no-spend february

At the end of last year, Ben and I talked about doing a no-spend month as a good challenge for our family. Although we have a ‘semi-loose’ monthly budget (meaning we know how much our bills and usual expenses are per month) we still wanted to get a better idea of how much unnecessary spending we were doing.

I’ll be the first to say – when it comes to our family, Ben is the saver and I’m the spender. I am a somewhat cautious spender, though, meaning I only shop sales and try my best to mentally stay on a budget. My biggest problems, though, are that I don’t WRITE my budget or my spending down, AND I have a weakness when it comes to random purchases and swipe ups. Target, Hobby Lobby, and Amazon probably know me by my first name.

So, what’s the purpose of our no-spend month? For us, we want to take a look at how much EXTRA money we are spending a month (outside our normal living expenses), like how much we are spending on non-necessities, eating out, entertainment, etc. We also want to work on building our savings account, so we plan on adding any extra money we don’t spend next month to our savings account.

So, how are you going to do it? Good question! I’ve been reading lots of blogs and articles about it and for us, I think the key is to make our own rules with it, generally following the ‘rules’ of a no-spend month. I’m thinking about obligations we have in February as a family and building our rules around that.

But, typically speaking, our ‘rules’ for the no-spend month are:

1. Only spend money on basic living necessities outside of bills (food, toiletries, etc). This means, no random trips to Target for the dollar aisle, no stops by Hobby Lobby, and no Amazon swipe ups. GEEEEEZ. This is going to be way harder than I thought.
2. Only choose free entertainment for our family. Movie nights must be Netflix and the couch, and no additional spending outside of things we have to do (Parker’s ballgames, etc.)
3. Budget groceries. I’m ashamed to say this, but our biggest area of spending is food, HANDS-DOWN. And I meal plan! And cook quite a bit. But inevitably, we spend too much money on food. We usually eat meals out (breakfast, lunch or dinner) 2-3 times a week counting the weekend. But sometimes my grocery bill feels like I’m feeding an army. I think snacks get us. And sadly, I think healthier food is more expensive. We certainly don’t eat super healthy, but I try my best to feed my kids food that’s good for them.
4. Prepare for the unexpected and don’t set high expectations. I’ve learned with kiddos, setting expectations can sometimes lead to disappointment (i.e., imagining a relaxing family vacation when all we do is chase wild things up the beach! HA!) But in all seriousness, lost school shoes, broken book bags, and skinned up jeans are all things I’ve experienced with my kids, and if things like that happen, I will obviously bend my no-spend rule.
5. I am allowing myself to spend any gift cards I’ve had hoarded up. Valentine’s Day will be next month, and I’d like one good meal out to eat!

I’m not going to lie – I think this will be really hard for me. Not because I’m frivolous with my money, but because it will really force me to be a better planner (something I’m not always great at). But I think it will be good -and interesting- to see what our month will look like and how our finances will tally up. I’d LOVE some accountability partners if you’d be up for joining me! I do plan to document some of the experience on my Instagram account, so follow along with me there!