As part of the wrap up for my no spend month, I thought I’d share the answers to the questions I posted on Monday: Important Questions After A No Spend Month and share exactly how much I spent.
What I discovered after a no spend month
Can you live on less?
We can live on less (I think most of us probably can). I found that we are pretty conscious of what we spend most of the time.
That said, we certainly wouldn’t be able to get by every month on the groceries I purchased in January. It just so happened I had a freezer and pantry full of food that needed eaten up. In fact, I’m planning to continue to buy less of certain items because I realized I buy too much when I see a good sale.
One of the best things about the month is that I now know approximately how much our bare bones expenses are. It’s nice to know how much we need to have to cover expenses in the event of an unexpected job loss.
Do you WANT to live on less?
I could live on less, but I’m comfortable with our level of spending. We don’t spend much on food, clothing, or household items, but we do spend on going out to eat a couple of times a month, climbing, and other things that are important to us. Our spending aligns with our priorities the majority of the time (though we do slip up sometimes!).
What did you discover about wants vs. needs?
I don’t need as many groceries as I thought. We buy grass fed beef in bulk each year, plus I had an overflowing pantry and freezer at the beginning of the month. I think I have a scarcity mindset when it comes to food and over-buy the sale items. While I like having extra food on hand, it needs to be food we actually eat, not food I buy because it’s cheap.
In a normal month, we spend more of our discretionary money at the home improvement store than I care to admit. Again, it’s a spending to save trap that both Alan and I fall for. Menards has “free” t-shirts (with mail-in rebate) again?! Sure, pick up 10! Granted, he does wear the t-shirts and we do tend to buy things we will use, but I think we go overboard here sometimes – just to get the rebates.
I want to go out to eat for entertainment more than I thought. Go figure. If it weren’t a no spend month, we would have went out for an additional meal or two. I had never really thought much about it – but maybe it’s because it’s winter in Iowa and I feel the need to get out a little more. Whatever the reason, it’s something I’m willing to spend on, just not too frequently.
What was easiest to cut back on? What was hardest to cut back on?
The hardest things to cut back on was groceries, but it was also the easiest. Let me explain. I had so many food stores, I didn’t really need to buy many groceries, which made it easy. On the other hand, I saw the markdowns at the grocery store and the colorful ads with great deals on food I would have otherwise purchased, which made it hard.
Also, the kids started to complain about ¾ of the way through the month. But, really, since grandma insisted on sending them treats, they didn’t “suffer” at all.
What did you learn about yourself?
Of course, I learned I buy too much food when it’s on sale and I like to use going out to eat as entertainment.
I also learned I don’t like to cook as much as I used to. While I thought I would cook more during the month, I didn’t. I have days on the weekend when I enjoy putting together a larger meal, but for the most part, I like meals I can make in 30 minutes.
Mostly I realized I don’t really feel the need to spend much. I like the simple pleasures in life – I love being home and spending time with family and friends. Sure, I like the occasional meal out, and of course, I’m a sucker for a vacation on a budget. But I would be just as happy without those things.
Did you spend more or less time with your loved ones?
This was virtually the same for me. Alan and I typically spend much of our free time together. We also saw friends and family just as often as we usually do.
My Spending
If you remember my very first No Spend Month Challenge post, I listed out my exceptions for spending (though I did occasionally spend outside of the exceptions). And I noted that the spending for the month didn’t include all of our regular monthly bills, including the mortgage, utilities, insurance, etc.
So beyond my regular monthly bills (including exceptions), I spent $519.10 in January. My average spending in 2016, above and beyond the regular monthly bills was $1650. So that’s a good deal of savings. It helped pay my annual insurance bill without dipping as into savings as much as I normally would (I should add – this is savings I set aside each month for this purpose). And it showed me how much less I can spend.
What now?
I’ve approached February spending cautiously. It doesn’t make sense to just delay spending. I wanted to ensure I didn’t run out on February 1 and spend $200 on groceries and other stuff. I’m buying what we need to eat healthy and evaluating any other spending carefully before making a purchase.
How did you do?
No Spend Month Update #1
No Spend Month Update #2
No Spend Month Update #3
No Spend Month Update #4
Check out updates from JohnandJaneDoe.com and MysteryMoneyMan.com too.
Photo Credit: my son, Jake (Iowa really can be beautiful in the winter!)
I found that I’m the opposite when it comes to food (although I spend too much, mostly on healthy “extras” like kombucha), I like to buy only small amounts. I tend to be a picky eater and I have a small apt, so having on hand JUST what I’ll eat is helpful not only with spending but with food waste (still need help in this area as well). Overall it sounds like you did great!
Thanks, Tonya! Buying smaller amounts really helps with cutting back on food waste! I noticed we didn’t waste much at all last month when I was buying less. We are buying only healthy food in February, so I expect to spend more, but improve our diets.
Great findings, Amanda!
Just like you, I find that there are things that I don’t really need, but just want in life — things like eating out, new tech, etc. I can cut back on my wants and focus on what I have in order to utilize them to the fullest.
Thank you! That’s right on! We cut drastically in the areas that don’t matter much to afford what we enjoy and what matters most to us. 🙂
We spent about $100 on Tuesday, but now I have to go out because Little Bit’s invited to 2 “bring food donations in lieu of gifts” parties (twins, celebrating on different weekends.) We just don’t have the extras on hand for the donations.
Thanks for inspiring me to try the challenge again and for sharing my posts all month, Amanda. Jake’s picture is beautiful!
I like the idea of donations in lieu of gifts! That may make shopping a little easier?!
I’m glad you took the challenge again, Emily! You saved – but, more importantly, realized just how far you’ve come since the last challenge. I’d say you have this frugality thing down! 🙂
I’ll share your comment with Jake – he will really appreciate it!
Winters ARE tough. Especially if you live in the northern states like you guys do and we do. We’ve decided we’re taking a trip to the MOA next weekend – just to wander around and look. No rides, or shopping. I was worried that the kids would feel shortchanged by this but they’re really okay with it! We need to do something different, but I don’t want it to break the bank, you know? Pleeeease, spring, get here soon!
Yep! It’s nice just to get out of the house once in a while. I think it’s great your kids want to go to MOA without doing the rides or shopping. I hope you all enjoy your weekend out! 🙂 It’s funny, the winter hasn’t even been that bad so far, but I’m sooo ready for spring!!! 🙂 Sunshine sounds glorious!!!
For a variety of reasons, things are going to be incredibly tight for us this month (unexpected car expenses, two tuition payments in January, post-holiday bills, etc), so though it wasn’t planned, I will be having a “no spend month” for the remainder of February! I tend to be frugal anyhow, so we rarely go out to eat, I don’t buy fast food (with the exception of the occasional cup of $1 coffee), and I don’t have any expensive habits to give up like manicures…. but it will still be tough because it was unplanned. Started today making a quadruple batch of lentil soup using just what I had in the house (although I will say we recently were the recipients of a box of canned goods from a family member’s household cleanout that was helpful!)…. that will be dinner tomorrow night (we usually do a Meatless Monday dinner) and then will be our lunches for the rest of the week… plus there will be more to be frozen for another time.
My husband works at home and I work here in my town and we both filled our gas tanks on a trip into town yesterday, so we should be able to get through most of the month without more gas (although I am driving into Boston tomorrow so that should be about 1/2 tank gone). But no extra trips to the grocery store (since there is no grocery budget for the month) means no extra gas spent going into town!
I work 3 jobs and one has the possibility of some extra hours each week, so I’ll be trying to get some extra income. Anyhow…. just wanted to say thanks for the ideas and recommendations.
I hope some of my tips help, Pamela. It sounds like already have some super frugal habits in place. This can make it hard to cut back further, but it sounds like you have a fantastic plan for the rest of the month. And, I bet it will help you get caught up on the bills! Please let me know how it goes!!! 🙂 Good luck!!!
I think it’s great you used this as a chance to burn thru your pantry. Whenever I try to go on a no spend week (I don’t have the will power to try a whole month yet), I end up finding out that my pantry is full of a lot of things that I don’t like but thought that I should try.
Same Shnugi!!! I hadn’t realized how much I do this until my no spend month. It’s something I’m going to try to keep in check moving forward. I like the idea of a no spend week too! Maybe I’ll have to do that once a month, just to keep the food stores under control. Thanks for stopping by!
What a great experiment! I personally have to watch myself with the groceries a few times a week haha 🙂
I think a lot of people (including myself) buy too much of stuff when it is on sale and never end up using it all. In the case of groceries, I always try to see if its freezable so I can extend the life a bit longer if I don’t use it all during the week. Last week, I bought a ton of chicken near the “sell by” date and they’re sitting in my freezer to be used over next few weeks!
Freezing is a great idea for extending the life of food! I freeze and/or refrigerate bread. I know some people don’t like the taste, but it gets wasted at my house if I don’t (only 2 of us eat bread). Freezing leftovers for another meal is another great way to save money and food waste!
Reading your updates challenged me to examine my spending. I’ve done two things the past month: Thought twice before choosing to eat out, as my spending has been excessive (being in graduate school while having a full-time job was my reason/excuse); and made extra servings of dishes when I cook so that I can have leftovers for meals rather than eating out.
Thank you for the motivation and for the advice!
That’s so awesome, DS! I’m glad it’s helped you out. Food is really a great place to cut expenses quickly – it’s really a matter of getting those habits in place (such as leftovers) and then you can save, save, save! 🙂 Congrats and thanks for the update!