How To Do A Spending Freeze Challenge
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Updated 2024.07.29. This page contains affiliate links and this site earns from qualifying purchases made through these sponsored links.
Maybe you just want to not spend money for a few weeks. Maybe you are saving up for something big. Maybe you simply want to slow down the outflow of money from your life to better track your spending and have some control over it. Maybe you just want to see where you are spending your money.
A spending freeze means you take some time out from constant consumerism and stop spending all discretionary income on entertainment, gifts, wishes, miniature wants.
You also look for ways to limit your spending in all other ways including spending on utilities, groceries, insurance and transportation.
The goal of a spending freeze challenge is ultimately more money in the bank that you can then redirect to things you value most right now.
The benefits of a spending freeze challenge is that it helps you give a more critical eye to your finances so you can adjust your spending where needed.
Think of a spending freeze challenge as a spending audit. When you perform a spending freeze challenge, you learn things about your spending habits that you can then change if you so choose.
You slow down your buys, giving you more time to make conscious choices. You give yourself the opportunity to say no to things, where you have always said yes. During a spending freeze challenge, you also identify your baseline living costs and learn the bare bones, financially, you need to survive.
You also identify the size of your discretionary budget, and while you may learn you have more flexibility than you thought, at the very least, you find out what that number is you have to play with every month - which is useful information.
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The rules of a spending freeze challenge are:
Pause your non-essential spending for a period of time, ideally one month
What you can buy: essentials such as utilities, shelter, food, clothing, medicine/must-have personal care, if you don’t already have it
What you freeze: wants, discretionary items, fluff
During the freeze, evaluate your essentials, and write down everything you did buy in a spreadsheet with the item and price
At the end of the freeze, review your spreadsheet and ask if each item is a “want to” or a “must have,” where you have “want tos” reduce these
How long is the spending freeze challenge?
The best way to start is to do the spending freeze challenge for a month, for 30 days. If you’re more experienced at cost cutting or have an extenuating situation, you can do a spending freeze for up to 1 year or even indefinitely.
Though, if you feel intimidated by it, start 24 hours at a time and work your way up to 7 days, then a month.
If you have done spending freeze challenges before, the next level of this challenge is to do it for a year. You can do it.
Choose a day to start, perhaps today and try it. See what you can repurpose, do without or improvise in the interim.
If this is your first spending freeze challenge, a few tips to assist you in succeeding:
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1. Earmark gifts in advance
If giving is important to you, mark your calendar for the holiday and set a budget that is reasonable.
2. Use your bookmarks bar
Add any new desires that come up during the freeze to your web browser bookmarks bar, and at the end of the freeze, act on one, if you want (or granted funds allow) as a reward.
3. Use stuff you have to do the same thing
Whenever the impulse comes to buy a thing to solve a problem, ask, do I have something that will work for this already? Use that instead.
4. As low as you can go on replacements
During a spending freeze, you can replace essential items that run out. But use this time to re-evaluate your budget for the item and see if there is a replacement that is just right for you but perhaps, for less.
5. Only get one
If you do have to buy something new during a spending freeze, for example, for a life change, just get one. Don’t get three and see what you like best, just upgrade once.
6. When someone throws you the ball, you don’t have to catch it
If someone tries to sell you something you don’t need or that isn’t an essential item during the freeze, you can just say no. You can decline the dance of commerce. You can refuse goods.
7. Just for the next 24 hours
… I will buy only what is essential and nothing else. If it gets hard during the freeze, for example during sale seasons, just do it 24 hours at a time. Step by step and the challenge will be completed.
8. Remind yourself it’s not an emergency
Life usually isn’t an emergency unless you decide it is, and in very rare circumstances. Most of the time it’s not though - so neither is spending to change any state.
9. Trust your feelings
If something makes you stressed to buy it, don’t. During a freeze you want to pay attention to where the urgency is coming from to buy and why. And maybe consider if the urgency can be solved another way. It often can.
10. Does this match my values?
Any time you go to purchase something, ask if it aligns with your values in life. It’s okay to accept that some things will not be aligned to your values, other things will be.
11. Celebrate every win
Congratulate yourself every time you don’t spend and are able to save. Every time you put something back. Any time you decide to use something you already have. These congratulations can be as simple as quietly saying to yourself, “I am so proud of you.”
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How to start a spending freeze challenge
Now that you know what a spending freeze challenge is and the tips for success, you start a spending freeze challenge by committing to a period of time to begin and on your start date, all money goes to essentials only.
Next, identify what is your reason for doing a spending freeze. When you know what it is, then this challenge is easier to stick to it.
Then, during the freeze write down what you spent.
At the end of the spending freeze, review your spending, and evaluate with it these questions:
Where can you reduce your spending? Where did you splurge? Where did you scrimp?
What did you learn about your spending habits during the freeze?
What did you learn about your weaknesses or strengths?
Where can you cut back? Where can you improve? Where can you give yourself room?
Once you answer these questions, then calibrate your spending habits to what you learned in awareness of your patterns.
The spending freeze challenge, if anything, brings out your most resourceful self.
It disconnects you from the rush of the market and gives you time to think. It helps you save money in a short amount of time. It can break spending habits you may want to change.
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