No Spend Month
Happy Friday!
I've recently decided (recently meaning within the last couple hours) to do a "No Spend Month" Challenge for the month of September.
Am I crazy for doing this? I kinda feel a bit crazy.
I went onto Pinterest, searching for hints and tips and whatnot, and quickly fell down the rabbit hole. (To be honest though, "Went to Pinterest" and "fell down the rabbit hole" are a bit synonymous.)
I suppose the decision to do this started brewing a couple months ago- I created an account with YNAB (You Need A Budget.) They're not paying me to say this, but I seriously love it. It's $50 a year, but I've already saved over that each month. What's cool about it is it is extremely similar to the envelope system, and I can pretty much SEE every dollar I have- which is something a notepad and a pencil can't do all that easily.
But it's hard to say exactly HOW MUCH I'm saving- because while the regular, known, expenses are a month ahead (July's income pays August's bills, etc), what's left over is being spent as soon as I get it and I have nothing extra.
Which is no good. Because I know I should have extra, and while I'm glad that I haven't spent MORE than I brought in (which I usually do), I have savings and other debt goals that I want to get under control.
As far as rules go, I'm keeping it kind of chill. Obviously my monthly scheduled bills are going to be paid (I don't think my electric company would be okay with me saying I wasn't paying them because I'm doing a No Spend Challenge.) Some people refuse to buy food, preferring to shop from their pantry instead. I'm not going to do that though- storage space in my kitchen is rather limited, and so I don't always have all that much more than a week's worth of food anyway. I won't be buying extra through- just what I NEED for meals (and a reminder to myself, wine is not a NEED.)
Yeah. No wine is a rule, as is no dining out. No candy bars (That one will be tough- tougher than the no wine). No buying things for the crafting business, which probably won't be as much of a problem problem as my lack of impulse control says it will be.
Speaking which, there's a promotion going on in my etsy shop- 10% off any order of at least $10 (and since most of my items are at least that...
It's working in either one of two ways. Some of you are going to be lucky enough to have it come off at the checkout, no questions asked, no need to put in a coupon code. It's a new thing Etsy is running with- although I believe that it's only open for a limited number of shoppers for now.
If that's you, great! No need to do anything. If not, or if you're shopping as a guest, use coupon code BACKTOSCHOOL2017 for the same 10% off any order of at least $10. This is going on until Labor Day here in the US (September 4th).
Back to the original topic. No spend month. I'll write a weekly check in, one to keep myself honest, and secondly to provide you with amusement for all my whining.
Happy weekend everyone! (Me? I'll probably spend part to most of it at the car dealership getting an oil change and watching them freak out at the open recall on my car. That and cleaning.)
I've recently decided (recently meaning within the last couple hours) to do a "No Spend Month" Challenge for the month of September.
Am I crazy for doing this? I kinda feel a bit crazy.
I went onto Pinterest, searching for hints and tips and whatnot, and quickly fell down the rabbit hole. (To be honest though, "Went to Pinterest" and "fell down the rabbit hole" are a bit synonymous.)
I suppose the decision to do this started brewing a couple months ago- I created an account with YNAB (You Need A Budget.) They're not paying me to say this, but I seriously love it. It's $50 a year, but I've already saved over that each month. What's cool about it is it is extremely similar to the envelope system, and I can pretty much SEE every dollar I have- which is something a notepad and a pencil can't do all that easily.
But it's hard to say exactly HOW MUCH I'm saving- because while the regular, known, expenses are a month ahead (July's income pays August's bills, etc), what's left over is being spent as soon as I get it and I have nothing extra.
Which is no good. Because I know I should have extra, and while I'm glad that I haven't spent MORE than I brought in (which I usually do), I have savings and other debt goals that I want to get under control.
As far as rules go, I'm keeping it kind of chill. Obviously my monthly scheduled bills are going to be paid (I don't think my electric company would be okay with me saying I wasn't paying them because I'm doing a No Spend Challenge.) Some people refuse to buy food, preferring to shop from their pantry instead. I'm not going to do that though- storage space in my kitchen is rather limited, and so I don't always have all that much more than a week's worth of food anyway. I won't be buying extra through- just what I NEED for meals (and a reminder to myself, wine is not a NEED.)
Yeah. No wine is a rule, as is no dining out. No candy bars (That one will be tough- tougher than the no wine). No buying things for the crafting business, which probably won't be as much of a problem problem as my lack of impulse control says it will be.
Speaking which, there's a promotion going on in my etsy shop- 10% off any order of at least $10 (and since most of my items are at least that...
It's working in either one of two ways. Some of you are going to be lucky enough to have it come off at the checkout, no questions asked, no need to put in a coupon code. It's a new thing Etsy is running with- although I believe that it's only open for a limited number of shoppers for now.
If that's you, great! No need to do anything. If not, or if you're shopping as a guest, use coupon code BACKTOSCHOOL2017 for the same 10% off any order of at least $10. This is going on until Labor Day here in the US (September 4th).
Back to the original topic. No spend month. I'll write a weekly check in, one to keep myself honest, and secondly to provide you with amusement for all my whining.
Happy weekend everyone! (Me? I'll probably spend part to most of it at the car dealership getting an oil change and watching them freak out at the open recall on my car. That and cleaning.)
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