Happy Wednesday y’all and happy last day of no spend July! Can you believe that tomorrow marks the first day of August?! Where did the time go. I feel like July is always the most hectic month of the year and I can’t believe I *somehow* survived a no spend month. In all honesty, I’m proud of myself and how conscious I’ve been of unnecessary expenses. Before July, I would probably place a shopping order every paycheck, order food for dinner/go out for lunch a good chunk of the week, and always take Ubers/Lyfts/Junos everywhere. While I can’t say I completed the month unscathed (aka spending $$ on things that weren’t necessary), I did step out of my comfort zone to make a diligent effort to make an improvement in my spending.

Things to know if you’re planning a no spend month.
1. It’s obviously challenging, but it gets easier. It’s kind of like a diet, the first days are the hardest. Once you get into a good rhythm of holding yourself accountable and avoiding certain costs it gets easier.

2. It’s honestly a great way to save. I’ve been putting everything in my business account to make a large payment at the end of the month and it’s been a great asset in terms of saving money. I get excited every time I make a deposit or check my account and see a good number there, so it works as motivation.

3. It’s a good excuse to get out of plans… lol. If you have someone asking you to do something last minute, it’s a good way to say NO! One thing that this helped me personally with? Going out less which I definitely needed.

4. It helps find different hobbies you may not have considered. For me, because I was challenging myself to bring lunch and eat dinner at home each day, it reminded me that I like to cook and enjoy trying new recipes! It also reminded me that I like trying out new work out classes and I looked into affordable ways to continue trying new ones.

5. If you fall off the path it’s okay! During the Amazon Prime Day sale I ended up buying $117 worth of things that weren’t technically necessary, but the things that I did buy have already been used so much in my day to day that I can justify the costs.

What I would tell myself on July 1st if I could go back.
While there are so many things I wish I could have told myself at the beginning, I’m rounding up my top three factors that would have helped tremendously throughout the month.

1. Plan a budget each week and stick to it, as opposed to just limiting items per week. If I would’ve planned to spend $350 max per week, I could’ve tracked it easier than just adding up my weekly expenses. About my second week I was confused how I was going to monitor honestly.

2. Go to the grocery store with a firm plan of attack i.e. plan out your meals beforehand. One of the easiest things I made for lunches during the week? Kale Caesar salads with salmon on top. Simple, fairly cheap, healthy and easy. I will admit I would get carried away and buy extra frozen foods I didn’t need for later cravings (like the Gluten Free Mac & Cheese from Trader Joe’s I’m obsessed with).

3. Keep yourself busy but with a personal plan. Scheduling something like a workout class after work will eat up the majority of your evening and have you ready to get home as opposed to tempting you to go do something after work that involves buying drinks/food out. Towards the end of the month I got better about keeping busy so I wasn’t sitting at home tempted to shop, etc.

So now, my challenge for you if you did a no spend July with me…
I’m not sure if you’re an avid saver with a ballin’ savings account, or like me having a bit more trouble setting savings aside; I encourage you to start small. Every paycheck put aside $100 into your savings as a start. Look to see where you can earn a little extra income on the side whether it’s selling some old items you don’t use anymore, picking up a side gig or finding a way to put money behind a hobby. There are so many different ways to get a little more cash here and there.

Ask yourself when you’ve buying things “do I really NEED this?” or “will I still absolutely love this come next year?” This has helped me tone it down on the shopping, as well as purge what I do already have. This was MAJORRRR during all of the sales that happened this month, too.

Things I realized were now necessary expenses.
While having two separate incomes can be nice, I found that the blog really did take a hit during certain parts of the month where I found myself scrambling for content, or having to fulfill a campaign with my own photography. When I started working out and feeling better, I realized how much it made an impact on my overall mood and well-being. So here we go… things I’ll likely pick back up in July:

1. Professional photography for the blog. I’ll definitely be utilizing my own camera more (@all my friends hope you can somehow use it!), but I’ll be booking a photographer again so that I have content on-hand at all times. It’s nice to have a good mix between iPhone shots and professional photography.

2. Work out classes. Don’t get me wrong I love Barry’s, but over the last few months I’ve realize how strenuous the running is on my heel (especially since I walk to work). I’ve loved trying different strengthening classes that make me just as sore, with different forms of cardio like rowing and biking. My current favorite is Fhitting Room and I’m trying SolidCore soon.

3. Beauty products!! I’ve LOVED trying different brands this past month and plan to do a larger round up of my July favorites because I feel like I really stepped out of my box to try things. So many different brands do so many different things that work wonders for your skin/body, more to come there.

What I’m giving up going into August.
So at the beginning of July, I never wanted to “give up” anything but now that we’re at the end I know certain things can go that aren’t really necessary to live a normal lifestyle. So here we go…

1. My nails. While I love my nails and they do give me a whole new persona, these will be on a case-by-case bases as I typically like to have them for travel. They just don’t really do anything other than look trendy and they’re $40-ish a month! Hasta La Vista.

2. Continuing to minimize online shopping. Since I shot less content and affiliate links have been so different in 2019, I’ll continue to minimize online shopping for clothes and repurpose where I can/focus on more lifestyle content here.

3. *ATTEMPTING* to go out less (continued). This last weekend of July I didn’t have too much to do because everyone was traveling and it was the perfect opportunity to stay in. Because it was so late and I went out in Brooklyn both nights I nearly doubled how much I would spend on an average weekend and it was basically pointless/waste of money. I’m getting to the stage where FOMO is disappearing which is about time!

So there we have it! My final round up. Below I’m rounding up how much I spend this last no spend week as always. Did you guys survive with me? I’d love to know!

Necessary Expenses:
-DropBox (WiFi): $12
-Fairway (Groceries): $98.74
-Metro Card: $10

Unnecessary Expenses:
-Whiskey Brooklyn (Friday/Saturday drinks): $101.54
-Juno (to/from Brooklyn which I’m not doing anymore bc friends don’t pay you back): $124.40
-Amazon (Camera Charger): $35.91

Total spent over Week 5: $382.59
FINAL KEY LEARININGS: I will say that I’m coming out of this month with a heck of a lot more saved than it may seem. Being more conscious about where my money going has helped make me motivated to get things paid off and on the right track to get to where I need to be financially as a 25 year old. Honestly, it also has me looking into moving to an area like Brooklyn that is more affordable with better amenities although I love my hood/building. I thin this month helped me think big picture as opposed to next month, which is great! Very adult of me 😉

What do y’all think? Linking all of my weekly round ups below. Have a great day and thanks for reading y’all!

See my first week recap HERE!
See my week two recap HERE!
See my week three recap HERE!
See my week four recap HERE!