Me with a homemade fancy coffee I made with my milk frother I mentioned in my last post.
So, the first couple of days of No Spend November were easy.
November third was a bit hard. I knew it would be a tough challenge as I am a compulsive spender and I love takeout. And I figured the beginning of the challenge would have some wrinkles that would need ironing out.
On November first and second I didn’t purchase anything but groceries.
On the third, I bought a class card for an exercise class at a gym for that weekend, and I bought it first thing in the morning. I had been debating it for some days, and it was something I knew I might buy going into the challenge (I mentioned it in my first post about the challenge.)
But I kind of just impulsively decided to sign up and pay for it. Which is fine, exercise is very important to me, I love the instructor, and it 100% falls within my personal parameters of the challenge.
But then Magdalena and I went to the store for pie crust, and I impulsively bought donuts and poptarts. Those are 100% not within my challenge parameters. Nor something I would normally eat. But, I moved on, it’s ok. We had them for breakfast. Crappy breakfast, but hey. Making mistakes, learning from them.
Then later in the day I forgot entirely about the challenge and bought a slice of pizza.
I. Bought. Takeout. UGH.
It took some reflecting to work out what made this day different than the other two.
I am such an all or nothing person. On the first, I knew I was going to purchase those groceries days before I did. I hadn’t planned on purchasing that gym class card, I hadn’t decided 100%. So, when I impulsively did, even when I decided it was ok, I opened the flood gates a bit. Up until then, I hadn’t been spending. (Groceries don’t count in my book. They’re boring.) I almost gave myself permission, by buying one thing, to just…buy.
Now, I am actually very proud of myself. Yes, I have already failed the challenge so to speak. (I have also won in so many ways – saving about $18 in fancy coffee!) As much as I am over analyzing here, it was all a quick thought process, and it was eye opening. I didn’t beat myself up, I didn’t let it ruin the challenge.
In the past, I would have used this as an excuse to go blow $100+ on something frivolous. But I just…Moved on and learned. That when I spend money on something in the future, even outside of this month, it isn’t an excuse for free-for-all spending.
Well, that’s about it for now. Enjoy this picture of myself and my kiddo and our photo bombing pup, Belle! Hopefully the next time we get out to that spot I will get lots of pics, it is really pretty – I sense a future blog post!
I am going to try to post an update about No Spend November every Monday. Also, I am going to keep a running tally at the bottom of every post with how much I have spent outside of the challenge.
The tally so far:
11/3 – Donuts: $3.75 (ish)
11/3 – Slice of pizza and chocolate milk: $4.75 (ish)
11/4 – Pattern (Another total impulse): $7.00
*Total spending outside of challenge = $15.50. Not too bad for the first week! *
Nantucket Knitter 