I did it! Or should I say, I didn’t do it! Or more realistically, I almost didn’t do it! What? Spend money in the month of September. Some of you may remember my wallet really needed a break, so I set a goal to spend no money in the month of September unless absolutely necessary.

Did this help? Yes, my wallet, checking account, and credit cards seem much more at peace. Was it easy? Except for a few bumps and hiccups, it wasn’t too bad. Like a good financial citizen, I paid all by bills and gave at church, I kept gas in my car, and had plenty of food (in my house).

However:

Snafu #1: The food thing was a little trickier when it came to work. I went to a conference and for five days, we only received one dinner, one lunch, and two breakfasts. The people from Idaho brought and gave out great potato chips (but I could not and should not try to live off of those). I brought lots of nuts, granola bars, and small containers of fruit in my suitcase but still had to fork out money for three dinners and one lunch with a little more substance. My traveling companion knew of the goal I had set and was nice enough to buy me dinner one night. (I think I must have looked really sad and hungry.)

Snafu #2: When did September become the season of giving? A wedding and a baby shower brought out the checkbook. Oh well, there’s a new bride and mom to be who are happy.

At home, the only food I had to buy was bread (yes, I could have frozen some – yuck, or made some – no time) and milk (yes, I could have used the dry milk – yuck to drink) and since I miscalculated the amount of dog food in the house, I had to buy some of that too. I will give a big shout out for canned and frozen foods. It was no big deal to not go out to eat, go to the movies or other forms of entertainment. (The good stuff doesn’t usually come out until October anyway.)

What about my all-important trips to the nail salon? Ha! I found a gift certificate (I love those things) that took care of both trips to the salon.

Though I didn’t go hard core all the way, I did really well. I feel so much better and I’ve veered off my path toward debtor’s prison (yes, exaggeration).

I am blessed to have a comfortable life so this was not that difficult. One month without extra spending was a free gift I gave myself. See if giving yourself the gift of a no-spend month makes your life better. Then be sure to share your success stories.

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