How I Spend $0 Per Day (excluding essentials & some days)

For many of us, it is all too easy to spend a little here and a little there without ever thinking too much about it.

One way to become more intentional with your money is to track how often you are spending it. If you want to challenge yourself, the internet is full of advice for completing a “no-spend” week/month/year. The goal is to develop the habit of thinking twice before making impulsive purchases, but if you’re like me and don’t really love arbitrary rules, you can also just look back at the previous month to see how many days were no-spend days.

Read on to see how I did in September.

Essential Spending

First, let’s set some expectations. We all have necessary spending in our lives.

Housing, electricity, heat, and groceries are unavoidable spending categories for the average adult, and I also lump in internet and cell phone bills – and any other bills that may come up (vehicle maintenance, medical expenses, and so on).

“No-spend” days are not actually about spending $0. It’s a gimmick. But I like the principles behind the gimmick, so let’s keep digging into it.

Defining a No-Spend Day

If a no-spend day can involve spending, then what, exactly, is it?

A no-spend day is one where you are not spending money, or you are only spending money on things that you deem essential.

You can define “essential” however you like, but here are some examples to get you started:

  • No-spend day: You pay rent and buy food for your pet.
  • Spend day: You pay the monthly fee for your makeup/clothing/wine subscription.
  • No-spend day: You go grocery shopping for the week, and your purchase includes a bag of coffee beans/grounds to brew yourself some coffee at home.
  • Spend day: You swing by a local Starbucks and order a coffee on your way to work.

So, according to my own definition of essential vs. non-essential spending, let’s look at how I did last month.

My No-Spend Days: September 2020

The calendar covers spending that was my own or split between Hans and me; I didn’t include his individual purchases.

Here’s what I bought on my spend days:

While most (20/30) of the days in September didn’t include unnecessary spending, I think the Amazon gift card made me more prone to impulse shopping than usual. I also typically try to limit Amazon purchases and consolidate them into one order, but I did a bad job of that. Oops! I did at least stick to practical purchases that I have been putting to good use.

Aside from using Amazon more than usual, this was a pretty typical spending month for me. Most of my spend days tend to happen because of weekend activities – especially those revolving around food and drinks.

How to Have More No-Spend Days

We’ve all heard silly things about millennials not being able to afford a down payment because we’re buying avocado toast and lattes. It’s not nearly that simple. There are many factors contributing to the millennial generation’s money troubles – multiple economic crises, skyrocketing education costs, etc.

BUT our daily spending habits can still have a huge impact on our financial lives.

Here are some things that contribute to my fairly high number of no-spend days:

  • I try not to buy things when I am feeling bored or lazy
  • I usually avoid shopping unless there is something specific that I already know I want to buy
  • I save things I’m considering buying to my Amazon shopping list and/or to a board on Pinterest and sit on them for a while (at least a few weeks) before deciding whether to make the purchase
  • I plan out the week’s meals in advance – at least loosely – so that I’m not as tempted to order takeout on busy/lazy days
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