no spend november: lessons learned

Well it's officially the end of November, which means the spend embargo is over.

I was fairly successful--I didn't spend money on Starbucks AT ALL. That's so impressive for me, you guys. I only bought those 2 WJC nursing shirts as far as clothing goes--also an impressive feat. I cheated TODAY and got mcdonalds for breakfast because we were seriously out of everything breakfast related and I refused to eat leftover turkey for another meal, but that brought my total for the month on fast food to $5.50. That's also not too bad! Overall I did a great job, if I say so myself.

Anyway, here are some lessons I learned:

-It's easiest when you have people on board with you. My mom constantly reminded me if we went to a clothing store (never looking for me, usually for her or my brothers) not to buy anything because I wasn't supposed to be spending money on clothes. She also helped me out and bought me a skirt that I really, really wanted to wear to the Nutcracker in December. My friend Chelsea helped me stay strong when I really, really wanted to get some Starbucks. Sam and I ate at home the entire time I was in St. Louis and when he was here.

-I have a TON of clothes that are perfectly fine. Shopping in my own closet made me realize that I have a lot of clothes that I never wear and that fit and look fine still. I do not need any new clothes, for real. A better idea would be to wait until I reach my goal weight to go shopping for anything new. That would be some real motivation!

-I don't even really LIKE fast food, so why do I stop and get it all the time? Convenience? Honestly I'd rather just have a pb&j (obviously sausage biscuits are immune to this) than any other gross value meal. I think that I was really able to kick this habit this month.

-Brewing coffee at home and adding some peppermint mocha creamer leaves me just as satisfied as the stupid $4.70 latte at Starbucks. Seriously. $4.70. Stupid.

-I have a terrible habit of offering to pay for things and then letting people pay me back. Lesson learned here: ask for money up front.


Overall, no spend November was a success. I saved a lot of money. 90% of the money I spent this month was on gas, which is a whole other story in and of itself. I hate the gas prices in this country. It makes me so angry. I'm going to buy a Prius asap. I think I learned a lot about my habits and spending and definitely know that from now on, I'm going to think a LOT more about my purchases before I actually make them.