7 Tips for Completing a No Spend Challenge

When I was first beginning on my finance journey, doing a no spend challenge was one of my favourite things to do! I would set myself a no spend goal each month – whether that was a number of days or a set category – to alter my spending habits and become more intentional.

This is not something I still regularly do as my mindset is very different now compared to when I started. I no longer need the challenge element to keep me focussed and intentional, that thinking style is now second nature to me! But I still maintain that No Spend Challenges are great financial tools you take advantage of.

What is a No Spend Challenge?

I always compare a no spend challenge to turning your finances off and on again. It is essentially what it says on the tin, challenging yourself to not spend any money. But with one major caveat – it’s not spending any unnecessary money.

How you define unnecessary is completely down to you and should change person to person. Taking it right down to the bone, necessary spending would only include housing, food (groceries not eating out), bills and basic hygiene. However, that is very unrealistic for most people. So you set the rules!

Your no spend challenge could just be on one area of your life that you feel is getting a little bit out of control – like shopping or eating out. Or it could be on impulse purchases, i.e. you must wait X amount of days before you can purchase something.

What is the point of a No Spend Challenge?

There are so many reasons as to why you might want to do a no spend challenge. You could be like me and want to change your current spending mindset. Or you might feel like you’re spending has gotten out of control and need an enforced detox. Alternatively, if you are working towards a big savings goal and want to speed the process up, doing a no spend for even a couple of months will pay off!

Right, now we are all on the same page – let’s get into the tips…

Tips for Success 

Be realistic

This is the most important tip of them all! To succeed at a no spend challenge you have to be realistic. There is no point doing this challenge if you are just going to set yourself up for failure.

This is where the personalisation of the rules come in. Bottom line – you make the rules. You decide what you can and can’t spend money on, how long the challenge is going to last and what you are going to do with the money you will save.

Being realistic will both reduce the chances of failing and of a spending binge once the challenge has come to an end. 

Know your why

Knowing exactly why you are doing the challenge will motivate you that little bit more to absolute smash the challenge. If are doing it to pay off debt faster or increase your savings rate, work out exactly how far ahead doing the challenge would put you and use this as motivation.  

Shop your home

If you are anything like me, you will be pleasantly surprised with how much you will find around your home. Whether this is food, games or entertainment – purposefully shopping your home is a great way to avoid spending any money. 

Embrace free hobbies

You do not have to spend money to have fun. Please read that again! There are so so many free ways to entertain yourself! And no this doesn’t require not leaving your house for the entire duration of the challenge.

Simply google the “place you live + free activities” to see exactly what your city has on offer and make the most of it! This is obviously a lot easier if you live in a city or large town. 

Gamify it

If you are anything like me, making it a game will motivate you to complete the no spend challenge. Find a way to track your progress, whether that’s a colour chart or a habit tracker. I find the more visible the tracker is the more focused I am. Making it your phone background or sticking it on a wall in your house will make it unavoidable.  

Leave all payment methods at home

Leaving all payment methods at home when you don’t need them will take away the ability to spend money. Bonus points if you take apple pay off your phone.

And for those times that you need to spend money (e.g. going food shopping) you can take this tip one step further. Take out the exact amount you have budgeted in cash and then you literally can only spend this!

Block tempting online retailers

Another tip for reducing the temptation to spend is blocking all of those tempting online retailers. There is literally a chrome extension called “BlockSite” where you add sites to a block list and set time/days for this to be enforced. Doing this means you would have to go out of your way to access the sites and spend money. 

There you go, seven tips for succeeding at a No Spend Challenge!

Have you ever tried a No Spend Challenge? How did it go?