Many of us spend more money than we should. Sometimes, one of our problems might be that we just spend too much time shopping. One interesting way to take control over your spending is to set a limit to the number of times you will spend money in a given month. The days that you don’t fork over any cash are called no-spend days.
The purpose to starting no-spend days is to become more conscious of the amount of times that you go to the store. It is easy to understand that the more times you go shopping, the more money you will spend. In order to save money, you must train yourself to go shopping less often.
To Begin:
First, you need to come up with a goal. Set a goal for the number of no-spend days in one month. You might start by estimating how many days of the week you currently spend money. In my opinion, automatic payments or payments to bills, as well as gas for my car, or donations to church don?t count. What we are really concerned with is how to curb our spending on purchases that we make at the store or online. Come up with a goal. Use your current spending habits as a guide. You want to reduce the amount of times you shop, but you also need to be reasonable.
Go For It!
When the month begins, keep track of the number of days that you don’t spend any money. Think of a frugal reward to give yourself at the end of the month if you accomplish your goal. If you are married and your husband is keen to the idea of you saving money (most are) then maybe he would offer his services as a masseuse for your reward. Or, you can spend some time pampering yourself with a relaxing bath or personal manicure as a reward.
Some Tips
In order for you to be successful in reaching your goal, you have to think through your purchases a little better. Make sure you are making lists for the items that you need. That way, an unexpected purchase is less likely to pop up. For instance, you’ll definitely need to plan out your meals ahead of time and make sure that you have the groceries you need in advance.
Another tip to having more no-spend days is to come up with some activities that you can do for free. That way, you’ll always have something to do that won’t count against your no-spend days goal. Check back tomorrow for no-spend activities for kids this summer.
For me, going to the store is often more of just an errand–it’s kind of fun. I have found myself out shopping way too often, and of course this means that I end up spending more money than I should. So, starting July 1st I am committing myself to 16 no-spend days. That allows me to make purchases approximately three times a week, except for the few days during the beginning of the month when I will be on vacation when I expect to spend money every day. Check back to the Frugal Living Blog to see how I’m doing….I’ll keep you updated!