No Spend November: Your Guide to a Month of Savings

Image Credit: Twenty20

No Spend November is real and it is upon us. So what is it? It's exactly what you think it is: No Spend November is a month-long savings challenge. Give your bank account a break and commit to spending zero unnecessary dollars this month. If it's not housing, medicine, or from the grocery store, you ain't buyin' it. Spending on only the essentials will help you to identify leaks in your budget and see what you're able to get rid of altogether. Plugging your leaky spending will get you to your goals faster, and I promise it works.

Personally, I am rebuilding my family vacation savings. It's getting there, slowly, but I'd love to be able to supercharge it and get the four of us to the Amalfi Coast for a few weeks in the fall of 2020. I figure that airfare, housing, transportation, and food will run us about $7,000 for three weeks. That means I need to put aside $150 per month for the next 48 months (ouch). So where am I going to pull $150 out of? I don't know! But at the end of the month I'll tell you.

November is a month wrapped in consumerism and stuffed with sales - it's so easy to be tempted! Discounted spooky stuff, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas Creep, and Amazon's daily deals are all conspiring to take your hard earned dollars. Don't let them. Take a page from the Big Book and AA: Take it one day at a time.

Coffee at home, packing your lunch, immediately deleting any retailer emails are all good ideas. But the best idea? Get yourself a buddy! Saving is so much easier when you've got someone to commiserate with. You can binge your favorite show over leftovers and talk about your savings goals. Go on, it'll be fun.

So what does a typical day in No Spend November look like? Follow along with us on Instagram and see for yourself: