Was it a perfect month? No. Did I succeed? Depends how you define success. Did I spend when I said I wouldn’t? Yes. But did I do better compared to a month without this goal where I wasn’t being as mindful? I think so!
About mid-month, while killing time between preschool drop-off and a doctor’s appointment, I found myself visiting two of my favorite thrift stores – each a little out of my way normally but convenient on this particular day. With time to kill, I thought “well I’ll just browse”. (Which for the record SOMETIMES I can do LOL) This day was not the day for browsing. I found a few goodies between the two stores for under a total of $25. About a week later, my husband’s truck was in the shop and I had a to-do list a mile long so I placed a grocery order for pick up to save time. Of course, it did not save me money. I placed this one at Walmart where I went over grocery budget for the week by $150. Ugh! Thanksgiving week we all caught a virus and I had to place a grocery order for pick up as I didn’t want to risk getting others sick nor did I have the energy to visit the store. Although this order was right at my budget for the week (maybe $6 over?), I could have saved more had I shopped in store with cash. Oh! Then also during the week of Thanksgiving we almost bought 3 pigs and 7 sheep (face palm and eye roll here) BUT we didn’t! LOL We decided the timing wasn’t right on those.
All of this to say is just because you set a goal, doesn’t mean that if you slip up, you automatically fail. You only fail, if you don’t learn something in the process. For me, I was WAY more intentional than I normally am with my thrifting. I knew I had (and still do have!) far too many projects lurking around the house in need of completion. I also knew with Christmas fast approaching, I could save those dollars toward gifts. Yes, I did have to splurge on grocery pick up orders twice out of convenience. But I thought about whether I could afford the time or money before hitting “order” each time. Although I didn’t 100% stick to my No Spend November, I did give it a great shot, and I’m excited to do another no spend challenge soon. Will you do one with me?