No Spend November - A Midway Update

So we are just over halfway through No Spend November, so I thought it was about time I gave a little update on how we are getting on.

In some ways it hasn’t felt that different so far, as the lockdown here in Wales meant everything was closed the first week anyway, and now things have reopened we are still mostly staying home except for school runs and getting out for some nice walks. However, my brain seems to have chosen now to panic about Christmas shopping. It is one of the few exemptions to No Spend November, so technically it is allowed, but I had hoped to fully switch off from consumerism and leave the rest till December, but my brain doesn’t want to let me. My friends will attest to the fact that I am annoyingly punctual, and by punctual, I mean, I arrive everywhere early. This probably accounts in large part to why the idea of leaving buying gifts to the last minute fills me with panic at the best of times. Throw in lockdowns, reluctance to go to any shops even when open, and wanting to buy Ezra a toy that is starting to sell out everywhere, and I’ll admit I got spooked.

So during this first half of November I have gotten organised and bought the kid's Christmas presents, and finished all 3 kids stockings, and made a good dent in the wider family gifts too. I think I can now forget about Christmas for a while, so here's hoping I can truly stop spending for the rest of the month.

We also had 2 issues come up with the kids that forced us to spend money. Our daughter won a story writing competition and her winning story was published in an anthology. So obviously we had to buy a copy of the book, no spend November can’t beat parental pride! We also realised that our youngest son's winter coat, which I got him to try on a month ago, somehow no longer fits him. So we had to buy him a new coat. But since he's the youngest and survives on hand me downs, he was so excited to have something new, it took away any guilt I felt about having to spend the money!

Stuff like this is in the exemptions, as things the kids genuinely need trumps No Spend November. So technically we didn’t break any rules, but it doesn’t feel like we’ve done that well either.

I think the whole family is feeling a little bit over the concept this time around. Imposing even more restrictions on ourselves at a time when we are already having to sacrifice a lot seems a bit silly in retrospect, and all during the dampest and darkest month of the year so far. But I'm optimistic we will make it to the end of the month, and I'm sure we will appreciate December even more, with all it's twinkly lights and yummy treats!