Beating Broke

Personal Finance from the Broke Perspective

This December Save Money with No Spend Days

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While the holiday season often means seeing family and taking time off work, it is also typically a time of high expenses.  In fact, you may spend more in December than you do any other month of the year.  All of this spending can lead to a holiday hangover in January as you look at your empty bank account and credit card balance.  But it doesn’t have to be this way.  This December save money with no spend days.  You’ll be so glad you did when January rolls around.

This December Save Money with No Spend Days

How to Implement No Spend Days

No spend days can be a great way to save money.  December is a challenging financial month, so it’s best to start having one or two no spend days a week in November.  By December, you’ll have accrued extra money to use in the most expensive month of the year.

What Is a No Spend Day

Save Money by Not Spending
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

On a no spend day, you don’t buy anything.  No morning coffee at the local shop; no online purchases, no matter how great the sale; no lunch out with coworkers; no stopping by the grocery store for a few items—you simply do not spend money on that day.  If you want to stretch yourself, try it for two or three days in a row.

Why Have No Spend Days in December

There are several reasons to have a few no spend days in December.

Learn to Rein in Your Spending Impulses

Money gets away from us easily in December.  We feel bad that we may not have spent as much on presents as we perceive others have spent, so we add on a few gifts.  We may want to give the hostess of a party a nice bottle of wine.  We may want to tip the hairdresser more generously.  On and on throughout the month of December, there are little and not so little expenses that chip away at our money.

A no spend day or two allows you a chance to take a break from spending.  When you take a break from spending, you reset your mind.  After a no spend day or two, it’s a little bit easier to not spend as much money.  It’s a little bit easier to ask yourself, “Do I really have to (or want to) buy this, or can I do without or wait?”  You may find waiting leads to never buying it.  When you check your buying impulse, it’s not so strong, and you can experience more self-control.  If you do still want to buy the item, you may be more inclined to look for ways to buy it for less.

Start the New Year without A Holiday Debt Hangover

Wouldn’t it be great if, come January, you open your credit card bill and are not faced with charges you can’t pay off?  Wouldn’t it be great if your bank account balance was still healthy come January?  Wouldn’t it be great if you bought gifts in a disciplined, conscious way so when the holidays are over, you just feel good about the holiday season rather than suffering from a holiday hangover?

It is possible to have a controlled spending holiday season.  One way to jump start this process is this December save money with no spend days.  Try to have one or two per week this month.

How do you keep your budget in check during the holiday season?  What strategies do you implement?  Do you have no spend days throughout the month?

Should You Create Sinking Funds Before You’re Debt Free?

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You have debt. A lot of debt. And now you want to pay it off, IMMEDIATELY! You’re fired up. You’ve read financial blogs, read debt payoff gurus books, and you’re setting up your budget. Should you create sinking funds before your debt free or put all of your  money toward debt repayment?

Should You Create Sinking Funds Before You're Debt Free?

What Are Sinking Funds?

If you’re new to budgeting, sinking funds are money you put aside for irregular expenses you know will come up during the year. Let’s say you spend $1,000 each Christmas, so you decide, in January, to set aside $83 a month in your Christmas sinking fund. When December rolls around, you have all of the money you need to pay for your Christmas gifts debt free.

Create Sinking Funds Before You Pay Off Debt?
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The Argument Against Sinking Funds

Some argue that you shouldn’t set up sinking funds until you’re debt free. What is the point of putting $83 aside for Christmas when you’re paying 15% interest on your credit card? That $83 each month would be better served if you applied it to your credit card and reduced the balance and therefore the amount you’re paying in interest. You’ll get out of debt more quickly this way.

The Flaw With This Kind of Thinking

There is one major flaw with this kind of thinking. What will you do when you need to actually pay one of these irregular expenses?

I live in Arizona, and six months of the year, my air conditioner runs night and day. During those months, my electric bill ranges from $225 to $275, depending on how warm it is outside. Then there are about two months a year in flux when the electric is $125 to $175, and, in the winter, for four months, my electric settles down to $80 a month.

My budget can’t handle such big fluctuations in our electric bill, so every month, I set aside $150 for electric. When summer comes, I have a large sinking fund to help me pay for those hot months when the electric bill will be much higher than $150. 

If I didn’t have a sinking fund, how would I pay for the high electric bill in July?

A Happy Compromise

I encourage everyone to set up sinking funds, even if you do have lots of debt. Part of getting out of debt (and staying out of debt) is changing your attitude toward money. What’s the use of putting all of your money on your debt if you have a $1,500 car repair, no money set aside, and you have to charge it and go further back in debt again? That’s not a budget roller coaster I want to be on.

But there is a compromise; if you have extra in the sinking fund after the event is over, apply that money to debt. For instance, let’s go back to the sinking fund of $1,000 at Christmas. Let’s say you’re conservative, shop the deals, and only end up spending $750 on Christmas presents. Great! Take that leftover $250 and apply it to debt. Then, in January start saving for the sinking fund again.

Sinking Funds Before Paying Off Debt?

If you’re paying down debt, make sure to create and fund sinking funds. You won’t be sorry, and you’ll be changing your attitude toward money so when you get out of debt, you stay out of debt.

Do you create and fund sinking funds each month? If not, how do you handle it when large, unplanned or irregular expenses come up?

Save on Groceries by Limiting Junk Food

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Almost all kids love to eat junk food, and if they have unlimited access to it, they can plow through a surprising amount of it in very little time.  This is especially true if your kids are teenagers.  However, you can save on groceries by limiting junk food.

limit junk food
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Some people do this by simply not buying junk food.  Instead, they give their kids regular meals and fruits or veggies for snacks.  While this is the healthiest way to feed your kids, they may feel deprived if they don’t get some of the fun snacks that their peers get.

However, there are several strategies you can use to give your kids the snacks that they want without compromising their health or your grocery budget.

Will Work for Snacks

Recently, I learned this ingenious trick from an experienced mom.  She has created a win-win situation for herself and her kids.  Each time a child completes a chore, he earns a ticket.  He can then use the ticket to buy snacks from mom that he enjoys such as granola bars, chips, cookies, Popsicles, etc.  Once he runs out of tickets for the week, he doesn’t get these types of snacks anymore.  Instead mom will give him fruit or veggies for snacks, no tickets required.

Save on Groceries by Limiting Junk Food

Using this technique, the kids are happy because they have some control over how many snacks they get, and mom has noticed that the snacks are lasting a lot longer in her house.

No More When They’re Gone

Another mom buys a set amount of junk food treats a week for her family to eat.  When they’re gone, she doesn’t buy anymore until the next grocery shopping trip.  If kids eat all the treats in one day, they have to wait six more days until the next grocery trip.

Lock Up Junk Food

Some parents have even taken the extreme route of locking up treats so that the kids don’t eat all of the stash.  This is more likely to work if your kids are younger and are used to this type of system.

Hide Them Away

A similar, though less extreme, practice is when parents hide away goodies.  Then, they can slowly bring them out so the kids get treats little by little.  This was the technique that my mom used.  She had a friend who worked at Hostess, and she could get us treats at a steep discount.  My mom would buy two cases and hide them, bringing them out slowly for lunches.  For many kids, out of sight means out of mind.

Make Homemade Treats

Another idea is to make homemade treats like granola bars, brownies, cookies, etc.  While these taste good and are often healthier than the pre-made counterparts, kids may still feel slighted if all of their friends are eating packaged junk food.  A way to avoid this is to give them some prepackaged junk food and supplement with homemade treats.

There’s nothing wrong with giving your kids a little junk food, but if they’re devouring it the minute you bring it home, you may want to save on groceries by limiting junk food consumption in your home.

Is junk food killing your grocery budget?  If so, which of these strategies do you use, or do you have a different technique to keep your kids happy and your budget in line?