What up what uuuuuuup!
Got another idea for y’all today: a mixture between a Depth Year that we fell in love with last month, and a No Spend Challenge which we fall in love with pretty much every other month, haha…
It’s called the #YearofNo, and a blogging friend of mine just completed her 2nd year of it, paying off over $24,000 of debt now (!!) and completely changing her spending habits in the process.
All with 5 kids, too!
One day her husband sarcastically wrote it next to a bunch of goals on their wipey board, and the next minute they were going around the house saying “hashtag Year Of No” to each other haha…
So what is a #YearofNo? It’s when all decisions to spend money starts with a strong “NO”, and then you have to convince yourself otherwise, instead of the other way around like most of us tend to do… There are no “Maybes”, no “We’ll See’s”, and especially no automatic “Yes’s”. If it doesn’t hit a list of the acceptable areas you put forth *before* taking the challenge, it remains a NO and you move on.
For my friend Jamie and her family, it was saying NO to all the “extras” in their life:
“Our family refused to buy any extras at all for an entire year. That meant no book fairs, no fast food, no drinks from the concession stand, no replacement furniture, nothing. We forced ourselves to use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.
Hard to do, but what a habit to get into! She came up with a list of questions to help keep her on her desired path too:
- Is this purchase a requirement for life or good health? (Food, shelter, necessary clothing)
- Will putting off this purchase require us to spend more than double or triple the cost in the long run? (Home and car repairs and maintenance)
- Is this a once in a lifetime opportunity that I can pay cash for? (Events for family members)
If it doesn’t check out, it doesn’t get bought – pretty simple! This line here summed it up pretty well, haha… “If you have to speak more than one simple sentence to justify a purchase, you don’t need it.” :)
And again, the #YearofNo can be put towards *any* areas in your life – not just money. Maybe it’s saying NO to taking on more projects or responsibilities so you can focus on what’s most important to you (like with Depth Years), or maybe it’s not taking on anymore debt again or complaining 24/7 or even hanging out with people who are toxic in your lives!
The applications are endless, but unlike No Spend Challenges or Freezes, it’s more focused on helping you form long-term habits than quick wins (although admittedly, a month was enough to shock MY finances straight when I did a No Spend Month years ago…):
“Don’t confuse the #yearofno with a spending freeze. Sure, you can challenge yourself to a spending freeze for a week or even a month. But most people just hold their breath through the freeze and buy the things they wanted once the freeze is over. That does nothing but delay spending. Instead, #yearofno makes lasting changes.”
So there you have it – The #YearofNo! Anyone wanna give it a shot? Anything in your lives right now that could use a healthy dosage of No’s?
Something to think about, especially as we’ve still got plenty of months in the “new” year to do something impressive ;) I’ll even allow you to cheat and do it for only 10 months if you commit to it today! Haha…
Even better, pair it with our Financial Empowerment Game
and turbocharge your motivation even further! Because nothing says “I’m a bad ass with money” moreso than *knowing* you can buy anything you’d like in a store, however *choosing* not to… It’s the best game you can ever play with your finances, and it’s all yours, absolutely FREE!
Remember: Freedom > Money > Stuff
And then there’s always sex and chocolate, but we leave those for the #YearofYes’s ;)
Via Finance http://www.rssmix.com/
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