For the entire month of February, I’m going on a self-imposed spending freeze/shopping ban. That means no new workout clothes, no new home goods, no shopping at all for anything I don’t most definitely need. The goal of the spending ban is to pause for a moment each time I am about to spend money and say: “do I REALLY need to spend this, or can this thing wait?” It’s a practice in teasing out whether each purchase is an actual “need” or just a “want”.
This idea might sound like torture to some of you, but this isn’t my first voluntary freeze and it won’t be my last either. Although they’re not totally “pain-free”, overall I’ve gotten so many benefits out of spending freezes that I like to do one every year or two. Here are some of the advantages I’ve found of doing a freeze:
It teaches you to appreciate what you have
If you’re always looking for what’s newer and better, it takes away your attention from what you already have. When I take the focus off of the hunt, it creates space for me to really acknowledge that what I have is enough. And actually, besides being enough, a lot of my stuff is actually pretty awesome. It’s easy to say you’re grateful for what you have, but stopping the constant wishing and buying really drives this point home in a bigger way.
It’s important to practice discipline and willpower
You might’ve heard it said that willpower is a muscle: if you don’t use it, it wastes away. I for one definitely believe that to be true. It’s a crucial life skill to be able to turn on your self-discipline when you need it. It’s important to learn how to be ok with temporary discomfort and to be able to tell yourself no in favor of some greater good. No one wants to be one of those entitled people who dissolves into a puddle when they don’t get what they want. It’s totally possible to spoil yourself as an adult, but voluntarily practicing discipline is a good way to make sure that doesn’t happen.
It will jump start your savings
If you have a financial goal you’re working toward, a spending ban can go FAR in helping you make headway. For my first ban, I managed to save $500 in spending, on top of what I normally saved. Since I didn’t make much at the time, that was hue for me, and seeing the bump in my bank account was an amazing reward in and of itself.
I’m sure everyone here has some financial goal in their future. Maybe it’s a cool trip you’d like to go on, a down payment for a new home, loans to pay off, or just a savings account you’d like to beef up. No matter what the goal is, a month-long commitment to saving toward that can be such a positive experience. If you can see real, meaningful progress on that goal in just one month, it’s extremely empowering and self-reinforcing. Besides enjoying the benefits of that big boost itself, it can give you a glimpse of what’s really possible, and encourage more savings-oriented habits.
It “resets” your spending patterns
Whenever I’m on a spending freeze, I always keep a running mental tally of the things I want but am not buying due to the freeze. I always tell myself that I am allowed to buy whatever I like (within budget, of course) after the ban is lifted. It helps me feel in control and not like I’m deprived. This thought process might sound counter-productive: if you just buy everything you want right after the ban, wouldn’t the ban cease to have helped you?
Ah, but there’s the catch. It turns out that waiting a couple of weeks can do wonders to shorten your wishlist. If I got the urge to buy, say, 20 things over the course of the month, usually only 5 or 7 of those will have the staying power to make me get my credit card out on March 1.
Making a spending freeze successful
If you find yourself spending a bit more than you think you should, you might think that just deciding to spend less is the answer, rather than going so far as to do a spending freeze. For me, trying to just spend less in vague terms usually results in half-hearted, guilt-ridden results. Instead, having a defined period where I go cold turkey (for a month, anyway) helps balance things out for more than just that month, and I feel self-motivated to spend less rather than guilty about what I do spend. In other words, I find that a freeze is way, way more effective when it comes to enacting meaningful changes in my spending habits. And like I said above, there are some other nice perks you just don’t get with a general reduction.
If you choose to do a spending ban, it’s up to you where you draw the line between essential and non-essential. I’d encourage you to go just a little bit beyond where you feel comfortable. Be a little bit conservative when it comes to the need-vs-want line. And most importantly, create clearly defined rules for yourself and stick to them.
It’s also helpful to reduce your exposure to temptation. Don’t check lulu’s Tuesday uploads. Instead of going window shopping on weekends, go to your local library and find a book or take a nice walk in a park if the weather’s nice. And if reading this blog makes things harder for you, by all means get out of here! Everything will still be here in March, promise!
If all this sounds like something that would benefit you, I encourage you to join me in February for a no-spend month. February is the shortest month, after all. ;)
I will fully admit to taking this idea from you when you posted about the Commit30 Planner. I really like the planner and it’s layout. My friend and I were having a debate about using gift cards during my month of austerity. I say no. Gift cards, I feel, enable the bad habits. True it’s not my money that I am spending but it does nothing to help quell the buying high. In addition, with gift cards I tend not to question if I really need something or not…hey it’s not my money…
I will admit I am struggling with buying new undies after the post the other day….necessary….unnecessary… ; )
Yes, I’m in the same boat on gift cards–you pretty much nailed it. My goal is also not just to spend less, but to practice good shopping habits in general, so gift cards are out!
The undies will still be there in March, so unless you’re down to 2 pairs, I say wait! ;)
I will join you! I want the new Garmin running watch that just came out so that’s my goal! It will help doing it the same month you are since your blog won’t have your new purchases in February :)
Perfect! I hope you can get your watch! Also, I will still kind of have new purchases. I actually have like a 2-3 week backlog of reviews I haven’t posted yet. : On the plus side, the ban will help me catch up! :)
Chances are if I don’t already have it, I didn’t want it and passed on it since it’s stuff from back vs present/new stuff coming out! Lol!
I’m in too! Totally need this – though I’m going to Mexico for a week this month so I do have pretty firm plans to buy things that week – but I took out the cash to spend in January… That still counts right?? I’ll do an extra week into March to compensate.
If it’s a pre-planned thing then I wouldn’t worry too much about it, it’s important to not stress about your vacation. :) Like you said, doing an extra week to balance it out is a great plan.
yeah! I just successfully completed a no shopping January spending ban and I think I will roll i into February, too!
Me too! Didn’t buy anything but food in Jan! Woohoo; successfully avoided the blanket jacket temptations.
Rock on!! :) Love it.
I am joining you too. I have to admit I have felt great trepidation leading up to today, but I am ready! I put a rule in my mail to send all shopping emails to a special folder so that I don’t see things like “40% off everything awesome at carbon38 today only!” in my inbox. I am embarrassed to admit that in my panic the last few days I bought a few extra things that I am not proud of (THREE pairs of sunglasses on Gilt… sigh…), but I suppose a silver lining is that as my last few purchases show up over the next week, any returns I make will be even more money saved!
Thank you for posting about the various benefits. I personally am most excited about the strengthening of my willpower and the feeling of empowerment (i.e., my clothes do not control me – I am the boss of myself!) I do this kind of freeze with alcohol too at various times during the year. I give up my glass of wine every night for a couple weeks and it is very gratifying to see that it is actually completely possible and no I am not an alcoholic (haha…) Reminding myself of my own willpower and self-control is so rewarding.
I am very glad that others here will be doing this too. It is nice to have virtual support and a community that is going through the same thing together :)
Good idea–resisting the urge to jump on those sales and such can be such a huge mental drain. I, too, bought a few last-minute purchases (like those Koral paragon leggings from Bandier…oops), but like you said, any returns are just gravy. :)
As for your second paragraph: couldn’t have said it better myself! :) I’m glad I’m not the only one who finds odd satisfaction in voluntary self-deprivation, lol.
I’m actually doing a 6 month shopping freeze! I’m getting married and buying a house this year so I need to save some money (and don’t need more clothes/house stuff). January was easy to not buy so hopefully February will be easy too!
Wow, that’s awesome! Those are a lot of very worthy causes. :) I hope you can keep up your momentum this month!
I also find that sometimes I look for new things because I’m not happy with myself. The illusion that “I have nothing to wear” is often just an indicator that I should watch what I eat for a couple weeks, or get a haircut, or make a bit more of an effort to take care of myself. Then I can make the things I already have look good!
This is an excellent point. A lot of times, buying things can be a way we subconsciously distract ourselves from other issues we need to address.
I actually do this several times a year! Never called it a spending freeze, but that’s what it is, and I do it for all the reasons you mentioned here. I think it’s a great practice that more people in our age group should be doing periodically.
As for my personal financial goal – early retirement, baby! Of course that takes more than occasional freezing bans, but they do go a long way in helping me move towards that goal (money saved can be money invested!).
Yes, I definitely think that austerity practice is something that isn’t really a strong point with our generation. I had frugal parents that taught me these skills from the beginning, and I’m so glad they did. The idea of early retirement is appealing to me too (my bf was really into it for a while thanks to a blog he was reading), but on the other hand, I just really like working, so there’s that. :)
I’m joining you too! As long as lulu won’t upload blooming pixi slate CRB I should be good . That said I just purchased 4 items on sale at singer22 and shopbop last night. And 3 bottoms from C38 last week as well as new &go everywhere LS dress from Canada . So my wallet really needs a break. And my willpower some good exercise :)
Sounds like good timing, then :) Glad you’re on board!
I’m doing it too! Got the idea from you as well and February is definitely the best month to do it as it is certainly the shortest.
I must admit that I “got ready” for my spending freeze by shopping this weekend, but I actually didn’t buy a couple of things that I had planned to because I liked them but didn’t love them (that might not have stopped me before!).
I think it’s going to be tough but it’ll be good for me. Glad I’m not the only one doing it!
Progress is good. :) I had a couple last-minute buys too, but I like to think most of them were fairly justified–they were mostly things I absolutely knew I was going to get, and I didn’t want to/couldn’t wait til March (like some spikes for hiking in the snow). Even with those last-minute buys, we’ll probably still come out ahead when it’s all said and done! :)
I am in! Pretty excited about this actually. I’m doing Frugal February. I hope to really learn something from this month of not spending. Although last night I did buy a couple of werkshop leggings before my ban. =T
Even if you buy stuff right before your ban, you’ll probably still end up being net positive. :) I like the Frugal February term, too!
I love this idea and I love that you shared the benefits! Sometimes you look over your wardrobe and realize how underused some pretty great items are. The new items DO steal focus and you’re left always chasing that shopping high of new acquisition.
Yup, exactly! There are quite a few things in my closet that I love but have barely gotten to wear because of the constant flow of the new.
I ordered a pair of Nike shorts at 40% off yesterday. I also bought a dress this morning but with store credits. Haha I don’t think they count.
Um, they totally count.
It’s all about what rules you decide to go with! I bought some stuff on Jan 31 that I knew I wanted/”needed” but didn’t want to wait til March for, like a vanity organizer that was almost sold out. So, that was within my rules since it wasn’t February. :) Personally, I’m not going to spend store credit or gift cards this month, though, since my goal is not just to spend less, but also minimize the “new stuff” factor. But again–your spending ban, your rules!
This is perfect because I was just thinking of imposing a spending freeze on myself for February anyway. I sort of kind of cheated yesterday with a pair of Polartec tights from Athleta, but I justified it because my size was in stock and I will return a pair that is too big. So that doesn’t really count, right? =)
It’s all about your own goals! You could always do an extra day or two in March to “make up” for your “cheat”. :)
Interesting timing on this because it’s been on my mind. I did a halfhearted spending ban in January and was mostly successful. I returned one thing & bought others so didn’t spend more & my only true purchase was on an inexpensive visor. I did see the benefits of focusing on what I have and took the time to do an inventory and clean-out. Great things! BUT this past weekend there was a huge EMS sale that, coupled with a coupon I had, enabled me to get some things long on my wish list for nearly pennies. If I’d kept to my spending ban, I would have likely paid much more for similar things later on. So, I think for me at least, really good sales on things I actually need makes more sense than a spending ban. I guess the challenge is keeping to things I need since I did have a few impulse buys at EMS too. Need to keep working on it!
There are two ways I get around the sale thing. One thing is to make a list before the ban starts of the stuff that are more legitimate needs, though not urgent (gear for hiking, for example). If you have a list beforehand, it helps stave off those extra purchases but still allows you to capitalize on good deals if you’re going to buy it anyway. Another option is to just skip out anyway. My reasoning is that even if I spend $100 more by buying things not on sale, I probably still came out more than $100 ahead by doing the ban in the first place.