No Spend September? Here is How it Went

I made a goal for myself this month. I wanted to make no miscellaneous and unnecessary purchases in the entire month of September. I am currently in the process of saving money so I feel comfortable and secure in life. I try to put as much of my paychecks into my savings account as I can.

However, over the course of July and August, I have felt like I was spending too much money, and I wasn’t feeling good about it. Don’t get me wrong, retail therapy is one of my favorite forms of self-care. I love getting myself a new book or a new candle. However the past couple of months, it hasn’t felt good. I have felt guilty and like I was never going to create good base savings for myself.

So, with all the introspective thinking I do (I do A LOT of that), I decided that I wanted to have a No Spend September. I only wanted to spend money on the necessary things. Now, I knew that this goal wasn’t going to be easy, and I probably wasn’t going to be 100% successful, but I just wanted to try.

I do come from a place of privilege, as I am able to make these extraneous purchases, which is important to acknowledge. I just wanted to write this post to document my experience and how I felt during my month of no spending.

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What did I do?

I made the goal for myself that I didn’t want to spend any money on miscellaneous and unnecessary things.

This included things like clothes, books, lotion, coffee, boba, and anything else that was not important for my day to day activity. All of this stuff is important to my mental wellness, don’t get me wrong. But I wasn’t in need of any clothes, candles, or crafting supplies. And I could make myself a coffee or other tasty drinks at home.

Why did I do it?

I mentioned this above, but the main reason I decided to do No Spend September was to save money. Plain and simple. I want to create a steady base for myself, so when I finally go into the field I want my career to be in, publishing, I have a platform just in case it takes a while to establish myself.

It i obviously a goal for everyone to be financially secure, and this is what I am striving for once I start my career.

How did I do it?

This was an especially difficult task that I set for myself in September, the start of my favorite season ever. This is the month when all the autumn decorations come out, and the delicious pumpkin spiced latte is available at Starbucks. There were so many points in this month when I was questioning why I decided this month was going to be the month. I didn’t know why and how I was going to accomplish this.

At the beginning of the month, I decided to add a habit tracker to my bullet journal for this specific reason. I filled in a bubble every single day that I did not spend any unnecessary money. This helped me stay accountable, and honestly, I just wanted to see what it would look like with all the bubbles filled in.

I am very competitive, especially with myself, and that actually helped this month. I wanted to prove that I could do it and that I could fill in each bubble on my tracker.

How did it go?

I knew from the start that I wouldn’t be perfect. This is the month I probably do the most impulse purchases. I see something cute and I put it in my cart immediately, without thought. This month, however, I put a little more thought into my purchases, and it made all the difference. I thought about where the decoration would go, how I would take care of that plant, and if I actually needed that tea.

I actually think I did okay this month! According to the habit tracker in my bullet journal, I only spent money 6 days out of this entire month. That means I didn’t spend money for 80% of the month! And some of those days were just me buying a smoothie or a coffee, so I think that is pretty good!

Honestly, seeing this number written out feels pretty good. I am proud of myself for being pretty successful on this goal, and I think I might set this same goal for October. I don’t think I will do as well with all the pumpkins around me though…

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I honestly think that was a really positive experience. I learned a lot about myself and my spending habits, and I learned how to think things through before I swipe my credit card. These are some valuable lessons I have teaching myself!

If you are thinking about doing something like this, remember, YOU DON”T HAVE TO BE PERFECT. Just because you are setting a goal for yourself, you don’t always have to be 100%. Every little thing you do to reach that goal is positive, and you should feel good about that, no matter what the goal is. Cheat days don’t exist and they ARE NOT setbacks.