If you’ve never done a No Spend Challenge before, you’re missing out! A No Spend Challenge can highlight weaknesses in your spending patterns that you never realised were even there and make you focus on saving money instead.
Saving money takes motivation. A lot of motivation. It’s like dieting – you’re all excited and motivated when you start, but as the days go by, it takes an increasing amount of willpower to stick to it.
That’s why time based challenges are so much more effective – you are more likely to stick to something if you know when it will end.
Since I started budgeting, the one key insight I’ve gained is how much I spend on little things throughout the month. Especially now during the lockdown, it’s so easy to go down to the local store and grab some quick snacks or a takeaway coffee whenever I feel cooped up. This all adds up unbelievably quickly.
That’s why a No Spend Challenge is such a fantastic way to save money.
You only have one rule. Pick 5 categories and do not spend money on any of these for the duration of the challenge.
So simple, right?
You have a specific goal and a duration. You know exactly when it will finish, thus giving you a light at the end of the tunnel to progress towards.
I firmly believe that time-based No Spend Challenges are significantly more effective than just starting saving without a time goal in mind.
I’ll show you exactly how to set these time goals for your No Spend Challenge below!
What is A No Spend Challenge
A No Spend Challenge is a period when you restrict spending money on anything that is not a necessity. This time period can be whatever you choose – a weekend, a week, a month, or even longer if you are a superhuman!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links which means I may get a small fee if you sign up through my link. For full disclosure, please read here.
THE NO SPEND CHALLENGE
For this challenge, you will commit to not buying from 5 categories for the duration of your challenge. What you pick will be personal to you and your family. Follow the steps below and track what you usually overspend, and restrict those.
If this is your first time doing a No Spend Challenge, I recommend you start with a weekend or a weekly spending freeze before progressing to the month-long challenge.
A Month-long No Spend Challenge requires a lot of planning, and you will learn valuable insights by successfully completing shorter challenges so that you can set yourself up for success before attempting the one month No Spend Challenge.
NO SPEND CHALLENGE DO-NOT-BUY-LIST
Here are 5 categories you can restrict when doing the No Spend Challenge:
1. Amazon
Amazon shopping is way too convenient. If you have Prime, it’s so easy to impulsively buy something and overspend. Especially now, during the lockdown, it’s very, very tempting to go online and shop.
Personally, this is the first thing I’m saying NO to. I need nothing from Amazon, and surely, I can survive a month without it.
2. Entertainment
Have you counted how many streaming services you actually pay for? It can add up and be costing you a lot, and you might not even have realised.
I made a list of all the streaming services I pay for, and guys, it’s bad. I pay for Netflix, Prime Video, Spotify, Disney+, YuppTV and KayoSports. That’s $90 every single month. Wow.
Enough is enough. For the No Spend Challenge, I’m keeping one music service and one streaming service and putting a hold on all the other ones. That’s already a $62 saving!
3. Frozen Meals
Don’t buy frozen meals. They are unhealthy, expensive, and definitely not a necessity.
With proper meal planning, you can save money and also improve your health! If you find meal planning tricky, try a service like the $5 Meal Plan, where you get an entire week’s meal plan and detailed shopping lists for only $5.
Or try: How To Make Homemade Freezer Meals: Free Workshop
4. UberEats/Dining Out
With restaurants closed during lockdown, UberEats has become even more convenient. Especially as a busy parent with kids at home all day. The costs can rack up quickly.
However, meal planning can eliminate the need for ordering in food. Pick either the $5 Meal Plan or use my free meal planning printable to create your own meal plan today!
5. Shopping Online: Clothes, Beauty, Shoes
For the next 30 days, don’t buy any new clothes, shoes, or beauty products. Instead, have a look in your closet and pick out 5 things you have not worn in the last month and create new outfits from those pieces instead!
HOW TO PREPARE FOR A NO SPEND CHALLENGE
1. Track your Spending
The first step, before you even start the No Spend Challenge, should be to track your spending. You need to understand your spending patterns so you can see where your biggest spending weaknesses are.
I’m definitely guilty of impulse buying. And it was not until I started budgeting that I realised I was spending at least 45% of my Income on ‘wants’, when I should have been spending less than 30%.
Seriously, it amazed me how much money I saved just by being aware of this fact. If you haven’t done so already, figure out what you’re spending your money on with my nifty 50/30/20 budgeting guide.
2. Calculate Your Necessities
Note down what you usually spend in a month for necessities, including:
- Bills
- Groceries
- Gas
- Cleaning Products
- Basic Toiletries
- Medicines
- Pet Food
Psst. If you missed it, I have this incredibly useful and free No Spend Challenge Printable that you can use to list your necessities. Grab it now!
3. Talk With Your Family
You can’t attempt a No Spend Challenge alone if you are married and/or if you have kids. It will not work unless all of you agree unanimously to do the challenge.
Think about it. How likely are you to see significant savings if you are the only one freezing all spending while your partner carries on as usual? Not very likely.
Your family will be more likely to get onboard if there are fun no-spend activities planned. Check out my list of 30 free activities to do during a No Spend Month (lockdown friendly).
4. Make A Meal Plan
This may seem like the most daunting part of preparing for the No Spend Challenge, especially for the monthly one, but it’s not!
Trust me. You can plan an entire month’s meals at once. It’s not at all hard. I’ll show you how.
Go to your pantry and take an inventory of everything in there. Do the same with your fridge and freezer. Start coming up with meal plan ideas for breakfast, lunch and dinner using the items you already have on hand.
A tip I like to use is to make sure I have at least one serving of protein and two servings of vegetables for my lunch and dinners.
Use my meal planning printable. I have broken down lunch and dinner into three categories:
- Base: Pasta, Rice, Beans, Wraps, etc
- Protein: Any choice of vegan or meat source
- Vegetables: Any two servings of vegetables
This printable has saved me so much time! I know exactly how much to bulk cook. I also know exactly how much and what type of veggies I’m assigning for each meal. This makes it very easy to not repeat a certain food item too many times. It’s been a life saver!
Bonus Tip: If you are struggling to come up with enough recipes for the entire week or month, don’t worry. It can be tricky. Try these resources to help with your meal planning.
Get a detailed meal plan for the entire week for just five dollars! It also comes with a full shopping list and complete recipes.
You can also try emeals, another HUGE time saver, which offers a 2 week free trial!
5. Stock up on Groceries
Once you’ve inventoried all the food items you have on hand, make a grocery list for the remaining items you need. Plan ahead so that you can minimise the amount of times you need to visit the stores during the No Spend Challenge.
Bonus: Sign up for Ibotta (Get a $10 reward too) and earn cashback on your groceries. Get paid to shop!
CONCLUSION
A No Spend Challenge can be very rewarding and give you fantastic results!
Since we’ve started doing No Spend Challenges, we have saved an average $75 per week. That’s almost $4,000 a year.
A No Spend Challenge is such an easy way to grow your savings account. You can use that money to pay off your debt, invest in portfolios, or save for a home deposit. The possibilities are endless and I really hope you give this challenge a try yourself!
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Definitely need to get back on this! I had a no spend January and it was wonderful! I thought this quarantine would have helped me save money but I just found other things to spend it on – hello Amazon Prime! (sigh)… Thanks for the motivation.
I loved reading this post. My husband and I have been budgeting for a few months now. I love finding new ways to save and 30 day challenges are always fun to me.
This is amazing and SO helpful! Thank you so much 🙂
Now that restaurants are closed I am saving tons of money. I haven’t bothered with uber eats because I don’t like the food when it isn’t fresh anymore. I would rather cook at home. Now the trick will be to still not eat out once the restaurants open back up!
Your advice here is great advice!
This is amazing! And so inspiring! I’d love to take part in something like this! I’m usually pretty good about where & how I spend my money, but I definitely could benefit from your advice!
-madi xo | http://www.everydaywithmadirae.com
Aww thank you! You should definitely take part in a No Spend Challenge, you’d be surprised at how many little things slip past 🙂
Great tips! We actually have saved a lot not eating out. It is amazing when you pay attention to what you are spending on!
YES I agree! That’s the key to increasing savings – just paying attention to what we are spending on.
You are so right about Amazon prime making it easy to spend money🙈 I’ll try using your method to save more. Not sure if I can keep we the no spend challenge
Amazon Prime is my weakness!! It’s just way too easy to buy and ship 😩
Definitely try the challenge and customise it to your needs – you can just do a weekend or a week first. Make sure you try out my printables and let me know how you go! 🙂
Wow, thanks for this, I started to save few months ago, I must admit it’s cool
I love the idea of a no spend challenge! ! Social distancing has already made me realize so many things that we don’t really “need” in life. Unfortunately, it’s also gotten me off course with a grocery budget. I appreciate your suggestion of forgoing frozen food!
Thank you! I’m the same – I’ve been spending so much on convenience and frozen meals without realising it. And UberEats too! A No Spend Challenge has really helped me pinpoint my spending habits so that I could work on it.
I 1000% need a no spend challenge. Amazon is my kryptonite. Ive been spending out of control since lockdown. Need to get back on track. Probably start in June. Great tips!
Thanks! Definitely try out the challenge! It has helped me SO much 🙂
I’ve actually been doing this for the past month or so (since the pandemic started) and it’s amazing how much money I saved! I usually spend on stupid little things but it’s nice to save my money for a change!
I NEED to do this! I’m the queen of unnecessary purchases (I’m looking at you, Target). I can even set a rule that the family doesn’t buy anything on weekends. The weekends I have off I find myself going to multiple stores spending a LOT of money on things I don’t need! Thank you for this!
I feel ya, girl! Target, and also Amazon – I have so much unnecessary stuff (some with tags still on 🙈) lying around the house. Try out the No Spend Printables and let me know if they’ve helped! 🙂
These tips are awesome especially this challenging period. I already made a habit not to spend on fashion and subscriptions, but to save. Who knows what will happen after a few months or a year. I better have savings rather than fashion items.
I have been doing this but I exclude my skincare expenses. It was even a huge difference, I have been travelling a lot with my saving :)) I will definitely download your printable tables!
Great tips! Honestly since this covid-19 has started we have been living a plain life.
30 days with no Amazon?? I don’t know if could handle that! But I could focus on not ordering anything that is not a necessity!
HAHA yep it’s hard! Try a weekend and then a week first! 🙂
Totally going to do this for the month of June! Will print everything out later 🙂
I did no spend challenge in December! It was NOT easy! But it helped that it was right before Christmas when I could buy for other people, just not for myself! It’s a great exercise to help you re-think what you really need. I’ve also been doing mini challenges lately, like no clothing purchases in April.
Yes it’s so hard, but so useful! I’m so happy you’ve been doing these challenges. Feel free to check out my printables and let me know if they help you!
Great saving idea!! I’ve never seen this before, and I’m sure it’s really eye-opening. Thanks!
I love these tips! No spend fasts are such a great way to really hone in on your budgeting and spending. Thanks so much for sharing!
I will be trying this soon! This quarantine has surprisingly not been great for my savings LOL
I do this once every quarter to save and practice discipline. It’s definitely necessary.
YES. So necessary! What are some of the things you put a spending freeze on?
Amazon is my downfall! It’s so easy and convenient. I love the idea of having a goal and a set time. I could probably stop buying if I knew it was only for say two weeks.
I love this idea, we were so unfortunate that our large freezer went out just before the pandemic hit and we never got it replaced. Now I know I really do not need one, since I survived the worst without one…. it made me revaluate LOL!
Talk about silver linings 🙂
It’s amazing how little we actually *need* haha!
I’m not sure that I could do this but I think it’s such great advice for people who are trying to build up their finances.
P.S – I love your entire blog. It looks gorgeous and you write great content!
Ahhhh I’ve never done one of these as i feel like if I ban myself from doing something it makes me want it more?! I never order food/takeaways but if someone challenged me not to do it I would definitely start craving it haha it is a very good concept though and I might it give it a shot next month x
Definitely try it out and let me know how you go! Feel free to print out my planners to help you prep for the challenge!
This is the challenge of the challenges, but one that in the end also gives a nice nest egg aside!
Yep, and also so rewarding!
This is such a great challenge to accept and really worth it to deal to the benefits of ourselves. I love this challenge.
I will try these out for sure. I am in look out save money. I am not buying freezer food.
ABSOLUTELY love this idea ! I am a huge saver – i love finding new tricks and tips when it comes to saving my money/money management. I do believe this is a great way to watch what your spending and put it into perspective! Great job !
Yay! I’m glad you enjoyed it! I couldn’t agree more – it definitely puts spending into perspective!
I’ve never done a no-spend challenge, but I think it could be exciting/helpful. For me quarantine has helped me spend less on fast food because I’m not tempted to stop for breakfast on my way to work.
Oh definitely try it! Same. But while I don’t buy my morning breakfast before going into work, I now find myself ordering way more on UberEats. Sigh.
Sounds practical and definitely try giving idea.
Well considering, I haven’t left my house during this lock down. I’ve saved money as there is no need for new clothes and other items.
I could use some savings advice right now. Thanks for sharing those great tips
I cringed when I saw Amazon as one of the 5 no spend categories. That would be SO hard for me! Which means I probably should put that on my list if I do this challenge.
This seems like the perfect time for a No Spend Challenge! We are pretty frugal, but I can always spend less.
Great idea ..of course its really hard to control me whenever I go out … I love shopping and spend most of the things that I really dont need. ..but I love them… Just a time to track me…
I’m cringing over all my streaming services and subscriptions too! My husband doesn’t want to let them go though. He doesn’t even watch Disney+, but he has to have it because he likes having the option! lol I will have to work on this. Maybe a challenge is what we need
Yep. *Yikes* was what I thought when I saw how much I was actually paying for all of them. It really does add up! It’s hard to let them go though.
Oh boy, we’ve been doing this hardcore for the last year to save up for our Alaska trip.
This is a great challenge! The not buying on Amazon is a tough one. I do love meal planning, it has helped me save so much.
This sounds like a really amazing challenge. Thanks for sharing.
Wow, this challenge seems tough, but the savings you’re going to see after this are going to be amazing!
I can’t imagine not doing online shopping right now. Its all i can do!
OK I am going to have to give this a try – I am awful at spending at times and one month off spending could be a great task.
Good luck with it! I definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn’t done it before 🙂
OH GOSH, me not spending money in a day – NOW THAT IS HARD! LOL! It is just SOSO easy to but man am I prouder than proud when I actually accomplish this!
Amazon is my downfall lol. My goal is May is to not order as much. But there’s always something we’re low on and it’s so convenient.
I don’t usually purchase items on Amazon, but I know I could cut down on take-out and streaming services. I need to try this for a month and see how much money we save.
I will try these out for sure! I always love to save money. I don’t think I could do a no spend challenge, but I do have a meal plan.