Seems like there is a challenge for everything these days, from the ridiculous laundry detergent eating, to fitness challenges, to, well, I don’t even know. There’s a lot of challenges, is what I’m saying. I happened across one a few weeks ago that actually had me doing some googling.
No-Spend February.
What? I get the idea of what it is about from the title but how does one even do that? I have bills! Google revealed that this has been a thing people do for a few years. For the record, the bills are an exception. I was not impressed with the first blog I found about it because the person had pretty strict rules for everyone. The rule that bothered me is that pet food didn’t count as a grocery item. If you have pets and you want to play by her rules, you have to stock up on pet food before the month of the challenge. That’s just stupid. I don’t have that kind of room, and all of my pet food now comes via subscription shipments.
Enter, The Broke Millennial.
I’ve loosely followed Erin Lowry for about 6 months now. I first saw her on The Financial Diet YouTube channel. Erin is hosting a No-Spend February on Facebook. I read her blog post, and it made so much more sense and wasn’t as preachy or demanding as the first blog I read about a no-spend month. I’ve decided to give it a shot. First up: guidelines!
So, I have to decide what I’m “allowed” to spend money on and what I’m not. Here goes:
Allowed
- Bills - Obviously. These have to be paid. I’m not going to cancel or suspend anything currently in place (Hulu, Netflix, etc.) I am going to call my internet provider about their current obnoxious fee. Maybe I’ll even call some credit card companies about interest rates.
- Groceries - I have to eat, and this includes food and treats for the furies. I’ll even make a list.
- Gas - I have to get to work and to whatever free things I find to do.
- Crate/gate for Brennus - If I haven’t mentioned it here, Brennus is a 9-month old Frenchie that is currently gnawing on some baseboards. I need to find a new way to confine him before he increases my home repair bill.
No-Nos
- Work soda machine - buy it with the groceries or don’t buy it at all.
- No restaurants, take-out, order-in. Take lunch to work. (Note: I’m going to die.)
- No “quick stop at the grocery for…” Put it on the list for the next week.
- No shopping, Amazon, books, funko pops.
I’ll track what I do spend, and I’m not going to be too hard on myself if I slip up. Never having done one of these things, jumping in the deep end might not be the best idea. We’ll see. Weekly updates until the end. See daily updates on Instagram Stories: @dragonfire20