With Christmas fast-approaching and a few bills that are billed annually, I am leaning hard into a no-spend month for the month of November. It’s so hard to do when all of the cute Christmas decor starts coming out plus you’re being pushed non-stop Christmas ads, but sometimes it’s a must.

One thing I’m definitely cutting back on… THRIFTING. Unless I have an actual need from a thrift store, I am not stepping foot in because it is hard for me to refuse a deal. I feel confident this won’t be a problem as I currently have a backlog of projects to work on throughout the month of November. Plus I have friends and family keeping a lookout in neighborhoods and at dumpsters for pieces I can flip. For November, I’m pressing pause on thrifting as a way to prevent any extra or unnecessary spending.

Additionally, I’m not allowing myself any spur of the moment “had time to kill” Target runs. Instead, if I need something like cleaning supplies, I’ll start a list when I find we’re low and then I’ll check Target Circle offers to see if I can save any extra on the essentials.

Another way I’m planning to spend less is that I am PLANNING for Christmas in November. For the kids, we stick to a pretty minimal Christmas where we do a need, a want, a read, and a wear. This allows me to get necessary and fun, but keeps me from going over the top. I’ve not yet set this budget, but so far I have begun tossing around ideas (more on those to come!) so that I can price compare in advance and come up with a budget I’m likely to stick to.

This one rivals no thrifting as to how difficult it’s going to be for me, but I plan on foregoing grocery pick-up orders and sticking to Aldi for ALL of my grocery trips this month. I find when I shop at Aldi I’m able to save $20-30 as compared to when I shop at Kroger or Walmart. Aldi is super out of my way, so one might argue it’s wasting gas money, but wasting a little more gas once per week in order to save an extra $20-30 a week seems worthwhile to me.

Finally, I also plan to make this month PROFITABLE instead of just a No Spend. To accomplish this, I’m planning to work through my backlog of projects and sell a few items in order to make a little extra money as opposed to spending extra money. This one can only help. Plus hellooooo DIY posts during the month of November.

Will you also attempt a No-Spend November this month? What are ways you can cut costs without cutting fun? Tune in for more on these flips to if I’m able to bring in a little extra cash this month, or if I’m at least able to stay out of thrift stores for the month!