Week One: No Spend Month

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Week One of my No Spend Challenge was not nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be. I had a few ups and downs as I expected, but I really think I excelled all week! Thank goodness for my Instagram #debtfreecommunity. HUGE shout out to The Budget Awakens and Frugal Desperado for doing this challenge with me! All three of these have been amazing sources for me when I wondered if this challenge was really worth it!

Buying supplies for my no spend challenge

The few days before, I spent $21.43 at Super Saver getting chicken, fruit, veggies, and other stuff to make for my meals this week.

Then I spend $25 at Sam’s Club getting enough toilet paper to last through the apocalypse and coffee creamer for the rest of the year. They were both killer good deals and I won’t worry about needing them for a while so I am not constantly using my small budget this month to buy items. (Update: I bought the toilet paper in March and I still have a ton left in August. My coffee creamer lasted until July.)

I put $25 worth of gas into my Jeep! Gas is probably going to be the hardest part of this month because it doesn’t really matter if I go over budget, I have to go to work. That being said, I have been trying to monitor how often I am driving places and if I can make multiple trips into one instead of driving all over town! Most of my driving is to and from work and the gym.

I had to buy more pre-workout and ended up spending $90 at Max Muscle (They still gave me a killer deal) for some pre-workout. BCAA’s are good for sore muscles and recovery. Since I have been insanely sore after my last few workouts, I decided to give it a try. I had a little bit of money in my supplement fund. While it was an impulse, it was worth it to get me through week one.

Week One of my No Spend Challenge!

I think I have done great on my No Spend Challenge so far! I have forced myself to keep packing my lunch no matter how great McDonald’s coffee may sound at about halfway through my 12-13 hour work days.

My coworkers for the week were eating out and I kept sticking with it all week! I desperately wanted some food at work a couple of those days, but I stuck it out and made the best of it. Some of my coworkers were actually nice enough to share their food with me if they didn’t eat it all.

SPENT THIS WEEK:

Wal-Mart Groceries     16.21

Sam’s Club, Groceries   5.48

Sam’s Club Gas:           25.09

Paid Off:

Student Loan #3: $78

Student Loan #4: $92

Reflections of Week One:

Overall:

I did fantastic on groceries this week. I did actually use a $10 gift card for Sam’s Club that I had in my wallet, but it put me under budget by 2 dollars for the week. Gas was 9 cents over budget because it was 6 am and I wasn’t paying attention until the last minutes. I have big plans for my pay check that is coming this week and I am super excited to see how much money I can throw at my first student loan!

I am still stuck with what to do with my credit cards. They are so great for their reward points and I haven’t paid any interest on them, but I feel like they are keeping me from paying off more of my student loans because every time I get a chunk of money, some of it goes to paying them down. I am definitely going to be putting some thought into this during this month!

Hardest Part:

The hardest part for me this week was my coworkers asking to go out all of the time. Telling myself no when I wanted to get food on my way from work instead of chicken and rice again. Food is probably my biggest expense because I am tired and lazy sometimes and eating out just sounds good. My roommate’s family cooked for us on Sunday night. It made for a perfect treat without having to spend money!

Easy Part:

I put in around 50 hours of work this week. Which means I didn’t have a lot of time to sit around to think about how hard it was to not spend money. I packed my bag every night before I went to be.  Setting me up for success for the next day was vital to making it through the week. When I packed my protein shakes, water bottle, snacks and meals, I didn’t feel the need to go to the gas station to buy anything. Working so much definitely made it easier to not think about it than if I were just at home for the week!

 

Goal for this week:

I get paid this week, so staying organized and putting the max amount of money I can towards my bills/debts. I am a little weary about the goal of $3,000 this month. My income may not be that much before bills, but I am still unsure and going to keep hustling. My clothes are quickly flying out of my closet to sell!

 

How was your first week on the No Spend Challenge? Or are you just jumping on board for the rest of the month?