have long since given up the requisite Western-toxic-diet-culture resolution of losing weight in the new year, I still enjoy a good resolution/challenge to kick things off. 

This year I have decided to do a January No-Spend Challenge. I’ve done these no-spend periods in the past and find they are an excellent way to identify spending leaks and combat lifestyle inflation - which is a bit of a champagne problem to have. Lifestyle inflation is when your income increases, even a little, and you slowly start spending money on things that you never used to. For me, lifestyle inflation usually shows up in the form of impulse purchases in the grocery store. Of course I need at least 4 different types of gourmet  cheeses on hand at all times. You never know when you’ll need to make an impromptu charcuterie board. 

If you aren’t familiar with a No-Spend Challenge, it’s a fun(?) way to save some money AND rethink your spending habits. It’s also a great way to rethink consumerism in general. There is nothing more sustainable than NOT buying things you don’t really need. 

What is a No Spend Challenge?

No Spend challenges have grown in popularity over the years and there are different ways to set up your own no-spend challenge. Some people opt to cut ALL unnecessary spending, including things like streaming services, cable, etc and eat only what they have in their cupboards for one month or more. Others embark on a long term no spend, vowing to buy no new clothes or electronics, etc….for the entire year.  Still others (like me) structure their challenge to pare down their spending and identify unhealthyish habits.  

My No Spend Rules 

My no spend rules are pretty simple. No spending on anything outside of my regular needs, including any  online orders. I am not a big spender by nature - I have been raised on classic New England Yankee Thrift. But I’ve found that during the pandemic, I had turned a little too much to online retail therapy as a distraction from uncomfortable feelings - oh hello Amazon & ThredUp.  But there are only so many sensible second-hand cardigans you can buy, before the dopamine wears off. So, while a no-spend can definitely help save money, I am really doing it in part to feel my feelings in a healthier way.  

In addition to my no online purchases rule, here are some other rules for my January No Spend: 

1. A moratorium on new recipe ingredients. As noted in the above fancy cheese example, I am easily dazzled by gourmet ingredients at the grocery store. I am also the queen of buying items for a new recipe and then never making said recipe.  As a result, I have accumulated oodles of unopened jars of truffle sea salt, red curry paste, Mediterranean olives blends, and organic stone ground almond flour (even though I’m not gluten-free). Like sleeping beauty waiting for her prince, these items are sitting dormant in my cupboard, just waiting for me to bring them to life. If I want to dabble with new recipes in January, they have to be based on things I already have in my cupboard. 

   
   June 2022 Update - Win! I have not bought any one-off ingredients at all this year. I have also been diligent about checking my pantry (aka my lazy susan) to see what items I have onhand, before I go shopping.
   
   

2. No personal care items unless I am 100% out of it.  This means that when the shampoo bottle is down to the last 1/8 inch full, I do not get to buy a new bottle. And I need to use up any partially opened containers before buying new. I actually did this last year and it took me + my family over three months to use up half a dozen travel-size toothpastes before I had to buy a new full-size tube of toothpaste.   

   June 2022 Update - Full Transparency. I did buy one new eye shadow pallet in a moment of weakness a few months ago. When I got home I realized it is almost exactly the same colors as the eyeshadow pallet I had been using. So, at least I know I’ll use it up.
   
   

3. Grocery shopping once a week. I know, I know  - I’ve have real issues with buying groceries. Depending on how you shop for groceries, this might seem like you’d be spending more money. But my rationale is that I will actually spend less, because I’ll be less prone to bulk buying mentality. You know, when you’re like I need to get all.the.things now, because God only knows when I’ll make it back to Wal-Mart. I spend way less going once a week, because if I want something, but don’t have an immediate plan for it, I’ll just add it to my list for the next week. 

June 2022 Update: A win most of the time. I have pretty much stuck to my once a week rule, though there were a few extra trips thrown in here and there to pick up a few extra items - mostly fresh produce if I was out. But it is still loads better than my previous habit of multiple trips a week.

Financial Health Matters 

The way we deal with our money is really important. While I am able to live comfortably now and have a solid middle class office job that pays me well for my needs, I have also struggled financially in the past - hard. And experienced some hefty financial trauma along the way. Just like mental health and physical health, I believe we must look after our financial health with the same kind of persistence and patience. It is not something that should be ignored until it becomes a problem.  

If you’d like to do your own no-spend challenge, you can download this free worksheet I put together. And you can find more resources I’ve put together on budgeting, financial planning and simplifying life & home over on Pinterest.