If you had the chance to read my recent post about my 2019 goals, you know that we have some pretty hefty goals related to our finances this year.
To meet those goals, we are going to have to make some changes in our current spending habits and, in order to do that, I’ve decided to embrace a new challenge each month that will, hopefully, allow us to put a little extra money into our savings and debt payoff plans.
My Money Savings Challenge: January Edition
For the month of January, my challenge actually comes in the form of two parts.
January Challenge: Part 1
I will not purchase anything online without first going through the Ebates website. Any money I save by doing this will go toward our debt payoff goal.
For those that might not know what Ebates is, I wrote a review of it a while back (you can find it HERE), but essentially it’s a cash-back app that allows me to shop online (and sometimes in store as well), and receive a small bit of money back. If I’m already going to be spending that amount of money online, then I might as well get the money back, right?
Now, I don’t spend a lot of money online in a regular month but knowing that I have a little extra Christmas cash in my wallet, makes it more likely that, out of all of the months of the year, this will be the one I’ll want to purchase a few things for myself, so I’m going to take advantage of some rebates if possible.
January Challenge: Part 2
The second half of this monthly challenge is that I will not be purchasing items in brick and mortar shops this month. Of course, groceries and household necessities aren’t included in this, but things like clothing, shoes, accessories, household items (not necessities), books, etc., will all be on the “no” list.
Why?
While many others (and maybe you as well) have the tendency to overspend or purchase items they don’t need while shopping online, I have the opposite problem. When I am in a store I am much more likely to purchase items that I do not need just because I can see and touch them.
The other issue is that, when I get an item home from the store, I’m less likely to return it (honestly, very unlikely) so I’ll be stuck with the item I didn’t really need until I choose to offload it down the road. When I receive an item in the mail and it doesn’t work, though, I’m very likely to return that item and get my money back.
By taking a break from in-store purchases this month, I know we’ll be more likely to save additional money and purchase ONLY what we need or REALLY want.
What About You?
You might need to tweak this challenge a little bit to make it work for you and your family. If online shopping is your weakness, then cut that out this month and ONLY shop in stores. There are so many ways to make this challenge fun AND useful (and it’s only a few short weeks)!
Tip: Want some help coordinating a “no spend” or a partial “no spend month? Grab my FREE resource to help you do just that!
