What do you think of No Spend Days?

I'm sure a lot of you no what a no spend day is. It's a day where you don't spend, duh! With no spend days, mortgage payments and other bills do not count, those are costs that you HAVE to pay so those don't count in my mind.

What made me want to do this post is because lately I hardly EVER have a no spend day. Something always comes up and then I have to run to the store. However, I always see other bloggers post how much they've spent in the past week, and of course they have a million no spend days and it makes me wonder why I can't do that.

Yes, most of you would say “Well you would have had to buy it anyways!” Right, but when I go to the store, then I tend to buy other things that I think I need.

For example, whenever I go to the store, I will most likely always buy a white chocolate cookies and creme candy bar also. I just cannot turn those down. And that adds up over time. And I'll buy a lot of other snacks, maybe some candles and of course tons of dogs bones and treats.

Now, if I wouldn't have gone to the store in the first place, I wouldn't have bought these items. Of course, if you never cave into temptation when you're out, then no spend days most likely don't matter to you.

Also, many of you will say “but you have a set budget for the items you buy.” This is very true, so this is what makes me think that no spend days can be useless as well. If you already track what you spend and can abide by it, then who cares?!

The point of no spends (to me at least) is to prevent me from making small unnecessary purchases that I wouldn't have gone to the store for in the beginning. So if I compact all of the things I need into one trip and then don't go to the store until I need something desperately again, then I save money (and gas).

I don't track my no spend days, but I do think about them. Whenever I spent money everyday for weeks at a time, it does make me uneasy. Usually it's for things that I can't even remember.

Another main reason why I try not to have no spend days is to help curb identity theft in my life. I use my cards for pretty much everything (to rack up rewards points), so the less I use my cards, the less likely that someone will be able to take my identity. I know plenty of people who use their cards 10 times a day, and that terrifies me because you are giving so many people your credit card number. So the less times I use it, then hopefully the smaller the chance of it being stolen. It also makes my transactions easier to track and correct.

Having no spend day goals are also good when it comes to food because it can force you to eat the stuff that you already in your fridge. Eating out at a restaurant is always so much easier, but when you have a no spend goal in mind, you can force yourself to eat at home instead.

No spend days can really make you aware of what you're spending. If you're trying to make a goal of not spending 3 days out of the week, then you will most likely carefully analyze your spending. This will then help curb your spending.

In the end, no spend days can be useful for some, but just an inconvenience for others who are not tempted to buy lots of little things. For me, no spend days can go either way. If it's in the budget then it shouldn't matter, but I always cave and buy things that I don't need. However, I do know that when I don't spend any money for a couple of days, that I feel GREAT knowing that I've saved money.