Monday things coming when my photo editor is working and not crashing my computer.

Until then, I want to tell you about something my friend, Rachel, from RachelRobinsnest.com alerted me to. She posted last week about how she would be doing something called No Spend November, where she cuts her spending drastically, focusing only on things she must pay for, such as bills, student loans, etc.

My initial reaction was, “holy crap! She’s nuts!”, especially when she said no coffee runs. But the more I thought about it, the more I really liked the idea. I’m very addicted to “stuff” and I enjoy retail therapy a little too much, which I think was evident when I purchased a billion halloween themed things. My room is a cluttered mess of “things” and maybe cutting back on spending for a month wouldn’t be the worst idea.

In addition, after my debit card number was stolen and my checking account cleared out, I’ve been striving to use more cash and really budget things. I have cute little envelopes for different things- groceries, spending money, gas, Target, etc. By spending less, I would be tightening my budget and allowing more to go into savings. I really liked this idea.

I had some follow up questions for her, which you can read here. My biggest concern was that she had cut all her money for “fun” things. Going to get a drink with friends, going out to eat, going to the movies, etc. I felt that if I completely eliminated that, I would find the whole month unfun and would be more likely to slip in my spending.

So here are the guidelines for the No Spend November if you want to join us (I’ve added my comments in purple):

1.  No buying crap for myself.  This extends to pretty much every aspect of my life–no going out to eat, no Starbucks or Dunkin’ runs, no clothes, no shoes, no jewelry, no personal care products.  Nothing! (I have cut my spending money down to $20 a pay period. This is a DRASTIC cut. It’s also all in cash which will help me focus it better. This money is intended for social events- out for a drink, dinner, movies, etc. NOT for Target, clothes, jewelry etc.)

2.  I will still take care of necessary expenses–rent, groceries, bills, credit card payments and student loans all need to be paid.

3.  Focus on getting Christmas shopping done.  This is perfect timing, because I do all my budgeting based on 2 pay periods per month, and November magically has a 3rd pay period! (Honestly, this point was the saving grace for No Spend November. I really liked the idea of refocusing that saved money on Christmas shopping. I’m hoping to put the money I’ve saved from my first two paychecks toward christmas shopping and then use the third for saving and buying new tires for my car, which is a serious expense. Also, it means I can still indulge in some retail therapy but it’s all for other people. yeah!)

4. (This is an additional step from Rachel’s No Spend November) Since I am trying to focus on being less material driven in November (as well as saving), I would also like to go through my super cluttered room and get rid of a lot of stuff I don’t need and have been holding onto- Clothes I haven’t worn in years, books that are rapidly stacking up on my book shelves, shoes that need to be thrown out, etc. I can sell back or donate these items in which ever way is best. If I sell them back, I will put the extra money toward my savings or Christmas funds, if possible.

We’ll see how this goes! I was hoping to have a more low-key, less consumer driven Christmas and make a lot of my presents were applicable (my brother would hate me if I gave him a mason jar candle for christmas…) so I think this No spend November jives well with that. Where homemade gives wouldn’t be acceptable (Ie. my Bro), I can indulge in some retail therapy.

I will let you guys know how it goes. I’m super excited about it and hope I can get my butt in gear to really get some cleaning and de-cluttering down.

We will return to our regular scheduled recipes tomorrow =)