And just like that – poof – February was over! We’re another month into 2020 already and another month into my no buy year. It’s been a rocky month as far as my buy nothing year goes (and it’s only month two!), but I’m hanging on in there. Today I’m going to walk you through my February no buy year update and how I’m getting on with a year without shopping.
New to the whole ‘no buy year’ thing? You can check out my no buy year rules right here to give you a better idea of what I’m hoping to achieve and why I’m putting myself through this. But for now, let’s get into the February no buy update.
No Buy Year Successes
My February no buy successes are unfortunately a little thin on the ground…ie: there’s only one.
I got an email from The Body Shop this month to inform me that I had a £5 voucher that was about to expire. It’s worth noting here that my favourite hand cream from The Body Shop costs £5. It was like a sign – get more hand cream!
But, as painfully difficult as it is for me to turn down a freebie, I have enough hand cream to see me through the whole of 2020 and probably most of 2021. So I resisted and donated my £5 voucher to a charitable cause on The Body Shop website instead. Less clutter for me, more money for a good cause. Everyone wins!
No Buy Year Struggles
I think maybe the universe was testing me this month and here’s why:
- Six items of clothing fell apart during February. I’m down a dress, a pair a leggings, a skirt, a pj top and bottoms and a cover up. It’s like my wardrobe is conspiring against me! If things keep falling apart at this rate I’ll be forced to go out wearing nothing but a dressing gown by May.
- My boyfriend, Cody, came back to Bahrain after almost an entire year of him working in California. Generally speaking, this is the best thing that could possibly happen, except with regards to my wallet, which has been hit pretty hard by meals out and bottles of wine since he got back.
- During the last week of February, the Ministry of Education closed all the schools in Bahrain because of the Coronavirus outbreak. Don’t get me wrong, I am making the most of sleeping in late and working in my pj’s, but while I’m at work, I can’t spend money. Now that there’s no work…a monster has been let loose.
What I Spent
Now it’s time to open up about what I spent during the month of February…eek! Just like in last month’s update, I’m going to give the total in Bahraini Dinar. For context, 1BHD is about £2. My monthly budget is 250BHD a month, but I’m working on spending less. Also, this doesn’t include my rent, charitable donations, Ubers or Spotify subscription. Those things come out of a separate budget.
The total came to just over 206BD (£428, 548USD, 493EUR, 733CAD).
It’s a strange kind of success this month because I did come in under budget, but I also spent 2/3 of that money in the last 2 weeks of the month. In fact, by the time February 15th rolled around, I was sure I’d have close to 100BHD leftover by the end of the month. Then Cody came back, work got cancelled and Aimee got to spending…real hard.
But it’s still a saving and that’s the main thing.
Final Thoughts
A lot of frivolous spending happened during my February no buy, but I’m trying not to beat myself up about it. After all, I made the decision last month to treat this strictly as a no buy year and not as a no spend year. I gave myself permission to eat meals out and go out for cocktails. But all with that said, maybe I’ll aim for just a few less of those cocktails next month…if not for my wallet then for my liver.
