If you’ve hung out on the blog since last year, you’ll know I normally do this thing called “No Fun February”. For the past three years, I have completed my own monthly health and money challenge during February (yes, the shortest month of the year). The concept evolved from a no-spend month one of my best friends, Jesse, did back in college. The objectives of No Fun Feb are to eat healthier, cut back on alcohol, not go out as much and save some money. But this year I decided not to partake and this is why. (TBH, it should be obvious).
What Is NFF?
The basis to these “rules” I set for myself for NFF are to be healthier and to spend less money. Here is my post for my initial No Fun Feb, and here is the revamped version of 2019. I did do Whole30 for NFF 2020, but I honestly regret doing NFF then, because it was literally a month before the pandemic started. YOU FOOL!
I know a lot of people do Dry January or Whole30 in January because of the rush New Years Resolutions and to try to recoup from the holidays. January has always been very busy and exciting for me, which is great. But also why I always felt the need to slow down in February. When I was in college I always studied abroad in January, and then I went to visit Taylor in China the year after I graduated and then Autumn and Seth in Texas the year after that. All amazing trips, but very costly and very ritzy.
In a way, NFF is my method of repenting my sins. All my going out to eat, going out to bars, traveling, spending money and eating whatever I what can weigh me (and my wallet) down. Sometimes we just need a few weeks to develop some new habits and reconfigure how we’re living our lives. But so often, my friends will ask me “why do you do this? no fun? you don’t have to!” And the truth is that in the past I’ve always wanted to challenge myself.
Goal Getter
I’m very goal oriented and I like challenging myself. I always feel really accomplished when I complete NFF. I’ve never successfully completed the month without a few ‘exceptions’ and ‘rule breaking’ for special occasions, but the fact that I can even showcase a little bit of self discipline is always worth a pat on the back.
If I knew then what I know now, I would have done so many things differently in 2019 and the beginning of 2020. I would have gone to more concerts, randomly and spontaneously traveled more, hung out with friends at every single chance I could, and never stopped to rest even for a second.
I laugh at myself for doing No Fun Feb in 2020, because the entire year was ‘no fun’. And I’m not saying I was healthier or spent less money in 2020. I just didn’t have a lot of fun. Did it ever cross my mind that there would come a time when I couldn’t hug my friends, go out to bar or get on an airplane? Never. If I had a crystal ball to tell me that would be the case, I never would have made my posts for No Fun February to begin with.
Bottom Line:
So the bottom line is: there is already no fun happening and I need as much serotonin as I can get these days. I am beyond the point of limiting and restricting myself when I already don’t get to do half the things I want to do. NFF was always a way for me to slow down, readjust and regroup. And I really don’t need any of that right now. Surviving a pandemic is hard enough on one’s mental and physical health enough. And if online shopping and virtual happy hours are some of the only things helping me get by, then who am I to take away my own happiness?!
That’s not to say that I don’t want to make my health or finances a priority. In fact, I talked a bit about this in my ‘Goals for 2021’ post. My normal health routine totally fell off during 2020, but I did focus more attention on my savings and paying off my loans. You win some you lose some.
And that’s not to say I won’t ever do NFF again. But I figure that when the world does open up and the pandemic is a distant memory (whenever that may be) I will be making up for lost time. It’s just going to be a year long bender of bad decisions. I can’t wait.
I was looking at my blog analytics the other day and I saw my No Fun Feb posts were getting some hits. That’s great! If you’re the kind of person who wants to do NFF this month for whatever reason, go you! But if you’re like me, pour yourself a glass of wine and sit this one out. Ain’t no shame either way.
Thanks for reading! xx