Social media budgeting and savings challenges can be a fun way to get more involved with your finances for those who need a boost of motivation. Maybe you’re tried loud budgeting or gamifying your savings in the past and found success or at least learned more about your budget and how you spend money.

But social media’s latest trend goes beyond a small challenge. Could you handle going “no spend” for a set amount of time? A week maybe, but some are taking the challenge to the extreme with a “no spend” year.

Before you panic, let’s dig into the rules of the challenge and why it may be beneficial to you.

What is a no buy period and how do I pay my bills?

First things first, “no buy” doesn’t mean you can’t buy anything. It would be hard for an adult with responsibilities today to not buy anything for an entire year.

This challenge is more directed at not buying anything that isn’t essential. Essentials are going to include things like your bills, your mortgage, car maintenance and groceries.

Beyond the essentials, you may also take into account your life stage. If you are a caregiver of any kind, you may not be able to control when others need something. Children grow out of clothes fast and caring for an elderly family member may require supplies or additional support. You would factor these things into your essentials as well. This could be called a “low spend” vs a “no spend” challenge.

Define your essentials

But, if caveats exist, how do you know where to draw the line on spending?

As with most savings goals, it’s best to sit down and review your spending and your personal circumstances, perhaps over the last year so you can get a good idea month after month about how much you spend. See if you can clearly bucket where your money is going. Home, kids, shopping, eating out or other categories may become clear as you review your bank statements. The more detailed you can be, the better. Perhaps ‘kids’ breaks down further into ‘kid’s clothes,’ or ‘sports gear,’ or ‘birthday parties.’ When you do this, you may find places to make cuts rather than expecting to not buy anything all year for the ‘kids’ bucket.

Where can you cut

Also identify some of your highest cost areas. Do you have five subscription services and only use one? Try cutting down for the year. Do you have an expensive hobby, like golfing, that adds up throughout the year? Maybe you can buy an annual pass at the start of the year to save money throughout.

Creating rules for your challenge

Once you get a good grasp on your spending habits, begin to create the rules of your no spend plan. Your essentials are not going to look the same as your friend’s and that’s okay. Here are some ideas to define your parameters:

  • Set a goal. Are you wanting to do this challenge to save a certain amount of money in your emergency fund, to plan for a big vacation or to pay off credit card debt? Create that goal in your mind so you know what you are working towards. It could also be a smaller goal like not impulse buying beauty products since you already have a full makeup bag.
  • Set a boundary. Next, it may be easier to set a hard boundary for budget. Say all of your essentials add up to $5,000. Once you hit that, there is no wiggle room for expenses the rest of the month. The bonus side to assigning a number is that if you find a way to not hit your boundary, at the end of the month you might have a little left over for a small reward. An example boundary could be that you don’t buy a new beauty product until you empty the existing product you have.
  • Set your rules. Maybe no spend to you means no buying anything new and you shop second hand, on Facebook Marketplace or in local buy, sell and trade groups. Not only will this save you money, it can get you involved in your community and help reduce waste.

During the no spend period

Without a doubt, putting restrictions on your normal spending is going to be difficult. There are going to be times where you want to reason your way out of not buying something.

It may be best to identify your triggers and what causes you to spend. Is it scrolling on social media and seeing pop up ads? Shopping in-store and being pulled in by items on the shelf you don’t need? Think of those moments and then decide how to avoid them, whether it’s using an app to grocery shop or removing your credit card information from being stored on your phone, making it harder to make purchases.

During your no spend period there may even be times where you realize how often your life revolved around spending money for fun. You may use this time to find new hobbies or ways to fill your time that don’t involve spending money. This could include getting a free library card, taking a walk at the park or inviting a friend over instead of going out.

After the no spend period

Once you complete your no spend period whether it was a month or a year, take a look back and reflect. First, you should be proud of yourself for being proactive in changing your habits to improve your finances. Next, think of how you can continue to improve your finances using the new skills you learned during the challenge.

You should have a new awareness of your spending, and mindfulness about where you had spent money before that you no longer need. Having these ideas in hand should make continued savings a breeze. You may even have a new savings account to thank for the challenge.

With the right work, a no spend challenge can turn into a no spend habit and you can see the benefits of taking a step back from new things.

If you are ready to start this challenge, a personal banker can help you determine what a realistic financial plan might look like for you.

UMB personal banking solutions offer convenience and simplicity to meet all of your past, present and future financial needs. Learn how to better manage your money to build a stronger financial future for you and your loved ones through the Family Finances playlist on the UMB Financial Education Center.