No Spend November!
No Spend November!
With my Gremlin's recent emergency surgery, I am now the proud owner of my first giant vet bill! This has slammed me with a revolutionary idea that I hope to learn from going forward - No Spend November.
I will be sure this month, yes even with the holidays approaching, to be thrifty and crafty and clever, trying to save as much money as possible and seeing how much "stuff" I can truly go without!
My reluctant inner minimalist self will finally have a chance to spring forth and bloom.
When I adopted my first cat Gremlin six weeks ago, I was warned about the responsibilities, time commitment, and financial risks by friends and family. I thought and thought and thought until finally I scooped up the paperwork from the front of her cage at the shelter and marched up to the reception desk determined. My mind was made up, I was in love.
After the ups and downs of being a first-time-fury-friend mama, I learned a lot about this particular little animal. When her sickness symptoms did not let up overnight, in combination with the awful feeling of dread that had consumed my gut instincts for days, I brought her into the vet. My quick assumption of a kitty cold quickly snowballed into major emergency surgery.
With practical intentions, friends suggested that I put her down, or that I take her back to the shelter where they would inevitably put her down, the shelter having already confirmed for me they would provide no financial help because I have had the cat "so long."
There was no way this living creature's whole life was going to end because of a mutant hairball. It was not even a possibility, she's not even two years old. I opened a credit line.
So now it's now time to see where my frugal finesse can take me. Obviously I am on the verge of drowning in a mucky pool of anxiety, which I try to laugh at myself about, HA-HA-HA! But I made the decision to save her and now I will deal with the financial burden.
Except burdened is one of my least favorite things to be, so I have made a choice to see this is a spiritual awakening away from materialistic culture.
Here are just a few things that last week I thought I "needed" ASAP:
1. mascara
2. new leggings
3. photo albums
4. pizza
5. endless Doctor Who t-shirts
I picture these items in my left hand, and I picture my dear Gremlin in the other (man does she look silly trying to balance in my palm). Looking at it this way, there is no contest. Saving my pet, roommate, and best friend's life is more important than having stuff, even pizza.