01 No New Things
I'm doing it. I am trying my gosh-darn best to not buy any new things for 30 whole days. And I'm not just talking about it either; I've already started.
In the beginning of this year I attempted a No Buy Year, but more in the vein of a Low Buy Year. I fell off that bandwagon around March or April. No Buy was too strict. Low Buy had too many rules/exceptions/tiers to keep track off. And a whole year was way too lofty of a goal on my first attempt to drastically reduce spending.Enter Ashlee Piper's book "No New Things: A Radically Simple 30-Day Guide to Saving Money, the Planet, and Your Sanity". My library had an ebook available to borrow. I started reading. I am doing the Challenge.
Instead of re-hashing her journey, philosophy, and methods here, I'm only going to be blogging about my own experience. If you want to know more about her and/or her book, search it up yourself. I know you've got the internet because you're already reading this. To help you out a bit, I started HERE.
I won't even get too much into my own background and reasons for initiating this journey because I have the feeling I'll be covering that in my next 30 blog posts over the next 30 days. (I mean, hopefully.) In fact, let's get started right now with Day 1's Action Item: answering the following prompts.
1. Why do I want to better understand my impulses around spending and stuff?
There's a disparity in my life between how hard money is to earn and how easy it is to spend. I'll save myself a lot of time and energy if I don't spend frivolously. I don't like managing inventory around the house and I really don't like when my surroundings are cluttered and messy.
2. How is my life negatively impacted by these habits?
Tripping over stuff, having to move stuff to be able to sit down, being disappointed my savings is dwindling instead of growing, my mind being consumed by thinking of buying things I didn't even know existed the day before.
3. How will buying fewer items make my life better and easier?
Save more money! Less clean up! Less packaging garbage! Showing my values to my children rather than just telling them. Less things on my mind. Slow down the rate I have to continually declutter.
4. What are some words that describe how I want to feel during and after the Challenge?
Proud. In control. Free. Simple. Useful. Empowered. Strong.
5. What do I hope to gain from this Challenge?
Money saved. Strengthened habits of frugality. A stronger sense of wants versus needs. Stronger resistance to advertising. More awareness of my own spending habits and triggers.
6. What about doing this Challenge makes me anxious or afraid?
Dealing with myself on a day where I just don't wannnnnna try, you know? And separating my own, personal spending from that which I have to facilitate for my family and household - I have a lot of responsibilities and where those lines are can be blurry.
7. What about doing this Challenge makes me excited?
Sticking it to the advertising-corporate-
So Day 1 has been a success. The only money I spent was to buy gasoline for the car I use to get to work. (A utility under the "Bills & Investments" umbrella.)
Things I didn't buy:
- rainbow metallic dice set....$35
Total....$35
Success!
Success!