The 30-Day No-Spend challenge is a viral social media trend encouraging participants to abstain from spending on non-essential items for a month. Joining in on this challenge can be a great way to test your self-discipline and reassess your spending habits. Fixed costs such as rent, groceries and transportation are usually exempt from the challenge. Those who try the challenge skip out on things like dining out, coffee from shops, clothes, entertainment and other luxuries.

How to complete a No-Spend Challenge for 30 days:

1. Evaluate Your Spending

   Look at spending from the past few months to see where your money goes and identify what can be cut. If you aren’t keeping a regular budget, this exercise can help you start one.

2. Define Essentials vs. Non-Essential

   Remember when we said rent was exempt? You may look at your regular expenses and decide certain things, like a gym membership, are too important for your wellness to be considered non-essential. Identify what you plan to cut out of your budget.

3. Execute the Plan

   Stick to your essential and non-essential spending rules. Track your progress and consider posting about it on social media to provide some accountability from your close friends. Allow exceptions for emergencies or urgent, unexpected needs.

4. Reward Yourself

   Once you complete the challenge, reward yourself in a way that doesn’t spend money - or at least doesn’t spend much. Your reward can incentivize you to see the challenge through.

Benefits of a No-Spend Challenge

• Increased savings. The challenge can help you save more by cutting unnecessary expenses.
• Spending insights. Completing the challenge can help reveal where your money goes, how much you’re spending and where you have room to improve.

What to Do with Savings

• Build an emergency fund.
• Contribute more money to individual retirement plans, such as a 401(k).
• Pay off high-interest debt.

By following these strategies, you can use a no-spend challenge to boost your financial health and improve your spending habits. 

Need some help structuring your challenge? Consider using the Save Toward a Goal and Budgeting Tools in Cadence Bank’s Online & Mobile Banking experience. Visit CadenceBank.com/onlinebanking to get started.

Sources:
https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/personal-finance/no-spend-challenge
https://www.cnbc.com/select/no-spend-challenge

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