“If saving money is wrong, I don’t want to be right.”
– William Shatner
Want $5 free for shopping? Sign up for Swagbucks.
If you ever need to shock your savings back into shape, a no-spend month can do the trick.
What is a no spend month?
A no-spend month is a month long commitment to spend money only on necessities: gasoline, groceries, rent, utilities, etc.
That means no dining out, no clothes shopping, no trips to the movie theater. This white-knuckled savings tactic is intense but effective.
A fiscal fast can have an instant impact on your bottom line, but the ultimate goal should be longer lasting.
“It’s not just about ‘let’s save some money for a week;’ it’s about ‘let’s get money out of our lives,” says Jeff Yeager, known as “The Ultimate Cheapskate” and author of four popular books on frugal living, including “How to Retire the Cheapskate Way.” “Let’s step back and look at the way we spend and probably waste money in a typical week, and then change our ways.”
