Our No Spend February

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Every since we got married, we have been trying to get our budget just right and control our spending. We have done a pretty good job with saving money for our future but there is always room for improvement.

I mentioned the idea of a spending freeze in February to my husband about a month ago and even though he wasn't entirely sure, he was on board with it. Especially since we will be getting a new car very, very soon, it's a great time to get our spending in check. That will be a hefty chunk out of our savings that we will need to bulk back up.


What does this "freeze" mean? For us, it's about getting our spending under control and helping us realize how much we spend on things we don't really need to. It's the ordering in or going out to eat. It's the multiple trips to the grocery store to buy "one" item that actually turns into 5 other things we don't need. It's the online shopping. Amazon Prime sucks me in.

Our spending freeze plans:

Planning out events. We have Chinese New Year, a baby shower and a birthday in February. The gifts have already been bought and the money put aside to spend for these. Outside of those events, we do not plan on doing anything. Yes, we are aware it's Valentine's Day. But it doesn't have to be an all out celebration. There are many ways to enjoy a Valentine's Day for free or barely any money. I have a couple of ideas up my sleeve for this one.

Planning meals. Our grocery store trip will be just what we need for all our meals for the week. Nothing more, nothing less. I will also go through our cabinets to see what I can make with what we already have. I tend to overbuy sometimes and there's a good chance there's more than a few meals in there. Avoiding multiple trips will help avoid buying things just that I see that are on sale. I have also signed up AHEAD OF TIME for a healthy meal service. It takes care of at least 10 of our dinners for the month. I have already subtracted that from our weekly allowance for meals.

Unsubscribing from emails. It's all those "GET 50% TODAY ONLY!" and "HERE'S YOUR $10 COUPON" emails. I click on them more times than I want to and I would be lying if I said I didn't fall for it once in awhile. If I can get rid of all of those email, I would be oblivious in a good way, what sales are going on and what I am missing out on. They all do their job making me feel like I NEED those fleece leggings. Which the email tells me at least every other day I need because they are on sale.

Wearing out of my closet. Like every other woman on the planet, I spend money on some sort of clothing, shoe, jewelry every month. This month I am going to live out of my closet. Unless I end up having to go to a ball, where I do not own a ballgown so I would have to buy one, I do not NEED any new clothes this month. Sure, there are many wants but no, no, no.

I am not sure how this month will go. I am confident we can make some changes in our spending and make ourselves realize just how much we spend on wants rather than actual needs. Wish us luck!

Have you ever done a spending freeze? What are your tips?


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25 comments:

  1. Can't wait to see how this month goes for you! I've always wanted to try this but for some reason never have!! Good luck!

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  2. This is great! We are starting the Dave Ramsey envelope budget system. We've been good so far last month, but still need an extra kick. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. I've been wanting to try a spending freeze one month and just haven't been able to commit yet. I'll be interested to see how you do and what tips you have for once you've finished the month! Also, I hope you share your free/cheap V-day ideas:)

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  4. Unsubscribing from emails is SUCH a good one!!! I never thought of that, but all of those emails are SO tempting! Good luck with your freeze.

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  5. We are working on our budget as well and these are all good ideas!

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  6. Groceries are always our budget buster. It's a constant work in progress for us. The hardest part is being realistic with ourselves about what we really will/will not eat in a given week. Good luck with your spending freeze!

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  7. I need to do a spending freeze, pretty badly. These are all wonderful tips! I should talk to my other half and see how he feels about doing something like this :D

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  8. I never thought to unsubscribe from those e-mails, but that's a great idea! Meal planning really helps with the grocery budget for sure. Thought Target gets me every time...

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  9. Good luck! I may try and do something like this next month!

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  10. Yay! Good luck :) I'm doing a full freeze this month too.

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  11. Unsubscribing from emails is a great idea! It's so hard to resist those great deals!!

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  12. I'm excited but also a little scared..good luck to you too!

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  13. I think I just might need all the luck I can get ;) Maybe I will have some good tips for you at the end of the month!

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  14. Thank you! We run to the grocery store multiple times per week and I always come back with something we really did not need. Most of the time it's unhealthy too so this helps both situations!

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  15. I hope I make it through. And even if I don't, I'll have good tips to not fail haha! Look out for that B-day post soon :)

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  16. The envelope budget system is something I have been wanting to try too. We never can seem to get a handle on the cash though. Then again, that's probably the point of it I suppose.

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  17. Thank you! I am hoping we come out with more money saved (minus the whole car thing) and really make us look at how we spend. I know mine is a lot of NEEDS rather than wants and I want to adjust that.

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  18. Thank you! Those emails work their magic too well sometimes and that I am going to miss out on something because of it.

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  19. Thanks! We are hoping to make it through. Fingers crossed!

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  20. I might just be an easy target with the emails but I know I have bought things just because there was an email sent to me. Target can get out of hand sometimes!

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  21. When I brought it up to my husband, I wasn't exactly sure how he would respond. It took a month for us to prepare, of sorts so make sure you have a plan. Especially any events that would be coming up.

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  22. We have been adjusting for awhile and I just want to get it down. It can be a bit frustrating.

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  23. They really know what they are doing with the subject lines. Convincing me to redeem that $10 coupon where I actually have to spend $20 more to even get it.

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  24. We would definitely have to plan it out -- preparing for upcoming events is a great idea though!

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