My No Spend Week - Johnny
We’ve challenged a selection of bloggers, content creators and the public to only spend their money on the essentials for one week. Check out the My No Spend Week hub for some inspiration on saving. Maybe a ‘no spend’ week could change how you view your spending habits?
We’ve quizzed our diarists all about how they feel about their spending habits before their challenge week and then after, how they might approach saving and spending in the future. Today we’re hearing from Johnny.
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I'm Johnny and I'm a travel and lifestyle blogger at Johnny's Traventures. I long to travel the world and have adventures! Beyond blogging and travelling you'll find me hitting it hard in the gym, being an undercover nerd by reading comic books and fictional novels or having gaming sessions on my PS4.
Are you a saver?
Yes - I'm a saver. Straight after I get paid I move half my income to my savings. I then divide these savings again between my travel, rainy day and my house deposit so I'm kind of implementing the 50/30/20 rule when it comes to budgeting. I receive small amounts of other income from paid surveys and selling on eBay or Depop. This is split between savings for travels and spending on anything I want.
My main saving goal is to save for a deposit on my own place. Another saving goal is to save for my older brother's wedding which is happening next year. I'm one of the groomsmen and a lot of responsibility is expected to be on me so I would like to start thinking of it now!
Who wouldn't want to save more money given the opportunity? Lockdown has made me reflect on a lot of things and change my priorities. I plan on working full-time (I was working part-time before) once everything eases. Along with my full-time job I'll try and have an income stream or 2 in the background. I also plan on cutting back on how often I travel and change the type of travelling I do so I can save more.
I definitely don't think I have any particularly bad spending habits but if I had to pick one that could be scaled back it would definitely be snacks and takeaways, especially during lockdown. But saying that, during lockdown I've spent much less on petrol and travelling as I've pretty much had nowhere to go apart from trips to the shops for essentials. Spending on clothing and other things has reduced significantly for the same reasons.
Take the No Spend challenge
Monday
On Monday I bought a new automatic air freshener for my bedroom. The costs online were around £8.30 including delivery. Instead I visited Wilko and bought the same one for £5. Saved £3.30. I also bought hand gel for £2.50 and 2 toothpastes on a 2 for £1.80 special offer. The original price for toothpaste is £1 each and this was the price at other shops, so therefore saved 20p by being in the right place at the right time.
Tuesday
On Tuesday I cancelled my insurance for putting on outdoor fitness classes because I had just quit my fitness instructing job the day before and no longer needed it. The cancellation fee was originally £30 when I first called but I didn't go through the cancellation as I had to be sure whether it made financial sense or not in the long run. I called back later and went through with cancellation. However the fee was actually £10.75! No complaints on my end as it meant I saved around £20 by holding back on my decision.
Later on in the day I posted a parcel. I expected to pay £3 for shipping but instead paid £1.40 due to smaller size of parcel. This meant that I was able to save £1.60 by spending less than anticipated.
Wednesday and Thursday
On both days I was indoors and I didn't spend money on anything!
Friday
I went out to grocery shopping in the afternoon. I ended up spending £16 on food and essential supplies.
The verdict
The No Spend Week wasn't too difficult nor did I miss spending money, probably because I'm always in the mode of money saving so when this challenge came up I was like "No pressure Johnny. Literally none." I found that the week went by fairly quickly to be honest.
Potentially I've saved over £25 if I add everything up. It was mainly because of cautious decision making, whether it was deferring spending to weigh up my options, making the most of special offers or shopping around before buying it actually paid off (pun unintended).
I considered when I was going to make certain purchases and when I wasn't. I wouldn't say I considered purchases more than usual as I'm already with the mindset of being conscious with spending. I would say I considered when I was going to make certain purchases and whether it would be necessary at the time, knowing I was in the thick of a challenge! The only time I spent money during the challenge was on groceries or essentials because I felt like it was needed at the time.
Honestly I didn't think I had any spending habits that I needed to kick. I'm comfortable with my spending and money management. Although If I had some unnecessary spending habits then generally it would take more than a week to permanently change. I think this week has encouraged me to save more. I'd like to think that it's given me the idea of doing 5-7 day no spend challenges of my own to put my discipline and money management skills to the best. I'm always looking at areas in which I can save the extra penny or two regardless of how low or high my income is.
Your No Spend Week?
So, what do you think? Could you go a whole week and only spend on essentials? No treats or coffees or new clothes? Let us know on Twitter and Facebook and if you’d like to write your own ‘My No Spend Week’ diary – send us an email telling us all about yourself to socialcomms@thenottingham.com. Check out our range of savings accounts and our Essential Savings Guides too for some more tips and tricks for saving money.
*The featured content creators have been paid to take part in and keep a diary of their ‘My No Spend Week challenge’. However the views, thoughts, and opinions expressed belong solely to the content creator and the opportunity is open to members of the public too if they also wished to take part in the challenge. There is no commercial relationship between The Nottingham or content creator and any products or brand mentioned in their diary.
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