January No-Spend Month: Recap

Last week, I wrote that I was doing a no-spend challenge in January. I’m really excited about how this went, and I saved enough money to pay off one of my student loan groups well in advance. It was an exciting accomplishment for January!

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I thought it’d be helpful to record what I did spend money on for the month. I don’t include some of my basic expenses like rent, pet insurance fees, medical expenses, cell phone, and electricity. I also left off any expenses that would be reimbursed by my work. I don’t feel that bad about leaving things out since I don’t report my spending monthly on a regular basis ;). The table below reports my spending decisions as well as notes about each expense.

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This article contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Affiliate, I get a small commission from purchases made through my links. This comes at no cost to you, and I only recommend items that I believe in (in today’s post, my recommendations are point discounts for purchases). Read more about my affiliate decisions here.

Without further ado:

PurchaseAmountNotes
FINRA exam registration$175The registration fee for my Series 65 exam, which I’ll take in February. First thing I bought in January, and definitely a worthwhile purchase!
Etsy shop fees$13.33Spent more money on Etsy fees than I made on sales last month…Hopefully this trend will reverse soon.
Charity donation$5An automatic monthly donation
Hulu and Internet$42.98About as low as I can get it…though next month, this will drop $2!
Airbnb$118.55A really great booking for my youngest sister’s graduation in May. And, they allow dogs, so I’ll save money on pet-sitting!
Transportation$42.91Gas, a couple of parking meters, and a Lyft when I couldn’t stand the idea of taking the Metro…
Credit Card annual fee$95I was going to cancel this one (my Delta SkyMiles card), but I don’t have status yet this year, and they offered me an incentive of 7,500 extra miles to keep the card.
Groceries$80.20Way less than my normal monthly expenses! While I did plenty of eating out of my pantry and freezer, I really didn’t want to deal with no fresh produce for a month. This covered the basics for the month.
Amazon.com (Airbnb gift card)$29.99
At the beginning of the month, I found an awesome deal where if you paid for your Amazon order at least partially with American Express credit card points, then you got $30 off an order of $60+. The great part is you only need to pay with at least 1 point. So I used 1 point on my $60 Airbnb gift card and got $30 off! It’s a great deal that is still active, so if you want to see if you qualify, check it out here. Bonus, there’s a similar deal with Chase Rewards points, but it’s only $15 off $60+. See if you're eligible here!
Auto maintenance$414.76Some weird sounds in my engine, plus an oil change. Thankfully there was nothing serious going on, but they did recommend some preventative maintenance. I love my auto shop because they don’t try to upsell me, so when they do recommend maintenance, I trust them.
Student Loans$235.51This is my standard monthly payment. It’s above the minimum requirement, but not by all that much.
Retirement contributions$200I contribute this to my Roth IRA--$100 with every paycheck. Even though I don’t max out my 401(k) yet, this makes more sense than contributing to my Roth 401(k) because I can get lower fees by investing on my own in low-cost index funds through Vanguard, instead of being limited to the smaller selection of funds my employer provides.
Vet bills$1165Ouch…StarDog and SunCat both had annual exams this month, plus vaccines, and stocking up on flea/tick/heartworm preventatives. A small amount of this will be reimbursed by pet insurance because we did some lab work on SunCat to check on her health after her scare last fall. And, I’m just relieved that they’re both healthy now!
REI$27They had a great sale…I couldn’t resist. I got some good travel accessories, though I’m still keeping an eye out for a good travel backpack.
Chipotle$8.25My cheat meal eating out as a reward for studying. No regrets.
Student loan payment$679.56This month, I paid off one of my student loan groups that has been a thorn in my side. It has the highest interest rate (6.55%) and has been taking way too long to pay off for such a low amount. I decided to pause some of my other savings goals and just get this wiped out. I don’t regret it at all. Now, the payment I used to make on this monthly will go to another loan with the same interest rate (my other highest).
Series 65 study materials$100Bought a practice question set for my exam...can't wait till this is over.
Charity donation$60Annual membership cost in my women’s education group—the fee goes to fund scholarships for women in higher education.
Total, omitting student loan additional payment, auto maintenance, and vet bills$1233.72I'm omitting the student loan payment because it was an optional payment that was made possible by spending less on everything else. And the auto and vet bills were both one-off large expenses that I couldn't put off till the end of the month.

Recap and Strategy

This kind of spending isn’t sustainable long-term, but it was great for a turbo-charged month of saving. And it felt really good to knock out one of my higher interest student loan groups.

Another big benefit of this no-spend month was having a goal to work toward. It felt good when I didn’t spend money, like I was winning at a game. And it made it much easier to focus on studying for my exam next month since I didn’t have money-spending activities to distract me…

A couple of things made this feasible–I had plenty of food in my freezer to work through; leftovers and broth and frozen vegetables. Working through those wasn’t fun but did help with my grocery budget. And freed up space in my freezer for future batch-cooking! I had dried beans in my pantry, which made for several meals. I did spend some of my grocery money on flour, so I was able to make bread several times during the month.

One of the most important pieces of this no-spend month was setting my own rules. I knew I’d be better able to stick with it if I built in one fast-casual cheat option (my Chipotle). I also knew that there would be things that just made sense to buy this month. Study materials, vet bills, and my Airbnb purchase. I wasn’t going to wait on these things just because it was January.

If you’re thinking about a no-spend month, think about the things you’ll need. Both in terms of prep and exceptions to the “rule.” I also highly recommend making sure you know why you’re doing it. On that front, I loved Cait Flanders’s book, The Year of Less. She’s a wonderful writer and human being.


Well, it’s been a fun month. I enjoyed seeing how low I could get my spending, and the grocery bill was especially low this month–usually it’s 3x higher in a regular month (though that includes staples like paper products).

I’ll probably do another month like this later in the year because I enjoyed the challenge. Any advice on hacking my monthly spending more? I’d love to hear it!

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What I’m Saving For: 2019

row of piggy banks

2019 is shaping up to be a wild and exciting year for me, so I want to make sure that I’m saving for what’s coming up. There’s a few things listed in my budget categories at the moment, and I thought it would be helpful if I went through those here (as well as how I’m approaching each). I use the YNAB Budget System, so when I refer to categories, that’s what I mean. You can read more about my love for YNAB here.

Also, today is a very special day, and my GIFs are themed accordingly. You’re welcome.

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Continue reading “What I’m Saving For: 2019”

New Year and New Goals

Ok, I know that the New Year is actually not really the optimal time to set new goals. But there’s something so enticing about a new year and new possibilities. And this “new goal” has been in the works for awhile and is finally turning into reality. In the past year, I’ve made a lot of progress toward ongoing goals. I’ve paid off my credit card debt and traveled. I’ve focused more on self-improvement and read plenty of non-fiction books. But I also had some set-backs; I didn’t get a job I thought I wanted, and then spent seven months trying to figure out my life. That included clarifying my professional goals, turning down a few seemingly perfect opportunities that weren’t right for me, and thinking about relocating to a lower cost of living location. I wrote all about 2018 in my last post.

drinking champagne from fridge 2018 new goals
I need a drink after that 2018… (via GIPHY)
Continue reading “New Year and New Goals”

2018 in Review

It’s been a wild year. Actually, 2018 was pretty rough for me, with a lot of turmoil and uncertainty. But this last month, it feels like things have started to clarify in my life, and I’m hopeful for what 2019 will bring.

I’m going to break this post down by my three main categories–financial security, happiness, and health.

Continue reading “2018 in Review”

A Year of Book Recommendations: Nonfiction

I’ve always been a voracious reader, primarily of fiction (and specifically fantasy novels). This year, I decided to consciously track the books I read throughout the year, both so I could be keeping myself accountable with regard to reading more nonfiction, and so I could know how many new books versus old books I read/reread respectively.
belle reading book recommendations
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Charitable Giving in My Budget

charitable giving in my budget blog post

Happy Thanksgiving! I love this holiday so much because it emphasizes reflection on what we’re thankful for, and it’s the perfect start to the holiday season. The air has started to get crisp, and my whole neighborhood smells like woodsmoke from people starting to use their fireplaces. It’s all very hygge. But it’s also a time to think about your charitable giving.  Continue reading “Charitable Giving in My Budget”

An Anniversary, and Affiliate Links

Woohoo! Owning the Stars has been live for a year! This anniversary doesn’t feel like a huge deal because I know that I wasn’t posting very frequently at all in the beginning, but I am proud of what I’ve started here, and I love having this creative outlet.

With this milestone, I’ve started thinking about where I want this blog to go. I’ve mentioned my Etsy shop before, and I’d like to build this blog into something that might provide a modest side hustle income. That being said, it is so so important to me to stay true to the blog’s purpose and mission. It’s also important that I stay true to myself as well.

Continue reading “An Anniversary, and Affiliate Links”