A while back I read this post about The Small Notebook's "No Spend Month." I was shocked, impressed, inspired, but I did nothing.
Until a few weeks ago. When a dear friend pointed out that I'm always buying stuff. Who me? (in my most innocent voice) I don't shop that much. But it got me thinking. Hard.
It is unfortunately true. Even when I don't buy, I shop. A lot. I love shopping online, in person, you name it. I never met a store I didn't want to explore.
This, combined with a heart-to-heart about our financial goals and bloated credit card bill, gave me the push I needed to set a goal: No buying for 1 month.
For many people this isn't too hard. But for me, it's been quite a challenge.
For the first two weeks, I didn't buy, but I did shop. I quickly realized that shopping and not buying isn't very fun. Plus, think of the time I was wasting looking at stuff I had no intention of buying. And I do not like to waste time!
So, for the last two weeks of my spending "fast," I'm not going to shop either. Well, much. (some things are unavoidable)
I did buy groceries, but with a much smaller budget than usual. I'm also sitting in a coffee shop typing this. And, yes, I did buy a snack. But it's a far cry from my regular habits.
There are moments it's easy, but most of the time, the money is burning a hole in my pocket! I keep a mental (sometimes written!) list of all the wonderful things I'm going to buy when I can spend money again. But it has opened my eyes to just how much stuff I spend money on that isn't really necessary.
I even talked with my husband about it last night, and we're planning our own No Spend Month next year.
So how about you? Would you try a spending fast? Have you done it?
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