It’s easy to have no-spend days or even weeks when we have no money at all. Simply because we have no choice, especially when we can’t borrow any money either.
The challenging task is when we are a freelancer, an entrepreneur, or anyone with a lot of money, but with irregular income. One month we earn a lot of money and the next month you earn nothing.
This COVID pandemic teaches us, people with irregular income, to be even more careful when it comes to spending as there’s no such thing as ‘weekly or monthly payday’ in our dictionary.
This means, we should always strive for saving as much as we can, and spending as little as we can. Good self-discipline is essential.
Below are six tips on how to avoid temptation in a no-spend commitment:
1. Understand Why You Choose ‘No Spend Commitment’
A commitment is only doable if you understand why you’re doing it. Otherwise, you’re unlikely to stick with it.
2. Understand the Difference Between a Want and a Need
As described in this post, the most basic question to ask ourselves to tell the difference between a want and a need is: “how will a certain item affect our work and day to day life?” As an example, If we think we need a new umbrella because it’s pretty but we’ve already had an umbrella, then we don’t need another umbrella.
3. ‘Focus’ Instead of ‘Avoid’
If you want to visit Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, or any other social media platforms, make sure you’re aware of the possibility of looking at things you ‘think’ you may need. Rather than ‘avoiding’ pictures of things that may tempt you, focus on things that will not tempt you, like inspirational quotes, art, gardening tips, DIY projects, cleaning tips, food recipes, etc.
4. Remove Temptation
Reorganise your emails by unsubscribing all emails that may contain shopping temptation. Do not visit any online stores unless you know what you need to buy.
5. Plan Your Meals
Planning your meals helps remove the temptation of eating out or buying takeaways. It also helps you maintain your weight within a healthy range.
6. Adopt a Gratitude Mentality
This is probably the most forgotten one when it comes to avoiding temptation. People are busy distracting, modifying, and avoiding certain situations and often forget to adopt a gratitude mentality. A gratitude mentality is simply a mentality that makes us aware of what we already have. This makes us feel content and lower our obsession of wanting more, especially things we don’t need.
