So here we are at the end of November (side note: how???), and I’ve made it nearly through no-buy November. And have learned a few things about myself (isn’t that the point of a challenge, in the end?). For starters, let me confess that I did buy things. [“Things” I have defined as material goods that are not consumable.] Five things, to be exact. They are: 1. A birthday card for my dad, because…he’s my dad and it was his birthday (and he lives a thousand miles away); 2. A pair of jeans (purchased for $7 at the Salvation Army) whose legs fit over the stupid big shoes I am currently wearing because I broke my foot (both pair of jeans I own have skinny legs); 3. A pair of goggles (due to aforementioned broken foot, my workouts have moved nearly exclusively to a pool and my old goggles were leaking); 4. Two pair of elastic-waist pants for my toddler, whom we potty-trained this month (his pants all had buttons/zippers and he couldn’t get them down/up by himself). They were $9 each at Target. And I actually made it out of Target with just those two pair of pants, which I’m pretty happy about.
The list of things I wanted to buy but did not buy is quite a bit longer than that. To be honest, I can’t even remember some of the purchases I wanted to make at this point (I didn’t write them down like I thought I would). Absolutely I would have purchased things (online) on Black Friday/Cyber Monday if I hadn’t been taking part in this challenge. But the most surprising thing to me was how much I actually enjoy browsing online sales. Even if I never purchase anything, I just like seeing what companies I like have on clearance. It’s only a few different sites (like Patagonia, REI, Coeur Sports) but it’s still spending my down time “window” shopping, as it were. I actually did not know I liked doing that! But this month I found myself lost and antsy on a couple occasions when I realized I couldn’t (I didn’t even browse, for fear I might be tempted to purchase).
I also faced a huge challenge in ignoring online ads, and especially discounts people were posting in Facebook groups about sales of items I would be interested in (mostly from a Triathlon group about tri kits and bike trainers and wetsuits and whatnot). I found it way harder than I had anticipated to not be lured into the “deals” that were being offered around Thanksgiving. I actually had to declare the day after Thanksgiving internet-free because I was feeling so pulled into the shopping frenzy. I resisted, and I don’t feel like I missed out on anything.
While initially I was looking forward to seeing my credit card bill this month (for a change), I actually purchased tickets to things that I normally would not have, because I could justify the cost by the fact that I wasn’t buying things this month. Which actually isn’t that bad, I don’t think. Isn’t money way better spent on experiences than on material items, anyway?
For anyone considering a no-buy month, I highly recommend it!! Maybe not December, because for some reason people think Love = Gift Giving, so getting out of buying/receiving gifts at Christmastime might not be the easiest for some families. But maybe starting December 26th? I will definitely be doing this again, if even just to hit the reset button if I again find myself buying things I don’t need.