Is a No Spend Week Possible Any More?

     


     I used to try "tenner"weeks, or other low/ no spend weeks. It feels like that's just not doable in my life anymore. I seem to run out of things and notice as about to use. Sure, I could do without something the house ran out of, but not seeing the point of not replacing if I'm just going to the next week. However, staying out of stores does prevent impulse buys. 

     There's been PT co-payments and gas tank fill ups and top offs trying to use points or coupons that may expire. There's impromptu meals with coworkers even with my minimal in office days. Things are coming up starting this week through January that will make a whole week not possible. I think the best I can do is "essential only" weeks, and maybe track that. 

I tried this the week of November 16-22, Saturday to Friday. We didn't have austerity level meals either, so adding our dinners here too. I'm not counting any spending by my son unless he bought for the household. 

Here's my result, meal first, what I spent for the day follows. 

  • S- Marinated chicken breasts, spinach salad, tots $55(A few groceries) 
  • S- Chickpea curry w/ basmati rice, naan, pilak paneer $89 ( Fleet Farm:tree stabilization items, yard care, plus there was a sale on nuts, trail mix, and soup mixes that sell out, so grabbed for my pantry, plus a few things for my daughter). 
  • M- Homemade 16 bean and ham soup with egg salad sandwiches $35 PT copay, 
  • T- Chicken,bacon, artichoke pizza. $94 Kitty had thrown up a few times and we suspected a bug or worm. Had to have fecal test and resulting meds,  Gas in my car, take and bake pizza
  • W- Pork loin, little potatoes, green beans.  $0 (though got two bags popcorn from a CVS that were on sale then free using a $4 off any purchase coupon because I had intended to bring to trivia but group members had conflicts so ended up not playing)
  • Th- Son had leftover pork loin, steamed veg . I  had drinks and shared appetizers at an after work gathering ( at a food court kind of venue)  for a colleague expecting a baby. I had gift delivered to her home from the registry several weeks ago. Because  was so close to my daughter's, I decided to bring her dinner ( pizza same venue) and hang out a bit. $51
  • F-  Marinated chicken with dirty rice, green beans $0
Total spent: $324 This doesn't include prorated costs of monthly spending (ex. church offering,) or calculated utilities, or the boat winter storage fee that I paid this week as it's a planned dunking funds cost. It doesn't count doggie daycare 20 day package either, that will cover many months. I wanted to track just what was spent in cash or put on the credit card for this week activities/costs. Clearly this was not low spend and scary to think what I'd have spent if less intentional. 

     I'd love to read from you all though on your methods and strategies for no or low spend weeks. Do you find overall they help with your overall budget and cash flow? Do you feel like you've missed out or experienced any discomfort when actively limiting or not spending for a period of time? 

Comments

  1. AprilNovember 24, 2024 at 9:18 AM

    Boy, I have had the same question about no-spend weeks being possible. Some frugal vloggers say "No Spend" means no "extra" spending: on frills, on treats, on entertainment. So I think your "essentials only" approach falls under that "no-spend" umbrella. (We are pretty much non-spenders when it comes to "frills and treats," so it is not such a big leap for us, but that is just us.)

    The bigger hurdle for this household, and I am still coping with how to approach it, is the monthly grocery bills. Even being careful, we spend more monthly than I estimated we would when we started 2024 and even when I "knew" we were overshooting my optimistic $200/month soft budget, I still thought we would come in "okay." Ha! I will see what the 4th quarter totals up, and the year, but I think 2025 I will need to adjust the monthly food target upwards. (Trust me, that will be my leadoff blog post of 2025!)

    Here's to intentionality in spending!

    ReplyDelete
  2. ElleNovember 24, 2024 at 10:03 AM

    I don't even try. 🤣 I'm not an impulse shopper as I only go into a store because I have to (list in hand). In a grocery store, I will buy a "deal" on something we use anyway so for me, that is not impulse.

    I'm in a large online quilt group and there was discussion this morning about shortage on quilt batting. I quilt for my community and go through a LOT of it. So unplanned expense today was a bulk order $300 delivered. I do not want to be caught without batting. Who knows why the shortage but I'm not going to gamble on putting quilts on kids beds (Sleep In Heavenly Peace gets kids off the floor and I'm grateful to have never have slept on the floor)

    My 2y emergency fund allows for a larger unplanned purchase and I am grateful every day I have it.

    I suppose I could force myself into a full week of no-spend yet I don't see the point. It would simply be a postponed purchase.

    ReplyDelete

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