'No buy' challenges can help bring spending under control
BNN Bloomberg
With over $120,000 in student debt, Mychas realized her money habits needed an overhaul if she was going to get rid of financial stress and become debt-free. That's when she learned about "no buy" and "low buy" spending challengesthat help people cut back on their purchases.
As soon as Christina Mychas began making money in her career, she increased her spending so that she could upgrade her lifestyle.
"I was basically a shopaholic for years," said the 34-year-old Toronto-based pharmacist and online content creator.
"I'd spend on luxury goods, trips, restaurants -- your typical Insta-worthy lifestyle that I couldn't really afford in reality. Underneath all that spending, I was constantly worried about money and living paycheque to paycheque."
With over $120,000 in student debt, Mychas realized her money habits needed an overhaul if she was going to get rid of financial stress and become debt-free. That's when she learned about "no buy" and "low buy" spending challenges that help people cut back on their purchases.
"No buy" challenges -- in which people cut down or eliminate spending on certain goods and services for a specific amount of time -- have been gaining in popularity, partially due to the ability to customize a challenge to fit one's circumstances.
"1/8This 3/8 is basically a spending ban on an area you may have spent excessively before, or limiting the amount or frequency you spend there," she said. "Mine was makeup, food and clothing, so I took a detox for a few months. It definitely kickstarted my debt repayment journey and I was able to suddenly put down money I didn't even know I had on the debt. It was really motivating."
