4 Stages you'll encounter during a "No Spend" challenge.
You get damn proud of yourself, that's what! haha... That is, until, you take a break from it and go on a splurging trip ;) Fortunately, that never happened to me, but if i have any more of the days like the one I had yesterday, it becomes a scary possibility.Today's post is about the roller coaster your mind goes on during these sexy No Spend challenges.
Or, shall i say, what happened to ME when I did this for a good 40 days over Lent. I was reminded of this internal battle as i was commenting away on No More Spending's post on giving it a shot for 6 months! I would LOVE to say i could do that, but I know myself way too much to give that a shot these days.
As I was writing my novel of a comment, it reminded me of all the stages i had gone through when giving this a shot. Everyone's brains are different of course, but if you've never tried it, it's safe to say you'll probably go through something similar:
- Ah i can do this, no problem at all! Looking back, what was i smoking?! The "i can do this" part was right, but the "no problem at all" part? HAH. I mean, in a way you HAVE to think this though or you wouldn't even start on such a crazy adventure, but i know not to kid myself the next go around ;)
- WOW, I spend a loooooooooooot of money. Yup, that's where the "a-ha!" moment hits you. I always thought i was a savvy spender, and for the most part i am, but when it came to picking up a cple things here and there, that $hit adds up!
- I just bought something? Even when you have your eyes open at all times, sometimes you don't realize you're spending money!!! I messed up 1 time during my stint, and I didn't even know it until hours later. Know what it was? iTunes! I'm so used to previewing all the new music out there, and w/out even *thinking* twice just clicking away and buying songs here and there. They're only $0.99 a piece, but that still counts against you my friend.
- This is EASY peazy - I can go on forever! I hit this part after about 3 weeks. Once your mind set gets on track, it's like you don't even have to think about it anymore. You get good at knowing what IS, and what ISN'T a necessity, and usually you've knocked away all those iTunes and Amazon habits. Once you hit this point, "not spending" becomes routine, and you can usually last longer than your original goal - if you're up for it.
If you've never given it a shot, I challenge you to do so! Start out with just a week, and work yourself up to longer if you get something out of it. And if you need some motivation, just take a look at some of your favorite blogs out there - most of them have given it a shot at one point or another. Hell, Saving 4 Later does a good 150+ "No Spend Days" a year!
And if you're already golden, then I salute you good sir (or madam). And be sure to tell me all of your sexy secrets so that I may knock off a cple years of work ;)
Labels: challenges
posted by J. Money at
11:47 AM
10 Comments:
Those no spend days can be difficult for sure. Last month I had 25, but this month, only 9!! So far this year I have 92, not sure what I am hoping for by the end of the year, but I think I should come up with some goal for the year. Any ideas?
Mr. Budgets are Sexy - I love your blog! You are very funny, truthful, and inspire me a lot! I'm going to go start on my 7 days no spending fast. Next time I'm going to move it up to 14. And I'm using your rules too. No eBay. No Woot.
I think you and I have a lot in common. I too am a USAA member, love Macs, ebay, craigslist, Woot, etc. Within the PF blog community, USAA members should almost have their own webring. Because of the things available, your options are SO different.
Anyway, keep up the good work!
I've never done an offical No Spend challenge (maybe I will soon?), but I have been really trying lately to stop and think before I buy something. It's hard when I know I HAVE the money, so it's not an issue of affordability, it's an issue of necessity. Fortunately I'm not a typical girl who enjoys "retail therapy" - shopping makes me crazy sometimes.
Thanks for the link J :)
I'm officially doing the challenge from June 1st to Novemeber 30th.
Wish me luck!
or even November!
hola :)
Change is a good thing - 92 is GREAT so far! I say make a goal of going an entire month w/out spending ANYTHING extra (only bills allowed). Do you think you could do it?
Kirak - *blush* why thank you :) and hell yeah, looks like we do have alot in common! USAA is hotter than hot for sure, i'd so be down for our own little webring. i'll check out your site too, thx for the kind words!
Carrie Oh yeah, that affordibility factor ALWAYS gets me. But i gotta say, whenever i walk away from a purchase like that, i feel like The Man ;)
No more spending OMG now THAT's a mission! Keep us updated for sure - talk about some inspiration :)
J - Thanks for the mention :-) I didn't feel I was doing so well this month... you just gave me a boost !!
DW and I are both free spirited about spending money and even when we realized that we HAD to stop spending, we had difficulty staying out of our favorite retail stores, or restaurants.
Going on shopping sprees is so much more enjoyable when you have saved up the cash.
One of the benefits of having paid off all of our debt (minus the house) is going on little shopping splurges in which my wife and I will just go crazy for the day.
I know it may sound counter productive for a blogger to be spending so aimlessly but we actually "budget" for the impulse shopping fund!
This is a good idea. It's hard to not spend on stuff, including the needed things like baby food and stuff without going overboard. Worst is being a job seeker with very slim to none, limited income doing this. That's where I'm at right now and trying to find needed assistance. Your blog has begun to open my eyes on looking over my finances without being scared about it. I'm still scared over it.
@about me - that is awesome! budgeting for anything is freakin' great, so if you can do that for impulse shopping, then more power to ya ;) that way you don't ever have to feel bad! i love it.
@zfolwick - i hear ya, it's def. hard out there these days :( i give you mad props for getting out there and reading about this finance stuff though! blogs, books, magazines, they're all perfect for helping people get on their feet :) it's def. scary sitting down and reviewing the nitty gritty at first, but once you come to terms with it, you're done and can work on improving things each day forward! keep doing your thing buddy, and remember - we're all in this together, just at different stages :)
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