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Why Gen Xers Should Try a No-Spend Month
Give yourself a financial wake-up call by pressing pause on nonessential purchases
Paige Vickers
Key takeaways
- Gen X spends more than any age group, with average annual household expenditures of nearly $96,000 in 2023.
- A pause on discretionary spending can help simplify choices, curb decision fatigue and save money.
- Enlisting an accountability partner, avoiding social media and planning free activities can reduce impulse spending.
In 2021, Meredith Klapheke was feeling the financial pressure of building a new home just as uncertainty crept into her job. She knew she needed to dial back unnecessary purchases, so she decided to try something she’d heard about from a friend: a “no-spend challenge,” a commitment to eliminate all discretionary spending for a month.
Klapheke put a pause on buying clothes, home goods and other nonessentials, including her daily stops at the coffee shop for green tea. She says the challenge raised her awareness of her purchasing habits. “It is very eye-opening when you see how much you’re habitually spending on things without realizing it,” she says.
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The 45-year-old Bowling Green, Kentucky, resident found the challenge so beneficial that she continued it for another five months, and she has done it once or twice a year since then. She’s now in the habit of asking herself before making a purchase, Is it adding value, or is it just another item I will be adding to a yard sale?
Fellow members of Generation X — generally defined as Americans born between 1965 and 1980 — might benefit from a no-spend challenge. Gen Xers spend more than any other age group, with average annual household expenditures hitting nearly $96,000 in 2023, the latest data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Challenging yourself to a month with zero discretionary spending might seem like an extreme way to get your finances under control. But, as Klapheke experienced, it can bring much-needed clarity to where your money is going. Plus, you might find there’s room in your budget to pay down debt, save more for retirement or achieve other financial goals.
Here’s what to know before taking a stab at a one-month no-spend challenge.
Consider a complete discretionary spending ban
Despite the name, a no-spend challenge doesn’t always entail cutting out all discretionary expenses. However, Jen Smith, coauthor of Buy What You Love Without Going Broke, recommends that first-timers fully commit. “Saying no to everything is the best way to start,” she says.
One benefit of a strict approach is that it simplifies your choices. By removing gray areas, you’ll avoid the decision fatigue that can derail your efforts, says Smith, who has done numerous no-spend challenges and self-published The No-Spend Challenge Guide in 2017. A complete ban on discretionary spending also maximizes your savings.
The goal is to buy only the things you need, such as groceries and gas, and to pay mandatory bills, like utilities and car payments. New clothes, restaurant meals, food delivery, coffee shop purchases, happy hour drinks and other discretionary expenses are off-limits.
The challenge doesn’t have to start on the first day of the month, especially if, say, you’ve already committed to attending a friend’s birthday dinner on the fifth of the month. Just pick 30 or 31 consecutive days to devote to the task.
How to get started
Don’t wing it, says Andrea Woroch, a consumer savings adviser in Bakersfield, California. Start by reviewing your bank and credit card statements from the past three months, Woroch recommends. Identify all discretionary expenses — everything from streaming services and newspaper subscriptions to takeout and restaurant meals. Then, focus on cutting out those costs.
You might discover easy ways to save money. For example, subscribers waste an average of $27 per month on unused paid subscriptions, according to a 2026 survey by financial technology company Self.
Control the urge to spend
Avoiding shopping triggers can make it easier to stick to a no-spend challenge. Smith recommends staying off social media to dodge the constant barrage of advertising and pressure from influencers promoting products.
If you tend to shop when you’re bored, make a list of free activities you can do to fill time — even simple things like taking a walk, doing a crossword puzzle or listening to a podcast.
To keep online shopping in check, consider taking a step back before making a purchase to assess whether you truly need it. Before Klapheke makes a purchase on Amazon, she’ll add the item to her cart and leave it there for several days before deciding whether to go through with it.
Enlist an accountability partner
Doing a no-spend challenge with a friend can make it feel like less of a chore, Woroch says. It can also improve your chances of success — research shows people who tell others about their goals often put more effort into achieving them.
Consider scheduling regular check-ins with your accountability partner. You can also call or text the person to celebrate wins and to get support when temptation beckons, Smith says.
When Klapheke did her first no-spend challenge, she enlisted two friends to join her. “We had fun with it,” she says.
Avoid falling back into bad habits
For many dieters, keeping the weight off after slimming down is the real battle. Limiting your shopping following a no-spend challenge is a similar test of endurance. “It’s impossible to be perfect. We’re going to fall back into old habits,” Smith says. “Course correcting is the best we can do.”
To stay the course, Smith has a monthly budget check-in with her husband. She also conducts a thorough audit of her spending once a year to identify categories where she can cut back.
If you want to set an ongoing challenge, you could commit to a no-spend day once a week. Woroch says her family does no-spend Wednesdays. “Picking a midweek day was easier, since it wasn't a common a day to go out and spend,” she says.
The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.
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