I covered our lists of essential and approved expenses in Part 1 of Money Rules for the No Spend Challenge. In Part 2, I will tell you the items that are definitely off-limits and how we will evaluate unexpected expenses that may arise.

Our goal is to stop spending money, so basically, if it’s not on our essentials list (covered in Part 1 of the “Rules”) then we won’t be buying it. Still, this is a bit abstract. In order to make this challenge as defined and concrete as possible, we have outlined several of our regular expenses that will be cut.

While we will be buying groceries, we will be limiting the types of foods we buy (no store-bought sweets). In addition, we will not be eating out. This means no date night dinners at a restaurant, no bagels from Panera, and no hot chocolate from Starbucks. The last one hits me hard.

Since I often go to Starbucks to work, we debated leaving this as an approved work-related expense. But after I did the math and figured out that even a modest budget of 1-2 visits per week would quickly add up to over $300 for the year I decided I will find another way to get my work done without spending money. My one concession is to buy hot chocolate packets so I can take it with me from home. Since I can get these for $5.89 for a box of 60, this seems like a reasonable compromise.

Cutting out restaurants also requires us to modify a tradition that has become an important part of our weekly routine. Every Sunday morning, I take one of my children out for a special treat and mommy time. The kids take turns going out with me and they get to choose between Starbucks and Panera for our time together. We will continue this tradition, but the kids and I started a list of no-cost ideas to do instead.

With the exception of our basic Netflix subscription, we are cutting out Redbox rentals, movie tickets, and other similar types of entertainment. This means we have to re-think our Friday family movie nights. We have two ideas so far for no-cost movie alternatives: 1) borrow movies from friends, and 2) check them out from the library. Maybe we will even throw in a game night instead of a movie now and then.

Taking time to rest, relax, and be renewed is high on our priority list, but instead of an expensive vacation, we are challenging ourselves to find no-cost vacation alternatives. One idea is to pitch our tent in the backyard and light our firepit every night for some family fun. This idea is still under construction, but one thing is certain, we won’t be staying in a hotel or paying for a campsite to take a vacation this year.

Finally, gifts are an expense that landed on the non-essential list. Birthday, Christmas, and other gifts simply won’t be in the budget this year. While we hope to find ways to re-purpose or re-gift items we already have, if we can’t, our loving thoughts will just have to count. Even our kids are on board with foregoing gifts for the challenge.

We have endeavored to anticipate our most common expenditures and put them in the essential or non-essential pile so the parameters of our No Spend Challenge are clear. However, we know something will come up that we didn’t plan for. In order to evaluate expenses as they arise, such as maintenance to home or cars, we have just three questions to answer:

1. Can we live without it?

2. Will not having it cause further damage?

3. Is there a no-cost or low-cost alternative?

These questions will help us stick with our commitment to pay for the essentials and let go of everything else. We are excited to challenge ourselves to be more creative in finding solutions as well as become more mindful of how we use our resources. On your mark, get set…our No Spend Challenge starts in 2 days!

© Alyse Scicluna Lehrke. All rights reserved. Image credit: gerard79 at sxc.hu