I only bought essentials for a month. What I learned surprised me
Buying only the basics was easier and more fun than I thought.
When I first saw a challenge without a Buy on social media, I was skeptical. As a personal finance editor, I was not sure. Savings Challenge He taught me anything about managing money that I didn’t know about yet. However, I thought that detoxing spending cannot hurt, especially recession On the horizon.
So for 30 days I only bought the basics. And I was amazed at how transformative it was.
Certainly, it saved me a mass of change. But it also changed my relationship with money in a fundamental way.
And, even more surprising, it was actually a bit fun.
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Give yourself more to your heart: my non-shopping rules
“No-Buy” doesn’t mean you don’t spend any money at all. Obviously, we cannot avoid paying for essential items such as housing, food, utilities and more. But we can be more careful about how we budget for them. You can also do more calculations for essential items that you prioritize each month.
During my non-shopping month, I followed the basics and sexuality of others on social media, distinguishing between “essentials” and “extras.” I also added some custom spending allowances (total take away myself) It seemed counterproductive).
What I can buy
| housing/house/utilities |
|---|
| ✔ Car and Home Insurance |
| Interter/Phone |
| Student loan payments |
| hocearthegloss and personal care items |
| ✔️Emergency situation (e.g. emergency car repair) |
| ✔✔ Gas |
| For grocery-like purchases, I have set an additional rule that you can only buy what you absolutely need. It was okay to refill the pantry staples I had used up, but before I bought anything else I had to be creative with the ingredients I already had. |
Personal allowance
| Costs related to events I’ve already planned (e.g., a dinner party for a friend, a concert I had tickets) |
|---|
| ✔Chasing (streaming services for music, limited to one for TV/movie) |
| ✔️Charity |
| For events I’ve already planned, I focused on the frugality. Instead of buying new margarita glasses for a taco night with friends, I’ll hit purchase Get some free stuff. Instead of paying a surge price to park near the concert, I booked a faraway place with a discount lot. |
Things I couldn’t buy
| 𝗫Eat out |
|---|
| 𝗫Entertainment |
| 𝗫/Discretionary purchases (e.g. clothing, items at concerts where I had tickets) |
| 𝗫Repair I can make it myself |
| 𝗫 I can do my own service |
What I’ve learned from Mindful Expense Month
This bail-free challenge was not a rich Quick scheme. It actually felt a change, helped me to clarify my relationship with money and establish healthier long-term habits. Here are some of my takeaways.
Convenience is expensive
As I became more cautious with my spending, I realized I was paying a premium to avoid tasks that would simply be annoying or take time.
For example, they don’t enjoy grooming dogs when they’re out of control, but making a makeover at a dog salon costs almost $100. So I dug out a pet razor I bought a few months ago and actually used it. The results would not qualify my puppies for a dog show, but they were completely passed down.
Another example: Delivery is easier than washing the fridge for dinner ideas Cooking meals At the end of a long day. However, due to the cost of one Grubhub order, including delivery fees and driver tips, I was able to get creative and spend time digging easy time making a week’s worth of dinner.
Relying on paid entertainment kept me distracted. I found out I had a lot of fun to keep myself busy.
Forget about the expensive restaurant outings – Potluck’s birthday party has become even more enjoyable (and a great excuse to try out new cupcake recipes).
Relying on paid entertainment has bored my life
By limiting what I could spend on entertainment, I made my days interesting by opening up hobbies and interests.
I cancelled everything except one streaming service, so instead of boldly scrolling things up, I finally jumped into a mountain of craft projects I’ve collected for months. I did puzzles and coloring for adults. I repotted the baby plants. I finally listened to an audiobook I bought a few months ago.
I missed doing things with my own hands and managed to challenge my mind to go outside of my normal routine and work in a new way.
Expenses are social crutches
How often did I not notice Strolling around It meant forking through a decent chunk of cash. Dinner and drinks, plays, concerts – whenever I hadn’t seen friends in a while, my first instinct was to book an activity with them. I had forgotten about less clever ways than maintaining friendship as a broken girl in her 20s.
After all Board Game Night Dinner parties at home are more fun than big, crowded restaurants. I was surprised to find out that many of my friends felt the same way. Now I don’t have to worry about putting pressure on me to buy a flashy bar cocktail just to throw a social gathering.
Some have emotional value
One of the benefits of my non-shopping challenges was to reduce it That wasn’t the problemit gave me some room to buy something emotionally valuable.
When my partner was invited to an out-of-town surprise party, I hardly joined him. But it was a chance to meet some of his friends and see his old stomping spot. If I haven’t shifted my spending to other categories yet, I don’t know if I can fit my travels into my own budget.
Bonus: I’ve saved a lot
Thanks to my non-shopping experiment, I shaved over $100 from my regular monthly expenses. That money is straight Save money on my pad Emergency Fund.
I’m no longer on the official challenge, but my spending habits have definitely changed. Ordering takeout, paying for a movie, clicking “Buy Now” is no longer something I do with Autopilot.
My bail-free month was the reset I needed and it improved my life in more ways than merely financial. Overall, I’m thinking about that victory.