How To Prepare For A No-Spend Challenge (The Secret To Sticking To It!)

Frugal Friends podcast. My name is Jen, my name is Jill, and today we are talking about obviously how to prepare for a no spend challenge, but specifically why it is the secret to sticking to one because you can do all of you all of the best laid plans for your no spend challenge, but if you don't plan and prepare for it, then you're going to have a lot of difficulty sticking to it. Yeah, this isn't something that we just decide on a whim to do. You could.

The chances of you actually sticking to it are not that great. There's a whole process to this of preparing for, like gearing up for, then implementing, then sticking to it, and then doing a reevaluation once it's over. It's it's the whole thing, right, So we're specifically focusing on how do we stick to it? Yeah, and nobody wants to hear this episode. Uh, it is not the one, especially um at this time of year, but giving it to you and enough time so that you can prepare after

everything in the next few weeks. Are said done to do a no spend month? Should you choose to do one, because it's like all those times where I tried to start a diet or no spend challenge, like and I decided Sunday night that I was going to do it for the week, and then Monday night hits, I'm like, oh my god, I forgot to like grocery shop. So if you have ever done that, this may not be the episode you want, it's the episode you need, so you're welcome. Let's get into it with first our sponsors.

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know you won't go hungry. So to all the parents packing lunches for their kids and all the co workers out there with containers full of last night's dinner, we see you your proactive planning skills, choosing to think ahead, saving money, opting for nutrition over flavor. You already have what it takes for these no spend challenges. Packed lunches the training ground for overwhelming financial success. Ain't it the truth? Though it ain't sexy, but it's true. You know, never

really loved me a pack lunch. But you know what I hate more being on a road trip hoping to find a place to stop and eat, never finding one. Going hungry is worse thanks packed lunches. And you know what else I hate is the hours from two pm to five pm after You've had a really big lunch out because you didn't pack your lunch, and it's just like you feel heavy and you don't want to be at work and you just want to go home. That's a that's an unintended consequence of eating out on your

lunch ower. It's so devastating, lethargy, packed lunches. You're you really pack a punch. Thanks for sponsoring, So let's talk about what we do with those packed lunches on a no spend challenge. So well, we're not really talking about packed lunches, but you get what I'm saying is actually on one of these It's in one of these articles. Revisit. We will revisit if you are interested in no spend challenges. Aside from listening to this podcast, there are two more

places where you can get more information. The first is episode one. We talked about how to do a no Spend Challenge month and why it can help your finances for longer than just the month that you are not spending money. So that's a really integral It covers a

lot of integral pieces to the puzzle. But you can also get it from my book The No Spend Challenge, A Guide second addition that published on this past Tuesday, So if you are looking for a really quick page turner, we will put the link to it in the show notes, but you can also hit it up at Frugal Friends podcast dot com, slash book and you can grab yourself a copy of the second edition of The No Spend

Challenge Guide. It is a consistent Amazon bestseller. I'm super proud of I was super proud of the book the first time I wrote it, even more proud of the second edition. I think it just makes do. It makes the steps to doing a no spend challee a lot more cohesive. I went in and I looked at all the one star reviews, and I made sure I addressed

every constructive piece of criticism. Uh. And so the book is on sale through Sunday, So if you're listening to this when it comes out, you could still catch it on sale. If not, it's like five bucks, it's not a lot, so uh yeah, definitely Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash book to check out the second edition of the No Spend Challenge Guide. Um and yeah episode as well. Alright,

moving on to our articles on no spend challenges. Uh. The first is from Forbes dot Com and it is tiled is a no spend month the right way to save money? What do you think, Jill? I think that's clickbait because we all know the answer to this one. Up for a little debate. I think I've I've talked about no spend challenges long enough to hear both. I mean people that are like vehemently against them because if you do them wrong, they are like the detox fad

diets of the personal finance world. But if you do them right, a detox can be really helpful for you. So it just depends on your mentality around it. Well again they yes, they do mention that in this article, but most of the article is written in support of a no spend challenge and highlights how to go about one, what it can highlight for you, what you should be considering. So even from the author's perspective, I think they are

advocating for this so clip bait. So they walk through the essentials of planning for a no spend month, and so these are all super important, uh in getting started. So the first one is define your essentials for the no spend months. So there is no one correct answer for what essentials are for you or to even how to do a no spend month. That's something that I think is really important to know that you should never just take somebody else's rubric for how to do something

and try to replicate it. You should figure out what you're struggling with, what you want to do, and then craft a challenge around those that gets you the growth that you want to see. And I think it's worth thinking through and exploring everything that Forbes lays out here in how to Do a No Spend because that is a really important tip for how you stick to a

no spend month. Is this preparation time and really understanding what it is, how you engage with it so that you don't end up in that camp of why the heck do we do these? They're awful? Well do them right, they're great. So I like to their definition here of what a no spend challenge is at least for just

a month. We know that you could do a no spend challenge day, week, month, which is what we're focusing on here, even year, so you choose, but we're talking about a month for the purpose of this episode, and so it's taking one month off from your usual spending habits to try to build up a certain amount of cash savings in the bank. Again, you decide what that amount is, what is it that you want to cut out, what is it that you do want to be able to spend on, and how much are you hoping to

save by the time that this month is over. So the second thing that they mentioned here that it can

help with is to just refocus your budget. It allows is you to take a fresh look at your spending and they ask some really relevant questions here that I appreciate In preparing for and doing this no spend challenge, of course, it's going to require us to look at and track our spending, to look at what have we been spending on, what do we want to be spending on, and ask ourselves have our habits gotten out of line with what we say our goals are or even our values.

I know you've heard us all talk about values based spending. So as you look at your recent spending are they are they in line or out of line? They even mentioned how some people with the pandemic have done really well with not spending as much because there's no commute, maybe you're eating lunch at home. More kind of getting into different habits. But then for some of us it has given excuse and reason to spend in ways that maybe don't align with our goals and values. So it's

just an opportunity to relook. Get that mm hmm. The third thing that you want to do is to set a goal. And this one actually says set a goal to reward yourself, and I don't know. I mean, I read it, but i'd like to read I'd like to rephrase it. I just like to set a goal and reward yourself for hitting it. So you should know why you're doing a no spend challenge, and it shouldn't just be for the sake of saving money. So that's going to be your deeper why you're deeper yes, And it

makes saying no to other things more palatable. So if I have a deeper yes, then I can say no to instant gratification more easily. That's not a fail safe. There will be times when the instant gratification mentality creeps up and wins. But the goal is not to be perfect.

The goal is to just set up the boundaries that make mindless and impulse spending a little more difficult so that you can think about them consciously and intention intentionally, and so the goal is really important to doing that. And it shouldn't just be the goal to pay off debt, because that's a bigger one, but it doesn't translate to the same instant gratification that you that that's going to

try and win out in the moment. So it should be a goal that's attainable at the end of your challenge. So whether that's I want to put five extra dollars towards my debt, I want to save enough to you know, put the down payment on a you know, a vacation or whatever. That goal should be metable by the end of the challenge and then that can be the reward.

But you can also do like an extra small reward for yourself as well, like I would always like reward myself with the latte to So I think that's super important in planning. I think that the step that came before that would be helpful to in defining what the goal is. As you ask yourself some of these questions that are listed out in the article of have my spending habits gotten out of line? Are there areas within my essentials that could even be tidied up and my

spending money automatically on things that I don't use. The goal might even be to rein in certain types of spending to make your spending more align with your values. It could be any number of things that your goal is.

But again, moving through those steps is super helpful, and I love what you're highlighting their jen of we're gonna do better sticking to it if we do have a clear goal in mind, and that time limited goal in mind, to know that it is something that can be done within a month, not just I want to save ten thousand dollars. Well, if you're earnings don't reflect that, then you won't be able to do that in one month.

And then finally they wrap up the article with highlighting the pros and cons, And I think this is worth looking at, especially as we talk about sticking to this no spend challenge, to know what we're getting ourselves into. What can I expect of this, what are some of the good things about it, and what are some of the things that I need to be aware might not be super beneficial. So, of course, the pros with it

is that it's a short time commitment. One month is not an eternity, so that can make a no spend month really attainable. It can provide a good deal of clarity on our spending habits, on the things that we value, on just habits in general. There's it's amazing to hear from people who do a no spend challenge for any amount of time what they realize about themselves. So clarity on a lot of levels I think is worth expecting that that's going to happen. It can also highlight our priorities.

It can help with some longer term savings goals. And then on the flip side, some of the cons can be as you've already mentioned gen the diet effect right, jet diets in general aren't always super beneficial because we feel like we've really deprived ourselves, and then when we go off of the diet, we kind of binge again. So it's going to be really important that we have this in mind and set up some barriers to us not just binging once the no spend month is over.

Another thing that they point out is that it's only one month, So while that's a pro in its short time commitment, it could be a con and the fact that you can't accomplish the world in one month, but I still think it's worth it because then you can decide do I want to do longer no spend challenges or what do I want to implement from here, So that's that's refutable for sure. And then finally the fact that small spendings are not always the lead culprit to

our financial difficulties. That's you know, that latte factor. It's not just cutting out buying coffee that's gonna help make us our millions. And that is true. I would argue with that that a no spend challenge can highlight some of the bigger financial problems that we may have. It can clear some of the clutter to identify what some of the deeper problems are, what the roots are, so that we can tackle it. So it's again our vote is definitely do This doesn't have to be in January,

but at some point throughout the year. We believe there's so much benefit to this. But keep these things in mind, it'll help you to stick with it. Yeah. The bottom line here is don't feel bad if a no spend month doesn't work for you. Not everyone can go without spending money, even for a month, but I think everyone should at least give it a try, and there's there's

even a hybrid model. If you can't go a full thirty days without spending on discretionary expenses, you can try to do a hybrid where you plan to do fifteen or sixteen days out of thirty where you don't spend any money. And so that's honestly a little harder. Um. It's not my first choice if you are trying to learn about your spending, but it is something that can kind of, you know, wet your whistle and get you introduced to them so that you feel more confident about

doing a full no spend month. I think the last thing I want to say in this article is that I love that they pointed out small dollar spending is often not the most significant part of your problem in frugality. Many times we tend to stay focused on that, and you know us, if you listen to us for any period of time, that that we don't practice that kind of frugality. We practice high impact frugality and we focus

on big, big items. Um. But we think these smaller items can tell us a lot about ourselves, and they can build self discipline that permeates into other parts into the big impact parts. So it's still it's still you should remember it um and focus on it for a time, but not get stuck here. This is definitely the easiest place to start, and that's why we talk about it a lot um. But we don't want to get stuck

in the low hanging fruit part. We want to like move on to you know, bigger things like refinancing a mortgage and buying used over new products and stuff. So stuff like that is where we really want to progress to climb the tree high hanging fruit. Absolutely. So. Our next article is from the Savvy Sparrow and it's how to do a no spend challenge plus ten tips to stick with it, And so it's a pretty long article and we are just going to look at these ten

tips to stick with it. What did you think about them, Jill, Well, I think they give us a bonus because there's actually eleven tips. Yeah, right, which is great. This is a great article and I'm glad that we're going to be able to spend the majority of our time on this one because it's worth reading through the whole thing. They talk about the different reasons for doing a no spend challenge based on what your various financial goals might be and how a no spend challenge can support that. So

it's all great. Then you get to about the middle and there's just some really good tips for sticking to it. So we're going to go through all eleven the bonus one too and give our feedback. So I I let's get into it. The first one is one of our personal favorites, Give yourself grace. We love to talk this

message of freedom and permission and kindness towards ourselves. So please know as you enter this, especially if you're doing it for the first time, being kind to yourself, gracious with yourself, knowing and expecting that you may have an off day that you may break one of your own rules that you've set up for yourself. Expect it, plan for it, and by doing so, you will have better success in sticking to it and not completely falling off the wagon. So throughout the whole process, just keep this

in mind of being kind to yourself. Yes, absolutely, I'm glad that is tip number one. Tip number two is if you do mess up one day, as you can expect that you will, especially if you've never done one before, don't use it as an excuse to binge spend and don't say, oh, I messed up, so I'm just going to go off of it and I'll try again next month.

I love starting a challenge on the first, but I also hate it, I think because people think they can only start something on the first, which is absolutely not true. I would love to normalize starting things on the third, or the sixth, or the seventeen, stuff like that. So if you I think, we love the James Clear recommendation in his book Atomic Habits that you try and go every day. Don't break the streak. But if you do

break the streak, don't break it twice. So if you mess up one day, get back on it the next, because even if you miss every other day, you've still done what fifteen sixteen no spend days, And that's amazing. And this is so easy to do. To to like, you spend one thing, it's like, well, why already broke it? So oops oops, oops, oops, oops, I'm pulling into the drug to the parking lot of my favorite start. Oops Like no, no, that's okay, you bought one thing, but

just go home, go home and stop spending money. Don't open your computer alright. Tip number three, focus on the end goal. This is so important. This will have to be front of mind throughout the entire month, rather than focusing on what it is that you're giving up again, whatever that is, whether it's that coffee shop or going out to lunch, you're getting drinks with friends, whatever it is. Don't focus on what you're giving up, but what you're gaining.

So whatever your why was that we talked about in that first article at the top of the episode, what is the goal of this challenge, keep reminding yourself of that. So, whether it's saving money for an upcoming vacation or being able to pay cash. They give an example of paying cash for your kids braces. I don't know if that's you, and this is gonna be able to jump start that savings. Focus on your child straight teeth as the reason why you can't get drinks with your girlfriends, and let that

be the motivator. Yes, you want your child to get a really great job so they can support you one day, So skip those drinks so that you can have all the things you ever wanted when it does inevitably, just financially pay for everything for you. That's the joke. Yes, uh. Tip four is to save your unused gift cards for a rainy no spend day. We used to do this

all the time. We would use our gift cards during the no spend challenge because sometimes we would just keep them around and save them for like a special occasion or something, but the special occasion never comes. So we always designated the no spend challenge as the special occasion, and so we would use our gift cards there. So I think this is a great, great tip. M M. I love this one because and I love that they highlight for a rainy no spend day, like the day

that you're finding particularly difficult. You just want to get out of the house and you want to do something that feels like a treat, but you don't want to spend money. Grab that gift card, use that to satisfy whatever the urge is that you're experiencing. Alright. Number five, I love this one. To take advantage of freebies. This is such a good reminder that a no spend challenge is not congruent with a no fun challenge, which it was that challenge, Hey, that do that challenge. That's not

even a challenge to be had, It's funny. I almost laughed out loud when I read this, because I almost think that, like, all right, just buckled down for a month and just remove it all and see what you can do and accomplish. And it's partly that, but it's also like, oh, be creative, see how many things you can do without spending money. Like there is a flip side to this, so I love that they're highlighting this.

They have a whole link of freebes. They mentioned how Crispy Cream or various coffee shops or ice cream shops will do will give away free ice cream, free donuts, free whatever on certain days of the year, so check that out. Also check out events on Facebook that are local to your area free events. That's a great place to find things to do that you don't have to

spend money on still get together with friends. All of these things are still possible to have fun wall you're not spending and you can feel even more accomplished by the end of this month when you can say, look at how much I saved and I had fun. Absolutely, we are all about fun and it keeps your mind off of spending money. So it's not just a good idea, it's a necessity. Tip six. When you have to leave

the house, bring water, bottles and snacks. This is just a great tip in general, always have a few snacks. A mom knows this, have a few snacks and some water, and that she does say, especially if you have kids, then you won't feel the need to stop and buy coffee or something. Get yourself a really nice travel mug for your coffee. Solve the problem of takeout coffee and just get yourself a nice travel mug. And before you're

not challenge it solves a lot of problems. And so also, if you know that you'll be out running errands for a long time, maybe during a meal time, then you may want to pack a small lunchbox you're cooler with enough food to hold you over until you get home. So that's a great way to avoid the eating out m Number seven. Plan your meals at least twenty four hours in advance. So this is one of those things that will absolutely stretch some muscles for some of us.

Some of you are experts at meal planning, and this tip is going to be no problem for you. Others of us, this is going to be an important discipline to practice. And we're not saying that you've got to be a master, and you've got to do the Sunday night, clear glass container meal prep for the week instagram worthy situation. Just at least twenty four hours in advance, have an idea of what lunch dinner is going to look like.

This is definitely going to help you stick to it and not have an impulse purchase of some sort of takeout or even going to a restaurant some night. This help us to be able to defrost the meat that we need to defrost, be looking in our pantries, all of that. So love this tip again, doesn't have to be insane. Just look at twenty four hours in advance. M hmm. And that kind of ties into tip eight, which is used your no spend challenge time to actually

eat the foods you already have. So sometimes we call this a pantry challenge, and while I don't practice it, some people will simultaneously do them with their no spend challenge. So it's essentially not spending money on groceries either and just eating everything out of your fridge, freezer, and pantry so that you can minimize the clutter in your kitchen. And it's a really great idea idea if you're somebody who stocks up on sales and sometimes has to throw

food away because it's past its expiration date. If you have a packed fridge, this is a really good opportunity to get creative and use what you have, though it is not required. I would always spend money on fresh produce, um and stuff because I tend to have a more minimalist fridge, so I wouldn't be able to make it

a month on the things in my kitchen. But even if you don't think you do, you will be surprised by how much you can get through just listing everything out that you have in your kitchen, making a full inventory, and thinking of meals that you can make with what you already have. I'm sure you can go at least a week without grocery shopping. I'm sure most people can. It's so true, and it's amazing how fun it can be to get creative with the stuff that you have.

And there's so many resources on the internet to even plug in, like all right, I've got rice and a can of beans and this and that and what can I do with it? And up comes a recipe and then you get to try new things too. M Tip number nine into the habit of tracking your income and

expenses while you're doing your no spend challenge. So if this isn't something that you already do, you're gonna want to consider a system for doing this while during this no spend challenge, but then also something that you can carry with you beyond this challenge, because you're not going to know how much you actually saved or how successful this now spend challenge was for you if you don't have a way to actually see what was I able to save by the end of this time. And then again,

it's a really helpful necessary tool for moving forward. So track your spending as well as you're earning. Know how you're going to do that ahead of time before you even start. This is going to be a really helpful thing for sticking to it because it's can be such a motivator to know and track. Oh look at now, because I didn't spend on this, I'm able to put even more away towards that goal that I have set for what this my my savings to be this month.

So tip number ten, don't start a no spend challenge right before a big holiday or major events. So we are not saying you should do a no spend challenge for December or November, like you could definitely do one in between for a week or something. It's up to you. But we're not suggesting that you put yourself through the mental turmoil that it would be to not spend money

right now. UM. But I love the idea of doing no spend October or maybe into November, so that you can be cognizant of what you're spending money on and that will cause you to spend less overall during the holidays. And so it's not just the um, you know, Thanksgiving, Christmas, holidays, um, but any time that you have like an anniversary or kid's birthday, graduation, stuff like that. So plan when major events are happening when you're going to want to spend money,

and just plan your challenge around that. Maybe you do you know, maybe you have Valentine's Day in in February and you spend money on that because you've been married for less than six seconds. But maybe you do want to spend money on that, and you you decide to do a no spend challenge in February because it is the best month to do a no spend challenge. Twenty

eight days y'all it is the best. So maybe you skip or the fifteenth or whenever you want to go out to dinner and you just do twenty seven days. Who who's going to know? How are they going to know? It doesn't matter. Yeah, so you don't have to, like skip, if February is the best month for you to do a no spend challenge, you don't have to skip it just because you want to go out for Valentine's Day. Just make exceptions. You get to make the rules. Yeah, yes,

we make rules. Yes. Finally, tip number event which no one was expecting based on the title of this article, But I like it. I like it for the challenge and I like it for life. Make a grocery list before going to the grocery store right here, and then stick to it. Mm hmm. You added that, Yeah, well, the tip is to help you to stick to it and then do this and then stick to it. That

I did that. Jill's tip is to do do it. Yes, exactly, Eric, and I I think I said this on a recent episode too, that I felt on top of things and a no spend challenge can help you with that of planning ahead. So much of this is connected to future thinking, planning ahead, being proactive. It's how we can have results when we're not impulsively spending, when we are more intentional. And so this just helps us to exercise those muscles

and some very all waits. So don't just find yourself at the grocery store racking your brain on do I need more cheese? What am I going to make this week? Think about that when you're in the comfort of your own home or even your car if your car is comfortable, and think through. But if you're at home, that's convenient because then you can actually check your pantry and know if and it's you know, if you need cheese or not. And then think through what do I have already? What

how can I use that? What else do I need to get to make this into a meal? Right? It all into a list, and then challenge yourself during this no spend month to not get anything outside of what's on that list. Really discipline yourself to not break away from what you've decided, and then look at the savings of not shopping impulsively, of having a plan. It really

could be a motivator for more long term proactive planning. Absolutely, yeah, I mean I love all of these tips to consider while you're doing and before you start doing your no spend challenge. I think and because really frugal living is just having the mindset of planning ahead. And if you are able to plan ahead and plan in advance, then

you are able to live frugally. Because when we wait till the last minute, or we wait till emergencies, and we we act reactively instead of proactively, that's when things cost more money. That's why people say, oh, like, if you're living in poverty, you can't live frugally because you're only thinking like hand to mouth, and that is a thing. But if you are not living that way and you are able to plan for something, you should take advantage of that because you can save so much money by

using that to your advantage. So this helps train your brain to think that way. Mm hmm. You know what else trains your brain to think in some really amazing ways. Yeah, to think about the Frugal Friends podcast every week for sure, the bill that's right, it's time for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a baby was born and his name is William. Maybe you paid off your mortgage, Maybe your car died and you're happy to not have

to pay that bill anymore. Tough bills, Buffalo bills, Bill Clinton, this is the bill of the week. Hey John and Jill. My name is Sarah, and I'm so excited to be leaving my first ever bill of the week. I am a newer listener, but I have a really long commute, so I've been able to download and listen to a lot of episodes and it's really great keeping me motivated,

getting me on track to being debt free. I knew for a while exactly what my bill of a week would be, and I'm so excited because it finally happens today. It is a bill of sale. Earlier this year, I bought a truck to pull around my travel trailer, and I've had my smaller card just sitting around and I finally decided that um, I was going to sell it. And with that money, I knew the two bills that

I was going to pay off. I was going to pay off my care credit card, which has a ridiculous twenty four A p R and I paid off SEVD of that, and I was able to pay off two of our phones, so that will reduce my monthly phone bill by about sixty dollars um. The savings on the credit card is just absolutely insane. Then I was able to call the insurance and I got a refund for

the money I've already paid for my insurance. And while I was there, I noticed I had a driver on my insurance that I didn't need, and I took that off and I got an extra forty dollars refunded. So it's just a great day and I'm making waves. Ah some Sarah. It's making me want to sing, Sarah, I love the bill of sale and everything that that bill

of sale allowed you to do so many things. Not only did you pay off credit cards and phones, but just the sale of this vehicle then caused you to look at something you probably wouldn't have otherwise looked at. But well done for digging deeper. This is so amazing. You really did hit it out of the ballpark and crushed a lot of things all at once. Congrats, Sarah. If you guys have a bill that hits it out of the ballpark, then please visit Frugal Friends podcast dot

com slash bill to leave us yours. And now it's time for fine my wound. So today Jill and I are going to share our plans for no spend January because we are doing a no spend challenge in Club BFF in January, and Jill and I participate in these challenges, maybe not as intensely as our members, but we do participate in them as well. So, um, I have been thinking about us for a while Hot Seat of Vulnerability. Yeah, uh so. I I honestly just want to do sixteen

no spend days. I've done enough no spend challenges in my life to not really desire to do anymore. And I think you have to know you're out of place where enough is enough and like you're okay, you're happy with your spending. Um, and when you're happy there, learned what you need needed to right and and then you don't need to like torture yourself anymore. So I'm not the person that's gonna be doing and no spend year ever, but I do I would like to challenge myself to

do sixteen no spend days in January. I would love to kind of reset my spending so that I can reprioritize and do some things that haven't been available or or may have gotten out of the habit of over one just you know, because of the weirdness. So I'd love to reset and uh and kind of meditate on that while not spending money. Amazing, Jen, I mean, you are the queen of no spend challenges in your understanding of them, and I do think that this is something

unless you really do love them. Once you've done a couple, you can kind of learn from them and implement that. You don't have to do something so extreme. You just kind of implement as you go what you've already learned. Yeah, I agree with that. How about you, Jill. Well, because I anticipate that I will receive between Santa and my husband everything I could possibly want on my wish list in December, it will be very easy for me do not spend hardly anything in January. St that's my little

plus Santa. Yeah, Santa's getting some some good stuff. Then I don't want much. But you know, I'm I'm really hoping crossing these fingers that h someone's paying attention, and then I find myself on the nice list. Maybe a few vitamins, accessories, no, no, no, I'm good with the vitamins.

So spending in general, you've heard me describe this, it's not a super difficult like the area for me, I don't typically spend much, but I do want to be even more cognizant of only spending on renovations in January that it is something that I want to spend on. Like, I'm not going to try and say let's cut this out because we are trying to make progress on our

dumpster fire kitchen. But I'd love to see us really hone in on just this area of spending, excluding pretty much everything else, like keeping ourselves from other types of luxuries, raining in food, which is a big area of spending for us, so that we can put as much money as possible towards getting this house done. I support that decision. I also want to see you spend on nothing else

but your dumpster fire kitchen. Thank you. I might find myself traveling a bit in January, so we're going to have to be proactive that now, put it on hold. Do the kitchen. That's I need. I need you to focus on, Jill. I need you to finish your kitchen.

Think about my needs anyways. Let us know in the Frugal Friends community group on Facebook what you will be giving up for your no spend January or if you were one of our club BFF members, let us know in the private discord channel because we would love to hear it. Yours yours, so thank you so much for listening. We want to thank you so much for your kind

reviews on Apple podcasts like this one. It says a long time coming, and it's from Rebecca Coval and she says, I've been listening to the Frugal Friends podcast for over year now out In that time, I've learned a myriad of tips and tricks to save money and spend intentionally, and I've delved into topics I didn't immediately associate with living frugally, like developing a minimalist capsule wardrobe and regifting with purpose. When I started an episode with these women,

I know I'm in capable and kind hands. Every insight is delivered with the compassion only experience can teach you, and I never feel like an idiot when it's clear I've made some huge mistakes. Instead of feeling defeated at the end of the show, I'm energized and ready to take on my financial challenges. Thanks Jen and Jill, You've changed my life in some of the best ways possible. Thanks all right, we're gonna need to pause for a quick cry. Uh capable and kind, I'm done. I think

the highest we could not accomplishing. That's we've been called capable bowling. God, thank you so much, Rebecca, all this is so sweet and just appreciate all that you've said here. Yes, we we love you. We also want to thank our friends who share these episodes on social media. So when you share the latest episode on Instagram, we're adding you to our monthly drawing. For every five tags and reviews we get each month, we were giving away fifty dollars

for you to spend in the Frugal Friends Shop. How fun does that sound? That fifty bucks for the Frugal Friends Shop, which will get you one to two products for free depending on what you choose, depending on what you choose at Frugal Friends dot shop. So keep leaving us reviews wherever you listen to podcasts and sending the screenshot to Frugal Friends podcast at gmail dot com, and don't forget to tag us on social when you share you next week. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Syrian.

So on these six teen days, Jen, what's that going to mean for you? Just like not spending on anything including food. Um, I mean probably yeah, because I do my grocery shopping on Mondays, so that is the day I would spend money on food, and I'm I would probably still stick with takeout, maybe two or three times in the month. I don't know. Maybe one week I'll try and challenge myself to not do take out, but that seems very unlikely, as not doing dishes is one

of my core values. Yes, I did the whole core values challenge and I've learned not doing dishes as Yeah, itfrobably definitely a core for me. How about you, Jill about your reno things. Well, it's gonna be interesting to see how far we get. You know, at the time of this recording, we're not yet into January, so we still have a couple of weeks, so I'll be interested to see how far we are by the time January hits. Honestly, it's not too much of a stretch from how life

currently looks. Although you, of all people, do know that travel is a competing goal for our finances renovations and travel. However, if we do travel in January, we probably will have already paid for that travel in December, so that would help with that. Eric's birthday is also in January. Says, that's a tough one, but I can plan ahead. I can be proactive like like we say we need to be and finding those freeing figured out using those gift cards.

So many ways to have fun and you can learn all about them in the No Spend Challenge Guides, second edition available on Amazon. You can find it at Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash book. Wow, sounds so cool. You know I'm going to have to let you go so I can go check it out right now. What was that Frugal Friends podcast dot com slash book click click click click click click click click here I go, oh wow, what a good value. Thanks