you’re not spending ANY money for an entire year? insert look of concern. how are you going to DO that?

THAT is the reaction i most often receive when i tell someone i’ve decided to complete a no spend challenge. for the entire year.

if you are thinking of doing a spending freeze yourself – for a week, a month, or a year {eek!}, it is important to be prepared. along the way, i’ve learned that small changes can set you up for big success.

for me, it all started with a resolution. let me just say i NEVER make a new year’s resolution. why this year? well, God kept the idea on my heart long enough to change my mind.

much to my surprise, my resolution turned into a goal of no spending for the entire year. to make it more fun {because no spending NEEDS to be more fun, and because i LOVE pretty paper and writing things down}, i created this cute printable to stay on track.

psst…to read more about making a resolution you can keep, head here. to grab your own resolution printable to keep you on track towards your goals, sign up here.

the next step for me was choosing a word. i’d heard about the whole word of the year concept on social media and i KNEW sticking to my goal was going to be HARD. choosing one, easy word to whisper to myself as a source of encouragement when i wanted to give up seemed like a great place to start.

now, let me tell you, i have never been a person of one word. talks excessively was the box most often checked on my elementary school report cards. just ask my mom. so at first, i thought one word for the whole year might be a bit confining.

at the same time, i love words. you might have guessed that, since i write for fun. i love reading words, hearing words, singing words {not well}. i love crosswords and lists, rhyming, slogans, and logos. so maybe picking a word would be helpful?

so i asked myself. if i was to pick a word. one word. for the entire year. what would it be?

enough.

that is the word that popped in my head. it didn’t even take two seconds. like God was just waiting to shout that word in my ear and for me to actually listen.

so my resolution was:

no spending. 

and my word of the year was:

enough.

it was all starting to make sense. just for fun, i remembered my friend jen {writer extraordinaire at many the gifts} had shared this word of the year generator. i decided to do the generator to see if it came up with a word similar to enough. you know, see how well i knew myself and how well i was listening to God.

the word it generated for me was simplify. in my mind, this was almost the same as enough. if you are interested in coming up with a word for yourself and nothing is coming to mind {or you are like me and want to see if your word is similar to the word the universe chooses for you}, then the generator is the perfect next step for your no spending challenge.

i also decided to think of my spending freeze as more of an adventure. because doesn’t that make it sound like way more fun? so if you dare join me on this no spending adventure, here are some more ways you can start your adventure off on the right foot:

• i deleted all sale-related emails from my inbox and unsubscribed from all my favorite lists. i actually have an entire email set up just for coupons. but for my five favorite stores, the deals come straight to my personal inbox. multiple times a day. not anymore. if i don’t know about the sales and the coupons, i won’t feel the need to use them. and my inbox is so much more manageable!
• i told my family and friends about my adventure, so they know not to tempt me. but i am sure they still will. on purpose.
• i told my kids about it. there’s nothing like “but mom, you said you weren’t going to buy anything” to make me put something back on the shelf. setting a good example for follow through is important.
• i decided to avoid stores that tempt me altogether. i can get groceries at target or kroger. but target has lots of other fun stuff. so i am sticking to kroger. i will not go to browse any store, because for me, browsing leads to buying or wanting.
• in addition to browsing stores, i thought about what else usually leads to spending. often, i look around my house and think if only i had…that is how most of my house projects begin. knowing this, my plan when i do that is look around again and find three things i love about my house. or, i can look around and see how i can change up what i already have.
• i gave myself permission to cheat in my birthday month. just knowing i have a LITTLE freedom that month to buy myself a fun dress {my yearly tradition} takes some of the pressure of “a whole year” off.
• i decided to evaluate every four months. if i want to quit then, i can. but somehow i know giving myself that permission to maybe quit will probably be just the motivation i need to keep going. 
• i also gave myself permission to eat out with friends. not by myself. not even a coffee drive-through by myself. but if it is a social event, i don’t want to miss out.

before you get started, make your own list of guidelines. write down what no spending means to you, where you usually spend and what you will do differently, and how you might give yourself something to look forward to along the way.

update: two months in and here is what has surprised me so far about this

no spending adventure…

{1} no spending is freeing. i thought it would be confining. i thought it might make me grumpy. it doesn’t. i saw something cute on facebook today that a friend has started making. my first thought was, oh i will buy one. and then, no. i am not buying things. and that was that. no back and forth about should i or shouldn’t i. just no. it was kind of amazing.

{2} i’ve started meal planning. which is totally random. i do not cook. i mean. my family eats. but i am the world’s most basic, unadventurous cook. and that’s ok with me. for someone who loves to plan, i never, ever meal plan. grocery buying is not a part of my no spending plan. we have to eat. but now i am super conscious of how i am spending on even the essentials, so i am meal planning. my meals still sound like this:

• monday :: roast beef sandwiches, tater tots, carrots and hummus
• tuesday :: spaghetti and meatballs
• wednesday :: stroganoff
• thursday :: left overs
• friday :: hamburger pie {ground beef wrapped in crescent rolls}, tater tots, fruit

so nothing fancy AT ALL. but i am meal planning! i do not have a lot of faith that this is going to last. but for now, i will take it!

{3} other people are doing {have done} this too. my mom sent me this new york times article after i told her about my plan. i nodded my head through the whole thing. and it sounds like she survived.

{4} i buy more than i thought i do. for example, in my first week of this adventure, i often thought to myself oh i will buy that quick on amazon. about the pens i like to use on my planner. about the slider lid i’d like for my yeti because it splashes all over my stroller. about the glue sticks we are out of. about the one more pair of jeans i need because, let’s be honest, my pre-pregnancy ones are not going to fit until next year. none of these things are fancy. or expensive. but no spending is no spending. and guess what?

not buying the pens forced me to find all the ones i lost around the house. my mom got a freebie mug that had a slider lid and it FITS my yeti and she gave it to me! we keep using and finding {thankfully} the same one glue stick and it is like the oil burning in the lamps. it just keeps not running out! and no one {until now} really knows that i wear the same jeans every day.

{5} finally, and probably obviously, this is making me further appreciate what i have. and even get rid of more things i don’t need. enough i tell ya!

to learn how YOU can continue to survive a no spending challenge, head to this follow up post here.

and don’t forget to grab your printable here {along with so many more fun FREEBIES}!

interested in reading more at notice the LITTLE things? 

join in noticing 10 LITTLE things in every kind of day and come along on my diy, parenting, and organizing adventures. click here to subscribe and receive access to my favorite FREE printables.

{want to save this idea for later? click the red save box on the image below to pin this post. or follow notice the LITTLE things on pinterest here.}