November No Buy: What I Learned

To say that this year’s No Buy was unsuccessful is probably an understatement. I did more shopping this month than any November previous. Albeit, the shopping was for other people and to restock The Reclaimed Resale. But there were more moments hanging not nowhere I picked up a little something for myself that I could have lived without.

But I have heard it said that nothing counts as a failure if you learn from it. And I firmly believe that.

Here's what I learned:
1) Don’t tempt yourself
I put myself in position to shop, whether for other people or not, and ended up spending cash. Now to be fair, it’s almost physically impossible to leave your house without spending cash. Almost. I managed to do it. I then took that cash that I would have spent at the end of the week and put it away.

2) Every little bit helps
While I may have dropped $10 on a new petite charm for my Pandora locket or $3 here and there at Starbucks, I did find myself moving aside cash strictly for my savings. It wasn’t any life altering amount, but it did leave me with a nice amount at the end of the month that I didn’t previously have.

3) Stop guilting yourself
So while I did spend more than I was supposed to, with each purchase, I felt a stinging pang of guilt. I started telling myself that i was failing this no buy (which was true) and that quickly moved to telling myself that I was a failure. And that is unhealthy.

I corrected this by purposefully fixing my self talk. I told myself I messed up, but i also told myself that I could still finish strong. I told myself I could make up for it. And, spoiler alert, I did. (We all talk to ourselves, might as well say something that will build us up.)

So, how much did I end up saving? A grand total of $448. Not bad for a person who botched the first 2 week’s of the No Buy. This year’s No Buy taught me so much about myself, about saving, and about commitment and being a person of your word. I feel like I have grown so much from this experience. As I wrap this year’s No Buy, I can do so with a little more wisdom, and a nice chunk of change for Christmas Shopping.

Thanks for following along!