No Spend November


We just got back from Austin and for the rest of this month we have issued ourselves a challenge. We call it, "No Spend November". Our goal is to get through November, spending as little money as humanly possible.
Why?

Well, for a couple of reasons. Terrence and I have travel goals to meet next year. We are hoping to make 3 Europe trips and 4-5 domestic trips. That's AWHOLELOTTA trips. Trips cost money. And as much as I HEART my job as a yoga teacher/freelance writer/author/brand ambassador/general badass... I'm not stacking the cheddar if you feel me. Partner that with our wine guzzling, Whole Foods devoted, Victoria's Secret FOREVER Angel Card holding, juice cleanse like-it's-my-birthday, dinners out on the town lifestyle and you get two lovely married folks who could stand to take a break from the constant bleeding of money.
Secondly, because it's good for us. We have an opportunity to turn off that switch in our minds that says "buy, buy, buy. Consume, consume, consume". We don't want to be the people who just have accumulate stuff. Reminds me of the George Carlin clip:

So... how are we going to do it?

For one thing, no more paying for dinners out. Not this month. We have saved up all of the gift cards we have been given this last year (dining) and we can only use those to go out to eat. So two of the weekends are set for a night out, courtesy of our loved ones. Secondly, no other buying besides grocery and gas. And even then, my goal for groceries is less than $100 each week.
No new clothes, no makeup. no shoes, no suit jackets, no antiques, no nothing. No throw pillows. No chenille blankets. No interesting new corkscrews or special water bottles, or on-sale dish towels at Target, Nothing.

What about Christmas? Ahh, we'd already thought of that. We bought ALL of our Christmas gifts in September and October because I am a genius. Actually I get all of my shopping done before November every year, because last minute ANYTHING freaks my shit out.

We will have to find some fun activities to keep us busy and entertained. That allow us to disconnect and reconnect and have oodles of (free) fun. Wish us luck, and I'll keep you posted on the stuff we find and get into. (To be honest though, I'm not too worried. We'll figure out awesome activities when we get our heads together)
Have you ever had a "No-spend month"? How did it go? What types of activities did you do?

Popular Posts