Do you ever go a day without spending any money? Do you regularly plan for these days?

I wonder if planning for a regular no spend day would be enough to see a change in spending and savings. Has anyone tried to use this as a method to cut expenses and put the money into savings?

 

 

Since reading "The Cheapskate Next Door" I've gone on spending diets.  I go days, or a week, without spending anything other than specific planned outlays like gas for work related trips or paying the bills that are due.  Sometimes I prep ahead like a major grocery store trip or checking the pantry if it's going to be a week, and sometimes it's for a day or two and on a whim.

 It has helped me develop habits that don't involve spending like using up what I have and looking around the house for a substitute item before running to a store to fulfill some perceived "need."  In that way I think it does change my spending habits.

I have to go days to no end with out spending my retirement don't let me go over the budget I don't have the money to blow for that...lol

More often than not we don't spend money on a given day. Since I went back to work that has helped since if I'm at work I can't spend any money! Neither of us goes shopping as a form of entertainment and we don't go into stores without a specific purpose in mind.

My temptation is online shopping. To curtail that I'll bookmark a site or put an item in a "wish list" and then think about it for a week or three, sometimes months. Years ago I waited a year for a specific air compressor and drill press to go on sale before buying them but I had set aside the money for that purpose. Decades ago I learned that impulsive purchases rarely work out well. And we never, ever, pay credit card interest charges because we pay them off in full every month.

We keep a spreadsheet on the computer forecasting the next several months of expenses like utilities, groceries, etc. and that gives us a fixed number that is available for discretionary spending. That number is rarely exceeded and then only after much discussion.

 Yes to both questions.  I try to have at least one weekend per month where I do not go anywhere or spend anything from the time I get home from work on Friday until I have to return on Monday.  The gas savings alone is great!

Absolutely! :) We're a family of 6, and I try to get in a few "no spend" days each week. For the last couple weeks I've cut our budget WAY down in order to build up my emergency fund. Its a good way to save money & cut back on unnnecessary spending!

I try to keep my spend day to one a week (Friday).  I make my list and if I run out, oh well....but it's just me and the pets so I can usually find a substitution.

Susan in MI

If i don't buy something one day but buy it the next day, I haven't saved any money.

I like what someone said (I forget who) about not spending one weekend. That would benefit me, and I'm going to do that! I wish I could implement it this weekend but need a part for DH's truck. Will do this the following weekend. Great thread :)

 

No have not blow money all week and do I save from it so/so but rather it in the wallet then to some store so the wallet wins ..

score board of how many day I can go with out.

Wallet 9

money 1

The upside to cutting back on your shopping trips is that you cut back on your temptations. If temptation is a problem for you, then the no spend day would probably be helpful. If you are just pushing the purchase to another day, that's not really saving you money. The important thing is to buy things at the lowest possible price, only buy what you NEED, but give yourself permission to buy yourself a little treat periodically. Just not too many treats!