No Spend January
Welcome to January. The season of resolutions and good intentions. While I have long since given up the requisite Western-toxic-diet-culture resolution of losing weight in the new year, I still enjoy a good resolution/challenge to kick things off.
This year I have decided to do a January No-Spend Challenge. I’ve done these no-spend periods in the past and find they are an excellent way to identify spending leaks and combat lifestyle inflation - which is a bit of a champagne problem to have. Lifestyle inflation is when your income increases, even a little, and you slowly start spending money on things that you never used to. For me, lifestyle inflation usually shows up in the form of impulse purchases in the grocery store. Of course I need at least 4 different types of gourmet cheeses on hand at all times. You never know when you’ll need to make an impromptu charcuterie board.
If you aren’t familiar with a No-Spend Challenge, it’s a fun(?) way to save some money AND rethink your spending habits. It’s also a great way to rethink consumerism in general. There is nothing more sustainable than NOT buying things you don’t really need.
What is a No Spend Challenge?
No Spend challenges have grown in popularity over the years and there are different ways to set up your own no-spend challenge. Some people opt to cut ALL unnecessary spending, including things like streaming services, cable, etc and eat only what they have in their cupboards for one month or more. Others embark on a long term no spend, vowing to buy no new clothes or electronics, etc….for the entire year. Still others (like me) structure their challenge to pare down their spending and identify unhealthyish habits.
My No Spend Rules
My no spend rules are pretty simple. No spending on anything outside of my regular needs, including any online orders. I am not a big spender by nature - I have been raised on classic New England Yankee Thrift. But I’ve found that during the pandemic, I had turned a little too much to online retail therapy as a distraction from uncomfortable feelings - oh hello Amazon & ThredUp. But there are only so many sensible second-hand cardigans you can buy, before the dopamine wears off. So, while a no-spend can definitely help save money, I am really doing it in part to feel my feelings in a healthier way.
In addition to my no online purchases rule, here are some other rules for my January No Spend:
A moratorium on new recipe ingredients. As noted in the above fancy cheese example, I am easily dazzled by gourmet ingredients at the grocery store. I am also the queen of buying items for a new recipe and then never making said recipe. As a result, I have accumulated oodles of unopened jars of truffle sea salt, red curry paste, Mediterranean olives blends, and organic stone ground almond flour (even though I’m not gluten-free). Like sleeping beauty waiting for her prince, these items are sitting dormant in my cupboard, just waiting for me to bring them to life. If I want to dabble with new recipes in January, they have to be based on things I already have in my cupboard.
June 2022 Update - Win! I have not bought any one-off ingredients at all this year. I have also been diligent about checking my pantry (aka my lazy susan) to see what items I have onhand, before I go shopping.No personal care items unless I am 100% out of it. This means that when the shampoo bottle is down to the last 1/8 inch full, I do not get to buy a new bottle. And I need to use up any partially opened containers before buying new. I actually did this last year and it took me + my family over three months to use up half a dozen travel-size toothpastes before I had to buy a new full-size tube of toothpaste.
June 2022 Update - Full Transparency. I did buy one new eye shadow pallet in a moment of weakness a few months ago. When I got home I realized it is almost exactly the same colors as the eyeshadow pallet I had been using. So, at least I know I’ll use it up.
Grocery shopping once a week. I know, I know - I’ve have real issues with buying groceries. Depending on how you shop for groceries, this might seem like you’d be spending more money. But my rationale is that I will actually spend less, because I’ll be less prone to bulk buying mentality. You know, when you’re like I need to get all.the.things now, because God only knows when I’ll make it back to Wal-Mart. I spend way less going once a week, because if I want something, but don’t have an immediate plan for it, I’ll just add it to my list for the next week.
June 2022 Update: A win most of the time. I have pretty much stuck to my once a week rule, though there were a few extra trips thrown in here and there to pick up a few extra items - mostly fresh produce if I was out. But it is still loads better than my previous habit of multiple trips a week.
Financial Health Matters
The way we deal with our money is really important. While I am able to live comfortably now and have a solid middle class office job that pays me well for my needs, I have also struggled financially in the past - hard. And experienced some hefty financial trauma along the way. Just like mental health and physical health, I believe we must look after our financial health with the same kind of persistence and patience. It is not something that should be ignored until it becomes a problem.
If you’d like to do your own no-spend challenge, you can download this free worksheet I put together. And you can find more resources I’ve put together on budgeting, financial planning and simplifying life & home over on Pinterest.
A New Year & Winter Garden Musings
Happy 2022! Thank you to everyone who took the time to reach out and say a kind word after my last newsletter. Your messages were so welcome and appreciated - I actually ugly-cried from joy and relief that so many of you understood and even echoed my thoughts. And it made me feel so good about my decision to keep going with Mabon House.
I’ve been on vacation from my day job, and I’m not going to lie - it has been wonderful. I’ve taken naps, puttered about my house, listened to some fantastic books on Audible and ate a lot of good food with my family. On New Year's Eve (day) I spent some time walking about my gardens, enjoying the sunshine, crisp air and fresh snow.
I am often grumbly about winter because I am the head snow-remover, roof raker and fire starter at our house, now that most of my kids have flown the coop. My youngest is still at home, but it seems like whenever it snows, he is always at his dad’s house and I am the one left shoveling. But I remind myself to be grateful that I have a home to take care of and a body that allows me to do all the things that need to be done. The older I get the more grateful I am for the simple things in life.
Walking about in the woods and gardens is also a good reminder to stop hating on winter so much. There is much beauty to be found all year long, if only we slow down and look.
Mabon House in 2022 - A Letter to My Readers
As I write this post winter has arrived in all its simple splendor. Outside my window the gardens and trees sleep peacefully, awash in soft shades of white, gray, green and brown. The blue skies are softer this time of year, as if the sunlight is perpetually filtered by thin clouds and sharp air. Every season has its own beauty and winter is no exception.
I’ve wanted to write to you all for some time, to let you know I have not fallen off the face of the earth. The seasons turn and here in Maine, it’s a time for nature to rest and recharge. And that, dear friends, is what I’ve been doing these past few months. My body and spirit were both calling out for me to slow down, wayyyy down and pause. And I’m finally old enough to know that when the body and spirit call, you had best listen. And so I’ve rested. I went on a total creative hiatus and just spent time focusing on the present moment, my health and my family.
And I spent a lot of time thinking about Mabon House and if I still wanted to keep it running.
What had started as a lovely creative idea had morphed into a full fledged micro-business almost overnight. It was delightful - who knew so many people would dig my printables? - but also added a new layer of stress to an already over-stressed life. I felt pressure to produce a steady stream of new prints and planners. I began thinking in terms of SEO, keywords, traffic and open rates. All the joy and creativity that had motivated me to start Mabon House in the first place was gone.
And there was also the imposter syndrome.
I’ve been open about the fact that I don’t identify as any particular denomination or as a witch. While I do draw strength from nature and the seasons, my interest in the Wheel of the Year was more cultural & academic than spiritual. I have my undergrad degree in history (at the time, my practical parents were not thrilled about my liberal arts major - what kind of paying job will you get with a history degree?!) and I have always been fascinated by the history of holidays and other cultural celebrations and how they have evolved over time.
I saw a gap in the digital printables market - there were like, 8 million Christmas planners on Etsy, but nothing for Yule let alone for the lesser known holidays like Imbolc or Lughnasadh. And the few witchy printables I found all looked like Halloween party invitations - so much gothic fonts and skulls and bats. To me, that did not represent a celebration of the seasons and nature. So I decided, on a bit of whim if I am being honest, to make my own and share them. I chose the name Pagan Planner because it sounded catchy and would be easy for folks to find in a search - not because I was a pagan.
As Mabon House grew, occasionally readers would reach out with very specific questions about sabbats or manifestations or how to honor loved ones who had died, and I was kind of like…erhhh…I don’t know? I mean, I have trouble meditating during yoga - I would never be able to cast a spell that worked. And death is not something I am at all qualified to discuss with strangers. And so all of this gave me an uneasy feeling that I was fooling people and eventually someone was going to figure out I was full of beans. And so, rather than deal with all that anxiety and stress, I just opted out.
But the thing is, I really like writing for Mabon House and creating pretty printables. And I love sending out this newsletter and hearing from folks (but please don’t ask me how to honor your late cat - it’s just not my thing).
So, I’ve decided on two things about the future of Mabon House:
The first is that I am not reopening the Etsy shop. Thank you to everyone who bought something from Etsy - you helped me grow this site and printables library so much over the past couple of years. Moving forward, all the printables I make will live right on Mabon House in the Members Library, for free. I’ll be adding in printables previously only available on Etsy over the next couple of months, including the 2022 Pagan Planner.
The second thing I’ve decided is that I am going to write more from my heart about things I enjoy. This will include some Wheel of the Year topics, but also more content on styling, saving money, sustainability and simplifying life (AKA minimalism for people who don’t want to give away all their stuff). I love sharing with others how I live beautifully, inside and out, on a budget.
I think the world - especially the digital world - needs more authenticity and transparency. And I want Mabon House to be a reflection of myself, not a carefully curated brand.
So, over the next few weeks I’ll be sharing more about the new look and feel of Mabon House, new content and new printables. You can check out all the free printables right in the Members Library.