Not sure what to give up for Lent? This page makes a simple Lent plan for you: one thing to give up, one prayer to add and one way to give. Tap “Another idea” until the plan fits, keep it, and tick off the days. All the ideas are also listed below.
My Lent plan
Give up
Pray
Give
How to choose what to give up for Lent
- Think in three parts. Jesus names prayer, fasting and giving to the poor together (Matthew 6:1–18). A good Lent has a little of each, and that is why the plan above has three lines.
- Choose one thing, and make it exact. “No sweets” works better than “eat better”. “Phone off at nine” works better than “less screen time”.
- Let it cost you something, but choose what you can keep for forty days.
- Fill the gap. Put a prayer or a kindness in the place where the habit was. The time you do not spend scrolling is the time for your Rosary.
- Tell one person. A promise that someone knows about is easier to keep.
- If you fail, begin again the next morning. Lent is not lost by one bad day.
Things to give up for Lent
Food and drink
- Sweets, chocolate and desserts
- Coffee, or the sugar and milk in it
- Alcohol
- Fizzy drinks and juice: drink water
- Snacks between meals
- Fast food and takeaways
- Meat on Wednesdays as well as Fridays
- Second helpings
- Eating out: cook at home and give away what you save
- Crisps, chips and salty snacks
- Salt, sauces and seasoning on your food
- Energy drinks
Screens and media
- Social media, all of it or the one app you open most
- Your phone in the first hour of the day
- Your phone in bed: charge it in another room
- Video games
- Streaming and TV on weeknights
- Scrolling the news and the comments under it
- Online shopping for things you do not need
- Radio and podcasts in the car: drive in silence and pray
- All screens on one day each week
- Phones at the table
- Counting likes and followers
- Shows and videos that do you no good
- Group chats after nine in the evening
Comfort and habits
- The snooze button: get up at the first alarm
- Hot showers: finish with cold water
- The lift: take the stairs
- Buying clothes, gadgets or anything you do not need
- Smoking or vaping
- Late nights: keep a fixed bedtime
- The best seat and the first turn: let others go first
- The car for short trips: walk
- Background noise at home: work in quiet
- Betting, scratch cards and lottery tickets
- Sleeping in on Saturdays: get up and help at home
Words and attitudes
- Complaining
- Gossip and talking about people behind their backs
- Swearing and rough language
- Sarcasm and put-downs
- Having the last word in an argument
- Interrupting: listen until the other person has finished
- Excuses and blaming others
- Criticizing the people you live and work with
- Small lies and exaggeration
- Answering back to your parents
- Worrying out loud: turn each worry into a short prayer
- Quick judgements about other people
- Grumbling about school or work
Things to add for Lent: prayer
- Go to Mass on one weekday as well as on Sunday
- Pray one decade of the Rosary every day
- Pray the whole Rosary every day
- Read the Gospel of the day every morning
- Pray the Stations of the Cross every Friday
- Go to confession before Easter, and choose the date now
- Spend ten minutes in silent prayer every day
- Visit the Blessed Sacrament once a week
- Say morning and night prayers every day
- Say grace before every meal, also when you eat out
- Read the Gospel of Mark, one chapter a day
- Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day at three o’clock
- Make an examination of conscience every night
- Pray for a different person each day, and tell them
- Read a spiritual book for fifteen minutes a day
- Pray the Angelus at noon
- Pray every day for someone who has hurt you
- Learn one prayer by heart, such as the Memorare
- Go to the liturgies of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil
Ways to give in Lent
- Give the money you save by fasting to the poor
- Put a coin in a jar every day and give it away at Easter
- Give away one thing you own every day: forty things in forty days
- Help once a week at a food bank, a soup kitchen or a parish project
- Visit or phone someone who is lonely every week
- Write a card every week to someone who needs encouragement
- Forgive someone, and tell them
- Do one job at home every day without being asked
- Give a tenth of what you earn during Lent
- Put your phone away whenever someone is talking to you
- Sit with someone who is alone at lunch
- Give blood
- Eat soup and bread on Fridays and give away the difference
- Pay one sincere compliment every day
- Help a neighbour with shopping, a lift or the garden
- Give an hour a week to tutoring, coaching or helping at church
Lent ideas for children
Children are not bound by the Church’s rules of fasting, but they can learn early what Lent is for. Let the child choose, and keep it small.
Give up:
- Sweets, chocolate and desserts
- Fizzy drinks and juice: drink water
- Second helpings
- Crisps, chips and salty snacks
- Your favourite treat on school days
- Video games
- Screens after dinner
- All screens on one day each week
- The best seat and the first turn: let others go first
- An untidy room: make your bed every morning
- Being first: let someone else go first
- Complaining
- Having the last word in an argument
- Fighting with your brothers and sisters
- Small lies and exaggeration
- Answering back to your parents
- Grumbling about school or work
- Whining when you are asked to help
Pray:
- Pray one decade of the Rosary every day
- Go to confession before Easter, and choose the date now
- Say morning and night prayers every day
- Say grace before every meal, also when you eat out
- Pray for a different person each day, and tell them
- Pray the Angelus at noon
- Pray every day for someone who has hurt you
- Learn one prayer by heart, such as the Memorare
- Say a Hail Mary on the way to school
- Thank Jesus for three things every night
Give:
- Put a coin in a jar every day and give it away at Easter
- Visit or phone someone who is lonely every week
- Write a card every week to someone who needs encouragement
- Do one job at home every day without being asked
- Share your toys, and give some away
- Sit with someone who is alone at lunch
- Help a neighbour with shopping, a lift or the garden
- Put part of your pocket money in the poor box
- Draw a card for a grandparent or for someone who is ill
- Set the table without being asked
Lent ideas for teens
Most of the ideas above work for teenagers too. These are meant for them in particular:
- Energy drinks
- Counting likes and followers
- Group chats after nine in the evening
- Sleeping in on Saturdays: get up and help at home
- Answering back to your parents
- Learn one prayer by heart, such as the Memorare
- Sit with someone who is alone at lunch
- Give an hour a week to tutoring, coaching or helping at church
Lent ideas for families
Give up:
- Fast food and takeaways
- Eating out: cook at home and give away what you save
- Dessert on weekdays
- All screens on one day each week
- Phones at the table
- The TV during meals
- Raised voices at home
Pray:
- Pray the Stations of the Cross every Friday
- Say grace before every meal, also when you eat out
- Pray one decade of the Rosary together after dinner
- Read the Sunday Gospel together on Saturday evening
- Bless your children every night before bed
Give:
- Put a coin in a jar every day and give it away at Easter
- Visit or phone someone who is lonely every week
- Eat soup and bread on Fridays and give away the difference
- Choose one charity together and collect for it all through Lent
- Draw names, and do small kindnesses in secret for the person you drew
What the Church asks in Lent
Giving something up is a custom, and a good one. What the Church requires is less:
- Fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, for adults from 18 until their 59th birthday.
- No meat on Ash Wednesday, on the Fridays of Lent and on Good Friday, for everyone aged 14 and over.
- Confession of serious sins at least once a year, and Holy Communion at least once in the Easter season (see the precepts of the Church).
To see the rule for any date, use Can Catholics eat meat today?. The dates and the readings of the season are on our Lent page.
Frequently asked questions
Do Catholics have to give something up for Lent?
No law says so. The Church requires the fasting and abstinence listed above and calls Lent a time of penance (Catechism 1438). Giving something up for the forty days is a free custom that many Catholics keep.
What can I give up for Lent besides food?
Screens, comforts and ways of speaking: social media, the snooze button, complaining, gossip. See the lists above.
Do Sundays count in Lent?
Sundays are not days of fasting. Whether you keep your own sacrifice on Sundays is up to you; many people do.
What if I break my Lent promise?
Begin again the next day. The point is to turn back to God, and beginning again is exactly that.
Can I give up more than one thing?
Yes. But one thing kept for forty days is worth more than five things dropped in the second week.
When does Lent begin and end?
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on the evening of Holy Thursday. In 2027 that is February 10 to March 25, and Easter Sunday is March 28. The tool at the top of this page counts the days for you.