No-Spend/Low-Spend January

Welcome To 2018! 

It's going to be a very good year.

On the first day of January, we started our annual attempt at No-Spend-January, although Low-Spend-January would probably be more appropriate.

Source

Way back in January 2012, we saw the idea on a blog post and decided to try it.  Wild Bill had just retired in December of 2011 so we were going to be living on a lot less anyway. 

It turned out to be fortuitous since he was paid only half his retirement pay each month until the company got his retirement pay straightened out. 

We actually ended up going many months on the Low-Spend Plan since it took a lot longer than we expected to start getting a full retirement check and the back pay he was owed! 

With frugal living, we managed to pay all our living expenses on half his retirement income for 10 months without going into our emergency fund.

Since then, we have tried each year to be ultra-frugal during the month of January. Some of you may think it sounds crazy, but it's just a way to appreciate what you have and put some thought into your spending plan. 

It's also a great way to clean out the cupboards and get things in the kitchen organized too! I call it "Eating Down The Cupboards" and, since there's less in them towards the end of the month, that's the time to organize them and give away food or appliances you're never going to use.

Five families in our group have committed to some form of No-Spending or Low-Spending January. We're leaving it up to each household to determine how they'll track their progress, but in our house we will be writing down any purchase that is not a need.

Let me know if you decide to play along, and if you've done No-Spend January before, please let me know how it worked out for you.

If you need any help or encouragement at an attempt at frugal living, I recommend Dave Ramsey's daily radio show, which is also available for free on-line and via free podcasts too. 

Dave has a best-selling book, The Total Money Makeover, which you can even check out of the local library for free if you're doing No-Spend January.


I'm joining Katie's new Tuesday link party, Keep In Touch, which starts today with the very first one. Hope you'll hop on over and join in too.

Thanks for dropping by!

Note: I receive no products or payment for recommendations. I spent my work life as a trainer and training manager, and I still have an inherent need to pass on good information and sources of learning.