A fire drill for your finances - 31 days without spending challenge
31 Days without spending is the challenge but well worth seeing what happens
Written by the Debt Freedom team 23 min read
Replicating what it would be like if we completely ran out of money - trying to avoid dipping into the emergency fund - a fire drill for your finances. — The Debt Freedom Team
The idea is to see if we can replicate what it would be like if we completely ran out of money. A little like a fire drill for your finances.
Dry July
Dry July is a thing where you give up alcohol for the month which is a really good idea. Unfortunately, I don't drink so no saving there for me.
Do you tell people or not?
This is tricky because it can be embarrassing, depending on the reasons you give. However, not telling can be tricky because people may think you are acting stranger than normal.
We aim to update this post on a daily basis to show the temptations and social pressures to spend. If we can hit a 70% success rate, we will be doing really well.
Day 1 -
We are in the first day and it is already a challenge. Took a family member for a scan - so a parking fee couldn't be avoided - luckily they paid. £2 for one hour.
Parking where it is free and walking in
Parked just out of the town centre and walked back in, so no parking fee for going into the office. I can choose when to go in, so appreciate not everyone would have the option. Parking after 9am is free, worth talking to an employer about starting a few minutes late if that was not an issue.
Making my own coffee to avoid coffee shop prices
I've taken coffee into the office (nicer coffee feels like a treat) so I do not have to go to my favourite caffe. That will hopefully save between £3 and £10 a day. £10 if I had been tempted to eat a panini. I'll let you know if that works out. Packed lunch may also be required in the future. The office provides fruit, so I may be able to take more advantage of that.
England v Congo DR - World Cup 2026
Today is a World Cup match and we have invited people round, so we have to get some food in (£15.95 spent on four pizza's and some unsalted butter for desert at Aldi). It's not unreasonable to ask people to bring some snacks, if they want them?
Update: England won 2 to 1
Good deeds
Need to do a 60 mile round trip to pick someone up, so have to charge the car a little to be able to get there and back. We are on a tariff that tracks the wholesale price, so about 16p a kilowatt hour but only time enough to get 7kwh in. Round trip cost at 4 miles per kilowatt, 15 x 16p = £2.40.
The way electricity pricing works in the UK is complicated to say the least. You pay a fixed amount per month. However, that is just an estimate of your bills, if you use more that estimate, you monthly amount will go up to try and cover it. Use less and the bill will mostly stay the same and will help to cover your more expensive costs over winter. It is worth turning things off, that you are not using to help save some money in the longer term.
Standing orders and direct debits
As it was the first of the month, four automated payments went out too. Although these were all essential, it is still worth looking at them again. Any chance of lowering them or cancel them would be great.
Saying no to something you would actually have liked to do
It isn't always easy to say no, especially if it is something you would like to do. I got asked if I would like to go to the theatre to see The Hungary Games near to Canary Whaft. Saying yes, would have cost a train fair, ticket price and dinner out - I would estimate that would have been £60-£80 each.
Day 2 -
1:32pm and nothing spent so far. Lunch was leftover pizza from yesterday's match night dinner.
The cost of your broadband when out of contract
It's funny that when you have a goal to stop spending, it reminds you to look around at other bills. So I took a look at the cost of our broadband. It is an essential for the business but can be forgotten about. Slowly increasing in cost each year - ours had got up to about £84 a month. I am happy with the service, so didn't want to change but didn't want to be paying so much. So signing up for a new contract put the monthly bill back down to £50 a month.
That's a saving of £408 over the next twelve months. Well worth the ten minutes it took me to do. That helps make the business a little more profitable, which increases the chance of being able to cover costs.
Is debt depressing?
Absolutely, debt is very depressing. I don't mean in the clinical sense, I mean in the way that it just makes you sad. It can sap your energy and make it hard for you to think straight. Which in turn means that your focus goes. Trying to take control and gain some focus could therefore make you happy, worth a go.
Homemade raspberry muffin
When someone offers you a homemade raspberry muffin, you should not look that gift horse in the mouth. Pizza and muffin are perhaps not the healthiest of diets but we are looking not to spend rather than be on a healthy diet this month. I am not sure our little brains could cope with two target at a time.
Day 3 -
National Trust Membership
In the spirit of saving, I cancelled a membership today (that we actually quite like having) but it is a little expensive for us. £168 a year to the National Trust. If you don't know who the National Trust here is what they say on their about page;
"As Europe’s biggest conservation charity, we look after nature, beauty and history for everyone to enjoy. We do it with the help of millions of members, volunteers, staff, donors, communities and partners. Without this, we couldn’t care for the miles of coastline, woodlands, countryside and the hundreds of historic buildings, gardens and precious collections we protect. "— National Trust
It is a shame to cancel but the timings worked out for us and we know we will rejoin in the future, as the places they have within about hour of us are beautiful. We can continue to use it for another two months until our current subscription expires.
Offer to go out to dinner
Well it wasn't easy to turn down but in the end glad I did. Saving maybe £40-£60 even though I wasn't paying. I think the thing is that whilst I am not spending, it wouldn't be right to only succeed by allowing others to spend more.
Walk in the countryside - free and priceless
It was really nice to take a two mile walk in the local countryside. Animals seen: a rabbit, lots of cows and horses, some rams, a couple of lama, starlings and a solitary crow.
A bit of a change in normal behaviour
I would normally have popped in the the local shop on the way home for something to eat but the thought went into and out of my mind, saving me about £6.
I wouldn't say that it has been easy in the first few days but I am enjoying the challenge of not spending.
Day 4 -
Is that newsletter trying to sell me something?
I think most newsletters are trying to engage with you and if you are anything like me, you check your emails first thing in the morning. So today I unsubscribed from three lists. I wasn’t really reading them anyway.
Newsletters are triggers to get you to do something, if it is from something your trying to stop - like spending - then it may be good to cancel, to reduce the noise of junk mail in your inbox.
Just checked my spending account!
I was disappointed to see £4.75 going out. I hadn’t spent anything? The payment was actually from the local food store from the 30th June. I guess this is a good example of how a decision of the past can negatively impact your future. If the spending account had been on zero or close to it, I could have gone overdrawn.
I do try to keep the spending account above a £100 at all times to avoid the overdraft trap. In effect £100 is my zero. If it goes below that, I have to stop sending or move money in. If you have set yourself a fixed spending limit for the month then hopefully you wouldn't need to transfer extra money in and could adjust your spending accordingly.
It's a windy day - 15-25 mile per hour gusts
If like me you're on an energy tariff that tracks the wholesale rate. You will know that a windy days usually means cheaper electricity. As the price today goes down as low as -5.4p and is below zero for 8 hours, it is the perfect day to charge the car to 100%.
Coffee, biscuits and an apple too
So a little forward planning has paid off. I just came into the office for a couple of hours. First I had to walk past about forty shops, as I parking in the shopping centre car park, that has three hours free. Including my favourite independent Italian cafe.
However, I made it to the office without spending. The black coffee I brought into the office a few days ago, was nice enough. Also, someone had put some biscuits in the tin, first time I have gone for these but appreciated. Had an apple as well.
Resident Align
Spent the afternoon watching a NetFlix Sci-Fi comedy called Resident Align. it was funny. Lucky I am not paying for it, so it is free to me. However, the bill payer should always be reimbursed at some point, would want to be a free louder. Free loading is not a nice thing to do, it put unnecessary pressure on other people and most people can't afford that pressure.
Evening Barbecue Food
The weather here has been hot this year. We supplied the location, charcoal and barbecue, friends brought some food which we shared. A cheap option for all of us.
Day 5 -
Nothing further spent so far this month. Seems to be going quite well - hopefully not famous last word. Parked for free, walked past all the shops and had coffee in the office. Working on a Sunday I hear you say. Well writing this does not feel like work, it feel cathartic and hopefully helpful to other.
### Automated bills day
The 5th of the month is our bill paying day. All our major automated payments come out on this day. This is delayed because it has fallen on a weekend, so tomorrow is the actual day. Why all on one day? Well I find it much simpler to plan for - I know the total and just need to make sure the bills account has the funds it needs.
- If we were in the real situation of a financial shock this month, this would be the account that needs propping up. As we do not believe that debt is the answer - we need to have an emergency fund in place ready to cover potentially multiple months of disruption. We would need to cancel as we are in this test, all non essential outgoings. We may even need to go further and reduce the essentials, so we have time to get back on our feet. I think this is natures way, it we just relied on debt, the next time would be much harder.
"My word of the day has to be cathartic - an activity that results in relief or an emotional release. Writing this blog post has both focused my thinking and given me time to make improvements to my financial life. Although this is public, you could do the same but just in your own private journal.
Properly messed up the parking today
It's a Sunday and so there is free parking just about everywhere in the town. However, I was only going to be there for an hour maybe an hour and a half at most. So I parking in the shopping centre car park as that has 3 hours free parking. Only problem is that I ended up working for much longer than expected, about four hours..
- The fine for being there one hour longer than the stated time: £100
- Pay it within 14 days and it goes down to just: £60
This is the first time this has happened to me, so annoying that it happened whilst writing this post. Obviously, I will pay it straight away to save £40 but it is a big impact. I normally set an alarm to remind me to move the car if in a car park but didn't.
Stayed up rather late to watch the England v Mexico World Cup game. Well worth not going to bed until 4:30am ish. No snacks or drinks because it was the middle of the night.
Day 6 -
A full day with nothing coming out of the spending account. Spending account currently has £100.11 I think if I could get to the end of a month without adding any funds to it, it will be a miracle.
- Today the automated bills come out of my bills account, mortgage, insurance, energy. All covered, nothing else coming out until 1st of next month.
As we are debt free, other than the mortgage the bills account is easy to manage. Each debt would have been an additional payment to have to think about and plan for - clearing them leaves to feeling calmer.
I was asked if I wanted to go for an afternoon tea that had been gifted. So we are doing that tomorrow. It is free but it is going to open up potential temptations and costs.
Day 7 -
Due to a switch in focus, I seem to have missed a day of doing this post. I didn't spend anything but my mind was on other things.
Day 8,
We went up into London today, to visit the Francis Crick Institute. Which I am sure you know is a Biochemical Research Centre - I know because I just looked it up. We went to watch the making of A Question of Science - it was about the state of our oceans. Quite depressing really.
However, I did have a sandwich from Pret for £5.99 - I was a little peckish.
Day 9,
I didn't spend anything today but the cost of yesterday came in. In London if you want to get around on public transportation you will be paying TFL but they calculate what you owe the day after. Each place you go through you tap your mobile and depending on your starting and ending destinations your bill is calculated. That can work out quite reasonably, in my case £10.40
Day 10 -
Quite a successful day in terms of not spending. We had a heart health lunch at home and then went out to the Walled Garden for coffee. £7.90 for two cappuccino's but I wasn't paying.
Went into the office for a few hours, free fruit and coffee. I realise that not everyone is lucky to have this but I do have to pay for the office, so if you choose to build something for yourself - you may be able to choose an office that has fruit on the menu.
Day 11 -
I haven't spent anything yet today but it is inevitable. England v Norway World Cup quarter finals. You may not know this but Norway is a neighbour and what I would consider a close friend of the UK. There is a North Sea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean but in places it is quite close - 185 miles from the Shetland Islands and the South West Coast of Norway, near Bergen. A lot of people in the UK are of Norwegian descent - due to the Vikings invasions it little while ago.
For us the football is a family thing, so we are going round to our son's house to watch the match. Which is really nice but a two hour drive there and back. Electricity isn't cheap today so no choice other than to charge.
Just one of the positives I have found from this not spending for a month challenge is that I am more focused on working. I have more time because spending can be quite time consuming. If you are anything like me, you would want to pick the write product to buy, which requires research.
We do need a new carpet cleaner but they are not all as good as each other, so how do you choose? Well you could ask:
- friends and family
- watch influencers online
- read a comparison websites
- check a manufacturers site
- check a site where they sell them
- go to a shop and have a look
I think we can agree that making a good choice can be really hard. If you get it wrong, you're sort of stuck with an overpriced not so good cleaner that doesn't quite do a good job - or takes for ever to charge or clean.
As well as having to take the time to try and get it right, you are also spending perhaps £150-£250. Based on your take home hourly rate, how long do you have to work to earn enough to buy it. With minimum wage in the UK (on the day of writing this) is about £12.50 (not taking into account 20% tax and national insurance) that would be 12-20 hours work. Let's say you take 4-8 hours to choose what we hope is a good model - at minimum wage that's £50 - £100.
So by not spending you save both money and the time that you could instead direct towards a project, overtime or other money making activities.
Day 12 -
6pm and nothing spent so far but really tempted to go out to the shop, as I am feeling a little hungry. If I wasn't doing this challenge, I wouldn't have given it a second thought.
So what are some of my alternatives:
- Break the challenge and go and get something nice
- Try and find something in the kitchen of already bought food
- Go without - good for a bit of intermittent fasting
If you're not shopping in your own kitchen, now is the time to start. Food waste is a problem in the UK. So I guess being mindful when you are shopping so that you don't look in a full fridge, freezer or cupboard and think, "there is nothing there I fancy".
We do try to buy foods that are not full of preservatives, so that means buying more regularly. However, it is hard to guess what you may feel like in a few days time.
The current heatwave is not helping. If you find it difficult to sleep it can raise your level of anxiety which can lead to poorer decision making.
Day 13,
We are currently experiencing a heatwave caused by global warming, which is drying out the soil leading to wild fires, food and water shortages, untimely heat related deaths and sleepless night putting us all under increased stress. Perhaps I am now reconciled to the facts. It has already gone too far and as governments are unable or unwilling to do much to change our trajectory, we are hurling towards our mutual destruction.
However, on lighter note I took a half day and went for a picnic at a local National Trust. Lovely gardens in the grounds of Nymans. Interestingly, most of the house burned down many years ago and is now mostly a folly, with a few liveable rooms left. Perhaps a metaphor for our near future world.
- Another day has gone by without spending - so close to half way! Nothing has come out of my spending account since 9th July, leaving £83.72. I can't believe that I will get to the end but here is hoping.
Our flight to Italy in October was cancelled, so we have rebooked for mid August. I would expect to have some costs coming in for that.
Day 14 -
Our charging post is after five year in the ground, rather rotten. So we need a new post and a few bags of post concrete to make a replacement. the cost of this looks to be £32.50 - can I delay this to the end of the month?
Day 15 -
Went into work early, so I could leave early. It was the night of the England v Argentina World Cup semifinal. There were a lot of expectations but unfortunately, we did not win. However, we should be really proud of the team getting as far as they did.
However, this post is about resisting the temptation to spend - it was two hours there and back to watch the match with family but nothing else spent.
Day 16 -
This was quite an eventfully day. It seemed hotter than ever despite only being 27c. We took a picnic to the lake and after went up the hill to the cafe, two cappuccinos £7.70 - I just couldn't hold out any more. It was worth it for the view.
- Went to work much later in the day.
Day 17 -
So we need to get to Canary Wharf to gp to the theatre. This is tricky because one of use will not go on the tube, especially in hot weather. So instead we are going to hop on the boat which should be nice but not so cheap.
The tickets for the theatre we bought by someone else that couldn't go.
Chances are there will be food a drink involved - I am writing this the night before whilst trying to work out the route.
Day 18 -
Yesterday's little trip into London was expensive as expected. However, it is important to note that it was a lot of fun, the food was great and the theatre very good. The theatre was especially built for the show and if you like The Hunger Games, you may well enjoy the show, costumes, seats (if your on the moving ones)
Travel into London
#### Public transport
The TFL Travel for one day added up to £34.30 each, that's £68.60 for two. Public Transport - does this sound expensive to you?
We could not go on the tube, so tapped in on the river boat. Every claustrophobic will know the problem that lifts and tubes can present.
#### Own car
One issue we have in London is the speed limit is mostly 20 miles an hour - so really slow by car. 22 miles takes a minimum of an hour - excluding traffic, previously just 40 minutes. Is someone trying to make public transport seem like a good idea?
- parking is both limited and expensive.
- the Blackwall Tunnel costs £4 each way - needs auto pay set up otherwise you risk a fine and you have to remember to pay manually which is time consuming
- You may also have to think about ULEZ at £12.50 per day
- Congestion charge is £18 a day in central London
Food and drink
If you are out all day, you don't have much choice to buy some food and drink too. £7.20 on two coffees and £76.50 on food at the theatre with a bottle of spring water.
Could have just had the free water available at the theatre.
That was mostly about yesterday. Nothing spent today.
Day 19 -
I went to work early, which was nice. On the way back I picked up some post concrete for £7. 49. Hopefully, this will be enough for a temporary fix of the EV post.
We went for a picnic, which was nice but spend £12 of the food and another £7.60 of coffee. I did look around for some cash, some in a draw some in the bit in the middle between the seats in the car. I think it is still money!
Day 20
I do feel like I have failed this months challenge. Spending nothing has obviously not been achieved and the more I spend the more I want to spend.
The car is now clean but I am £10 down. The local car wash takes for ever. It is popular and therefore slow, so if there are a few cars in front of you, you could be waiting for ages.
Once I got to work there was no coffee, so I made the terrible decision to go out, I spent £9.50 on a fancy coffee and a sandwich - mushroom and tomato on a seedy roll. Then I spent £5 on a jar of coffee convincing myself that it would save me from going out for coffee late in the week.
On the way home I found myself buying a sandwich, some easy peelers and a few other bits. £10.65 spent.
Anyone reading this with a degree degree in maths will have realised that the amount spent is more than the amount of money I had, so I transferred in £50 to keep me going. This is the point of the emergency fund in a savings account:
- Spending is infectious, like a disease
- Perhaps I just can't stop
- It is too much of an addiction
I perhaps need a bit of a reset - for the next ten days of the challenge. Let's forget all the times I have spent during this month and focus instead on being positive for the rest of the month.
I know I have three things coming up:
- The parking fine
- My brothers birthday
- The hygienists
Perhaps, it is ok to say spend nothing other than these? Or is that just a cop out.
Day 21 -
My parking fine arrived today! So £60 to pay (as paid within 14 days) plus an admin fee of £12.50 from the leasing company to let me know I had a fine. Not a great start to the day. I had to transfer another £100 into the account, as yesterday's £50 was not enough to cover it.