*First off, I kept all of my necessary spending in check. I came in under budget by $10 at the grocery store and under budget by $35 for gas. I think I was more deliberate about my spending this month even in categories that I excluded from No-Spend January. My more budget-minded mentality must have rubbed off on all of my spending. Woo hoo!
*Besides being under budget in essentials, I had another happy surprise - I lost 4 pounds! Maybe cooking more at home/packing my lunch, taking long walks to keep me occupied and not going to bars every weekend helped my health!
*Did No-Spend January add to my savings account? Well duh! I didn't spend money for a month! But how much did I save? I averaged my spending for 12 months on clothes, coffee, entertainment and other non-essentials. I saved...
$462!
Did I feel like I was scraping by? Did my quality of life go down to save nearly $500 in a month? No, and maybe my quality of life improved. I feel like I put more of an emphasis on spending time with people instead of spending money with them.
I also think this month taught me a lot about my spending habits. I think when my husband and I had nothing to do, we'd shop without a purpose. I'm credit card debt free and I pay my balance in full every month, but I have no room in my closet and I'd keep buying clothes I didn't need. As we get ready to move, I'm looking around at all this crap I have to pack in boxes and think "Why did I buy that?" As my husband and I embark on the new road of homeownership and starting a family (later, later), No-Spend January definitely helped more than just my savings account.
Holy cow, that's a ton of money! That's $5500 a year, enough to fully fund an IRA with some money left over! I'm going to have to try that myself.
ReplyDeleteSo true, David! I've long been thinking about upping my retirement contributions, and after seeing how much money I saved this month by cutting back, not only is it entirely possible, but it would be a hefty chunk of change!
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