Take the 30 Day No Spend Challenge!

How would you like to have instant money in your pocket just 30 days from now? How would you like to have a much lower credit card bill, and a much higher savings account balance? Well, this can all be possible if you take the Your Money and Debt’s 30 Day No Spend Challenge!

The rules of the 30 Day No Spend Challenge are simple: for 30 days, you will not spend your regularly earned money for anything that is unnecessary for your basic existence. That includes restaurant outings, shopping sprees, movie theater dates, and even your regular beer at the local bar. At the end of the 30 days, you will compare your monetary influx versus efflux from the month prior and subtract the difference. That difference, which will hopefully be some amount of positive cash flow, will then be used to further pay off your credit card debt or other debt, or stuck into some kind of savings plan. However, 10% of what you have saved by doing the 30 Day Challenge will be set aside for you to spend as you wish (or invest).

Here’s the Challenge breakdown:

Part I: Organize yourself.

1.   Go to a free online money management program like Mint.com (or other free online money management programs like Geezeo.com or Wesabe.com, which are also good, and provide an online community to boot). This program allows you to track all your checking, savings, credit, loan, and investment accounts from one location. You sign up by providing an e-mail address and zip code, and selecting a password.

2.   Link your accounts. Mint.com has connections to over 7,500 U.S.-based financial institutions, so chances are good that your bank accounts will be located. Security is pretty tight too: any user names and passwords that you provide become encrypted, so no one at Mint.com sees your financial information.

3.   With all your accounts in place, Mint.com will begin updating your information at least once a day. Expenses are categorized, and you may add subcategories and notes if you wish. Personalized savings tips are also provided by the site, such as a listing of credit cards that provide cash rebates or travel rewards on purchases.

4.   If you are not comfortable providing bank account information to an online budgeting site, don’t worry. Sites like BudgetTracker.com or BudgetPulse.com allow you to manually enter account balances and transactions instead of account numbers. These sites also allow you to schedule bill payments. BudgetTracker offers a service which includes up to 10 bank accounts, 50 calendar reminders, and 15 bill payment entries for a monthly fee of $2.95. BudgetPulse currently offers its services for free.

Part II: Make 3 lists of your monthly spending.

1.   List 1:Tally your monthly spending on restaurant, theater, and social outings, shopping trips, and other recreational events. Don’t forget to include the gas purchases required to attend these events.

2.   List 2: If you work, add up how much you spend on work-related activities like restaurant lunches and dinners, dry cleaning, and gas. Include any de-stressing treats too, like spa appointments or drinks with your coworkers.

3.   List 3: Add up your necessary monthly spending, such as groceries, gas, car repairs, and utilities.

4.   Take your 3 lists and analyze them closely. Which list has the highest amount of monthly spending? Which one is the lowest, or could become the lowest?

Part III: Eliminate spending on 2 of the 3 lists.

1.   For the next 30 days, your goal will be to eliminate ALL spending on lists 1 and 2. Ideally, you will also try to eliminate some of the spending on list 3 as well. How will you accomplish such an impossible task? By using good judgment, prudence, and by probably picking up a Do-It-Yourself skill or two. This is also where group forums, such as those located on the aforementioned sites like Geezeo.com or Wesabe.com, come in handy.

2.   Try to involve your friends and family members in the Challenge- you may be surprised and even find them participating! In these uncertain economic times, everyone could stand to save a buck or two.

3.   Find alternate ways to obtain the things that you want. For example, if you and your friends are used to going out to eat every Saturday, have an at-home barbeque instead. Instead of giving a gift card for someone’s birthday, try making something crafty, like a jar of cookie mix or a cross-stitched stocking. You can also offer a service like pet sitting, or lawn mowing.

4.   If you absolutely must spend money on something unnecessary, like a toy for a kid’s birthday, try to make up for the cost by doing some side work. For example, if you absolutely must buy a $40 toy for some kid’s birthday, write a few articles on Associated Content to make up the cost. That way, you are not spending your “real” earned money and can still keep to the rules of the 30 Day Challenge.

Part IV: Have fun, learn something new, get personal.

Now that you’re not out spending your hard earned money anymore, you can find new hobbies and activities to fill your time. Instead of just whiling away the hours in front of the TV, you can do lots of things that are fun and free. Here’s a list of just a few:

1.   Try playing a board or chess game. Or, arrange for a murder mystery evening, complete with a theme dinner and costumes.

2.   Go to Hulu.com, where there are tons of free movies and TV episodes. If you are really craving a new movie release, sign up at Redbox.com and you will get a free movie code every Monday.

3.   Dig into your recipe books and see if you have the ingredients for a fantastic (and homemade) new dish.

4.   Actually make some of the items for which you originally bought your craft supplies.

5.   Volunteer at a food pantry or soup kitchen.

6.   Visit your local library.

7.  Pick up a new hobby or skill, like changing your own car oil, sharpening your own tools, or making gelato.

8.  Look up when your neighborhood museum or art performance centers have free admission days.

9.   Write actual letters to family members and friends.

10.  Start an exercise program.

11.  Listen to free music courtesy of www.Last.fm

12.  Finish a home improvement project that you started a long  time ago.

13.  Have a potluck with friends.

14.  Finally pull out all of your weeds.

15.  Start a blog.

For those of you who have already started the 30 Day No Spend Challenge (or finished it), your comments and stories are most welcome. We’re curious about how you creatively cut out spending from your life, made it through social events, convinced your family to live with no spending, etc.