Boost Your Savings And Learn New Skills With A Frugal February Challenge!
February… The holiday season is officially over, the weather is gloomy and cold, the days are short, and the anticipation of spring still feels far away. For many of us, February can be a challenging month, especially if we’re facing credit card bills from the holiday season or a list of goals that we haven’t seemed to make much progress on.
Fortunately, there is hope! Because February is the shortest month of the year, it’s the perfect time for a fun challenge that will not only help you learn some new money-saving skills but also help you make some headway on your financial goals.
A Frugal February Challenge can be completed by yourself or with a group of friends or family (which could make it even more fun!). The goal is to spend the least amount of money possible in order to boost your savings and ideally learn new, practical money-saving tips.
By reducing non-essential spending, finding ways to reduce existing bills, and increasing your mindfulness surrounding your spending habits, you can use this short month to improve your personal finances, develop better habits, and put your money to work for you.
Frugal February Savings Challenge Ideas
There are many ways to save money, I hope you can find some ideas here to implement in your life. Remember, it’s a challenge, so get outside your comfort zone and try something new and uncomfortable!
Freeze Your Spending: Choose a category from your budget and freeze your spending completely. Obviously, this won’t work for categories such as groceries or utilities but what about restaurants, entertainment, streaming services, unnecessary clothing, etc? Pick a category and do a no spend month!
Practice Negotiating: Unfortunately, inflation has affected almost every aspect of our lives, including things such as auto insurance and utilities, but there are still clever ways to save!
Pick a monthly bill, such as your Internet bill, and spend half an hour shopping around. See if you can find a company offering a cheaper, introductory offer and make the switch! Additionally, you can ask your gas and/or electric providers if they offer any budget plans that could save you money.
Negotiating can also be helpful if you’re faced with medical bills - if you have a pesky bill hanging over your head, call and ask for a negotiated rate.
Celebrate The Cozy Way: If you plan on celebrating Valentine’s Day or any other special occasion this month, try celebrating at home! A cozy celebration will not only save you serious cash but will also provide you with an opportunity to be creative! Break out your nicest dishes, light some candles, and cook one of your favorite meals.
Do The Thing You Always Mean To Do: I’m sure most of you have a special hobby you purchased materials for (maybe during the pandemic?) that you never actually seem to find the time to do. Perhaps it’s playing the piano, learning how to garden, or knitting a blanket.
Instead of going out to see a new movie in theaters or attending a concert, look around the house and utilize the tools and materials you already have to create an entertaining weekend.
Implement Mindfulness: This month can also be the perfect time to increase your money mindset skills and one of those skills is mindfulness! When you’re faced with a purchase over $20 (or another increment of money that makes sense for your budget), try waiting 24 hours before pulling the trigger.
This helps you pause and linger on the purchase in order to ensure you truly need (or want) the item or experience. You may find that the purchase is truly great and worthwhile or you may find that you completely forgot about it once you got home. Either way, the part of your brain that helps you make smart decisions will be engaged and you’ll practice a great skill!
Change Up Your Transportation: If you find yourself always calling an Uber or sitting in the same traffic as your coworker… find a new way to get around this month!
Before ordering an Uber, try asking a friend to give you a ride instead (and be willing to return the favor). Sync up your schedule with a coworker who lives near you and try carpooling for a week. If you live in a major city, check out the public transportation system.
You just might find a new, sustainable option for your transportation needs and save tons of money!
4 Tips for Success
Finding a couple of ideas for your Frugal February Challenge is just the beginning! You’ll want to ensure you feel motivated and empowered along the way. Use these four tips to help boost your success.
Gamification: This is a great way to create rewards, set goals, and track progress. Adding a gamification element to the frugal challenge process can make it more enjoyable and engaging. Use progress charts - either through an app or on paper - and create mini-goals. Perhaps if you carpool all week to work, you can pick up a coffee on Friday as a mini (frugal) celebration.
Accountability: As we mentioned before, you can complete the frugal challenge by yourself, but it’s a lot more fun and motivating when you do it with others. Ask a friend if they’d be willing to join you (or at least hold you accountable) this month.
Outside Resources: There are many resources to help you in your frugal journey this month. Applications such as Rocket Money can help comb through your accounts and find subscriptions you may have forgotten about and they can even help you negotiate your bills!
Budgeting software can help you track your spending, while Buy Nothing and No Spend Facebook groups can provide you with free items, motivation, and frugal tips.
A money coach can help analyze your whole financial situation and give you the tools you need to complete a frugal February challenge and cheer you on along the way.
Focus On What You Can Do: Instead of having a depravity mindset, consider your frugal challenge an opportunity to try out and discover new things!
Finding new trails to hike, going to free museums, or learning how to host a fun, frugal party at your house are all things that can provide value and enrich your life. Don’t focus on what you can’t buy or do, but instead on what you can!
Put Your Money To Work
So what should you do with all the money you’ve saved all month? Put it to work! This will look different for everyone depending on where you’re at with your financial goals. But here are a couple of great options for that extra cash.
Fully fund an emergency account: If you don’t have one already, you can use your extra money to fully fund an emergency fund. For an emergency fund, it’s generally recommended you have 3-6 months' worth of expenses in a highly liquid account. Emergencies can quickly derail your financial progress but having an emergency fund can help ease the burden.
Pay off debt: Debt can also hinder your ability to make progress on your financial goals. Consider throwing your extra cash from February at your debt so you can have lower payments and eventually achieve more financial stability and freedom.
College: Now is a great time to set up automatic savings for little ones - even if it’s $20/month. If you have older children, you might want to be saving higher amounts, but any little bit helps. Maybe use the money from one of the subscriptions you canceled and put it into an account for your child’s future education.
High-yield savings accounts: A lot of companies are paying above 3% interest right now for high-yield savings accounts. If you have short or medium-term savings goals, such as a down payment on a house or a new car, consider putting your savings into an account that will pay a decent amount of interest but still be highly liquid and safe.
Invest: If you have a fully funded emergency fund, no debt, and no short to medium-term savings goals, investing your extra money could be the perfect next step! You can focus on shorter-term investing through a brokerage account or focus on long-term, retirement investing in an individual retirement account.
Complete The Frugal February Challenge And More With Budget Babble
A Frugal February challenge is a great way to boost your financial success, especially if you are new to personal finance. A challenge like this is just one of many possible strategies in your financial journey.
At Budget Babble, we love analyzing our client’s unique circumstances and goals in order to give them the tools they need to succeed. To see if we can help you send us an email to schedule a complimentary discovery call at lindsay@budgetbabble.com, or simply click here to find a time on my calendar.
Written By: Lindsay Dell Cook
Lindsay Dell Cook is a CPA and Financial Coach. She founded Budget Babble in 2016 and has been working with individuals and couples to improve their financial lives since. When she’s not working, Lindsay can be found on a walk with her family or snuggled up with a cat and a good book.
