How a No-Spend Month Helped Me Break Impulsive Spending Habits

In this blog, Financielle community member Rachel kindly shares her No-Spend journey with us.

If you’re looking for ways to curb your impulsive spending habits, a No-Spend day, month or year is a great way to take back control.

Find out what compelled Rachel to embark on her No-Spend month here ⬇️

1. Where do you stand on your money journey currently?

When I discovered Financielle in June 2024 I was a financial mess. It looked like I had my shit together on the outside, but I was paying down a never ending £20,000 loan, consolidated from various credit cards I’d run up over the years. It felt like I was taking 2 steps forward and one step back, and was constantly in and out of other debt just because I had access to it. Fast forward 18 months and I’m now consumer debt free! I’m in the Build phase, starting to work on my large emergency fund. At New Year I realised I’m at a turning point where I can either sit back and coast, spend more of my new excess, or accelerate my progress in 2026. I’ve chosen a big Build goal of £10,000 by the end of the year, and full sinking funds for a handful of things like Christmas, car insurance, travel and car maintenance. It feels exciting to finally focus on this new phase!

2. What made you want to take part in a no-spend month?

I took some time over December and January to evaluate everything in my life to see if it serves me or holds me back. After seeing that I could save £100 per month just by cancelling subscriptions I wouldn’t miss, I wondered if there was more progress to be made. Everything in my wardrobe was evaluated and I faced up to the fact I don’t wear most of my clothes now that I work from home, and there was some real money to be made by liquidating my wardrobe. However, I knew once I’d made a few sales or donations, there would be more space I’d want to fill, and I would be in the danger zone of January sales and wanting to spend all my excess. Clothes are usually my biggest discretionary spend category, so a no buy challenge felt like the best way to ensure I didn’t lose any momentum.

3. Can you share your no spend rules with us?

I let myself enjoy the social plans I’d already booked for January – winter is hard enough! I could buy a few replacements I needed, like shampoo and sunscreen – but no browsing in shops for these items as I wanted to reduce temptation. No new clothes, beauty bits, basically any item that wasn’t necessary wasn’t getting bought. I also had to make sure I’d run out of everything in that category before getting the replacement, so my testers and travel shampoos got a good run through for a few weeks before I bought the big bottle.

4. Are there areas of your spending that you really struggle with?

It’s hard to write this, but I’ve never felt in control of my spending when it comes to image – something I’ve started to realise and unpick over the last few years. If an item promised on some level to increase my self-worth or body confidence, I found a way to have it, sadly at the expense of the self-worth that comes from financial security. Bags, shoes, makeup, a new outfit – whatever it was that promised a shinier version of myself was hard to say no to. Spending for me is often tied to insecurity, and working on this earlier could have taken years off my debt. I’m better able to identify that mentality these days, but the urge to spend like this sometimes still rears its head! I do feel genuinely sad at the money I’ve lost in pursuit of this unreachable version of myself, and I know a lot of women can relate to this.

5. What’s helped you on your money journey so far?

Financielle has been a valuable resource for me, the community and the pod keep me oriented and keep things fun. I’ve reprogrammed my Youtube feed to financial influencers and learning more about personal finance has been addictive. The big one for changing my spending habits was social media. Since leaving TikTok and Instagram, and unsubscribing from Substack fashion content, I’ve felt so much lighter, more grateful and less stuck. Seeing an influencer wearing a pair of jeans that made her look put together could send me on a hours-long £200 spiral in one evening, feeling even worse when they didn’t fit and I had the headache and admin of returns and waiting for a refund. I’ve started to see purchases through the lens of “is this getting me closer to my £10k goal?” Also, realising my friends don’t care if I am wearing the same outfit for a night out as I did last month. They still love me!

6. What advice would you give to other people wanting to do a no spend month?

Visualise your progress, and if you can, make a vision board for your phone background with a reminder of your goals. It’s a really helpful pause when you’re about to use Apple Pay. A few things on my vision board collage are finance related and it keeps me on track. Write out by hand every spend in the month and keep yourself accountable, you won’t want to write down that you’ve failed. Make a list of everything you are tempted to buy during the month, and the cost. If at the end of the month that money is available, ask yourself if you still want the item, or if you want to see your savings progress bar increase by that amount! The self-trust that you develop by completing just one month of this really will propel you forward.

If you’re feeling inspired to take part in your own no-spend challenge check out this helpful article here.