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October is almost always a very expensive month. My family loves fall, and October is the month of fall fun. We enjoy participating in many of our local fall festivals and activities. Hayrides! Pumpkin picking! Craft shows! (Sadly we didn’t go on a hayride this year.) I enjoy decorating the house to make it look like Halloween threw up all over it, and I usually purchase at least one new piece of fall decor each year.
When adding up the costs of all the activities – including parking fees and all the yummy food we buy at these (especially at our local Greek Festival, we can spend a small fortune on food there) – as well as what we spend on pumpkins and fun decor, it comes out to quite a lot more than we usually spend in a month.
Plus, Christmas is right around the corner. My husband and I don’t purchase too many gifts for each other or for the children, but when you start adding in all the extended family we need to provide gifts for – basically, it’s really expensive. As it probably is for most people.
With all that in mind, I decided November would be a fantastic time to try out a No-Buy for the first time.
What is a No-Buy? Basically it’s a way to cut yourself off from certain purchases and hold yourself accountable for your spending.
Our spending isn’t out of control, and we’re generally good with our money, but this month we’re just trying to save up some extra cash for Christmas.
Our November No-Buy: What We Will Not Spend Money On:
- No eating out. This includes work lunches for my husband. We don’t eat out that often. I make most of our meals from scratch, and my husband usually takes leftovers for his work lunches. However, if we cut out the occasions we do eat out this month, we can probably save at least $50.
- No shopping at Target. Target is my weakness, ya’ll. My four year old loves to check out the dollar spot, and that little place can easily add $7-10 to my bill – especially at back to school and Halloween. (I bought so many cute little $1 suede pumpkins this year…) No housewares either. Or kids clothing. If I do have to go to Target, I will stick to my shopping list and buy only necessities – no browsing.
- No clothes. i.e. No ordering from ThredUp. It’s just so easy to browse by my favorite brands and my size that I find myself buying things even if I don’t really need them. I’m cutting myself off. I do have a store credit with them if I discover I need something.
- No non-necessity grocery items. Obviously we have to buy food, but what I’m talking about are things we don’t need, such as specialty and alcoholic drinks, snack foods, things like that. This does not include the children, we will still buy what they need.
What We Will Still Spend Money On:
- Bills and necessities. Obviously we’re still paying our bills and buying groceries and things like that. If the children need anything, such as warm pants (I have such a hard time finding good warm pants for them that aren’t snow pants), of course I’m going to purchase them.
- Christmas presents. We discussed this and decided not to include Christmas gifts in the no-buy because we’re going to buy them anyway. It makes no sense to put off a purchase until December if we can get a better deal on it now.
- A few very specific purchases. These are things we’ve discussed and allowed ourselves to purchase this month. Included is one Chick fil A lunch out for the children, two purchases I need to make at Ulta (Bare Minerals Mineral Veil, I’m out of it, and a new round brush, because my baby threw mine down the stairs and broke it) where I’ll be going when I’m in the area for my haircut partway through the month, and one six pack of beer for my husband.
We’ve allowed ourselves these few specific purchases because A. we’re not Spartan and B. life goes on and sometimes we need things. The truly frugal minded will probably think my no-buy is not extreme enough, but the point isn’t to go nuts and buy nothing. The point is cut back on unnecessary expenses and impulse purchases.(My husband claims that he doesn’t make impulse purchases… but he’s not the one who goes out shopping with the kids. Ha ha.)
What do you think of the No-Buy? Is this something you would consider for yourself or your family?
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There is no one size fits all for no buy.
It’s like dieting. If you restrict EVERYthing, then eventually you’ll binge and fall down a rabbit hole. BUT, if you allow yourself that treat every so often, you’re much more likely to stick to it. 🤷♀️
You’re exactly right!
My life has been on a no – buy trend for the last several years. I do occasionally slip up. It’s hard not being able to go to the bookstore or Old Navy (my clothing weakness). Or grabbing for the almond butter because yum (but costly, dang it). Sigh and buying beer. I miss Carlsberg so much. Even so I can definitely tell you it saves money.
Come visit and we’ll make sure our fridge is fully stocked with Carlsburg just for you! 😀
Did I mention that I love y’all? (Y’all? Yikes. The Deep South has made it’s mark.) You’re at the top of my visit list with or without Carlsberg.