The 21st Annual Cheapskates Club Spending Freeze
This is the 21st year we have had an official No Spending month, complete with guidelines and tools to help you survive a whole month of no spending.
By taking a break from spending, especially at the beginning of the year, right after the Christmas and back-to-school expenses you are setting yourself up with good spending habits for the rest of the year.
It takes 21 repetitions to develop a habit, so buy not spending for 28 days you have not only developed the habit but reinforced it too!
Of course you'll need to spend some money during February. It would be unrealistic to expect you to not spend a cent. But the difference is you'll only be spending money you've budgeted for. Every cent you spend will be allocated in your Spending Plan so you know exactly where it is to go.
What you won't be doing is spending without a purpose, or blind spending. You know, the spending on the magazine while you stand at the checkout or the marked down donuts the kids asked for. You won't be spending on eating out because you have a meal plan in place so dinner every night is taken care of. You won't be buying new clothes because you have a wardrobe full of perfectly good clothes to wear. What you will be doing is taking a couple of hours to go through that wardrobe and rediscover all the wonderful outfits you have. You'll be sewing on that missing button and fixing that hem so you can wear that skirt.
You won't be going to the movies (and not just because of social distancinng restrictions!) because you'll be watching the movies you already have. And magazines - nope! You'll be reading them online or at the library and borrowing books by your favourite author. Instead of the local play centre you'll invite your Mums'n'Bubs group to the local park for a morning in the fresh air, and you'll take your thermos of coffee and a snack from home so you won't need to stop at the bakery on the way.
You will be no spending a lot of money. You may be shocked at just how much you have left at the end of the month simply from not spending.
The rules are simple:
In line with our spending freeze you can spend money on essential items such as:
• Rent/mortgage
• Utilities: gas, electricity, phone, water if the bill is due during the month (but look for ways to lower these bills during the month so the next bill is cheaper)
• Food: shop at home first. Check your pantry, fridge and freezer and menu plan with what you have. You may find, like me, that you really don't need to go grocery shopping this month.
• Medical/pharmacy: don't scrimp on your health – the future cost would be far too great
• Petrol and transport: unless you can walk everywhere you'll need your car. But try to limit how far you go and how often you use it. Carpool if you can, share the school run with another mother, make one trip and do all your errands. Ditto for bus, train and tram. If you have a bike now might be a good time to start riding to work or school.
• Other regular monthly bills you have
You can't spend money on
• magazines
• takeaway meals
• movies
• new clothes
• toys
• DVDs and CDs
or anything else that isn't essential to living for 28 days.
Here are some tips that will make your spending freeze easier:
Register
Register on the Spending Freeze forum and tell us how much you are hoping to not spend. Then keep us up to date with your progress. This is important, we all want to know how well you are doing and if you post regularly you'll be able to see how we are getting on too.
Have a Plan
Planning is the key to surviving and thriving during a spending freeze. Planning your day ensures you cover everything you need to get through: lunches, drinks, having enough petrol in the car. It also gives you time to prepare for those irregular things such as birthday parties and allow you to plan the spending. Planning what you are going to have for dinner the night before removes the takeaway temptation that comes with not having a plan. Planning and knowing what's happening will let you prepare ahead of time and find no spend alternatives to those "spend, spend, spend" situations.
Stop Spending
Seriously, stop spending money - no more clothes, magazines, toys, makeup, computer bits and bobs, shoes etc. For four weeks use your money to pay the essential living expenses (mortgage/rent, utilities, food - bare bones basics, fares/petrol) and see just how much is left over at the end of the month. Then use 50% of that money to pay down debt and 50% to increase (or start) your emergency fund. You must bank the leftover money - it is not saved until it is safely in the bank it is just not spent..
Track Your Spending
If you track your spending already, fantastic. Pat yourself on the back. If you don't, start today. Get a notebook (any notebook or piece of paper will do) and write down every cent you spend. Write down what you bought, how much it cost and how you paid for it i.e. cash, credit card, direct debit. Do this for at least the first week, preferably the whole 28 days, so you can see exactly what you are spending your money on.
Throughout the month I will be posting tools and guides in the Spending Freeze forum so remember to check in regularly to update your Challenge and see what's new.
Good luck with your spending freeze and I can't wait to hear how well you do.
By taking a break from spending, especially at the beginning of the year, right after the Christmas and back-to-school expenses you are setting yourself up with good spending habits for the rest of the year.
It takes 21 repetitions to develop a habit, so buy not spending for 28 days you have not only developed the habit but reinforced it too!
Of course you'll need to spend some money during February. It would be unrealistic to expect you to not spend a cent. But the difference is you'll only be spending money you've budgeted for. Every cent you spend will be allocated in your Spending Plan so you know exactly where it is to go.
What you won't be doing is spending without a purpose, or blind spending. You know, the spending on the magazine while you stand at the checkout or the marked down donuts the kids asked for. You won't be spending on eating out because you have a meal plan in place so dinner every night is taken care of. You won't be buying new clothes because you have a wardrobe full of perfectly good clothes to wear. What you will be doing is taking a couple of hours to go through that wardrobe and rediscover all the wonderful outfits you have. You'll be sewing on that missing button and fixing that hem so you can wear that skirt.
You won't be going to the movies (and not just because of social distancinng restrictions!) because you'll be watching the movies you already have. And magazines - nope! You'll be reading them online or at the library and borrowing books by your favourite author. Instead of the local play centre you'll invite your Mums'n'Bubs group to the local park for a morning in the fresh air, and you'll take your thermos of coffee and a snack from home so you won't need to stop at the bakery on the way.
You will be no spending a lot of money. You may be shocked at just how much you have left at the end of the month simply from not spending.
The rules are simple:
In line with our spending freeze you can spend money on essential items such as:
• Rent/mortgage
• Utilities: gas, electricity, phone, water if the bill is due during the month (but look for ways to lower these bills during the month so the next bill is cheaper)
• Food: shop at home first. Check your pantry, fridge and freezer and menu plan with what you have. You may find, like me, that you really don't need to go grocery shopping this month.
• Medical/pharmacy: don't scrimp on your health – the future cost would be far too great
• Petrol and transport: unless you can walk everywhere you'll need your car. But try to limit how far you go and how often you use it. Carpool if you can, share the school run with another mother, make one trip and do all your errands. Ditto for bus, train and tram. If you have a bike now might be a good time to start riding to work or school.
• Other regular monthly bills you have
You can't spend money on
• magazines
• takeaway meals
• movies
• new clothes
• toys
• DVDs and CDs
or anything else that isn't essential to living for 28 days.
Here are some tips that will make your spending freeze easier:
Register
Register on the Spending Freeze forum and tell us how much you are hoping to not spend. Then keep us up to date with your progress. This is important, we all want to know how well you are doing and if you post regularly you'll be able to see how we are getting on too.
Have a Plan
Planning is the key to surviving and thriving during a spending freeze. Planning your day ensures you cover everything you need to get through: lunches, drinks, having enough petrol in the car. It also gives you time to prepare for those irregular things such as birthday parties and allow you to plan the spending. Planning what you are going to have for dinner the night before removes the takeaway temptation that comes with not having a plan. Planning and knowing what's happening will let you prepare ahead of time and find no spend alternatives to those "spend, spend, spend" situations.
Stop Spending
Seriously, stop spending money - no more clothes, magazines, toys, makeup, computer bits and bobs, shoes etc. For four weeks use your money to pay the essential living expenses (mortgage/rent, utilities, food - bare bones basics, fares/petrol) and see just how much is left over at the end of the month. Then use 50% of that money to pay down debt and 50% to increase (or start) your emergency fund. You must bank the leftover money - it is not saved until it is safely in the bank it is just not spent..
Track Your Spending
If you track your spending already, fantastic. Pat yourself on the back. If you don't, start today. Get a notebook (any notebook or piece of paper will do) and write down every cent you spend. Write down what you bought, how much it cost and how you paid for it i.e. cash, credit card, direct debit. Do this for at least the first week, preferably the whole 28 days, so you can see exactly what you are spending your money on.
Throughout the month I will be posting tools and guides in the Spending Freeze forum so remember to check in regularly to update your Challenge and see what's new.
Good luck with your spending freeze and I can't wait to hear how well you do.