We just finished up No-Spend February!  While not everything went as planned, we’re still counting it as a success.  Even with the unplanned spending, we still made some great strides that will show up even beyond our February budget update.

Now that it’s over, I want to evaluate what worked well and where we struggled.  If you did a no spend month too, I encourage you to do the same.  It’s helpful to see where your strengths and weaknesses are.

If you’re new to no-spend challenges, I have a whole category of posts about no-spend months and our experiences.

If you’d rather watch or listen instead of reading, you’re in luck!  Otherwise, scroll past the video and keep reading.

Let’s start with our successes!

What worked

Homemade bread

I finally got back into the groove of making homemade bread again. I know that homemade bread is cheaper for us. I faithfully made it back when we were paying off student loans, but have since gotten more relaxed (that sounds like I mean lazier, but busier is more like it) and out of the habit.

During our no-spend month I didn’t buy bread, but I still packed PBJs in lunches every day, so we went through lots of bread. I like to make 4 loaves at a time.

Staying out of the stores

This was huge for me this time. The past few months our “household misc” budget has been higher than ever before.  I know it’s because we have such easy access to stores now and we shop much more often.  Without fail I’ll find great deals on something that I know we’ll need, etc, etc (you know how it goes, right?)

Well, if I don’t go into the stores, I won’t even see the great deals or notice those must-have items on the shelves.  This worked out perfectly.  I shouldn’t be surprised that staying out of the stores kept us from spending money.

Ignoring the sales flyers and promotions email tab

I’ll be the first one to admit that I’m a sucker for a great deal.  I’m pretty good at knowing a great deal when I see one, but I can easily get carried away.  During February, I didn’t even look at the grocery sales flyers that come in the mail, let alone any other ads around me.

I didn’t open sales emails in my email inbox either.  There were some where even the subject line was tempting and I was sad for a minute (a little frugal FOMO, you might say), but I must be over it because now I can’t even think of a single tangible example to share with you!

What Didn’t Work

Cloth diapers

I went back to cloth diapers for the month after taking a break for the winter.  It was fine at first, until the baby got a rash.  Diaper creams don’t mix with cloth diapers, so I had to buy a box of disposables.  I ordered a big box from Walmart and picked it up at the store (though I could have had it shipped for free) so that I wouldn’t have to wander through the store and be tempted.

With the way everything turned out with our unexpected trip, it ended up being better anyway.  Road trips with cloth diapers are do-able (we’ve done it), but definitely not ideal.

Subscriptions

We don’t have many subscriptions, but we do get ocassional razor blade cartridges from Dollar Shave Club.  We actually have a nice stockpile of blades because my husband doesn’t go through as many as they think he should.  Sometimes he grows a beard and other times he’s just good at making his razor blades last.

I usually have our subscription paused, but every three months it reactivates.  When I get the pre-shipment email, then I pause it again.  Well, I missed the email and got a $7 charge and new razor cartridge shipment. Not a huge deal, just an “oops!”

What I learned

Not shopping saves time

Shopping is a time-filler for me.  I spend a lot of time driving between activities and taking kids here and there.  There are lots of gaps of 30 minutes here or an hour there, where there isn’t enough time (or it’s not worth the gas) to go all the way home between activities.  I didn’t realize how often I fill those gaps with going to the store.

I think in my mind I see it as “saving time” by stopping by the store to get whatever might pop onto my list since I’m just waiting around anyway.  Since I knew going to the store wasn’t an option, I tried to remember to bring something for the younger kids to do in the car so we could just wait (happily) in the car instead of spending time (and money) in the store.

It worked out great and I felt like I had more time.

Where we need to stock up more

We have a reasonably good food storage. Between what we have bought ourselves over the years and what we have been given from older couples from church who are downsizing/moving, we have a very good supply of wheat, probably a year’s supply. We also have lots oats, rice, beans, powdered milk, honey, sugar, bottled applesauce, tomatoes, pears, etc.

During this no-spend month, I realized some major holes we have in our food storage. The first is oil (canola oil, cocount oil, etc).  I haven’t been storing much extra oil.  Basically I just buy a gallon or so of canola oil and a 3 lb bucket of coconut oil at a time and use them up, then buy more. If we were forced to actually live off of our food storage we would want to have more oil stored, as it’s an ingredient in homemade bread and other homemade staples (especially when we run out of butter).

How much we saved

In order to “calculate” how much we saved, we have to guess how much we would have spent.  I’ll use our average monthly spending from 2018 to determine how much we saved.

Here’s what we spent:

• Clothing $0 (saved $65)
• Entertainment $0 (saved $55)
• Kids’ Activities $0 (saved $55)
• Household Misc $37 (saved $181)
• Food $77 (saved $323)

We saved $679!

We did spend around $300 outside of these categories (gas and motel) for attending my grandma’s funeral, but we would have spent that whether we were having a no-spend month or not, so we’re not counting that in our challenge.

Will we do a no-spend month again?

You bet!

A no-spend month is so good for saving money and for resetting frugal habits.  It makes for a great start for our big mortgage payoff goal. We’re planning to do a no-spend month once a year while we’re working hard to pay off our house.

If you need a jumpstart toward your financial goals or you need to save a big chunk of money fast, you should definitely give a no-spend month a try!

How about you?

• What worked for you in your no-spend month?  What didn’t?
• What were your big takeaways?

The post What I Learned from a No-Spend Month– What Worked and What Didn’t appeared first on Six Figures Under.

We don’t call it a No-Spend Challenge for nothing!  If it were easy, it wouldn’t be a challenge, right?

At the beginning of February, we set a goal to not spend anything on eating out, household goods, entertainment, trips, or any other unnecessary spending.

In addition, we decided to make our no-spend month a pantry challenge as well.  We chose to cut our normal grocery spending down to just $100 for the month.

We were excited to not only save money, but also reset our spending habits to help us reach our financial goals.

We were off to a good start

Then my grandma unexpectedly died.  Making the 1,600 mile roundtrip to attend her funeral and be with family was non-negotiable for me.

So we took an unplanned trip.

It would have been easy to give up and just bag the whole plan for the no-spend month.  We could have quit and rescheduled our no-spend month for later in the year.

We decided to stick with our plan as best we could and spend as little as possible.

A last minute flight for me to go by myself was nearly $600.  Looking at our spending history for 2018, I knew we could easily make the trip with the whole family for less than that.  Besides, everyone wanted to go!

What we spent

Without going to the store, I put together food for the trip.  I’m sure everyone would have enjoyed some more exciting snacks, but we made do with what we had in the pantry.  The highlight was a bag of Christmas M&Ms that I had stashed in the freezer.

$219 on gas—  Gas was around $2.85 per gallon in most places.  On trips like this, our van gets 21-22 miles per gallon.

$90 on lodging— The soonest we could leave was in the evening, so we drove about 6 hours, then stayed the night in a motel and drove another 8 hours the next day.  We arrived with only a couple of hours to spare to stretch, dress, and head over to the viewing.

When we were in Arizona, we stayed at my Grandma’s house (my parents have been staying there helping her out for the past few months).  On the way home we didn’t have an overnight stay; we drove 14 hours straight through!

$38 on food— We bought some groceries when we arrived so that we could make some simple meals.  There was also a nice luncheon at the church after the funeral.  The ladies from my Grandma’s church sent the leftovers home for those of us staying at her house.

On the way home, after eating pretty much all of our car food, we stopped at Taco Bell.  We very rarely ever have fast food, and this was a good reminder of why.  We spend $20 there for food that  wasn’t very filling, didn’t taste very good, and definitely wasn’t good for us.

Our trip expenses were less than $350 for our family of 7.  We try to travel with minimal spending, and this was no exception.  You can check out my pro tips for frugal car trips for some great money-saving car trip ideas.

Now, $350 for a family road trip isn’t very much, but it’s still more than $0, which is what we planned to spend.  It was totally worth it.  We would have done it again in a hearbeat.

If you saw my recent Instagram post, you know that we also had some extra spending waiting for us when we got home, but that’s another story.

Flexibility is key

Have you had a change in plans during your no-spend month?  Did you spend more than you were hoping?

It’s okay.

It doesn’t mean you’re a failure.  Life happens.  Sometimes there’s no way to avoid spending, even during a no-spend month.

Even if the spending was unnecessary and just happened in a moment of weakness, it’s okay.  Forgive yourself and move on.

Don’t let what happened today (or yesterday) be an excuse for you to throw in the towel before tomorrow has even started.

Don’t let one spending “failure” send you into a downward spiral of out-of-control spending.

Look at the progress you have made and own it!.  If your no-spend month turned into a no-spend week, celebrate what you were able to save during that week!

A rigid budget is a broken budget.  Flexibility is key to success!

How about you?

• How has your no-spend month gone?
• How did you deal with surprises and unplanned spending?

The post When You have to SPEND in a NO-Spend Month appeared first on Six Figures Under.

A no-spend month saves money in more ways than you probably realize. A no-spend month also has a positive overall impact on your future finances.

If you think that a no-spend month will just make you spend more later, then you need to read this.

I got an overwhelming reaction when I shared our No-Spend February budget on Instagram last weekend.  I spent a good portion of Saturday responding to all of the questions.

Of course there were all the regular questions I get when people see the actual numbers of our budget.

Probably a hundred people asked, “How in the world do you have a cell phone plan that’s less than $20/month?”

Answer: It’s not two tin cans and a string. It’s Republic Wireless.

Another hot topic was tithing. “Why do you give so much money instead of using it for yourself?”

Answer: We have always paid a full 10% tithe, even when we were in six figures of student loan debt.  I totally understand why you might think that’s crazy, but we’re comfortable with our reasons.

The most common questions, though, were about our food budget, especially during our no-spend month.

I see pantry challenges, no-spend months, and other frugal excitement all the time in my social media feeds, so for me these are nothing new.

I guess I kind of took it for granted that everyone knew that a no-spend month is a great way to save money fast and reset your money mentality.

For many commenters, though, this seemed like a radical idea. Some were pretty certain that my “poor children” would starve during our no-spend month while we gave away all of our money away.

Let me first assure you that a no one will be starving at my house during the month of February.  Then, tell you emphatically that a no-spend month is totally worth it.

Keep reading to find out why, or watch/listen to the video below for the same content.

One of the big misconceptions about a no-spend month is that you’ll just spend more before and/or after your no-spend month. People figure that either you have to prepare in advance for a month of not spending or you have to make up for depleting your supply afterward.

I had this discussion with my brother after our first no-spend month 6 years ago.  He saw a no-spend month essentially as deferred spending.  He figured that we would use up everything we had and just have to restock when the month was over.

On the surface this is partly true.  Our annual toilet paper consumption is not going to change even if we have a no-spend month.  We try to stay stocked up on things like that so if there is a polar vortex, a natural disaster, or we just don’t make it to the store, we will never be without this essential. (Yes I know there are alternatives. No, I’m not interested)

In so many other ways, a no-spend month is much more than just deferred or delayed spending.  A no-spend month can have a great positive impact on your finances.

1-Avoid Impulse Purchases

Unless you are an ultra conscientious and intentional shopper, you probably end up buying more than you intended to when you go to the store. Whether it’s a great deal that we just can’t pass up, or something on the endcap that we remember that we “need,” or a little snack “just because,” we all do it.  This is true for physical stores and online shopping.

The less often we go to the store, the less we buy.  It’s as simple as that!  Each shopping trip avoided has the potential to save us money!

With a no-spend month, we don’t go into the store, so we never buy those extras we somehow end up with in a regular month. 

2-Skip the Food on the Go

Depending on your current habits, not buying food or drink while you’re out and about will be really easy or very challenging.  We are accustomed to bringing our own snacks and meals when we’re on the go, so for us this is an easy one.

At the same time, because it’s easy for us there’s not really an opportunity for us to save here.

If you regularly go out for lunch or grab soda or coffee on a daily basis, then you have even more potential savings from a no-spend month.  This savings isn’t “deferred spending.”  You’re not going to buy twice as much Starbucks next month because you made your own coffee during your no-spend  month. The daily temptation to buy food on the go can be replaced by enjoying food prepared at home.

3-Find Creative Solutions

We have become so accustomed to running to the store to meet all of our needs.  A no-spend month derails that train of thought.  Instead of buying a solution to our problems, we can create solutions.

Our grandparents and great-grandparents practiced the adage “Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, or Do without!”  We can learn a thing or two from them.

Thinking creatively all month about alternatives to buying gets us into a new groove.  At the end of the no-spend month, we continue to think of frugal substitutions and money-saving alternatives before we head to the store.

4-Sleep on it x 30

I remember my dad telling me that he always liked “to sleep on it” before making a big purchase.  It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of a deal or getting something new. If you give yourself a day to really think it over, your decisions will be more rational than if you have the idea and make the purchase all in the heat of the moment.  This is why “flash sales” and “lightning deals” are so dangerous for spenders.  You don’t have time to think your purchase through and make a thoughtful, rational decision.

When you think of something you want to buy during a no-spend month, you can exercise the “sleep on it” principle, not just for one night, but for a whole month.  Write down what it is you want or need, then see how you feel about it after a month.  You may find a work around or a substitution that fills the need for you and decide to use the money for a higher priority.  Or after a month of waiting, you may decide that you do really want to make the purchase. That’s fine too.

5-Don’t Change Your Normal Budget

We have decided that in the months before and after a no-spend month we will be extra careful to keep our spending in check, especially our food spending.

During a no-spend month much of the food we’re eating is the random ingredients that get forgotten or ignored in our regular day-to-day meals.  By sticking to our normal budget before and after a no-spend month, what we save can go directly toward our savings goal rather than going into a larger budget the next month.

6-Get into your Frugal Groove

It’s easy to get lazy about being frugal, especially when you don’t have big goals to work toward.  Our frugal game was on point as we finished up paying off my husband’s $144,000 of student loan debt.  We spent three years working hard to achieve a lofty goal.

Relaxing our frugal standards afterward was good for our sanity, but we’re ready to ramp up our game again.  Having a no-spend month gets us back into erring on the side of frugal. Our purchases will even out a bit when the month is over, but it will be good to be back to some of our old frugal habits as a starting point.

As one example, this no-spend month we’re back to using cloth diapers after a hiatus of a few months. We’re also back to baking our own bread and eating some meals we haven’t had in a while.

A no-spend month is totally worth it

There’s so much more to a no-spend month than simply pushing off spending until next month.  There are lots of ways that the money you save makes a permanent contribution to your financial goals.

There are also many ways that a no-spend month helps you reset your habits and your approach, helping you be more frugal and save money in future months!

The secret to a successful no-spend month

Okay, do you want to know the secret to making a no-spend month work?

The key to having a successful no-spend month is having a good attitude. I know that soundsa little boring, but hear me out.

A no-spend month is, by definition, depriving yourself of something.  Depriving yourself can leave you with a feeling of drudgery or discomfort. It’s hard to endure anything for a month with that kind of attitude!

A wise nanny (who I regularly quote) once said, “In every job that must be done there is an element of fun. You find the fun and… snap! The job’s a game.”

For me the key to having a good attitude about a no-spend month is to make it a game.  Make it fun!  Engage your family in the challenge.  Work together to see how much money you can save.

As the instigator of the no-spend month in your family, your children and spouse will pick up their attitudes from you.  If you set it up as a fun challenge, everyone else will likely follow suit!

You can do this!  You’ll be so glad you did!

What do you think?

• Have you done a no-spend month before?  How did it go?
• What other ways could a no-spend month save you money?

The post Is a No-Spend Month Actually Worth It? appeared first on Six Figures Under.

Are you going strong in your financial goals?  Want to keep up the momentum?

Or maybe January was a struggle and you want to reset and start over.

Either way, a no-spend month could be great for you!

Let me tell you what’s involved.  It’s not as scary or as hard as it sounds.

Why would you want to have a No-Spend Month?

Most people probably don’t plan a no-spend month just for the heck of it (though that was kind of how our very first no-spend month started).

Having a good reason is an important part of planning a no-spend month.  Without a solid reason for restricting your spending, you might have a hard time keeping up the motivation to follow through.

Some great reasons for having a no-spend month are:

To build up your buffer so you can get a month ahead and start living on last month’s income

To put more money toward paying off debt or some other financial goal

To reset your spending habits, serving a function similar to a fast or a cleanse would serve for your eating habits.

To cover an upcoming expense like a trip or a home improvement

Decide now what you’ll do with the money you save during your no-spend month.  Get your whole family involved and motivated by your goal.

In fact, if you’re up for a fun challenge, you can join us for a no-spend month in February! We hopped on Facebook Live yesterday to officially invite you all to participate with us!  Keep reading (or watch the video below) to hear about how the “rules” work.  Then, at the end of this post, I’ll tell you exactly what our rules will be.

What are the rules for a No-Spend Month?

Before anyone asks if you can do this or that during a no-spend month, let me firmly lay down my strict rules:

Rule #1: Set your own rules.

Rule #2: Follow the rules you set.

Seriously.  You will get the most out of a no-spend month if you set your own rules instead of trying to do exactly what we do or following someone else’s guidelines.

And it kind of goes without saying (but I’m going to say it anyway), but you should, of course, continue to pay your bills.  Pay your mortgage and your utilities.  Pay your credit card and any other payments you owe.

Some Ideas of Rules for Your No-Spend Month

Here are some rule ideas to get you thinking.  Figure out what will work best for your family.  Be sure to do something that’s a challenge and a sacrifice, but don’t go to crazy extremes that will make you cave and give up completely.

Remember these are just ideas. Do what works for your own family!

–Cut your normal grocery budget in half.  Force yourself to get creative with what’s in the pantry and freezer.

–Set an amount each week to allow yourself to get some fresh produce or dairy.

–Cut your food budget out completely and eat from your pantry, freezer, and food storage.

–Cut out all eating out. Plan ahead and bring your lunch to work everyday and don’t let yourself get takeout at night.

–Cut out all entertainment spending.  If you have something already planned, you could set that as an exception at the beginning of the month.

–Cut out any all discretionary spending.  Wait until March to see if you really need whatever it is that is tempting you.

–Reduce fuel spending if you have another mode of transportation.

–Take a look through your own budget and see what else you could give up for a month.

As you’re thinking through the rules you want to implement, keep track of how much money you’ll save by not spending the money you would normally budget to these categories.  Having that chunk of money to put toward your goal will keep you motivated when things get hard.

Our No-Spend Month Rules for No-Spend February 2019

When we were paying off six figures of student loan debt, our all around spending was very low.  We didn’t have any budget for eating out or entertainment.  We spent very little on household miscellaneous.  Our kids weren’t in any paid activities.

Since we didn’t have much else to cut, we cut our grocery budget out completely along with any other household spending.

Now our spending, though still low by some standards, is much higher than it was back in our studen loan payoff days.  We have a lot more that we can cut now, which means we will be able to save more with our no-spend month than we have in the past.

Here are the “rules” we have set for ourselves.

A total of $100 grocery spending for the month.

I’m sure we could survive without doing any grocery shopping at all, but for my own sanity we will allow ourselves some wiggle room.  We have been out of cheese for the past week and, well, we love cheese.

No Clothing / Household / Fun

No clothing and no entertainment will be pretty easy I think, but no household miscellaneous will be hard.  Our household category was over $300 the last three months in 2018.  It will help to not go to the store, but I’m sure things will come up where we’ll be tempted to spend.  We’ll stay strong!

Exceptions

Our oldest son has a wrestling tournament in February where they charge admission for adult spectators.  We’re planning this as an exception to our no-spend month.

Want to join us for a No-Spend Month in February?

Come on, you know you want to!  February is a nice short month!  If you already have some spending planned, just add it into the rules as an exception.  There’s never going to be a month where it’s easy peasy to go without spending, so why not give it a try now?

In addition to my other blog content, I’m planning to have weekly no-spend month posts and videos up here each week.  If you’re on my email list, you can also watch your inbox for encouragement and ideas for your no-spend month adventure!

Are you in?

• Have you ever done a no-spend month before?
• What will be the hardest part of a no-spend month for you?

The post How to Save with a No-Spend Month appeared first on Six Figures Under.

Tomorrow is technically the last day of our no-spend month, but this will be the final update.  I think it’s safe to say that we made it and did pretty well.

As most of you know, our normal budget is already pretty trim, as we’re working toward our goal of paying off our debt by the end of 2016.  The only real places for us to cut during a no-spend month are food, household, entertainment, and clothing, and even then our normal monthly allowance for those categories together is typically under $500.  Still, that’s $500 to go toward our goal that we would have otherwise spent.

Normally what we saved from our no-spend month would go toward our debt goal, but because of all the car drama this month, what we saved will be doing toward our new van fund.  We will be getting another van sometime very soon.

In addition to saving money, a no-spend month shows us that we really can cut down our expenses.  Between making things, borrowing things, getting thins for free, and doing without, there are plenty of options besides buying.  These options are viable whether it’s a no-spend month or not!

Last Week

During this last week, we did have some unplanned spending.  Our new van had been randomly stopping on occasion.  We had planned to bring it in eventually, but not necessarily this month (it only happened on two different occasions and would always start after resting a little).  Well this month, a fuse started blowing every time we drove it, which would cause it to not start up the next time.  Getting that looked at cost us $247 and did not yield an answer.  You can see Friday’s post for the long story.

I had some credit in my Thredup account and I wanted to take advantage of a free shipping promotion while using my credits.  I started browsing and filled my cart with items that I was really excited about.  I was happy that I kept the total within my allowance of credits and the shipping was free.  What I didn’t account for was the tax.  I was pretty attached to the items by this point, so I paid the tax on my free clothes.

My husband, on the other hand, resisted temptation like a champ.  One time, totally forgetting about the no-spend month, I suggested that he stop by and pick up a Redbox movie for the kids, but he said “We can’t do that since it’s a no-spend month.”

Your Next No-Spend Month

After I had already planned for September to be our No-Spend Month Challenge, I found out that Ruth from LivingWellSpendingLess.com is doing a no-spend challenge in October.  She has her challenge set up via email so you get an email each day.

She recently put her challenge into book format too.  In fact, just last week Ruth sent me a review copy of 31 Days of Living Well and Spending Zero.  If you’re not patient enough to wait for each daily email or would like to see the whole challenge at once, then you’ll love the book.  It’s full of practical advice that helps you set yourself up for success.

Even though I won’t be implementing a full no-spend month in October, I’m currently devouring Ruth’s book and I plan to put some of her advice into practice, starting with some of the organizing projects!

How about you?

• How did your month go?
• What did you learn?

You’ll Also Enjoy:

The post No-Spend Month Update #4: We Made It! appeared first on Six Figures Under.

In our “Don’t Buy It” series during our no-spend month, we’ve talked about some alternatives to buying like getting things for free, borrowing what you need, or making things yourself.

There is another option which might be obvious or it might not even cross your mind.  It’s a less common solution for my generation than for my grandparents’ generation.  And it may really throw the rising generation for a loop.  It’s not complex or complicated.

Instead of buying something, do without it!

Whether it’s because you don’t have the cash, haven’t made the item a priority in your budget, or just want to simplify, doing without something you want (or even need) can be good for you.

Here are four ways that going without can benefit you:

Increase Creativity

When you go without something, you are forced to find a way around it.  Maybe you’ll use something else in a different way or completely change your routine to eliminate the need for something.  After all, necessity is the mother of invention.  Doing without provides an opportunity to stretch yourself to come up with a solution.

Learn Patience

In a society of fast food and high-speed internet, we are trained to be impatient.  Not many people are born patient.  It’s something we need to learn.  Waiting for something, rather than getting it right away, makes us appreciate and value that thing more.   In fact, patience is a quality that will be valuable in all areas of our lives.

Build Character

Putting off our wants and our needs can be hard.  Pretty much anything that is hard to do is said to build character.  We are also helping our kids to build character.  Kids who learn to do without will be much better off when they leave the nest and real life hits, than the kids who never had to make sacrifices or go without.  Giving our kids (or ourselves) everything they want does them a disservice.

Decrease Expenses

Needing and using less stuff costs less.  Plain and simple.  If you can consistently live on less, then you will consistently have more to put toward debt or into savings.  Not only will you save more for your future, but your future will require less because you have made a habit of living on less.

How do you “do without it”?

In a society with a “buy-it-now” and “have-it-all” mentality, it will take conscious thought and intention to do without.  Putting off our wants and needs is not our first instinct.  It takes some serious self-discipline.

Before you buy something, ask yourself if it’s something you could do without.  I know that sounds very simplistic, but this is something that most people just don’t do.  We are consumers with a capital C.  If we want something, we get it.  We even take on debt to get it.  We can change our habits one purchase at a time.

If you are willing to try to go without that want or need, set a time limit after which you can re-evaluate your decision to go without.  Having a “trial period” puts you under less pressure, so you’ll be more inclined to try to go without more things.

Delaying the purchase by putting the item you want or need on a list for a month (or longer) will help you determine how much you really want or need something.  Some things you might decide to purchase later down the road, but for those you don’t you’ll save time, space, and money.

Even for the things you end up buying later, you’ll build character and creativity in the mean time.  You can be more confident and intentional about the purchases you choose to make.  Plus, you’ll appreciate the item much more after having gone without it.

Small Examples

During our current no-spend month, we’re going without a few things that have been a little inconvenient, but very do-able.  Most of what we’re doing without are short term sacrifices, but they definitely make us grateful for the conveniences when we have them.

• We’ve been out of paper towels for most of the month.  I try not to use paper towels much anyway, but I like them for extra messy clean ups (or when I’m feeling lazy).
• We’re also out of freezer bags.  I wash them out and reuse them (except when I’m feeling lazy, then my husband washes them), but they eventually get holes and I toss them (I also toss them if they had meat in them).  We are out of freezer bags now, but as soon as I make blackberry jam I will free up a dozen of them (currently loaded with berries in the freezer), so I’m using other containers or plastic wrap in the mean time.
• Like I mentioned earlier this week, we’re out of milk now, so I’m going without.  The rest of the family is cool with drinking powdered milk from our food storage, but I’m not a big fan so I prefer to just wait it out.
• There have been several times when we’ve been in town and I would have normally bought a snack at the store (going to town is an all day event usually), but instead we just went without.

Even though these things are pretty minor in the grand scheme of things, making a conscious decision to go without them is increasing our creativity, teaching us patience, building our character, and saving us money!

How About You?

• When have you made the conscious decision to go without something?
• What have you learned from deliberately going without something?

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The post Don’t Buy It, Do Without It– 4 Reasons to Challenge Yourself to Go Without appeared first on Six Figures Under.

We’re on the home stretch of our no-spend month!  Just one week left!  We maintained our resolve to not spend money on food, entertainment, household items, or anything that isn’t gas or a regular bill.  There were some temptations this week though.

It really helps to have all of you as my virtual accountability partners.  Accountability was one of my reasons for starting this blog.  Knowing that I will be writing about what I do with my money makes me even more conscious of how I handle it.  I definitely recommend writing down your goals and telling someone about them.

Overcoming Temptations

I nearly fell into temptation twice this week.  One time it was without thinking, when I was at home and my guard was down.  The other time I was close to making a conscious decision to buy something, blaming it on an unplanned situation. Thankfully I stopped myself both times.

A couple days ago, I saw something on Amazon, that has become my biggest temptation.  In fact, I almost ordered one without even thinking about it being a no-spend month.  The new 7″ Kindle Fire is only $49!  In fact, you can get a “six pack” where the 6th one is free!  They are trying to market it as “one for every room in the house,” which is kind of funny to me, but really a fantastic deal.

For our family (we limit media quite a bit), it’s probably too much to get each kid their own device, but thinking about long car trips makes it pretty tempting.  I’m thinking we’ll get one for me, one for my husband, and one for the kids to share (we’ll regulate their time on it).  We will save them as Christmas presents.

They don’t officially release until September 30th, so waiting until October 1st shouldn’t be a problem.  I don’t imagine the price will change before then.  In fact, maybe I’ll see if I can earn some Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks in the mean time.

I had to take my littlest in for a weight check this week.  At her four month appointment, her weight had fallen way off her normal curve (which is somewhere in the 90th percentile).  The good news was her weight jumped way back to where it should be on her normal curve (instead of just correcting itself to somewhere in between).  I really didn’t do much different since I just nurse her on demand anyway.

The bad news was that she has a rather bad ear infection.  I had no idea, though her poor sleeping lately should have clued me in. I had them send her antibiotics prescription to the store across the street, which is most convenient, but it also meant that I had thirty minutes of browsing while I waited.  Ugh.  Not what I wanted to do during a no-spend month.

In my browsing time, I did a little product research on some things that are on my future “to buy” list.  Then I remembered that there were some free Shopmium rebates (and some that were free after referral credit) that I could also take advantage of!

Side note about Shopmium: What I love about Shopmium is that your rebates are credited to your PayPal account within a day or two, unlike other cash back companies where you have to accrue a certain minimum before you’ll get your money.  When you sign up on your smartphone and enter my code FKEEYMRJ, you’ll get a free Lindt chocolate bar.

More Freebies

I mentioned in my newsletter that we’ve been busy with a lot of fun activities this week.  We went to the Circus on Friday– our first time ever!  I got the tickets free with referral credit I had on Living Social.  The kids were tempted to buy things while we were there (especially the three-year-old), but I sure wasn’t.  It would be pretty hard to tempt me with a lemonade that costs $7 or a big balloon for $3.  In fact I was pretty surprised at how many parents do shell out the big bucks for all the extras.  Clearly I’m sheltered in my own frugal world.  On Saturday we got together with friends for a very fun activity.  I’ll be sharing more on it later.

Powdered Milk

We’ve been down to powdered milk for the past week.  The kids and husband are troopers and never seem to mind (or notice) the difference.  I’m the one who is not a big fan.

There are a couple things you can do to improve the taste of powdered milk.  Since the kids don’t mind it, I usually don’t do these anymore, but for those of you who are having a hard time selling powdered milk to your family, here are a couple tips:

• Add a pinch of sugar.  Yes, sugar.  I’m talking like no more than a tablespoon.  We’re not making Kool-Aid here.
• Add a splash of vanilla.
• Serve it very cold.  One of the biggest turnoffs for me is that freshly mixed powdered milk is never cold enough.

With a couple of tweaks your family might be able to drink powdered milk without any complaints.  For cooking and baking, they’ll never know the difference.

How About You?

• What spending temptations did you face this week?
• How are you doing on your challenge this month?
• Does your family like powdered milk?

This post contains affiliate links.  For more information, see my disclosure policy.

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The post No-Spend Month Update #3– Temptations and Powdered Milk appeared first on Six Figures Under.

How Did You Do?

I’m eager to know how you’re doing.  I’ve been behind at responding to comments the last couple weeks, but I will try to do better!

• How did you do this week?
• What were your biggest temptations?
• What have you learned so far?
• What are you going to do differently next week?
• What ways did you save money this week?

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The post No-Spend Challenge Week #2– A Few Hangups & a YNAB Tip appeared first on Six Figures Under.

Our September No-Spend Month Challenge inspired me to do a “Don’t Buy It” series.  Last week we talked about ways to get things for free so you don’t have to buy them.  This time, we’ll focus on borrowing instead of buying.

If you’re considering buying something that will only be used once or occasionally, how about borrowing the item instead?  You’ll save money on something you might only use once.  You’ll also prevent gathering clutter at your house.  Your friend will likely be happy that someone else is getting some use out of his stuff too.  You might even end up working on the project together!

Stuff to Borrow

Depending on what you need and the relationships you have with those around you, you could conceivably borrow just about anything under the sun.  With some creativity, you could really cut down on your expenses.  Here are a few areas where we have commonly lent and borrowed items.

Tools

There are some standard tools that every household should have on hand, but outside of your hammer, screwdriver and drill, lots of tools can be borrowed.  We’ve borrowed various saws, garden tillers, a power washer, and surely others that escape me right now.  We’ve lent many of the same, either of a different type or after we’ve acquired one of our own later.  Where a project requires a tool once, but you may never need it again, borrowing can be a good, frugal option.

Baby Gear

Borrowing baby gear is a great way to save money.  Most baby things are just fine if they’re used. Many baby things are only used for a short while, so many people have useful baby things stored away just collecting dust. We’ve borrowed a bassinet, baby swing, clothes and more.  We’ve lent clothes, a baby carrier, a breast pump, and more.

Seasonal or Rarely Used Kitchen Items

When I first started canning applesauce in 2008 and for the first several years, I always borrowed the equipment.  I borrowed a canner from one friend and an apple saucer.  Since then I have acquired my own equipment.  Before we got our wheat grinder (as a gift from my inlaws), I used to use theirs.  I still borrow my mother-in-law’s awesome dehydrator and various kitchen gadgets.

Tips for Asking to Borrow

I’m sure we have all had at least one lending experience that has left a bad taste in our mouths.  I know I have.  Bad experiences make us hesitant to lend.  If we aren’t comfortable lending things, then asking to borrow things feels hypocritical.

Here are a few tips to help you be a good borrower:

–> Always be sensitive to the possibility that the person may not want to lend something.  Make sure they are willing and not feeling obligated. Some people just don’t like to lend, and some won’t lend certain things.

–> Don’t borrow something you wouldn’t be willing to repair or replace if something were to go wrong.

–> Take great care of what you borrow.  Keep it clean and well maintained.  If there’s something extra you can do,  like fill it with gas or clean it up so its better than it was, do it.

–> Return it in a timely manner.

Borrowing instead of buying is great for your space, great for your wallet, and great for the earth.  It can also be a great way to grow closer to friends, as long as both of you have a great borrowing experience.

How About You?

• What have you borrowed instead of bought?
• What advice do you have for borrowers or lenders?

Note: This post contains affiliate links to awesome products that we actually use.  For more on that, check out our disclosure policy.

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The post Don’t Buy It, Borrow It– Save Money by Borrowing appeared first on Six Figures Under.

We’re a week into our September No-Spend Month Challenge!  I hope it’s going as well for you as it’s going for us.  If you’re struggling, don’t beat yourself up!  Feel free to make adjustments to your rules if you need to.  Of course your no-spend challenge is supposed to be a challenge, but it still needs to be do-able and something that you’re excited about.  Feel free to share your experience (and encourage others) in the comments!

When I told Mr. SixFiguresUnder I was going to post every weekday in September, I explained my plan was to have Tuesday and Thursday posts directly related to the no-spend challenge with normal Monday, Wednesday and Friday posts.  When I told him we would have a check-in each Tuesday, he wondered what it could say.  Since our goal is to not do something, if we’re doing well, what would there be to talk about?

He had a point.  It would be pretty boring to just announce that the challenge is going as planned and we have nothing to report.

Fortunately we have plenty of other things to talk about.  Here are some ideas:

• How did you do?  Did you follow your rules?

• What were your biggest temptations?

• What have you learned so far?

• What are you going to do differently next week?

• What ways did you save money this week?

I’ll go first:

In some ways I feel like I have an unfair advantage when it comes to no-spend months.  While living in the boonies has some drawbacks (have you seen our gas budget?!), there are some definite benefits when it comes to cutting down your spending.  Of course I could make online purchases, but it’s easy to stay away from the actual temptation of going to the store.

That being said, I actually did go into several stores this week.  The one exception I included in our no-spend rules was that I would be buying running shoes for my oldest.  While our van in the shop I walked with my younger two to several stores nearby.  Since my oldest wasn’t with us, I bought seven pairs of shoes to bring home and let her try on.  I will be bringing six pairs back to the store the next time I’m in town.

While I was in the store, I have to admit that it was hard to not look around.  Really hard.  I didn’t let myself look though, because I was afraid I would find something great.

Another habit I had to break was looking at deal emails.  I am not even letting myself open them as I know that they would be a temptation.  Whatever great deal with free shipping is going on is something I can do without.  By not opening the emails, I don’t know what I’m missing and that works best for me.

How Did You Do?

In the comments, feel free to share how you did this week by answering any or all of the questions above.

The post No-Spend Challenge Check-in– Week #1 appeared first on Six Figures Under.