No Spend Days: Are You Ready?

Learn tips for no spend days and how to achieve not spending money. Even if you’ve never done it before, you can do it!  Create less physical clutter in because you’re not bringing in more stuff each day. Are you aware of how much you bring into your home each day, each week, each month or each year?

Can you do no spend days?

Are you tired of all your stuff? Have you found yourself spending more than you’d like each month? Do you really know where your money is going? Learn how to reign in spending with spend free days.

Certified life coach, author & award-winning professional life organizer Julie Coraccio shares steps and tips to support you in creating the life you choose, deserve and desire through decluttering your life, mindfulness and how to organize your life.

Transcription for No Spend Days

Julie Coraccio 0:01

Today on clear your clutter inside and out. We’re talking about no spending day.

Are you tired of all your stuff?

Have you found yourself spending more than you’d like each month?

Do you really know where your money is going?

Learn how to rein in spending with spend free days as we continue our month focusing on clarity.

Do you control your clutter? Or does your clutter control you? unclear your clutter inside now. We’ll teach you awareness as well as action steps to create change in your life. Come on. Let’s get started.

Today’s episode was inspired because of downsizing last year when we downsize We put a big chunk on our house to basically took the proceeds from the house in North Raleigh and put it all on the house and Andrea and I we did that fence for the cats because that was the whole reason like one offense for the cats can enjoy being outside be safe. I did a little calculator. They have a cool little thing if you it tells you how much you can save so we saved $40,000 in interest and you know for us $40,000 is a chunk of change and cut nine and a half years off our mortgage, get a 15 year mortgage at nine and a half years. And and so we are now putting they It was funny so they use something called a recast and still stretch it out 15 years we’re like That’s ridiculous. We are going to get this paid off. Our goal is in five years or less to get the mortgage paid off because our mortgage is our biggest expense. And then we can really end Putting a little bit in savings but really paying down the mortgage. The other thing we decided to do 2019 ended a 30% solar credit. When we crunch the numbers, our current power company does a one on one match, which most people don’t think so that was probably the best deal you could get across United States. Anyway, we looked at this as a long term investment based on tax benefits, and everything and what we would have to pay out and we got a HELOC. And we’re putting socking away savings for that. It’s going to be paid off within a couple months. And so the reason we did that is one increases home value. The majority of months out the year. You need to do research usually don’t want 100% match on solar, but do your research on that. And so, meaning that a couple months out of the year we’ll have a small bill but our second biggest expense monthly expense after our mortgage, our utility bills now we’re down to just two Having an electric bill that I track because I work from home, I tracked everything and there was a dip going down of all things but for the last couple years and Raleigh, our electric bill increased 10%. And we are a saving house like they would give you a month copy every month. We’re like you’re one of the most efficient homes in your area based on your size based on the age of your house. And even though we’re in a more rural county, the rates are higher. They do differ rates by county. So Electric Company there while the solar company we work with said we estimate a 4% increase in like, why the numbers I’ve crunched them. So the 10% increase and with a believe in general in this country, where if not the world, we have power issues as as we continue to grow. So anyway, looking at that as a long term investment. And I share that because that’s our motivation. That’s our motivation not to spend Also, you can have like a slowly going to tire. You can be losing money and not realize it. How much are you paying attention to your budget? Are you really follow it? Do you even have a budget? also inspired because, as you know, I’m 60 and I’m not going to tell you how to turn 51 maybe when I’m 60 if the podcast is still going on, I’m not counting on Social Security. I’m not counting for the government or anything at all. I don’t expect that health care costs are going to be solved in my lifetime. If I God forbid, if one of us gets sick, I want to be able to save our lives. And so these are kind of the things as we age we think about things that are shaping our finances and and what we’d like to accomplish and getting that mortgage paid off. And this is why I want to do that. The episode today

because if you’re like man knows Some days I don’t think I can do that.

So why would you want to do no spend days? Well, peace of mind. Now money doesn’t make you happy necessarily, because I see a lot of people that have a lot of money, that it’s never going to be enough. They’re not truly happy. But it does give you, most people a certain sense of peace. You’re not going to go bankrupt if you have to pay for surgery, which for someone else that might happen. You’re not going to have to choose between keeping the lights on or having food that month. And so money on one hand, gives you peace of mind that allows you to want to take a vacation, you can do that to certain aspects of peace of mind that money allows you have maybe you’re in debt right now. Maybe your motivation Man, I hate seeing that every month I’m paying a 10% interest rate. my credit card just said it’s gonna jack it up to 18%. And Congress isn’t doing anything. So I’m having months where I’m just paying the interest to get my credit card paid off. Being debt is not fun. being in debt affects everything. If we didn’t have excellent credit, we wouldn’t have gotten a great mortgage great deal without having to pay for points. We wouldn’t have gotten a great huge block interest rate. If we were in debt, all that affects everything it affects your credit affects all but maybe you haven’t put anything towards retirement. Again, I’m not counting on the government. Maybe one of my nieces and nephew will hit the jackpot and be a billionaire. Who knows maybe we will maybe not. So I want to have money for retirement. I do not want to have to work if I don’t choose to when I’m 70 because a lot of seniors working there If I’m guessing correctly, don’t want to say I want to live. I don’t need to live high off the high I want to be comfortable. I want to still be able to have cats and have money to take them to the vet have money to take myself to the doctor and have money for retirement so that I don’t have to be working for the man every day until I die. savings you know they say I think you’d have six months a year of emergency savings. Never next up now we got busted up. What do we have now? I think we have a heat pump and they just replaced it two years ago and included invoice I think the heat pump was like six grand or something might remove 10 grands and like that’s a chunk of change. Do you have that in the savings we had last year had to replace the water heater? That was like I think 1500 dollars which wasn’t too bad. But we hadn’t been expecting or maybe it was two years ago we had to do that anyway. This is what we haven’t savings. We’re okay then you have no savings. Maybe your motivation to get some cash is to put into saving. You might want to invest money, you know, there are smart people that make their money work for them. Again, you know, I have a whole theory on that if you have not watched The Big Short please watch The Big Short every American needs to watch that film you need to be aware of what’s going on and watch it till the end when they say the last line that’s your and be like, what you might want to invest your money. And maybe don’t take the traditional route of stocks and bonds but maybe you’re want to be a venture capitalist. If you save money, you can invest it. Paying off student loans. The best thing my parents gave me when I graduated college, no student loans. I am eternally grateful for that. You know, Warren Buffett, who is one of the most brilliant investors of our time, gave each child and grandchild a home paid for their education. And most people like why he’s a billionaire. That’s not much I’m telling you to have a house paid for and have no student debt gives you a big leg up. And what we’ve done with the student debt, and student loans is I’m embarrassed by it, because it’s just predatory lending and I hope will stop someday. But anyway, you’ve got a lot of student loans, do those no spend days, they’re going to help pay that off. reduces your stress. You’re not worrying about where your next paycheck is gonna come if you have savings. If something happens, just all across the board, having money reduces your stress. And then stop wasting money on stuff you really don’t like.

Maybe you get something and it goes back to Europe and you buy the 10 for 10 at Kroger’s, or that you never really use, like oh, you know, I really like this and then you never were How many of you have Clothes h