How a NO SPEND Month Changed My Perspective on Money and Happiness

I have been feeling the bloat from the holidays and had a recent bout of despair as our tiny living space was feeling and looking cluttered with piles of items lurking about. When you live in a tiny space, piles of anything collecting can get out of had FAST. Letting the cycle of the new year guide me to renew my focus on minimalism, I decided it was the perfect time to try another 30 day NO shopping challenge. It's been a decade since my last one ... let's see how far I have come on my simplicity journey.

Day 2 - flexing those muscles

Wow! Showing restraint to not immediately purchase what I desire is flexing my minimalism muscles that have gotten a bit flabby. I paid off the Amazon holiday shopping credit card in full and started a list of the things that I felt compelled to buy so far which includes...

• cat carrier (borrowing the neighbors at the moment while we foster a lost kitty)

• new vacuum cleaner

• new dress as motivation to start the Project 333 capsule wardrobe challenge

• additional jars to tidy up the tea rack organization

Day 6 - financial tune-up

Though I haven't felt much desire to purchase non-essential items or services so far, I have felt very compelled to tune up my personal finances. Today I spent time revisiting my monthly budget and test driving a free printable paper budget sheet I discovered by Cents and Order. This sparked me to revisit my passion for Dave Ramsey's no-nonsense zero budgeting approach. I followed that by paying off my Amazon holiday purchases, removing the credit card from my wallet and setting up a monthly auto-payment to have it paid off by the end of the year. Then I set up the auto-savings feature on my bank account to transfer 5% of all deposits to my "emergency fund" savings account and cancelled the auto-ship pet supply order that seemed excessive. Whew! That took a couple hours and felt so good to have a financial plan for the year. And I'm trying not to beat myself up for slipping a bit with my personal finances. I will embrace that I am a perfectly imperfect person who has complete compassion for my clients and where they are at on their financial journey.

Day 12 - teachable moment

Some days I actually forget I'm taking a no-shopping challenge. I suspect if I cut out take out food this would be far more arduous for me. Maybe next time I will tackle that particular consumption habit! But today my daughter asked if we could go shopping. She has been wanting to buy sparkle unicorn rings she spied at the drug store several months ago. I explained to her that I was challenging myself to not buy anything other than food and necessities for 30 days and that we could add her sparkle rings to our list of things to consider after we complete the challenge.

Later that day I offered her a choice of doing a craft activity with me or opening a belated holiday gift I had tucked away in the closet. She chose the gift and happily played with her new barbie toy from Grandma. Win win for all! I can't help but think had she opened this gift on Christmas with the dozen others under the tree that it would hold less appeal. This gives me pause as to how I might want to address the onslaught of holiday cheer next time around.

My daughter's list of things to buy now includes:

• Sparkle rings at the drug store

• Glitter glue
  

I decided rather than purchase a new dress as incentive to begin the Project 333 wardrobe challenge, that I would purchase one as a reward when I complete my first one. So, today I started a belated winter wardrobe challenge (Jan 23 - Mar 23). Wish me luck and check back on my progress.

Day 18 - finding inspiration

I re-read Courtney Carver's book, Soulful Simplicity, and I appreciate her gentle approach to having compassion for myself as I work through the process of simplifying my life. And a PROCESS it is! Her focus on returning to the inner wisdom of the heart again and again helps me get out of the cycle of needing bigger and better that can lead me astray. I appreciate the concepts of the Busy Boycott, Sabbath, the Art of No-ing, Project 333, the Victory Lap, and much more. Thank you for the encouragement to live my life on my own terms, Courtney.

And, thank you, Joshua Becker, for your candor and so many wonderful examples of how to introduce minimalism concepts into my household with your book Clutterfree with Kids. I appreciate his perspective to turn off the TV, limit exposure to consumerism, take time out as a family to focus on what's important and his overall enthusiastic encouragement to step out of the mainstream hustle of our society. I found his book to be a great resource for families who are on the journey to live a more simple lifestyle. It really helped me through my shopping "cravings."

Day 22 - almost there...

I'm beginning to rethink my logic to start the Project 333 wardrobe challenge in conjunction with my 30 day no shopping challenge. I have a couple key items in my wardrobe that I need to replace and am feeling a bit deprived. Oh well, I can make it 8 more days! And how glorious it will be to purchase a new pair of black leggings to replace the ones I spilled super glue all over...

Day 32 - I did it!

Yes! You read that right. I went over 30 days! And what was my first purchase? A gift certificate for my sweetie to enjoy a lovely massage...thank you for your unconditional love and support of my simple living journey. And for me, I booked a spring break mini-trip to experience tiny home living next month. Stay tuned for more on that.

As always, thank you for joining me on my journey. I'll do it again soon, and invite you to join me next time you feel the need to challenge your channel normal.