Today, I came across an article where someone is doing a No Spend Month in November! And I see that Mrs. Frugalista is doing one also. I never thought that it would be possible to do in November. I'm not sure I can convince my husband, but it may be worth the try.
I made a credit card payment for our airline tickets that I charged last week. I had all but $200 of the cost set aside in our vacation fund. Between that purchase and the cost of my daughter's Europe trip, we earned 7500 Southwest Airline miles. I wouldn't count this as spending though for November, primarily because I did do it in October and it is essential to get home for a holiday when the money is available!
I just did our budget and basically after paying required bills, I was able allocate $1000 for spending through Nov 15. We could likely spend far less than that if we are super careful, but that amount is average for us. I also put $500 aside that will go towards paying the Europe trip. I'm going to see what else I can come up with next pay period before I make another payment.
I went grocery shopping on Sunday as usual. My parents were here visiting, so I didn't make a great menu plan and just told myself I could go back to the store later. I'm going to do my best to make it through Sunday without going to the store. I know I have soups frozen that I can thaw, and items to make pizza. We have lots of eggs to make breakfast for dinner. I believe there is rice and beans (and salsa). I think I bought some frozen burritos too. I bet we can make it! And that will help the budget quite a bit.
Do you think you could keep your spending down to just the essentials in November? Again not sure if I can, but I just might try it. I'll let you know how it goes.
No Spend November?
November 1st, 2016 at 07:47 pm
November 1st, 2016 at 11:38 pm 1478043492
November 2nd, 2016 at 12:03 am 1478045011
November 2nd, 2016 at 09:51 am 1478080281
November 2nd, 2016 at 11:44 am 1478087055
I think what I will do though is put everything on a 3-day shopping wait period. Anything I feel like we need in the new place, I'll note it, but give it 3 days to see if I can make due with something I already have or can do without it entirely. This will also apply to Black Friday shopping since I can mark the sales in advance and revisit both 3 days before and the day of. My ultimate goal is to build the habit of analyzing whether purchases are really necessary before making them.
November 5th, 2016 at 03:32 am 1478316777