Learning from the Book 📚The No Spend Challenge Guide🎯 💪

There is a way to spend money and stay happy

Whether it is car loans, student loans, credit card loans, health loans, or whatever, many of us are drowning in debt. This makes it look like living without worrying about money is a fantasy. This problem has us taking anxiety and even depression medication.

Learning how to say no and live a full life with the things you value will help you control your spending.

This read teaches you how to use the No–Spend Challenge to reach your financial goals faster and help transform your spending habits so you can stick to a budget. Budgeting and money management can be one of the hardest concepts for people to nail down. You can have all the knowledge available and still suck at executing it. From this guide, you'll discover why budgeting alone isn't working, the psychology behind your impulsive spending, how to pay off debt fast, ways to do for free what you've probably been wasting money on, and many more.

Whether you're paying off student loans, saving for your first home, car, health insurance, or just trying to control your spending, this is a personal finance read you'll return to again and again. Why should you care now? Debts don't get easier to pay, especially with the increasing interest rates. It ONLY gets more difficult. Because you have decided to do better, you will get better. Keep scrolling through to find out how to be a better financial manager. Even if you take half of these steps, you are sure to see visible results in your finances. What is most important is that you take action!

I was conditioned from a young age to think spending money is a hobby.

Spend less on things you don’t need, and spend better on things you do need

We all have skeletons in our financial cupboards that seem to get closer and closer to taking over our lives entirely. Debts have a way of leaving us feeling guilty and ashamed. While it might not look like it, figuring out why you want to pay off your bill is the key to paying it off. Is it so you can quit your current job, or finally own your house? Whatever it is, be honest with yourself. Be vulnerable and passionate about it.

You might think you're broke, but once you make a budget, you might find you're just overspent.

Next, ask yourself: “What is keeping me from paying off this debt?” Usually, the answer to this question may be: “I don’t earn enough,” or “I don’t have enough time.” These are just excuses. Write down the reasons you want to pay, and those you think are hindering you from doing so. Take some time to review these reasons. Also, decide if your reason for not paying your debt outweighs your reason for paying it off. Acknowledge that the problem you have is all in your mindset. So, you have to decide to replace those negative thoughts with positive ones.

Be honest and passionate about why you want to pay your debts — figuring out your “why” will help you commit to paying off the debts.

Now, think about it: how much debt are you paying off this year? And when do you want to be debt free? Your answers to these questions will determine how long you will cut your spending. You can cut it for a week, a month, or go as far as a year or more. But, you will do all this while still spending on your basic needs. So, set a goal for yourself, and believe that you can and will make it work.

Budgeting isn’t something you do once and forget about

Financially free people budget forever. That should tell you something. Yes, it takes discipline, but that is why you're reading this — you're ready. Which begs the question of why it is so hard to stay committed to a budget. The good news about this is that the No–Spend Challenge teaches you to keep certain habits that will help you pay all your debts and live a financially free life.

Financial freedom will affect other aspects of your life positively.

We may think our impulsive or addictive nature is responsible for our inability to curb our overspending. Here's the thing: while your personality may not be directly related to why you cannot stop your habit, there is a scientific explanation to what happens.The prefrontal cortex of your brain is responsible for functions like logic, planning, problem–solving, and impulse–control.

Stress, distraction, and even loud noise can reduce your willpower. You see that we all have at least one of these.

The No–Spend Challenge will serve as an exercise to strengthen your willpower. When you remove most or all of your spendings, your decision making will reduce and, thus, reduce decision fatigue. So, that’s less stress for you. Continue reading to find out the myths regarding budgeting and ways to keep it on lockdown.

We set many goals, and while we can not achieve all of them, it is effortless to shift from moderation to extremism quickly. It’s easier to set goals like losing weight, paying debts, reading every day, and so on. Most people want to jump from mindless spending to being moderate. Of course, it will fail, and you'll be back at square one. You’re human. Don’t feel bad about it. Just keep building your habits and sticking to your budget will become effortless.Get your mind straight. Set a goal for yourself, and believe that you can and will make the no–spend challenge work.

While building a healthier habit, there are some tips to help you succeed

The tips needed to improve your prefrontal cortex's functions are stress management, encouragement, sleep, exercise, and focus. Learn to manage stress. If you're stress–prone, you can try out some relaxation techniques and meditation. Also, try to avoid caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine. Not only are they not good for your brain, but they induce stress, which in turn affects your health. Bombard yourself with encouragement. You can't do this alone. Try to involve your family and friends, and they can serve as motivation. Sleep deprivation is one common cause of chronic stress. Besides avoiding stress stimulants, there's nothing like a good night's sleep to keep you feeling refreshed. So, try going to bed an hour earlier. When you are stressed, your brain releases a hormone called cortisol, also known as the stress hormone. The fastest way to burn this cortisol is via exercise. Focus on one thing at a time. Sticking to one goal at a time also provides the focus necessary to complete one task rather than to start several things and complete none.

The less you think about and the fewer decisions you make, the better those decisions will be.

You don't need to look at the budget or the No–Spend Challenge every day. All you need to do is build your willpower and confidence, and you will be fine. There are four stages of trying to achieve your set goals.

•Unconscious incompetence: here, you're doing it wrong, but you don't know you are. 

•Conscious incompetence: you know where you're going wrong, but you still keep doing the same thing. 

•Conscious competence: here, you know you're doing it right, but it feels forced. It is taking a lot of brainpower and effort to stick to doing it right. 

•Unconscious competence: finally, this is where you want to be. The healthy habits you have been practicing have paid off, and now it seems natural. Just keep strengthening your willpower. 

A successful No–Spend Challenge takes some planning

Having a successful No–Spend Challenge requires a lot of training. By now, you have figured out why you are doing this; next is to decide the challenge's duration.

Choose what you won't be spending your money on, and make your budget.

Take note that you have to be strict and obedient to the challenge. Pay your bills, sort out your extra debt, and move the rest to another account. Deal with it. Work out what works well for you. Don't try to use another person's budget because it won't work. It's not a one–size–fits–all thing. Some tips that will help you are:

•Pick out some particular things that you won't be spending money on. This may include cutting off things like extra clothing, coffee, restaurant visits, etc. 

•No spending on impulse. 

•Spend only on gas and groceries; this is the most significant way to restrict your spending. 

You have decided to only spend on necessities. The challenge can be in various forms, depending on how long you want. You can have a no–spend day, week, weekend, month, or years and beyond.

Plan your meals so you won't have to spend on buying food.

Also, you will need to prepare for your gas purchases and make other important decisions to help you out. If you like to hang out with friends, instead of eating out at a restaurant, have your friends over and cook at home. Some books that will help you in your No–Spend Challenge are “The Year Without a Purchase” by Scott Dannemiller, “The No Spend Year” by Michelle McGagh, and “The Year of Less” by Cait Flanders. 4 easy steps to prepare you for your no–spend challenge are; get your necessities, tell your friends and family, Write your goals down and place it in places you will see and treat yourself as a reward to push you to achieve your goals.

What do you do when life happens? Don't give up, of course. Falling off the wagon sometimes reminds us that we are human. So, what do you do when that happens? You remember the reason you began in the first place, you pick yourself up, and you keep pushing till you get it right. Remember, we fail so that we can get better.

Tips and strategies for your No–Spend Challenge

The magic word.You’re probably wondering what this is. It isn’t to say “no.” The better choice of word is to say “but” anytime you don’t want to do something. Think of the things you’d gain from not spending that money. Some examples are: “I’m not spending money right now, BUT wanna come over to my place?”, or “I REALLY want it, BUT I’ll wait until the challenge is over to get it,” or “I usually do this, BUT I could save some money if I tried that.”

Saying “but” will help you retrain your brain and body to replace unhealthy spending habits.

Alternative ways of living that help you spend better are:

•To stop spending on restaurants, try to cook your meals at home, prepare freezer meals, or pack your lunch. At dinner time, have friends over instead of going out. 

•Go on picnics at beaches or parks instead of going to expensive places. The positive side to this is that you get to pack your meals. 

•Take surveys to earn gift cards. 

•You can add mystery shopping to your side hustle. Doing this will not only get you free food and drinks, but you can get paid for your observation. 

•Make better coffee:Doing this will make it easier for you to avoid visiting that coffee shop on the way to work. And while you’re at it, make it fun and improve your brew method. You can even decide to make a cold brew instead and make it faster. 

•Try to earn gift cards from Starbucks which helps you spend less. 

Other tips that will help you spend less are: Unsubscribing from some emails or uninstalling apps that advertise all the things you can buy impulsively. Apps that can help with the blocking of those tempting websites are StayFocusd, LeechBlock, Icebox, and Freedom. Also, try removing your credit card details from your browser's autofill setting, so it is more difficult for you to spend online. Generally, what you need to do in terms of food is to plan your meals and make a grocery list from the meal plan. After this, you purchase the ingredients for the week.

Making money is the best distraction from spending money

If you want to go out or hang out with friends and you're trying to cut costs, there are places you could go. The library, for instance, is an excellent place to start. It has a great collection of books, movies, eBooks, DIY books, and more. You could also join social groups like running groups, yelp events, or bike riding groups. Attending home improvement classes, park events, and volunteering at events for freebies can also be nice.

Activities that can prove to be fun and serve as sources of extra cash are: hosting a pantry party, clothing swap, movie night, making art, and exercising.

There are different ways to spend less and make more. To spend less on your grocery shopping, buy from stores that give the best values for your price. Stores like WinCo Foods, ShopRite, Fareway, and Market Basket fit this description. Learn how to make bulk purchases, especially during sale periods, and buy frozen if you can. Also, you can grocery shop online, use up your pantry, and cook up meals with ingredients that you have ignored for so long. Finally, if you have done all this, the last thing you'd want to try is to stop buying pricey brands of groceries. Go for generics, which are all almost the same anyways.

To reduce your electricity, water, and gas bills, try to turn off appliances that are not in use, reduce your shower time, and use power–saving bulbs. You don't have to use cable; Netflix can be your substitute. If your house is draining you with bills and you cannot change the location to a more affordable area, try getting a roommate if you can. If it is your home, you can rent out a room or some rooms using sites like Airbnb.

Tips for removing unnecessary items from your home and selling your stuff

When decluttering, you have to put some things in place. Discard that thought that reminds you that you bought the clothing (or other items) for many dollars, and hence, you cannot give it away. Sort out your clothing into four categories: A keep, sell, give, and store category. So, if you are keeping your stuff, you know where it goes.

When you walk out the front door, you take your home with you.

Sort your clothes depending on which category the items fall in. Clean out that drawer. No hard feelings. Along the line, if it comes to it and you need storage, find room rather than buy more clothes. Make do with what you have. You don't have to buy it.

Face one task at a time instead of tackling all the things at once.

Now that you have been successful in decluttering, the next thing is to make money by selling those items. Social media is the fastest way to get this done. Try the Facebook marketplace or OfferUp. You can find a list of sites and what you can sell in the book. You'll find websites like Gone, Decluttr, eBay, Amazon, etc.

Did you know? A study of 998 African Americans' physical activity showed that those who kept a tidy home were healthier and more active regardless of any other factor.

Tips for starting an employment you can add to your full–time job

The most important thing to note before starting a side hustle is to understand how you spend your time. How much time do you have before work? Or after work? What do you do on weekends? Depending on your answer, you can find different types of jobs.

It doesn’t matter how much you save. At some point, you realize it’s all nickels and dimes if you’re not bringing more dollars into the house.

If you're looking to start something early in the morning or late at night, you can try out babysitting, driving an Uber, teaching English, bartending, or waiting tables. If you are only free on weekends and are looking to make extra money, try pet sitting, home cleaning, furniture moving, or yard work. Make extra money by renting a room on Airbnb or reselling used furniture, used pieces of equipment, or gadgets on eBay and Amazon. You can do all this, or you can sit pretty at home, and make some money transcribing audio, proofreading, teaching a course, selling your designs, or being a virtual assistant as made available by many websites. If you do feel strongly about starting a business while in debt, don’t go into more debt to start it.

Conclusion:-

At this point, you should be feeling empowered. The most common mistake some of us make is to venture into all the things we want to do at once. You should not make this mistake. Make your focus as specific as possible to help make your goals more achievable. This way, you get to follow the progress. Start first from a smaller process, a no–spend day or week, before migrating to the more extended periods. It’s very hard to achieve 5 life changes at once. Work on one thing until you’re mostly confident in it, then add something else. As you complete several challenges, reflect on what you value to give you a better idea on what you want to spend money on.

Paying off debt is a marathon, and if you’re trying to go from couch to 7 minute mile, you will get discouraged and give up. My best recommendation would be to start with a No–Spend Week, then a No–Spend Month shortly after. Maybe on the first go–around, you focus on cutting out excess food and shopping and starting a side hustle, then the next time you cut out grocery shopping and add decluttering.

Try this

There's nothing as good as deciding to be better and taking steps to be better. If you're going through with this, learn to acknowledge every win. Buy yourself that latte as a celebration. Keep up that positive mindset, and look forward to future challenges.