If you’re reading this it means I’ve actually decided to go ahead with a silly idea I thought about late one evening a few weeks ago. So yeah, here we go…adoseofapril is doing NO SPEND NOVEMBER and hopefully is going to succeed at it, please keep your fingers crossed for me.
I announced this officially (makes it sound much bigger than it is) on my YouTube channel but wanted to write a blog post in order to explain in a bit more detail why I’ve decided to do this no spend challenge and the rules I’m setting myself. As much as I like to break a rule here and there in order for me to succeed in this challenge I think the key is going to be setting boundaries and rules for me to stick to.
So before we get into the rules, I want to talk about why I’ve decided to do this crazy challenge and my relationship with money so far. I’ve actually written a blog post maybe last year about my issues with money and how I’ve already changed some of my spending habits. I’ll link it here if you want to give it a read as I think some of the tips I’ve tried and tested are actually quite helpful. It’s a helpful post to get to grips with my spending habits and a little bit as to why I’m doing the no spend November.
I think it’s in my best interest to be honest with you here and tell you that I’ve historically never been good with money and it’s probably the one thing my boyfriend would change about me if he could haha. I’ve had jobs since I was 16 that for the ages I was were quite well paid…I couldn’t really complain. However, my issues with money always lied within the fact that I couldn’t/wouldn’t save and I would always want to buy new clothes or treat myself. So let’s talk through the first issue of always spending…when you start doing this it’s very easy to then go down a slippery slope of always doing it. Weekly trips to my local town to look in Primark and New Look, £30 here and there total up until you’re at the end of the month before payday and you wouldn’t have a lot left. I would constantly be buying more and more stuff that might I add I didn’t actually need and then having no where to put it. My spending got so bad at one point that my wardrobe rail actually collapsed because I had too many clothes on it. I think that one situation was a turning point for me as it made me realise how much I was wasting on clothes I didn’t need or were only wearing once. The other element of that was also the contribution I was making towards fast fashion that I decided I was going to make an effort to decrease. Another turning point for me was also losing two jobs with little notice and suddenly only having the money that was in my bank account until the foreseeable future where I could find myself another job. Being forced to not spend or be careful with how you’re spending because you only have a set amount to last you does teach you a lot about money. I hated the fact that as soon as I got another job and pay day would come round that I’d forget all about the lessons I’d learnt be right back spending again. Every so often I would also get increasingly stressed and overwhelmed with the amount of stuff I own which can only be blamed by my need to spend and not save. I would just find things and think to myself how much money I could have saved if I had a bit more self control.
As well as clothes, my downfall when it comes to money has always been coffee…when I was at my previous job I would get a coffee every morning I was working which totals up to quite a scary amount over a few months. I made a conscious effort after losing that job that I wasn’t going to waste my money on having coffees out as much. Just before lockdown I invested in an at home espresso coffee machine (blog post about it here) that I can quite easily say was my best investment of this year because not only have I saved so much on making coffees at home (cost per use is literally down to like 1p at this rate). I’ve also really enjoyed learning a new skill and supporting local businesses in buying my coffee beans I use. Yes I do still go out for the occasional coffee now and again but it’s more of a treat now rather than a part of my daily routine.
The other factor was of course my inability to save money which I think a lot of people my age especially can relate to. I only wish that I had started saving at an earlier age so I could feel comfortable in the fact that I hadn’t wasted so much money over the years. It does make me wonder where I’ve got this inability from as I’m such a sucker for a bargain and saving money when buying something but when it comes to actually putting money away ‘for a rainy day’ I just can’t. Maybe it’s the thought of what I could spend that money on in the here and now rather than what it could help me with when coming to buy a house. I think it probably does come down to the fact that I’m not much of a planner when it comes to years ahead because so much has and can change so what’s the point in planning for it…which I know now is silly.
I think another massive factor for me when it comes to spending money and is probably a bit more unique compared to some people is my need or what I thought was a need to keep up with trends when it comes to fashion for my online content. In order to keep my content current and relatable I thought the need to constantly be posting new stuff meant I could somehow justify spending lots of new clothes. Luckily I realised this and started cutting back on buying things I really didn’t need and working with items I had in my wardrobe already. This was also something I wanted to start pushing more with my content to help encourage more people to shop their own wardrobe and experiment more with what they have already. It’s actually so fun and more rewarding finding different ways to style items you already have than buying something new…well for me it is anyway.
Without wanting to waffle on about things too much and make this post far too long than it needs to be, I want to get across the point that my spending had basically got the point where I was throwing money down the drain and I knew it had to stop or my relationship with money had to get better. I did manage to start saving as of last year though and I can’t tell you how much of a better feeling it is to see a healthy amount of money in your savings account rather than under your bed in the form of 10 handbags that all the same job. I think losing a job for the second time kind of jolted me into a bit more a reality when it comes to money and needing to have not only a pot of money for security but to help build a better future for myself.
It’s safe to say I’ve probably gone into a bit too much detail about my history with money so let’s get straight onto what my no spend November is going to look like, what I hope to achieve from it and of course the all important rules.
I’m not going to set myself a goal of saving a certain amount of money as I’m not doing the challenge to save money in that regard. Yes I do have an amount of money I want to see as my bank balance at the end of the money but that’s about it. The reasons I want to do this challenge is as followed;
- Prove to myself that I don’t need to spend money on clothes, coffee out, random trinkets in order to be happy.
- Prove to myself that I can save money rather than spend it. Seeing a healthy amount in my bank account at the end of the month and feeling happy rather than stressed will be better than any feeling of buying something new.
- Be able to create content for my blog, Instagram and YouTube platforms without needing to show hauls of what I’ve purchased or style new items.
- I want to show how easy it can be to style your own wardrobe and also not feel the need to contribute to fast fashion/give in always to trends.
- Learns some lessons about buying things only if I see an investment in them or if I really need them. I think this challenge will definitely show me what I would tend to impluse buy and encourage me to make more educated choices when buying things.
I’m sure there’s a few others thing I’m doing this challenge for but honestly those are the ones that stick out to me the most. I’m sure the reasons people choose to do these sort of challenges will differ but the ultimate goal of completing this challenge is saving money and showing that I don’t need to spend in the quantities I have been. So here are the all important rules that I’ve set myself and will be trying to stick to as best I can. I will be referring back to these as well as the reasons as some sort of motivation if I find myself wanting to lapse.
- I think it’s obvious to say but no spending should take place during the whole month of November unless it is a necessary purchase (such as food within reason or health items).
- Linking to the top rule – no clothes purchases should be made. Unless something needs to be replaced, it shall not be purchased. If a clothing item ‘needs’ to be purchased, it should be an educated decision and investment pieces rather than an impulse buy. This will be a last resort and I will aim not to buy any clothes for the month. I have enough already and want
- I will be limiting myself to eating out in a restaurant or takeaway to 2-4 times for the month. I know this may seem like a lot for some people still but at times it’s the only thing I spend money on in terms of going out and socialising. I will of course be limiting how much I spend when eating out so cheaper the better.
- I have given myself an allowance of 4 coffees for the month so 1 each week. I’ll be making coffees at home as much as I can as I’ve got enough coffee beans to get through but it’s nice to have one treat to look forward to each week.
- Seen as it’s coming up to Christmas, I’ll have started thinking about getting presents so I’m allowing myself to pick up presents for others when I see them but I’m going do presents this year on as much as budget as I can.
- Put away a certain amount of money each week into my savings to encourage me to get into the habit of doing it every month.
- I will of course have some outgoings including my phone contract and different bills so I would have budgeted for those when it comes to the amount I want in my bank account at the end of the month.
If you have any questions about this challenge, please feel free to comment below or message me on Instagram. I’m super excited to get started and hopefully save some money and change my spending habits.
I will writing a blog post following up about the challenge and how I feel it went at the end of the month. I will also be filming a YouTube video throughout the month documenting key moments and also doing a conclusion at the end.
Until next time,
adoseofapril x
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