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CHS Community Post | No Spend Days. Tips for better budgeting

BECUSquare_Gradient1Looking to jump start your budget? Consider setting aside a day each week to spend nothing …or buy groceries, fill up your car with gas, and challenge yourself to spending nothing else for a single week every month. This is a tactic recommended by finance writers who call it ‘one thing you can do today that will put you in better financial shape tomorrow’ and identify it as a tactic to use when trying to save $1,000 in 30 days.

How is this good for me?

While health professionals might frown on pursuing a cleanse, financial professionals will fully support your decision to shrink your spending on a regular basis.

Identifying a regular time in your week or month where you commit to spend nothing will force you to take a good look at your regular spending habits and understand what’s driving them. Can you hang out with friends by playing Frisbee or taking a walk, rather than getting together for happy hour? How much effort does it really take to bring a brown bag lunch instead of heading to the local deli?

You’ll also have a better sense of the minimum you need to do to get by – think of these no-spend days as a fire-drill equivalent for your household budget. If something dramatic changed with your finances, you’d have a better understanding of what it would really take to get by.

How to do it:

1. Identify your no spend day, and mark it in your calendar.

If possible, make it the same day of the week every week for a month.

2. On that day, don’t buy anything.

No coffee on your way to work, no online purchases, no stopping by happy hour or the mall on the way home.

3. Watch your savings grow.

It will feel great to see your bank balance stay the same for a full day, and to see it grow over time.

Put that $$ to work:

Once you’ve pursued a few no-spend days, identify a good use for the cash that’s built up in your account. By allocating it to a specific financial goal, you’ll set yourself up to reap long-term benefits. Some options to consider:

*Build an emergency fund

*Set aside savings for a special vacation, house project, or upcoming holiday

*Pay down credit card debt

*Build a starter fund for a long-term goal: new house, college savings, or retirement

Over time, challenge yourself to longer stretches of no-spend days or more frequent no-spend days. The more you do this, the more mindfulness you’ll build around your spending. This awareness will help you develop spending habits that will set you up for long-term financial success.

Need more advice? Stop by our Broadway Branch at 401 Broadway East in Capitol Hill to speak with a Member Consultant.

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