Saturday, November 19, 2011

What Is The 11 Month Project?

Several years ago while browsing the Internet I read about a woman who committed to not buying anything for an entire year.  Not that new skirt, cute blouse or must have purse....my personal weakness.  At the time this experiment was an acknowledgement of the excess we so often have in our lives and the consumerism that brought about the excess.

Since that time the nations economy has changed as has our families personal financial situation.  But what hasn't really changed is the amount of excess "stuff" we have.  So with that in mind this is the year I have decided on my own experiment......and by year I really mean 11 months.

So this is my plan for the first 11 months of 2012....BUY NOTHING.  Simple right?....well, no.  Of course food has to be excluded from this plan - I have a husband and a 9 year old daughter at home (and a son away at college) who expect to be fed daily.  There are ways to drastically reduce your food costs.  My friend at Couponing To Disney (http://www.couponingtodisney.com/) shows you great ways every day to stretch your food budget by using coupons.  But do I NEED that new kitchen gadget?  The adorable cookie cutter that is just perfect for the class party cookies?....truth is NO - I don't need those things and this year I will make every effort to say no to them.

Clothing....well, unless the 9 year old cooperates fully with this project and stops growing for the next 11 months I will be forced to buy clothes and shoes for her.  But the truth of the matter is this child has a closet FULL of clothes, many that she will be able to easily wear for the next year.  Still there are some things she will need and those things we will buy - but throughout this project we will carefully evaluate need vs. want.  Same applies to the adults in the house...there will be clothing items we will need - but we will NOT be making impulse purchases (I hope) of that shirt that is too cute to live with out or the purse that I just MUST have because, well, look at it, it's AMAZING.

The other thing that comes up when you have a 9 year old is birthday parties - gifts for others are excluded from this project BUT family gifts are not - so this year we will be making birthday gifts for each other.

So that is The 11 Month Project in a nut shell.....oh and as for why it is the 11 Month Project and not the One Year Project...well....I just couldn't bring myself to include Christmas in this project...maybe next year.

So how about you?  Want to join me in The 11 Month Project?  I am embarking on the project to simply reduce our households consumerism but you could do it for what ever reason you like.  Saving money for a big trip?  Take the amount of money that you would have spent on that must have item and put it directly into your savings account instead.  Sponsor a child from Love Without Boundaries (http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/sponsor-child/) with your monthly savings. We are not undertaking complete austerity measures - we will still eat out once in a while and I am SURE that we will make an occasional decision to purchase something despite the ongoing project but our goal is to evaluate everything against project compliance.

We'll share our successes and failures with you via this blog and I want you to feel free to do the same.  Tell me what helped you to stay on target....what things you just found you could not live without....how are the kids doing with it?  Often impulse buys are as much of a problem for our little ones as it is for us.  Now is a great time to teach our kids the difference between something they really NEED and something they just really want and will have no value, monetary or emotional, in just a week.

So we have 6 weeks to prepare for The 11 Month Project to start.  WILL YOU JOIN ME?

10 comments:

  1. Love this idea! I look at the excess in our home and I just shake my head. Yes, I will join you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sharon, glad to have you join us!! I am certain that I, maybe even most of us, can tackle this project without being deprived or even very creative. Spread the word to your family and friends....http://the11monthproject.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great idea! Basically how we lived last year in this economy. Found out I could do without lots of stuff if I just waited. I also went through all my stuff and if it had any value but I was not using it and it was packed away I sold it on ebay. I just discovered garage sales in my area and it is a great way to buy some toys and books for my girls. Last year I said no to buying books from school as well as pictures. It was a hard call but they didn't read them once bought and the pictures sat in the envelopes. I did purchase the yearbooks for the girls and they were read many times over.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I don't know you and the route I took to find your blog is a series of unmemorable right clicks, but I am thrilled to be here. We've tried to do this several years in the past, but this year has been an eye opening experience for me and I am determined to be successful this year, so yes, I will join you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I will Join you too! I think this is a fantastic idea, and one my husband will love! He is always asking me to really think about my statements when I say I NEED to run out and grab "x". Is it a want or a need? I am so happy that I came across your blog today and I am already writing about my commitment to it on my own. Thank you for supplying me with the means and inspiration to really look at this with open eyes.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I'm in. This will be a challenge, but I am always up for a challenge. Any chance of forming an accountability group/forum/site? Again, thank you. I love the idea.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Carrie - there is a Facebook page. I think it has about ZERO followers but it was set up as a "chat and accountability" forum.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Count me in!
    I recently saw the movie "No Impact Man" (link if interested http://noimpactproject.org/)and have thought a lot about this.
    I feel he was a bit extreme but I feel The 11 Month Project will be a worthy challenge.
    Thank you for the opportunity to get on board!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Reading along an curious for sure. I think our biggest money WASTER is school fund raisers. Yet, I feel like a Grinch for opting out.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This sounds like a fantastic idea! Each and every day I feel like I need to make a change - for myself and my family. My shopping ventures are far different than when we were a DINK family (dual income, no kids), but they could still be better. Christmas is such a want want want time of year, and that definitely is NOT what it is about. We are simplifying our lifestyle and maybe this is just what we need to really get things going! We don't have facebook (weird, I know) so I'm hoping you'll keep this blog up to date :)

    ReplyDelete