No Spend-tember Review

Now that September has come to a close and we are deep into Pumpkin Spice Latte season, I wanted to provide you all with an update on my "No Spend-tember." While I did slip up a few times, I was able to keep to my commitment for the most part, which allowed me to finish Baby Step 1 and begin Baby Step 2 all in the same week!

So first, let's talk about how I kept myself accountable. Before the month began, and throughout the month, I made sure that I told everyone I knew and came into regular contact with that I was on a no spend month. Having the support of my family and friends, even though some of them thought I was crazy, went a really long way. My sister has now even taken to asking me "Is this going to mess up your Dave Ramsey plan?" before we do something.

Letting everyone know what I was doing not only helped keep me accountable, but my friends and family all came up with ways we could spend time together that did not involve spending money. I went on a lot of walking dates with my friend Sera, enjoying the unseasonably warm weather we were having. I went on a few study dates with my sister. I took advantage of two outdoor movies with friends. All in all, I think that I actually spent more time socializing in September than I have in the past few months, and all of it was free!

Of course, there were also a few free things I did or coupons that I took advantage of during the month.

1. Two Starbucks coffees
2. Starbucks breakfast sandwich
3. Au Bon Pain chocolate croissant
4. Dunkin Donuts "Coffee Day" coffee
5. Movies in the park
6. Victoria's Secret underwear

After my first few slip-ups during the beginning of the month which I previously wrote about, two more situations arose where I needed to spend money. These situations, however, were somewhat pre-planned and I made sure to not exceed the budget. The first was that a pair of boots that I was previously budgeting for and had a sinking fund in place for went on sale for over 65% off. I could not pass up the sale and purchased the shoes using my saved funds, The second situation that arose came out of my getting a new job! Knowing that I was going to be starting in a new place and not knowing what the normal lunch process was at the new place, I budgeted for a small lunch and "getting to know you" coffee break on my first day. Both times, I came in under budget.

I'm very excited by all of the progress that I was able to make by performing this small reset exercise and will definitely be doing it again in the future. I cannot say enough how much the support of my family and friends kept me moving along, and for that I am thankful.

Stay tuned for the next post where I will be talking about my new beginnings.