Try These Back-to-Back Monthly Challenges to Kickstart Your Savings

In honor of the New Year and fresh starts, here are 2 monthly challenges you can try back-to-back at any point this year and I guarantee it will rewire your brain a bit and put some extra money in your pocket!

Month 1: No Spend

If you’ve never heard of a No Spend Challenge, this doesn’t literally mean you don’t spend any money for the month. Obviously, you set aside money for your essentials — rent, utilities, gas, groceries. You also want to prepare in advance to make sure you don’t have any medical appointments coming up, oil changes, insurance payments, etc. or anything similar that could derail the challenge. It’s also a good idea to make sure you stock up on things you use daily such as toiletries or vitamins. The “no spend” comes in for those extra categories in your budget or the ~problem~ areas. This looks different for every person, but you should create a plan to determine how you want to approach this. Typically, this looks like steering away from buying any of the "extra" or non-essential items such as: clothes, shoes, makeup, skincare, books, hobby items, eating out, entertainment, misc. Amazon purchases, etc. You could even go as far as to cancel/pause subscriptions for 1 month — most companies will allow you to snooze memberships for a short period of time without penalty, but totally up to you if you want to go this route! If cutting off some of these categories gives you major heartburn, you could always give yourself a strict budget instead. This could look like: No Amazon purchases, only 1 clothing item, limiting eating out to $75. If you find yourself really itching to purchase something, resist the urge and create a list on your phone of the item(s) instead. It will be there at month-end if you still feel like you need it. Really dig deep and make it a challenge though so that you see some results. After all, it’s only 1 month. 30 days. You can do it!

Month 2: Social Media Detox

Now that we’re feeling good with a little extra cash in our pockets after our No Spend, it’s time to detox from social media and the THOUSANDS of targeted ads that we see on a daily basis. Unlike the No Spend, this one needs to be an all or nothing approach. I would not recommend the option of adding time limit restrictions on the apps instead of giving it up altogether. We all know what happens when the time limit notification pops up for the day. *immediately hits ignore.* It needs to be out of sight, out of mind. You will be amazed at how much you will lose the desire to shop when you’re not constantly bombarded by what other people are wearing and buying or where they’re going and eating, etc. Not to mention, there are plenty of other benefits to a social media detox: improved mental health, better sleep, enhanced focus and productivity, stronger real-life relationships, increased self-awareness, reduced stress levels, and more time for hobbies and interests. Sounds like a good time to me!

I have personally tried this back-to-back challenge and did not anticipate the results and rewiring that occurred. Not only did it help me to save some money (as expected), but I truly felt the “increased self-awareness” benefit. After the 2 months were over, I didn’t feel myself succumbing to the temptations of buying things just because I saw it online. I learned to take in the feeling of wanting to buy but not taking any action upon it — it was a powerful feeling. I hope you feel inspired to give this a try and learn something new about yourself in the process. I believe in you!