no spend day question

**Kisobel** · 11-15-2006, 06:19 AM

i see the no spend in a lot of peoples signatures. can people tell me more about this idea. i understand that you try not to spend a certain amount of days. how do you pick the amount? what impact does this stragety have on your debt reduction? thanks. feeling bad today, i impulse bought on amazon. we had the money but i certainly didnt need those things, i just wanted and bought. ok, have to learn from this mistake and try to move on.

**britbunny** · 11-15-2006, 07:38 AM

Hi!

We do not pick a certain amount of day to NOT spend, but we do have set days where we DO spend. e.g we only go grocery shopping on a Thursday, I menu plan so we know what is needed and if we run out then it's just tough!

So that means that we won't go to town the other 6 days of the week. DH buys a sports paper on a Monday, so if the car needs petrol he'll get that when he get the paper. So unless we need to buy gifts or medicines we shouldn't need to spend any other money.

We do have a small personal spending budget each but that is part of our main budget and we each get that in cash on payday so we count that as an outgoing on the 15th rather than whenever we actually part with the cash (if that makes sense).

All of our bills are taken directly from the bank so we have no bill paying days and everything else is in the budget. So in a sense it doesn't help our debt reduction directly, but it makes things far easier when it comes to examining the budget. IYKWIM

**Neeley** · 11-15-2006, 09:08 AM

The way my family does it is like this: If no money is spent that day, other than paying a bill, then it is a no spend day. Even if we only spend $1.25 on a bag of ice, then it no longer qualifies for a no spend day. For us it is pretty much what it says - a day when you do not spend $$$.

From what I have read on others, there are several variations on the concept though. Different families have different rules on what they qualify as a no spend day.

I rarely go a day without spending something whether it is filling a prescription, getting gas in one of the vehicles, a bag of ice, or field trip for my kids. For that reason having no spend days did not work for us - it just made me feel like I was failing at something so we no longer keep track of them on paper, but DH does discuss it frequently (he is cheaper than me).

**Katybird** · 11-15-2006, 12:13 PM

My no spend days are just like Leigh's, they have to be a true no spend. If I am going to be home all day I know that will be a no spender but if I am going to town, other than to work, I am usually going to spend some money, for gas or groceries or incidentals. I don't track it in my signature, but I do keep track of it in my debt diary.

**tigo** · 11-15-2006, 03:12 PM

I am pretty much the same- can a soda out of the vending machine nixes the no spend day. There are months when it is super hard but I am finding it easier if I remind myself of my victories and not my failures.

**FrugalMomof3** · 11-15-2006, 03:27 PM

I agree with everyone, a no spend day is a day where no money is spent, if you buy a candy bar, it's considered a spending day (paying a bill does not count as a spending day though).

We keep track of ours just like everyone else, I just dont put it in my siggy

**Telephus44** · 11-16-2006, 04:25 PM

I agree with everyone that bills don't count, but anything else makes it a spending day. I don't personally have a goal that I aim for, or certain days when I try not to spend money, but I do post them here in the Frugal Challenge when I have them.

(And I already have two things in my cart on Amazon - I'll probably place an order this month - don't feel bad!)