I tried a 'no spend' weekend in my town and ended up with $45 extra for my emergency fund.

3 comments

3 Comments

That "no spend weekend" idea really works... my friend did something similar last month. She was trying to save for a car repair and just stayed home, cooked food she already had, and watched free stuff online. She told me she was shocked to find an extra eighty bucks she didn't touch. It wasn't even about being cheap, she said it felt good to just pause and not buy anything for a couple days. That little win got her to try it again the next weekend too.

morgan.cameron1mo ago

Wow, I used to think those no spend challenges sounded kind of depressing. But hearing your friend's story, @danielm15, really flipped my view. It's not about missing out, it's about that cool feeling of control. Finding that extra money is just proof you didn't really need to spend it in the first place. I might have to give a quiet weekend a try myself.

the_gray24d ago

It's funny you mention "that cool feeling of control" because I think there's a hidden perk nobody's talking about with these challenges. When I did one last spring, I ended up fixing a dripping faucet with parts I already had in my junk drawer (I'm not a handyman by any stretch, just stubborn). Then I realized my "boredom" actually pushed me to rearrange my garage shelves and found a pair of sunglasses I thought I lost. The real win wasn't the money I saved, it was rediscovering all the stuff I already own that I forgot about. That weekend made me feel creative in a weird way, like I was solving puzzles instead of just swiping my card.