Have you heard of a No Spend Challenge?
A No Spend Challenge is where you designate a certain period of time and do not spend money on anything other than the necessities to live life.
It is a great way to help you look at your spending and see where you are spending money that you don’t need to.
You really get to take a pause and examine your finances during an intentional spending freeze.
Now, have you heard of No Spend November?
No Spend November is a no spending/saving challenge designed to happen throughout the month of November.
November is a great time to do a no spend challenge because the holidays are coming right up and this challenge will help you spend less and save more during a time when A LOT of spending is on the horizon.
If you like this savings challenge, you should check out these other savings challenges!
November Savings Challenge
Fall Savings Challenge
Thanksgiving Savings Challenge
How does No Spend November work?
You start the No Spend November challenge by deciding on some rules and the things that you WILL be spending money on.
You HAVE to spend money on housing, bills, gas and groceries. So those expenses are a given.
But for everything that doesn’t have to be purchased to live, and is just “extra” spending, those things are a no go for the month.
It also helps to decide WHY you want to do this challenge, because it is going to be hard if you are used to spending without thinking too much about it.
Set some goals around this challenge–are you trying to curb spending and master your money better?
Are you trying to save more for the holidays?
Give yourself a clear reason for doing the challenge and you will have more success.
Then make sure to make your monthly budget, and track your expenses along the way.
Once the month is done, you will easily be able to see how much extra you can save, if you know exactly what went out.
We use this budget spreadsheet every month to plan our budget and track expenses and it has quite honestly changed our finances and life!
How to track the No Spend November
Doing a no spend challenge is going to be different for each person.
But having a visual tracker to help you stay focused and accountable is going to be so valuable as you do this challenge.
That is why we created this no spend november challenge printable.
First you write down the items that you are determined NOT to spend money on this month.
Write those in the “No Buy” lines.
If there are exceptions to those “no buy” rules, put those down in the exceptions section.
That might include needing to buy gifts and a cake for a birthday or the Disney plus subscription for your kids.
Use the notes section to write down anything important you want to remember for the challenge.
This might include fun events to go to for free, ideas for free things to do at home–whatever you want to remember.
Then you need to pick 3 colors to use to mark the calendar.
One color will be used to show “No Spend”, one color for “Necessities” and one color for “Spent”.
Then you use the calendar to track your progress throughout the month.
Each day, you mark off the day with the correct color.
Did you spend NOTHING at all, then that day gets the “No Spend” color.
Did you mortgage come out on the first? Then that gets colored with the “Necessities” color.
Did you end up buying something extra at the store one day? That day gets colored the “Spent” color.
This is not meant to shame you in any way.
But the visual tracker helps you actually SEE your spending habits and make better budgeting and money decisions in the future.
At the end of the month, you can really see and visualize how you spend you money throughout the month.
And, if you have been tracking expenses, you can see how much extra you DIDN’T spend, and can now save that extra for the future.
Final Thoughts on No Spend November
No matter how you plan to do this challenge, this printable track is going to help and inspire you to succeed with this challenge!
You can get your own version of this printable tracker here.
Take advantage of this time to really make an a positive impact on your finances and money goals by doing this challenge.
You got this!