7 Frugal Living Challenges to Boost Your Financial Health Quickly

1. No-spend month challenge

The first frugal challenge is to have a no-spend month. You just challenge yourself to have a month where you only spend money on essential items like food, bills, and transportation.

Essentially, you avoid any unnecessary purchases and just find creative ways to make do with what you already have.

Then, you take the money you would normally spend on those things, and you put it into a high-yield savings account so that your money can make money.

I guarantee you that in the process, you're going to discover some alternatives that you're going to want to hold onto beyond the 30 days.

2. Meal planning challenge

Number 2 from my list of frugal challenge ideas is a meal planning challenge. By planning your meals for a whole month in advance, you ultimately minimize food waste, and you save money on groceries.

It also gives you a reason to take advantage of those savings you get when you buy in bulk. And you can do it with a plan, so you're not buying all this extra food and then not actually using it.

Just make sure you use your leftovers strategically and try to incorporate some more affordable ingredients into your dishes.

3. Thirty-day declutter challenge

Challenge number 3 for how to control spending habits is a 30-day declutter challenge where you declutter just one area of your home each day for a month.

Decluttering not only clears up space, but it also reveals the things you already have so that you're not spending money on buying repeat items.

Start by making a list of the specific sections of your house that need to be decluttered, and then put one area on each day of your calendar.

Overall, it'll be easier to successfully declutter your house because you're only doing one small space at a time, making it far more manageable.

4. DIY project challenge

Challenge number 4 is a DIY project challenge. This one is great for anyone who can look around their house and see a number of things that need to be repaired, but haven't been repaired yet because you either haven't had the money to do it, or you just haven't had the time.

You simply start by making a list of all those things. Next, look up some tutorials on YouTube and just have at it.

You can also challenge yourself to learn a particular DIY skill like sewing, carpentry, or car maintenance, and commit to practicing or completing one related task every day for 30 days.

There's no telling how much money you can save when you just look it up, look around, and try to see what you can do for yourself.

5. No entertainment spending challenge

Challenge number 5 is a no entertainment spending challenge. You just challenge yourself to find free entertainment options for one month.

You can eliminate going to the movies or going to plays, no renting movies on Amazon Prime. You can even go so far as to pause or cancel your streaming services for the month, and then put that money into your savings account.

You can also pack up a lunch and go out and explore some local parks, have a picnic, pretend like you're a tourist, and take the opportunity to learn about your own city.

You can go to your town's visitor center, get some maps of historical sites, and conduct your own tour. You'd be surprised what you don't know about the place where you live.

You can also just Google search ‘free events near me’ and put some activities on your calendar so that you can start the challenge out with a solid plan.

6. No-driving challenge

Challenge number 6 is a no driving challenge. And this one could be kind of tight, but you can minimize so many of your transportation expenses by using alternative modes of getting around. Use public transportation, walk, ride a bike, get a ride with someone else whenever possible.

Something else that can also help with this challenge is if you just decide to stay home a little bit more often instead of going out. Remove any unnecessary outings from your calendar, do your grocery shopping for the month before the challenge starts, so you're not having to drive to the market.

And this challenge really can save you so much money on fuel, parking and maintenance costs.

7. Financial education challenge

Challenge number 7 is a financial education challenge. You just invest in your financial knowledge by dedicating time each day to learn about personal finance, get one or two books, and commit to reading a couple of chapters a day, listen to some audio books, listen to podcasts, and attend webinars or workshops to enhance your understanding of budgeting, investing, and planning for your future.

The more you know, the better equipped you'll be to make smart financial decisions. And trust me, a good month of information saturation is such a great way to really shift your mindset and get you headed in the right direction.

Frugal living challenges

The key to doing any frugal living challenge is to have your activities planned out ahead of time. If you try to do things willy nilly, you'll most likely just revert back to your usual behavior before the month is up.

So make sure you stay focused on your goals and you can choose to do one of these challenges or do one challenge each month for the next seven months. Share your experience in the comments below.