A prepared pantry means having anywhere from three to six months of storage for your everyday items. Everyday items include food, toiletries, consumables, paper goods, medications, etc. If I were to enter into a no-spend period, that would mean that I would be depleting my storage. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t touch your storage. No! Please cycle through your items to ensure everything stays fresh, but you should always be replenishing. It wouldn’t be great to have a natural disaster hit at the end of your no-spend pantry challenge when you’re coming down to odds and ends and “getting creative.” a  No-spend challenge also restricts you from stocking up on a good deal. What’s the point of doing the challenge if you make tons of exceptions? 

Budgeting and being prepared come hand in hand. It needs to be a lifestyle, not a fad diet. It’s proactive to always be on the lookout for discounts on your everyday product and be working on and restocking your stockpile. Don’t misinterpret that to spend over and buy more than you can afford or consume before it expires, and certainly don’t just buy something because it is a good price. Once you get to a month’s worth of supplies, it’s wise to slow down and make purchases only when you find affordable prices.

Part of what allows this mindset of only shopping sales is the ability to store your items, especially food, properly. Six things that have made it possible for us are (in order of lowest cost to investments) mylar bags, a vacuum sealer, a pressure canner, a dehydrator, a deep freezer, and a freeze dryer.  All of these items give you more control over food preservation and extend the shelf-life of foods. A good example is flour. If you were to buy a large 25 lb bag of flour (and you’re not a baker), the chances of you using that whole bag in six months or before some other pest found its way into the original packaging is slim to none. But suppose you were to package that up into mylar bags, you are extending the shelf life up to 20 years, eliminating the concern of expiration dates and allowing you to make larger, budget-driven purchases without worry.

The scarcity mindset is the other worry you eliminate by not subscribing to no-spend challenges. If you feel restricted, chances are you start your energy on what you can’t have. If you have ever been on a diet, you know that donuts taunt you, and everything sounds better than the salad in front of you. Many people spend their no-spend challenge creating lists of everything they want to buy when the challenge is over. What is the point if you are on an overly restrictive grocery budget this month, only to blow your average budget next month? If you deplete your stockpile this month only to feel uneasy and anxiously restock (regardless of prices) next month, you’re doing more harm to your budget and mindset than any no-spend challenge can help.

No-spend challenges have very limited uses in a budget. They should be seen as habit breakers/makers vs. savings strategies because unless you improve a habit on the other side of the challenge, you probably create worse habits in the long run on top of the stress a no-spend challenge inherently has. 

I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments! Are there any no-spend challenges that helped you, or are you leaving them behind? What are your favorite budgeting tricks?

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We went from being aggressive savers for big goals like our first home, to those who save to protect our finances. That might reflect in what moves we were able to make, but I hope this is is just a source of inspiration for whatever boat you may find yourself in.

We moved back home.

This might not be an option for everyone, but as the largest expense on most of our budgets, you must look for cost-savings here. Call your landlord, call your insurance company, call all of your utility providers. Most people/companies are just as eager to keep your business as you are to stay. In fact, I do this about once a year with all my utility providers, pandemic or not. Simply give a call and use a phrase like “when reviewing my budget” or “this is not in my budget right now.” It’s a magical phrase whether it saves a couple of bucks or a significant chunk.

We took this to the extreme. We were planning on moving into our first home next, not back in with my parents, but the world had other plans. In March of 2020, knew my husband wouldn’t be able to find comparable, safe work any time soon, and with our rent (and utilities) in the Bay Area being $3,000+/month we knew that was the largest expense we would be facing. We took advantage of my indefinite work-from-home position and packed up for Southern California. We knew we would have the flexibility to return if needed, but even if this thing only lasted for two months, we would save $6,000 and not touch our emergency or down payment savings. Here we are five months in and we’ve saved $15,000 and it doesn’t look like we will be moving out before the new year. We are very fortunate that my parents were able to offer us this cost-saving opportunity and if you have an opportunity to “buddy-up” with parents, relatives, or even friends, now is the time to do so. (Even if that is just on a Netflix subscription!)

Rightsize your car insurance.

My car has literal spiderwebs on it. I went from a modest 1-hour commute a day, to nothing. My husband was even more drastic cutting his 2-hour commute entirely. Make sure to take a few minutes to call your insurance provider to update your projected usage and mileage to better reflect how much time you are actually on the road these days. While a few companies are already issuing credits, there is still more to save. We were able to reduce our 6-month rate by $200 in addition to the ~$20 monthly credits we have been receiving.

Goodbye memberships.

I know there is a debate between continuing to support your local small gyms, classes, daycares, etc. My two-cents here is that if you have the income to do so, continue, but that’s often not the case when you come to read an article like this. There is no shame in putting yourself first. Cut the gyms, cut subscription boxes, and try to pair up with friends on streaming services. Prioritize between wants and needs and get hacking.

Cut entertainment budget.

This one happened naturally, unfortunately. There is not much available to do these days. No movies, no concerts, even dining out is not an option for us. Dining out was our largest “entertainment” category spend because we loved to use date night to experience new restaurants. Ironically all the “free” stuff is what we still can do. Get outside. Have a picnic, go to the park, take a hike. Try and flip your mindset from spending money to just staying busy. It’s not the most fun, but you can still find fun in the free activities.

Spend more time to save more money.

Finding deals and saving money takes more time. But when you lose your job, you have a lot of time to look for another position and time to make sure you are not squandering your savings.

I keep up on all my credit card rewards. My travel rewards cards (Chase Saphire Reserve) are shifting to offer their customers some kind of value in the absence of travel. Now I get 5x points on groceries and I can get free Instacart Express membership. I also get a free year of Doordash Dashpass which we are using to fill the hole of our date night routines. Take the time to read those emails and check bank statements. For me, free deliveries came at the cost of switching my payment method from ApplePay to entering my credit card information.

If you also keep up to date HabitualHeart.com, you will know we are expecting. News flash! Babies are expensive. I checked in with insurance to see what we could get covered and a big one was a breast pump for me, but also check for areas of savings or expenses that can be directed to an HSA or FSA card. Just because you lost your job, does not mean that you will lose what you have already contributed to a health savings account. You will have to spend it before the end of your insurance year, so it is very important you find ways to smartly spend.

Also, if you are on the market for any big-ticket items, make sure you check for secondhand-savings or sales. Facebook Marketplace is quickly becoming an easy and abundant marketplace for nearly everything. Also, install apps and plugins like Honey and Rakuten to make sure you are finding the best codes and getting cash back on necessary purchases. I even go so far as to add items to my carts to watch for price changes or get “cart completion” coupons. (Sharing some not so secret knowledge from my past in e-commerce.)