A Recap of my Low-Spend Month (January 2025)

I have a handful of pretty large potential expenses this coming up this year (moving, new car, investing in my business), so I wanted to kick of the year of spending very intentionally. I decided to call is a Low-Spend Month, giving myself the grace to spend on essentials and the occasional “treat” in moderation. I wanted to capture the ebbs and flows of my month here since I think I came away with a few surprising insights. I’ll walk through the month chronologically and share what I learned along the way. :)

Early January

At the beginning of the month, I immediately had a little wake up call… I didn’t realize I spent as much time online shopping (especially on Amazon) as I did. I used it like a social media app, seeking a quick dopamine hit. The big difference between social media and the Amazon App was that Amazon cost me actual money. The other big difference was that I had to deal with the aftermath of random packages showing up on my doorstep and the inevitable trips to Whole Foods to return said random packages. I quickly decided to nip the spending in the bud and limit Amazon time to 5 minutes a day on my phone. And while the popup cutting off my time was annoying, it was rudely and immediately effective.

Mid January

Toward the middle of the month, I started feeling morally and financially superior to the past version of myself. I felt victorious every time I’m scrolled passed a TikTok shop ad, and I loved the feeling of saving my money and putting it toward things that gave me peace of mind rather than buyer’s remorse. I started spending more time on my budgeting app (You Need a Budget aka YNAB) and shifting funds from January over to February and even on to March because I wasn’t on track to use up what I had allocated for several categories. I generally felt more conscientious and aware of each and every dollar coming in and out of my life.

Late January

As I neared the end of the month, I started to feel the urge to treat myself. I had focused on only spending on essentials all month, so I got my spending “fix” from Trader Joe’s and spending more time than necessary researching what kind of fabric softener sheets to get. But I honestly really wanted something that felt a little more special and less essential. So I treated myself to a fancy matcha latte and some fancy chocolates. As I started to think about making these purchases, I felt a little guilty. I sort of expected that. What I didn’t expect was to feel super at peace while enjoying my latte and chocolates AND then to continue to feel no buyer’s guilt after the fact.

The Big Lesson

The big lesson of the whole month was this… spending in alignment with myself, my needs and my wants, always feels good. Spending out of alignment always feels bad. It’s really that simple. The hard part can be figuring out what’s in and out of alignment with me. Being essential or not essential isn’t really the marker of what feels right in my soul. It’s whether or not I’ve made the purchase with true intention. If I did my research, knew it was something that would better my life, and felt confidence it wouldn’t end up in the donation pile or that trash in the new few months or years.

Ultimately, I really do know what’s actually an impulse purchase, an overpriced or uneccessary “essential,” or just generally what’s not truly aligned with what I want or need. And I really do know what’s a good and right purchase for me. I just have to trust myself to make those good decisions. And I have to be able to hear myself over the noise of social media ads and influencers convincing me that THEIR aligned purchase should be my next purchase.

So the moral of the story is, slow down, make intentional purchases, and revel in the victory of rejecting the traps you used to fall into.