Margaret Arnold • December 7, 2024
November: Gratitude In a No Spending Month

I made it through my “No Spend November” and it was a restorative reset.


After a few years of reading articles, books and podcasts about simplicity, I discovered an intriguing challenge: the “no-spend month.”  One of my favorite pieces was by my inspiration and favorite author Ann Patchett titled “My Year of No Shopping.” I learned there are strict no spend months (only essential expenses like food and home bills) and categorical no spend months (allowing some flexibility).


A strict no spend month during a transitional period was relatively easy and quite freeing, as I had little desire to accumulate more while in temporary housing.


I chose this November for my second no spend month. I picked this month, partly for the playful alliteration, but mostly because I desired a reset after a busy summer and fall of spending on travel, family events and more and before the busy holidays.


I DESIRED A RESET AFTER A BUSY SUMMER AND FALL ...




Here are some learnings of a no spend month as an intentional financial strategy:


  • No spend “why” and rules are personal. A spending freeze is personal and what you want to achieve. My no spend month, a spending detox, was cleansing, but I didn’t miss celebrating special moments, including the purchase of an engagement gift for my daughter, while maintaining overall spending discipline.
  • Mindful purchasing is a decision reflection. While the impulse was there to add an item to my cart, I spent more time thinking whether I “really” needed it. I would pause, leave, return and then decided against the purchase. And I have learned the present decision not to put it in the cart also kept at bay, for now, a future decision about that item – where and how it leaves my life.
  • Desire to purchase was suppressed. Keeping a list of the items I passed on during November (seven personal items or services in the $800 range), helped me see that the urgency for those same items quickly dissipated. Here are some examples: a) an orange baseball cap for walking in the woods (I had an old one that was just fine); b) a new dress and a manicure and pedicure for a special wedding (I attended in a dress only worn twice and did a home manicure and pedicure); c) the “perfect” coffee tumbler my daughter showed me (again, I pulled out an old one that fit my car cup holder); d) cleaning a dry clean-only dress at home with a product that I researched and felt safe using.


A no spend month during a month that celebrates gratitude and abundance (and on the eve of a month of holiday spending creep) was challenging but also special as it had many lessons, including restorative appreciation for a simplified life and space that gives me joy and peace every day.



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Past Blogs

Laura Ingalls Wilder Book Collection

Stories in Small Moments: Essays and Simple Living

By Margaret Arnold • October 11, 2025
After nearly 30 blog posts about simple living, I continue to find enjoyment in downsizing and being intentional. This summer reinforced my commitment to simplicity in two ways: first, letting things move on—including my 55-year collection of Laura Ingalls Wilder books to my son's fiancée, a teacher, with whom I discovered a shared love of the series; and secondly, using groceries wisely, experimenting with what's on hand and increasing freezing techniques rather than waste (more on that later). This intentional approach extends to reading, one of life's simplest pleasures. Some of my best memories and connections to people are through reading. Laura Ingalls Wilder's books read in the early 1970s remind me of home upstairs in the girls’ “dormitory” bedroom. The Sound of Music on a family road trip in a GMC motorhome in 1976 gave me moments of escape alongside five siblings. Kate DiCamillo, Gary Paulsen and the Harry Potter series remind me of my children as emerging readers and their well-worn books. Dancing at the Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig and Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner connect me to an early book club of serious readers and friends I still cherish today. This intentional approach extends to reading ...

Downsizing Without Losing Memories

By Margaret Arnold • August 23, 2025
With the State Fair and the new school year here, memories flood back — once captured on a paper calendar pinned to the bulletin board, then in spiral-bound weekly calendar (still my favorite, pencil only!), and later on desktop electronic calendar. When we decided to downsize while preserving memories, I organized nearly 35 years of family dates into a single Google Sheet called "Family Important and Fun Dates from Margaret’s Calendars." This simple digital chronicle of our family’s journey, from our children's milestones to the activities and adventures my husband and I now enjoy as empty nesters. tODAY, THERE IS JUST ONE GOOGLE SHEET ...

Saying Goodbye to Boxes, Keeping the Memories

By Margaret Arnold • July 26, 2025
Thirteen years, seven rental properties, and countless storage boxes later, my oldest daughter finally has a home of her own. Through college, medical school, and residency, we continued to store belongings that didn't fit or belong in the cramped spaces of her temporary living situations. Passing along her belongings felt like closing one chapter and opening another—most of all, it represented the end of her grueling training years and the beginning of truly settling down in a lovely home and neighborhood. Her move got me reflecting on my own relationship with storage and my journey toward "Silverish Simplicity." In our former family home, we had one large storage area and two guest bedroom closets filled with plastic totes and banker boxes (see picture below). I even stored empty totes—a sure indication I was planning to accumulate more rather than less. With our move nearly four years ago and the natural process of downsizing while launching our children into their first homes, the number of boxes and totes has dramatically decreased. More importantly, I have no reason to purchase new totes, and I celebrate each time I empty a box or bin and it moves on to family members who need them. ... THE NUMBER OF BOXES AND TOTES HAS DRAMATICALLY DECREASED ...