This No Spend January Money Savings Challenge is the perfect way to get back on track with your finances after all the holiday spending. It helps you to reset your budget and reassess where your money is going.
By now, you’ve likely heard of a monthly money savings challenge such as the 100 envelope challenge or even 200 envelope challenge. The purpose of these challenges is to help you save money.
What Is A No Spend January?
A No Spend January is a money savings challenge. For the entire money of January, you do not purchase anything outside of your normal monthly expenses. If it doesn’t include a monthly debt payment or obligation, you don’t buy it.
For example, if you wanted to purchase a Starbucks coffee, that would not be allowed. But if you needed to make your rent or mortgage payment, that would be allowed.
Each day you planned to spend money but didn’t, you’d color green on a No Spend January Challenge Printable (like the one below). On days you did spend money, you’d color it red to indicate you didn’t pass the challenge on that day.
For the days you color green, you can instead put that money away that you would have spent. By the end of the 31 days of a No Spend January, you’ll have saved quite a bit of money.
What are the rules of a No Spend January?
The rules of a No Spend January are simple: you cannot spend money on anything except essential items like food and housing for the entire month of January. You can only buy what you actually need.
During A No Spend January You CAN:
- Pay your mortgage/rent
- Make your monthly credit card payments
- Pay your utilities (lights, gas, phone, internet, etc.)
- Pay to fix your car or things around your house (as long as it’s a necessity)
- Pay for your pet supplies
During A No Spend January You CAN’T:
- Get Starbucks coffee
- Order DoorDash or UberEats
- Make Amazon Purchases
- Get manicures or have salon visits (unless you’ve already budgeted it)
- Go clothes shopping
- Dine out
- Entertainment (no movies, concerts, etc.)
Of course you can adjust this as needed but the main goal is to curb your spending habits and maximize your savings for an entire month.
What Is A No Spend Month?
A no spend month is the same concept as the No Spend January. It just means you choose a month, any month out of the year, where you complete the no spend challenge for that entire month. The same rules of no spending from above apply.
What Is A No Spend Challenge?
A no spend challenge is where you set a specified time where you cannot spend money outside of anything that you need. This means you only pay for your regular monthly bills and you don’t spend money on anything else during that period of time.
Want a visual way to help keep track? I’ve created a No Spend January Printable to help you along your savings journey. Simply print and color in each day (green if you completed the challenge, red if you spent money you shouldn’t have). You can get the printable here.
