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With a no spend year, we’re talking not spending on ANY unnecessary items for 365 days. Let’s be real here, it’s incredibly difficult to not make a single purchase that isn’t essential for an entire year. To avoid completely burning out within a few months, I’ve made a list of things that aren’t essential items but I do need to purchase within the next year. Most of these are house items as my main goal this year is to personalize our new home. I’ve also included tips of how I plan to save money or be resourceful on these purchases. This list is very personal to me, but hopefully gives you an idea for your own personal list!
Gifts
Some people forgo buying gifts during their no spend challenge, but I decided that I’m going to continue to make these purchases. Birthdays are big in our family and I definitely couldn’t get away with Santa not coming because Mommy isn’t spending money. A few family members do have a love language as gifts as well, so I will be showing love to them in a way that they enjoy.
I am going to have a set budget to stick to and will lean towards experience gifts as much as possible. For example, my son is a monster truck fanatic and we plan to take him to a Monster Jam for his birthday. For Christmas, I’ve already set up a bucket on the Digit app to save for 2023’s holiday season. You set a target amount and date, then Digit will automatically deduct small amounts of money from your account regularly to reach that goal. You can set any target date, a month from now or two years from now, and any amount, from $100 to thousands.
Window Treatments
We just moved into a new house and definitely need some curtains for privacy. It has taken me some time to decide what works best for each space, so the majority of our windows on the first floor are still without window treatments. I don’t want to continue that into the next year. We have a couple acres of land but do have neighbors, plus a house just looks more lived in with window treatments! I am planning to utilize gift cards I already have for these purchases.
Buffet Table and Chair for Living Room
Along with moving into a new house, we found we needed some more seating and a cabinet to go underneath our TV in the living room. I will be looking to purchase these items secondhand first, but I’m very particular about what comes into our home and they need to be the perfect pieces. I’m setting a max budget of $500 here and hope to spend below that. Again, I have been hoarding gift cards knowing we’d need to make some purchases like these.
Materials for Garden
This is the only item I’m being vague on as a I really am not sure what will be needed. I’m going to have my garden on a much larger scale this year and will be planning for it in the next few months. I’m also setting this budget for $500 and will include seeds. We’re still undetermined on the set up, but will definitely need a border around the garden (my son and dogs continuously ran through it last year), lattice for several plants to climb, and possibly a few raised beds. All of this we’re going to be completing on our own, which will also save money.
Bookshelf
Over the last few years, my husband and I have become avid readers. I have a kindle that I use regularly, but we still have a lot of books and nowhere to put them. I try to pass along novels, but tend to reread educational books, like self help or parenting books, and would like to keep them. I read mostly in bed and would like to have floating bookshelves in our room so all of our books can stop living in boxes. We’ll likely build these on our own to fit the space. I’m lucky my husband can build and fix just about anything!
Paint for Living Room and Office
Another house item, surprise!! Having blank white walls makes me feel like we’re just squatting in our home honestly. I’m in need of adding some personalization to our space and paint is a simple and cheap way to make a huge impact. Also, I love to paint! I’m budgeting $200 for supplies, paint, and possibly an accent wall design (to be determined). We are utilizing paint that we already have to finish our half bath and will likely reuse colors throughout other spaces as well to save on paint.
Well, that’s it! Thats all I’m buying that isn’t necessary for 2023. Does it sound a bit crazy to you? If so, don’t worry, I’m pretty nervous myself but I’m also excited to see how much this year will change how we live and the amount of money we’re able to save regularly.
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