Spend Free September How Did I Do?

Now that it’s almost a year later, I thought I’d recap my Spend Free September adventure. From last year.

Yea timely I know.

Last September I vowed not to spend any money on our home. No fabric, paint, project parts, nothing. 

Why did I do Spend Free September? Well, you see I can have a tenancy to see a project and just have to make it.  So I go out, get the supplies and spend money.

Not the best plan you know.

Or I see something I love on Pinterest and just have to make it, so I go out, get the supplies and spend money.

Also, not a good plan. See a pattern here?

My reason to go spend free was so that I could accomplish a few things:

1. Remove the conditioning that I just have to make something I see that I love

2. Force myself to realize I don’t need the satisfaction of spending money on project supplies

3. Save some cash – not a top priority but a significant one

4. Not go to the stores “just to look” We all get in that trap right? Stopping in, just to look. Do you ever leave empty handed? Rarely. You get my point.

So how did I do, did I have a totally spend free month?

I’d say it went very well. It was actually pretty easy to do. When you remove something from your train of thought, you tend to forget about it. That’s what happened to me. Most days went by without me even thinking about spending money on something, which is the case for non spend free months anyway.

Don’t get the wrong picture here, I’m not a spend-aholic, in fact I’m pretty thrifty if I do say so.  I don’t go around town flashing my credit card, that’s for sure! So consciously not spending money on anything was very easy.

I was very happy when the days ticked by and I had no receipts in my wallet. Now that is very satisfying.

Did I spend any money on home items?

Actually yes. I’m being totally honest and the funny thing is I didn’t even remember it was Spend Free September when I was doing it.

The day of doom was September 24th, the last Saturday of the month, less than 6 days to go and nearby they had a “World’s Largest Yard Sale” Do you have those by you? I mean it’s the world’s largest, how can you not go? <-- Exactly my downfall. If I hadn't gone, I wouldn't have spent anything.

What I did buy were some pine cones for $3 or something ridiculously cheap. I actually went to look for a large ornate frame that, at the time, I had in mind for a bulletin board for my office. I was having a hard time finding what I wanted and thought “If the World’s Largest Yard Sale doesn’t have it, nobody will!”

Bad thinking, but not totally invalid. Shopping for items at an event where there are about 300 yard sale vendors can be quite effective, and a time saver.

But I didn’t find the frame and I did find some pine cones. About 10 minutes after I bought them, it hit me. I just ruined Spend Free September! I’m a total failure! I actually was kind of mad at myself.

The dreaded pine cones. It’s all your fault!

I only partially kid because I DO believe that spending $3 was no big deal in the grand scheme of things. But I also DO believe that I could go a whole spend free month and not purchase anything.  January, I hear you calling?!

So there’s my story and I’m sticking to it 🙂 Spend Free, mostly.

Will I do it again? For sure. Did I break my habit? Kind of. So I need more practice. Just as soon as the upcoming holiday season passes. Is that an excuse? Probably. But I will be doing more homemade gifts this year. I’ve already decided.

Did you ever try a spend free time period? How did you do? Are we still friends now that you know I didn’t totally go spend free? 🙂  Thanks for reading all this!

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