By: Revanche

No Spend Challenges? No thanks

December 12, 2014

Saying “challenge” was always like waving a red flag in front of me, or firing the starting gun at a race. It’s nigh on irresistable, that  knee-jerk Get In There! reaction.

These days, though, my contrariness has decided to take a new turn: if I tell myself I can’t spend or have something, it’s more like telling me not to think about the pink elephant in the room than a wave-off. Instant fixation (just add water…).

Is this a bad thing? It depends. What’s the point?

It’s a useful tool for someone who’s new to getting their spending in hand to really see how easy it is to spend, day in and day out.

It’s a handy way to harness the power of solidarity. Like Tonya’s Health and Wealth Challenge (which I think sounds like a lot of fun), knowing you’ve got others out there working on the same challenge helps.

It can spark some creative approaches to getting through the challenge period. Theoretically you’re not just waiting on making purchases until you can buy them all at the end of the challenge, you’re learning how to make do or learning what you truly need versus just what you want. (On the other hand, it can wonderfully focus your mind on that thing you really really want.)

It’s not the worst way to force yourself to consciously spend only on your bills when you don’t have disposable income.

My problem is …

Other than the fun of doing a challenge with other people, I don’t need to remind myself not to spend for the sake of spending. There have been plenty of lean months and years to train that right out of me.

What I really need to learn is how to spend in moderation, not bouncing from the one extreme to the other.

I have disposable income now. In the grand scheme of things, I have a TON of disposable income. Rent, utilities, groceries, eating out, gifts, and travel are already covered by the household budget. My allowance is just for me. As in, to spend at will. On anything. ANYTHING. Ten years ago, my allowance was for any groceries, eating out, gifts, charity. It never stretched to paying for things I wanted.

When my broke college student mentality is in residence, that allowance tends to be hoarded. Then I break out in “I want everything” hives. You’d think it wouldn’t be such a problem figuring out how to spend in some normal, moderate, way.

Or I could just keep on either spending $0 or all the dollars. One offsets the other, after all.

11 Responses to “No Spend Challenges? No thanks”

  1. Hmm, a tough one because I guess it can be a slippery slope. Well, that’s how I feel about chocolate anyway. I try to go cold turkey and then I just end up eating something worse. So I think, ok moderation, but then if chocolate is in the house I just can’t have “one square.” I’d say dip you toe into that pool and see how you do. I wish I had more discretionary income!
    Tonya@Budget and the Beach recently posted…Financial Tidbits & Link LoveMy Profile

    • Revanche says:

      I definitely can’t go cold turkey and think about it, that would just be flicking on all my triggers to focus on the thing I’m “supposed” to ignore. I can just actively, on a case by case basis, not eat chocolate today, for example, but I do that knowing I’ll probably have five when I feel like I REALLY need it.
      More DI is always great – I tend to use mine in gifts and bailing people out, I’ve noticed, so I’ve started to ignore it as well.

  2. Quest says:

    Congratulations on being pregnant with your first child Revanche! Couldn’t remember if I sent you best wishes already, such has been the state of life around here lately 😛

    As for challenges, I love the sound of them but I rarely follow through :/ As soon as someone says I ‘can’t’ have something, I get resentful LOL If I have to say to myself ‘no chocolate’, then it has to come from me and me alone, not someone else. I get that people try to help me but they don’t realize what it’s like to deal with the first 20 years of life having lived with a violent authoritarian control freak (my infamous father) …… there were many things I couldn’t do or couldn’t have at that time which explains a lot! Still, learning to trust the opinions of others is something I have been working on for a while. I now believe that learning moderation perhaps comes from life experience, for those of us who were never taught that as children. As we grow older and gain awareness, we are able to change our habits and perspective IF we are able to open our minds to the possibility of change and doing things differently IMO. It becomes OK to take the ‘risks’ necessary to break old habits that don’t work.
    Quest recently posted…Real Estate ThoughtsMy Profile

    • Revanche says:

      Thanks! You’ve definitely had a LOT going on!

      Yeah I agree there’s nothing wrong with growing into the habits that work best with our personalities and learned behaviors.

  3. I’ve never done a no-spend challenge bc I’ve always felt like I would just save all my expenses until after the challenge and then go crazy. Instead, I just try and be mindful of my spending. Everything in moderation right

    • Revanche says:

      Hah agreed. That is exactly what I tend to assume I’m going to do when I get in these moods. Best not to set ourselves up for that.

  4. This is exactly why my DH has an adult allowance– he can only spend everything or nothing. http://nicoleandmaggie.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/in-praise-of-dhs-adult-allowance/
    nicoleandmaggie recently posted…Ask the Grumpies: Questions about leaving academiaMy Profile

  5. Linda says:

    Having just moved, I’m trying very hard to keep to a budget for my spending on house stuff. Even the little things like hangers, door mats (essential when it is wet and there are leaves all over the place!), removable hooks, cleaning products, etc. really add up. I’m pacing myself as much as possible and making decisions like “I can wait until next month to buy more cotton swabs and rubbing alcohol.”

    Not to brag, but I haven’t had to stick to a budget for years because I have pretty simple needs and had built up a large amount of usable stuff that was stored in my large house. I got rid of a lot of that stuff to make the cross-country move more simple and because I’m renting a much smaller house now. But it’s hard to tell myself to wait on purchasing something I’d really like to have right now (not really need, just want/like), such as a DVD or Blu-ray player with streaming capability. (“Now is the best time to buy one!” says one part of me; “This really isn’t a need, Linda, especially when you can watch your streaming movies on a laptop or tablet,” says another part of me.)

    A “no spend challenge” is simply beyond me at this point.
    Linda recently posted…Here we go!My Profile

    • Revanche says:

      I think this is a great place to be! You have what you need, and your cashflow wouldn’t be crunched if you picked up a few things you’d like but don’t need.

  6. […] in a while I have irritating shopping urges. Probably very much inspired by the same reaction that makes me defy No Spending/Shopping Bans, I catch myself ogling things that I simply cannot and should not buy. Like this beauty. I […]

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