Saturday, February 1, 2020

5 Lessons I Learned after NO-BUY January


Finally!! After what felt like 138 days,  January is finally OVER ya'll! Seriously, this month has been ridiculously long. I'm happy to report that my NO Spend is over. I am very happy about that but also thankful for the experience. In hindsight,  it has been a huge blessing and I learned a lot about myself and my spending habits. Here are the top 5 lessons I learned from this NO SPEND month.

1. I have a shopping problem. I knew I kind of had a problem but after this month it is without a doubt that I have a shopping addiction. I found that shopping is my go-to activity for just about everything. I'm bored, cool just go shopping. I'm happy, great let's go shopping! I achieved ANYTHING, oh girl you deserve it, let's go shopping! I also found myself very sad to not receive a package almost daily. Amazon had become a daily dose of happiness. It didn't even matter what was coming, the simple fact that something was on the way for me made me feel amazing. Without that, I found myself feeling slightly sad.

2. I need a hobby. I need activities to keep me busy in times of boredom. Here are some ideas for activities that don't cost money. I did each one of these during this month and found it great alternatives to hitting the mall or browsing some of my favorite online shops


    1. Workout. This can be at a gym or simply taking a walk or popping in a tape at home.
    2. Bible Study. This is one hour a day you can spend fellowshipping and networking with other Christian minded individuals. It feeds your soul which is better than any shopping trip. 
    3. Cooking. Pick an amazing recipe you have never tried before and give it a shot. Cooking can be very therapeutic and rewarding to create something amazing. 
    4. Invest time in to your business. For me this can be through writing and planning. It cost nothing to edit a picture I have taken, or plan out next week's Instagram posts. 
    5. Enjoy the things you already pay money for. i.e Cable/ Netflix etc. 

3. Not Spending money can be very lonely. I mean you end up spending a LOT of time at home. That truly is the best way to not spend money. Stay in the house and for me stay off the computer. If I'm hanging out with friends it seems to always cost me money so unless I got an at home invite of some sort I stayed home. P.S. I got NO invites this month LOL. 

4. Discipline is a muscle that needs to be worked out often. I have created some very bad spending habits throughout the years for sure. I rarely told myself NO. I rarely planned for purchases and if I did it was never for longer than a month or two. I know this has to stop. For one being disciplined about my purchases allows me to think through purchases and be sure it's something I truly want. 

5. I NEED very little. The notion that I NEED something has been my favorite excuse for purchasing an item. When I started this challenge I felt anxiety because I didn't feel I could survive unless I had everything I 'Needed' first. Which is essentially cheating so I didn't do it and quickly realized I didn't 'NEED' much of anything outside of a few household essentials i.e toothpaste/ toilet paper. I also have a LOT of stuff. Stuff I had forgotten about and had tucked away deep in my closet/cabinet/pantry. The amount of duplicates I found in my pantry when I pulled everything out to organize. I had 4 bags of chia seeds an ENTIRE bottle of Olive Oil I had never opened not to mention the amount of almost full hair products I found. Pretty sure I thought I NEEDED all those things when I ran out to the store to waste my money on them. 

So there you have it dolls. My top 5 takeaways from this challenge. In short, am I glad I did it? YES! Am I changed forever? YES!! It felt great to be in control of my money again. That end of the month feeling of 'Where did all my money go?' was not a good one. And worst, it was rarely worth it. I mean I bought crap I didn't give a second thought to and was honestly out of control. I still enjoy spending money but it will be a lot more INTENTIONAL going forward. I plan on being Intentional not only with my wardrobe as laid out in my challenge HERE, but in all purchases I make going forward. So I'm curious to know, would you consider a NO BUY month? If so, what do you think would be your biggest challenge?? Let me know in the comments below. 


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3 comments

  1. I agree I did the same thing this month. Coming home to an empty mailbox and no packages at my door was horrible loll. I want to do better this whole year with spending money.

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  2. I am supposed to be doing a no-spend February and I don't think I'm going to make it

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