Living with Less: Embracing the No Spend Challenge

People from everywhere in the world seem to be connected by the trending no spend challenge. The belief is that achieving a financial goal comes with determination and financial discipline. Money must be saved by separating essential necessities from luxury.

 

 

Getting to Understand the Importance of a No Spend Challenge in Your Financial Growth

I may not be wrong to assume that you are getting to hear about this challenge for the very first time. Well, everything has a starting point.

To correctly assess the importance, the first thing is to have a good understanding of the subject matter. No spend challenge is a test of individual willpower to refrain from unnecessary spending in order to save money. Simply put, it’s a new saving money habit that people have mostly considered to be worthwhile.

If you have ever considered frugal living but lost clue on how to cut down on non essential stuff, take this challenge as a fantastic starting point. You will never know how lavishly you spend on things that don’t really matter until you become intentional about it.

How to Do a No Spend Challenge

Start your no spend challenge by:

1. Setting a duration. Don’t be overzealous. Set a duration that is attainable. As a beginner, a 30 days no spend challenge is cool.
2. Sustaining your usual budget but putting a stop to non essential expenses (essentially, you’ve to know where to draw the line).
3. Creating an avenue to routinely send your unspent money. This could be a piggy bank, savings account, thrift deposit, etc.
4. Pick anyone that will make it difficult for you to access the money before the targeted duration.
5. Restrain yourself from tampering with the money before the scheduled time. This is where a strong willpower is required.

In 6 months, you would look back to the same budget that was barely enough and marvel at how much you are able to garner from it. Bear in mind that no money saving tips or budgeting strategies can work without a good deal of financial discipline. And financial discipline, here, is a direct product of firm willpower – the determination to allow your savings to grow.

Financial discipline starts from proper self examination. It’s a race where you define the outcome before kickoff. In the course of self examination, there are several important questions to ask yourself. Such as:

1. How can I adjust my budgeting strategies without compromising my wellbeing?
2. What kind of no spend challenge approach is most suitable to me?
3. What best ways can I fill the void?
4. Where will my unspent money go?
5. What do I target to accomplish with my new saving money habits?

 

 

While making your decisions, bear in mind that certain aspects of your budget must not be tampered with. This is to avoid creating a room for avoidable inconvenience for yourself. In other words, you are not expected to forsake things that are necessary for your survival.

Effective no spend challenge encourages you to shun:

1. lavish spending such as buying an extra car when one is sufficient for your daily activities.
2. spending on things that are not necessary for your survival such as alcohol.
3. Squandering your productive time on things that do not support income earning or personal wellbeing.

No Spend Challenge Rules

Frugal living does not require that everyone must toe the same line because what works for Mr. A may not do the same for Mr. B. However, there are simple general rules that must be applied before results can be expected, and this takes us back to self examination.

When you want to start saving more money than you are used to on the same income scale, the toughest task is weaning yourself off those habits that actually gnaw away at your finances. If you wish to succeed in your no spend challenge, keep these rules abreast:

1. Spend on what really matters: pay your bills and attend to basic things.
2. Make substitutions: use things that serve the same purpose at lower costs. For example, reading a novel instead of going to the movie theater.
3. Keep your habits in check and try all you can to avoid temptation.

Scope of Challenge

Avoid overstepping your willpower by adopting any money saving tips that will overly drain you. Also, before setting off, endeavor to set a duration that is attainable. A 30 days no spend challenge is ideal for starters. You are testing a new lifestyle so your first no spend month has to be closely observed and ensure that your conduct in the course of it complies with your set out rules.

Wrap Up

This no spend challenge is not entirely new. In fact, that’s what you did each time you tried to reduce expenses. The major difference here is that you become intentional about it. By making you aware of how big you can save within a given space of time, you’re unlikely to go back to an extravagant lifestyle.