As a reply to The Nonconsumer Advocate’s “No-Buy Month” as well as some rather hefty financial realizations I stumbled across over this past weekend, I’ve decided to celebrate my very own No-Buy Month in June. I don’t know how much good it will do, since I rarely spend money on myself anyway, but I’m hoping that this concept of “conscious frugality” will help me with a number of my goals – setting money aside for future fun, focusing on my “haves” instead of my “have-nots,” and perhaps even helping me become better at the hobbies I’m currently enjoying.
I recently wrote about giving up Book Club lunches, and that inspired me to look into other things I might be wasting my time/money/energy on. For instance, I’ve been trying to sew my own clothes for basically my entire life. Turns out, I’m terrible at it, and I don’t have the patience to improve. So…I gave it up. I quit. I took a long hard look at it and said, “No, I don’t need you in my life any more than I need to eat at Jimmy John’s every Thursday afternoon,” followed by hasty apologies to Jimmy John, who actually does make the best gourmet sandwiches in the world.
In turn, I began to focus on the hobbies I truly enjoy, the ones that were being neglected in favor of my fruitless endeavors behind a sewing machine: knitting rather immediately came to mind, and I’ve since created a few little masterpieces that I’m quite proud of. Running is another big one, and I’m really quite excited about improving my pace. Reading is also a big deal for me, as I have a reading list that just reached page seven. Finally, writing, which I don’t think I could stay away from if I tried really.
This decision made me even happier when I realized that three of these four hobbies are COMPLETELY FREE. Even knitting can be done frugally, if the many articles on the topic can be trusted (and I don’t see why they couldn’t). And so I thought, why not just go ahead and make a commitment out of this? For at least one month I can avoid spending unnecessary money on myself. I only need to set a few parameters for myself, and I’ll be good to go.
The Parameters:
1) Obviously, things like bills, rent, and other necessities (such as my $30 monthly bus pass and my $10 prescription medication) won’t count as “unnecessary expenditures.” Both of the parenthesized items will be purchased later today anyway, so I won’t have to worry about either of them for the rest of the month.
2) Food will be tricky. I love food, and not buying any will probably hurt a little. But I have TONS of stuff sitting around for “emergencies” that I can use throughout the month. I have bags and bags of beans and grains, canned and frozen veggies, various flours for baking bread and making tortillas, a small stash of Ramen noodles and EasyMac, cereals, salsa, pasta, and other such sustenance. No, it won’t be 100% healthy, but it probably won’t end up being any worse than what I eat when I spend normally.
3) Purchases made by my husband will not count, because I can’t control him or what he does with our debit card. Thankfully, he’s a bit of a tightwad himself, so I don’t think I’ll have anything to worry about.
This is not going to be easy for me. This will definitely be a challenge, in fact. And I don’t even have a spending problem – I think “retail therapy” is a load of crap, and I feel guilty on the rare occasion that I buy clothes or shoes new instead of used. But it’s a good idea, and one I’m proud to leach. Hopefully it will help me to see just how necessary or unnecessary the expenditure of money is in our society, and in my life. I am also hopeful that it will have an affect on my daughter, whose impressionable little mind has already begun to cry out, “We need that!!” whenever she sees the Sham-Wow! commercials.
Take a look at www.thenonconsumeradvocate.wordpress.com and browse – this is the exact kind of mentality I’m talking about here, and I think I love this woman. Also, she’s a Star Trek: Voyager fan, and so I’m doubly happy to have found her. I’ll update this blog regularly with my progress throughout the month of June.
For a Total Change of Heart: Commit to a no-buy month, or week, or even day if you’re going to be a pussy about it. Put yourself out of your comfort zone financially, and force yourself to look around and appreciate what you already have. Read, exercise, no-charge events, anything that’s FREE. Even if you’re bored, don’t spend a dime! Money is not a cure for boredom; imagination is. Money only treats the symptoms of a life ill-spent.
