Already two months into this shopping fast and I’m surprised by how quickly the time is passing! If you’ve ready my intro post on my No-Buy year and the rules and objectives, you’ll have seen how I’m trying to reign in my spending, adopt better habits and focus on using the savings realized to fund a trip at the end of the year!
While January went well, and I’m happy I didn’t give in this month either, that’s not to say this month wasn’t without it’s challenges and lessons.
February No-buy lessons:
- Old shopping habits die hard, and really really slow. You may have seen in last months update, this is something I wrote about as well, and it still rings true. While I continue to write anything that tempts me or catches my eye onto a Buy in 2020 list, temptation remains. I’ve gotten considerably better with not browsing online shopping as frequently, but even though I’ve got an ad blocker, I still see ads on social media.
- Frugal February. This month I didn’t feel we were as frugal as January in other categories, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. We had a lot more experiences and did more winter activities than I’ve done in the last few years combined, which has helped out to conquer the winter blues! But boy oh boy, do we need to get better at groceries!
- Use em’ up, use em’ up! While last month I recommended doing an inventory of all the items within a category you have as a means to become aware and to begin using them up. I find we often forget to include things like samples and can let those clutter our beauty drawers and bags. After doing an inventory, prioritize what to use up, starting with what can be used up the quickest and/or what’s expiring sooner, and be sure to stick with it until it’s used up. It’s easy to become bored of a product, so use up every last drop before moving on!
- Seasonal temptations. With winter (kind of) slowing down here in Canada, I’m getting tired of my winter wardrobe and craving a spring refresh. It also doesn’t help that most stores have already stocked up on the next season’s trends and you can already see them being paraded around on social media (The Bay, why must you show me all your new spring dresses, you know they are my weakness!!). I’m hoping when the time comes in a few weeks to take out some clothings from storage, it’ll be the breathe of fresh air needed to keep me going!
February Spending Recap
This month I had a lot of items run out! If your familiar with the No-Buy rules; if something essential runs out I can choose to replace or to live without. Thankfully many of the items that were used up, deodorant, face cream, night cream, body wash I had either back ups or substitutes I could use. I’m really curious to start tracking and seeing how long certain items will last me!
- Eye cream $40: This is one I decided I needed to replace when my last bottle finished. As I approach the end of my twenties, now isn’t the time to skimp on beauty products that help to moisturize and help me to retain a youthful glow as long as possible!!
No-Buy Travel Fund Balance: $470.69
The contributions from this month are coming from the $270.69 that’s in the post from last month as well as:
- +$170 from the No-Buy (the estimated monthly amount I’m no longer spending on my No-Buy items)
While I slacked on trying to get additional income to add to the project, I’m still proud of the fact that I’m sticking to the project! Two months down, only ten more to go!
Have you ever looked at your expenses and thought of what you could do with all that money that’s leaking, consider trying a short or longer term spending freeze!
Monthly spending updates:
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