you’re STILL not spending any money? for the whole year? i can’t believe you are STILL doing that! how are you surviving?
this remains a typical conversation for me since january. yes. i decided that for a whole year, i was not going to buy anything for myself or my house, other than basic necessities. i promise i am still buying soap.
now. if you’re thinking of going on your own personal spending freeze, you get to decide the time frame that works for you. it can be a week, a month, six months, every other month…YOU are in charge. and i am here for moral support!
why did i decide to do this? that’s a good question. sometimes i am still wondering myself! i am not a crazy over-spender to begin with. we are not in debt. it actually all started with a resolution. the funny thing is, i never even make resolutions. somehow this year became the year. you can read more about that decision here. but then come back!
once i decided to do a spending freeze, i took a few simple but important steps to set myself up for success. you can read more about those here.
now, here we are! nine months in. i said i would check in from time to time, with updates on what it’s been like. i started calling it an adventure because that sounds less hard. in all honesty, it hasn’t been nearly as hard as i thought. i have, however, largely failed on the updates. this is mostly because i wasn’t sure it was something you all wanted to read about. but i’ve had enough people ask about it, and enough conversations like the one above, that an update is probably warranted.
here is how i am surviving my year of no spending, and how you can too!. {i will divide my update into four categories in regards to most often asked questions.}
{1} how is it? not buying any new clothes for yourself?
well. i am certainly still wearing clothes every day and there is nothing wrong with the clothes i am wearing. they just aren’t new.
am i a LITTLE sick of them? yes. a LITTLE.
i own two rompers. i have been wearing them a lot. out with friends? i think i will wear my romper. church picnic? probably this romper will work. a cookout? oh good my romper is clean. i do have other clothes, but for some reason this has been the season of the two rompers.
i like clothes. i like to look nice. i mean. not all the time. i still spend 80% of my time in yoga pants {even though i have only done yoga twice in my life}. but i like to plan outfits for events. date nights. birthday parties. anniversary trips. movies with my sisters. coffee with friends. or even just days where i am sitting and working and want to feel like a human being.
for this reason, i am a LITTLE sick of my clothes. what i’ve learned, however, is that doesn’t mean i need new ones. usually when i am sick of my clothes, i buy a couple new pieces. giving myself the opportunity to NOT do this has been a great lesson.
no one has commented on my re-wearing of the same favorite outfits. either they don’t notice, don’t care, or don’t say it to my face. i have three brutally honest sisters, who wouldn’t hesitate to say it to my face. i figure if they’re not saying it, probably no one else is either. wink.
in the past, i’ve been hesitant to re-wear an outfit to something with the same group of people. i am embarrassed to admit i’ve spent unnecessary time trying to remember what i wore last time so as not to repeat it. what do i think now? who cares. now i wear what i want to wear {ahem. romper} whether i’ve worn it recently or not.
{2} have you cheated?
well, i told myself when i started this that i could buy a dress for my birthday, because i always do that. i bought two {one pictured here in our 10 year anniversary dinner picture. i LOVE this dress}. i felt a little bad about it for a minute but it was my birthday, and the dresses together were less than $50, so i got over it. then last week there was this dress at nordstrom rack. i was supposed to be there shopping for my sister. i was, but this was in my view from the aisle. my really-sick-of-wearing-the-same-thing self caved. i bought it. i’ve worn it four times already. in one week, i’ve gotten my money’s worth. but i still feel guilty about it so i am really not sure it was worth it.
three plain white tank tops arrived in the mail today. never in my life did i think i would be so excited about three plain white tank tops. i wear white tank tops under everything so these are the type of things i allow myself to buy. necessities. like soap.
{3} what about your home? you love decorating and DIY! how are you not going to homegoods?
this one has been easier, for the most part. don’t get me wrong, i am a sucker for seeing something on instagram and trying to copy it for far less money. now i just don’t even go to home stores. homegoods has completely forgotten that girl who used to walk in after she dropped her four-year-old at preschool three days a week. it probably wasn’t all three days. maybe two. maybe. i love looking at home stuff. but for me, looking leads to wanting, and wanting to thinking that i need it, and that leads to buying. if i don’t ever see it, i don’t need it.
what’s been really interesting about this, is allowing myself that wait time between seeing something i like, and buying it. since i am not buying, i see a lot of things i like on social media or in other people’s houses. i think to myself oh that would be a great idea for such and such room. then i don’t buy it and guess what? i forget about it!
i do miss projects. i love the creativity of it all. there is shiplap in my garage that is just dying to call either my bathroom wall or my kitchen island home. but i need other materials for the project. so for now i dream.
i look around my house and i really appreciate ALL of the projects we have already done. i am in the middle of writing a post on all the furniture pieces i’ve redone already. it’s an insane number. reflecting on projects already completed is fun! there are so many that i need to write about and writing doesn’t require me to buy anything. so right now, writing is my creativity.
one more thing. i hoard giftcards. i go to the store to spend them and then i don’t because i feel like i might need them more later!
{4} what have you discovered?
there are so many LITTLE things that have surfaced these past nine months in regards to this no spending adventure. and as you may or may not know, i am in the habit of noticing the LITTLE things {and i’d love for your to join me!} here are a few LITTLE things from this adventure:
1. repurposing things i already have using spray paint or other materials on hand.
2. having less stuff.
3. the way not buying things for myself or my home has extended my thinking to other buying habits such as groceries, school supplies, and things for the kiddos.
4. the example this sets for the kids. and having more money talks with them in the last few months than before.
5. releasing that pull to have to go check out a sale rack. realizing the sale really and truly will happen again if i miss this one.
6. looking at something in someone else’s house and just letting it be pretty in their house, not needing it in mine.
7. on top of not buying things, purging many things from our house. 2019 is going to start off as minimalistic as possible.
8. the way something really LITTLE seems so big. like when my sister found the birthday present she’d gotten for me and gave it to me three months late. i appreciate gifts more now because new things aren’t arriving daily from amazon.
9. telling other people i am not buying anything and seeing them consider it for themselves.
10. really thinking, all the time now, that i have everything i need.
to catch ups on this no spending adventure from the start, click here.
{want to save this idea for later? click the red save box on the image below to pin this post. or follow notice the LITTLE things on pinterest here.}
