No Spend November aka Severely Restricted Spending November

The first thing alot of you have said is "No spend November? That would be real hard" ... but not really. I know, its the holidays. Thanksgiving. Christmas. Etc.

I've got hubbys birthday. Thanksgiving. Father in Laws birthday, best friends birthday. Then we go into December and I have Sonny Boy's 18th, Princess 20th, my dad, my neighbor, Christmas Boat Parade Party (!!), trip to Indiana, Christmas. Oh my GOSH!!

But, here's the thing. I can do this. That's why I revised it to be Severely Restricted Spending. Or, to keep the spelling errors in check, SRS. :) No, THAT is not for the gearheads around here, ahem.

1. Thanksgiving. I've got 2 turkey breast in the freezer. I also have 20 lbs of taters (at the moment), 6 pkgs of premashed taters in fridge, and 6 pkgs of taters in the freezers. I know, the premade stuff isn't quite golden, but it WOULD do if needed.  I've also got untold amounts of gravy in the pantry (never have mastered the from scratch stuff).  I've also got tons of sweet stuff to bake and frozen and canned corn, evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, etc to make a corn casserole. I mean, seriously, what else is there? Oh. Yes, I have stuffing mix stuff too (does that make sense??)

2. Birthdays are not normally a break the bank occasion in my house. I contribute that to my frugal ways, NOT! More likely, because of the timing of the year they fall around. :)  So, bake a load of cupcakes, have the kids decorate them (even at this age, they still like to do that, sprinkles, coloring and all) and generally, they get an American Express giftcard. Now, I could take the real easy way out and redeem my AE points to get the cards for FREE, but I'd have to discuss that with Hubby. He wants to save for some big trip some day (I have no idea WHEN or WHERE).  As for Hubbys birthday, thinking of a stationary bike. I can get one for about $250 at sports authority (trying to find one like at the gym that he likes) and they currently have a promotion where you spend $200 and you get a gift card for $100. Word of CAUTION on this deal: the gift card is only redeemable for like 5 days and they list the specific days. Could lose it if not careful.

3.  Christmas. We are flying to Indiana to spend with all the family (both sides!) We've already purchased the one gift each family will receive. It shouldn't cost us more than say $300 for the week for all of us up there, what with grocery shopping and other things.

4.  Christmas Boat Parade Party. This used to be a HUGE event for us. One year we had over 70 people. The past few years have been smaller, more like 20 to 30 which is much more dealable. AND honestly, I like it smaller, say 15 to 20. Just easier to spend time with those friends who I really want to spend time with, not the ones I see only a few times a year. I apologize if that sounds ungrateful, but seriously, its the way I've been. Downsizing in all aspects of my life. Yeah. Think of it that way :)

So there's the answer to whether or not it would be difficult in November :)

But really, it's just a plan to make me really think before I spend. To not spend unless I NEED it, not just WANT it. I've got pantries that are stuffed to the top and freezers that will barely close. If it's filled with stuff that no one will eat, we will find that out soon enough. I'd like to go into the new year with CLEAN and STREAMLINED pantries and freezers.

I've got closets and dressers that I can't even keep neat because there are so many articles of clothing in them. We are getting ready for our annual yard sale in late November so this will give me a chance to again CLEAN and STREAMLINE the closets and dressers (kids too!!).

I've also just got STUFF. Although Hubby would call it something else.

So maybe just by doing an SRS month, this will help me declutter and SEE what I really have that I've been missing. So, you want to join in? Leave a message and if there's enough response, I might try and do a weekly link up.