There are many savings and no spend challenges available on the internet to help you reign in your spending, get out of debt, build an emergency fund, and up your game to reach financial independence.
Check these out for example:
– David’s, Zero Day Challenge
– Jaime’s, 52 Week Money Challenge
– Nicole’s, Fun Saving Money Challenges for 2018
These challenges can motivate you and give guidance where needed. They’re useful resources for those just starting out or for when you need a bit of inspiration.
While I’ve personally not participated in these, we’ve worked hard at simplifying our life, minimizing our spending on stuff, and boosting our savings. Every time J$ urges us to increase our donating or savings I do that though. Hmm, the power of the Mohawk maybe?
Recently my friend, The Happy Philosopher, posted this article, New Experiment: Buy Nothing for 1 Year, proclaiming:
HP’s Parameters and Plan
Parameters? Yep. He’s got “exceptions and disclaimers” (condensed below) as well as a plan.
- He’ll buy himself no “stuff” this year.
- Anything consumable or related to hygiene or household products doesn’t count.
- He’ll maintain or repair what he already owns.
- Replacement items are allowed.
- Experiences don’t count.
- Virtual stuff: This is a gray area. A DVD is certainly not allowed, but what about Netflix or eBooks? He has Netflix and a couple of other subscriptions and won’t count those, but will disclose any new ones, and explain them.
- Gifting: It’s still stuff. If he gives away something consumable (food, wine) or even flowers, it won’t count.
- Greeting cards not allowed.
- Borrowing allowed.
- Renting tools and other stuff is allowed.
- Animals, the jury is still out.
- Gifts: Not allowed to accept. Exception if it is something like a free tee shirt from a race – but he’ll eliminate TWO items just like it for every one item he takes in.
- Home improvement: Ok if it is a necessary repair.
My initial thoughts were along the line of I already do something like this, just move along. But at the bottom of his post, HP shares his plan and welcomes others to join him or share their experiences:
“I will publish an update every month or two so you can follow my progress. Anything that is not clearly food or obvious “grocery store stuff” I will disclose. I will tell you why I got it, why I feel it is or is not justified by one of the above categories, and you can be the judge.
I’m not sure where my/our pain points will be quite honest, but it will be a fun project. If you want to join me, I would love the company. If you have ever done anything like this tell me about your experiences in the comments.” ~ The Happy Philosopher
Own Less Stuff, Produce Less Waste, Save More Money
Originally, I thought I’d just share some of my experiences. Like how we make charitable donations, give financial gifts, or provide concert tickets or movie passes instead of stuff for presents. Or I’d share our clothing expenses from last year.
Of the $527.76 spent on clothing and shoes, only the $74.19 were true expenses for me. New shoes for FinCon, because holes. The purchases made on 5/27/17 were for some replacement shorts for my husband and special-occasion items for my daughter and son-in-law, spurning this post on saving money by stopping shopping.
But now I’ve decided to join along too. Why? Because HP’s experiment isn’t about spending less or saving more. It’s about interrupting the automatic desire to consume. And to be more “mindful of every purchase.” I invite you to read his original experiment for more context.
While I believe John and I do a decent job of this already, I know we’re not perfect. And we’re still guilty of too much waste – plastic food containers, tea bags, and the occasional water bottle or K-cup – sorry!
As we continue the elimination of ‘stuff’ from our home – really, Amy, 18 Santa Bears? – I’m dreadfully aware of the additional junk/trash we are contributing to the planet.
And so I’m going to be more mindful of every purchase from not only a ‘less stuff’ point of view, but also from a ‘less waste’ perspective this year.
I’ll continue my usual buy nothing ways, only replacing items that break or wear out. With the standard and replacement purchases that we do make I’ll work towards less plastic, less cardboard, less paper, etc.
This will take some advanced planning to ensure thing like the reusable shopping bags are always in the car, water bottles are filled for road trips, and food scraps end up in the compost pile.
Like HP, I’ll publish updates throughout the year. I welcome your participation too.
Will you join us?
Join at any time. No need to wait for a new month or a new year, just start today. No hard rules, no grand expectations, and no judging (unless you want that!). Just an invitation to be more mindful of what you bring into your life by and a request to pay attention to the waste.
Bloggers joining in thus far:
- Happy Philosopher
- Dads Dollars Debts
- Countdown To Tranquility
- Dr. McFrugal
- Buy Nothing 2018
- Smart FI
- Kiwi and Keweenaw
(You don’t need to be a blogger to join!)
Journal your progress and share it via a comment on one of our updates, an article on your own site, a guest post here or on another blogger’s site, or shoot me an email. I’d love to cheer you on!
Related Post – Not A Sacrifice If You Don’t Value It (And So What Anyway)
Update: Imagine More [A Less Stuff Less Waste Challenge Update]
Have you done a similar experiment before? Any tips for less waste? Please, let us know in the comments below!
Mrs. Farmhouse Finance says
I love this! I have been more mindful of the clothing purchases I’ve been making, and will continue to be so. Last year I spent $657 on clothes (compared to over $1,900 the year before!), and I don’t regret a single purchase. I’ve also been donating and selling a lot of things. I’m not ready to commit to a no spend challenge, but I definitely like the idea of getting rid of something (or a couple things) for each new item you bring into your home.
Amy says
Excellent, Mrs. FF. No regret is always good, and exchanging one or two older items for new ones will help keep your stuff manageable. Please keep us posted on how that works for you.
Accidental Fire says
I don’t know if I can join you guys since I just came off a “no purchase outdoor gear year” in 2017. With all my outdoor sports, that was a significant challenge for me but I did accomplish it! So I think 2018 will see me replacing some outdoor gear that I wore out. But I’ll be ready to get back in the game next year.
Best of luck with it, I’ll be watching!
Amy says
Out with the old, in with the new, mindful replacement. 🙂 Thanks, AF!
AdventureRich says
I saw Happy Philosopher’s post… I may need to consider the same! I think we would have to exclude “home remodel” items (one of Mr. AR’s projects with his free time 😉 ), but this might work 🙂 Regardless, I have certainly become much more mindful, minimalist and conscious of our spending and consumption recently. It is actually a very freeing reality 🙂
Amy says
Would love to see you participate in whatever way works for the AdventureRich family. 🙂 I so agree, it is so freeing!
Mr. Groovy says
Haha! I’m out this year, Amy. Building a house means I’m going to be buying a whole lot of stuff in 2018. But I love the idea. And I look forward to reading about your experience with this glorious experiment. Ah, the power of not buying (thank you HP). May the Mohawk be with you.
Amy says
I’ll give you a break as long as you promise to be mindful of every purchase you make. 😉 Actually this gives me a chance to live vicariously through you. Thanks, Mr. G!
Nicole says
Thanks for the shout out, Amy!
Decluttering is definitely on my list. Less stuff means less stuff to clean equals more time for wine! Lol!
Amy says
Love that philosophy, Nicole! Best of luck with all your 2018 monthly challenges.
DocG says
Time and again, it’s the experiences I relish most on not the stuff. Spend less, live more?
Amy says
Yes! I may not always spend less lol, but I focus my spending and that has definitely lead to greater living experiences. Thanks, DocG!
Ty Roberts says
I don’t care for the no spend challenges, but I do give myself ‘no waste’ challenges that are usually food focused (I throw out more food that I care to admit). Food is a large item in everyone’s budget so eliminating waste in that area is a great way to save money.
Amy says
Excellent point, Ty! We’ve done a much better job in this area, but we recently missed an expiration date on some meat #foodfail ugh.
DadsDollarsDebts says
Glad to see you are joining us, though you do seem to already be on the right track. Should be a fun experiment!
Amy says
Thanks, Dad, I’ll be fine tuning. 🙂
Erin | Reaching for FI says
I’m doing the Uber Frugal Month challenge for January which is in itself partially a no-spend challenge. We’ll see how it goes, and maybe I’ll commit to a longer period in the future!
But in general I’ve been trying to spend much more mindfully so doing that in 2018 goes without saying 🙂
Amy says
Sounds great, Erin. I’ll be cheering you on and hoping it goes well for you to continue. 🙂 Yea!
kiwiandkeweenaw says
Ah! I have a collection of Santa Bears that my Aunt gave to me each year growing up. I need to figure out something to do with them. Our dogs eat stuffed animals so they are just chilling in a storage container in the basement.
I love this, I’ll get thinking up some of my own rules 🙂
Amy says
Hopefully, someone will gladly take them off your hands.I already know my kids don’t want mine. 😉
Great! I look forward to hearing what you come up with.
jumpstartfromscratch says
I don’t think I can join. I’m with you in spirit, but would never be able to get the rest of the family on board. My family really likes stuff, and also giving gifts. I get hounded in Oct, Nov, and Apr about Christmas and birthday ideas, but there isn’t anything I want.
Amy says
I’ll take it. Although, I don’t believe HP and Dads wives are participating. Perhaps you come up with your own version of the challenge and inspire the family. 🙂 Do you suggest experience gift ideas? A pair of tickets to an event, a zoo or museum membership, or something similar gives them the opportunity to gift and gives you something better than stuff. Win-win!
mrsssc says
Good luck with your challenge! I try hard to be mindful… but I’m not as good as I should be. I am really bad at splurging on little things for the kids. That is one of my goals… stop buying them trinkets or unnecessary clothes. My husband and I always try to think “ is this a need or a want.” This year we are hoping to only buy needs…
Amy says
Thank you, Mrs. SSC! I’ve got a new granddaughter so I’m going to need the good wishes and strength to not buy her ‘stuff’. That’s exactly the way we look at it too, is it a need or a want. While the difference is really pretty clear, it’s not always that simple. 🙂 Good luck to you as well!
Vicki@MakeSmarterDecisions says
After just moving, I can say that this is a really important challenge (or whatever you want to call it!) We have given away, sold, and thrown away more than we ever could have imagined – and we had a fairly small house to start with. And we weren’t hoarders! In our new house (and we’re not done getting rid of things yet…) – if something isn’t used within a year or if we can’t find a good “home” for something – it is going! Other than things we have to buy to get the house up and running, NO MORE STUFF is coming in!
Amy says
That’s one of my reasons for eliminating stuff, hopes of moving in a few years. Great plan, Vicki!
Hi! I'm Jamie, says
Hey, thanks for the link! I love this, and it’s one of the biggies we learned from our #yearofno. You really have to make a solid gesture to interrupt your automatic response to buying things you’ve always bought. It’s a habit we’ll keep even after our debt is gone. It’s just silly to throw away your money on things that become clutter much sooner than later.
Amy says
Well said, Jamie. I agree it’s a great habit to have. Thanks for stopping by!
Dr. McFrugal says
Nice post! I saw your comment on Happy Philosopher so I wanted to check you out.
I’m joining the challenge too!
Amy says
Thanks, Dr. McFrugal. Great, I look forward to following you along!
Amy says
Hi Sherry, does he pay for his own legos? If not that might be one way to start. 😉 Yes, repairing items or repurposing things really helps keep down additional purchases. Yikes, on the blender. Nice job trying to fix it. I’m not sure I’d have made it through 4 tries lol. Thanks for reading and commenting.
buynothing2018 says
I am taking on this challenge as well! I appreciate your emphasis on less waste and am hoping to reduce waste significantly as well. I look forward to reading about your experiences this year.
Amy says
Great, I’ve added you to my list in the post and will follow your journey too.
Laine at The Green Purpose says
A fun effect of no spending is you get so much more done! Instead of shopping for fun or thinking of whatever new thing you want to do or buy you realize what you already have. The books you haven’t read, projects you never finished, hobbies you forgot about. I have so many little home updates I’ve been meaning to do and finally am. Bye bye hot pink bedroom from the last owner 🙂 I’ve been staring at it too long putting it off!
Amy says
So true! (Did you look in my basement or something? 😉 HA, yes, say goodbye to that hot pink.
MindfulCents says
Yes. I am in and doing great so far. My plan is only to buy things to replace worn out ones (12 year old work pants, worn out jeans , beyond repairable toe socks) , and a pair of boots to replace the ones I don’t want to wear anymore because of the lifestyle change ( switching to barefoot, foot shaped footwear) , I actually sold those boots. And I might need to buy a back pack and a pair or travel pants or shorts for May trip but it’s on my approved list.
Amy says
Wonderful! Glad to hear it’s going well. I’d like to hear more about the footwear change too (why and how it’s going).