A few years ago, I read an article about a man who committed to spending no money for an entire year, and got his roommate to do the same. When I read this article, I was fascinated, inspired, and in awe all at the same time. Could I possibly do this?? Add in the fact that recently I've been reflecting on consumerism, waste, and how much I spend money on things I don't necessarily need and I thought that this summer would be a great time to try to do this.
The people in the article really went all out. They were making their own laundry detergent, taking public transit everywhere, and even tried growing their own food. I decided to set a more realistic goal for myself: I wouldn't buy anything for a month except for food at the grocery store. In addition, I'm adding these exceptions for myself:
*Rent, insurance, and bills (these seemed important)
*Gas for my car, since as a freelancer in Austin, I don't have the option of taking reliable public transportation to the places where I teach or perform
*Any health related items (prescription refills, doctor's appointments, etc)
*I will do this item on the list in chunks:
- For the beginning, I'll give myself 10 days with the goal of not spending money during 7 of those.
- For the remaining three weeks, I'll do this one week at a time (not necessarily three weeks in a row)
First 10 day chunk, aiming for 7/10:
Day 1: Tuesday, 6/25. Didn't spend any money! 1/10
Day 2: Wednesday, 6/26. Bought coffee in the morning. Whoops. Still at 1/10.
Day 3: Thursday, 6/27. I did spend money today, but it was for grocery shopping, so...exception! 2/10
Day 4: Friday, 6/28. This day was a test. My running group always goes out to coffee on Friday mornings after our run and I knew I wouldn't be able to resist my weekly breakfast taco, so I intentionally left my wallet at home. It worked. I spent a large chunk of money on a health related appointment this morning though, so even though this day will count for this challenge, my wallet is hurting. 3/10
Day 5: Saturday, 6/29. It's easy to spend no money when you don't leave your house and keep your laptop closed. 4/10
Day 6: Sunday, 6/30. Crap, I went out for a beer with a friend I have a hard time saying no to. Still at 4/10.
Day 7: Monday, 7/1. Today I took Matt out for dinner as a thank you for watching the cat while I was gone for 10 days. Definitely does not count...still 4/10.
Day 8: Tuesday, 7/2. Had another health appointment this morning but that counts as an exception so... 5/10
Day 9: Wednesday, 7/3. Grocery shopping as an exception. 6/10
Day 10: Thursday, 7/4. I spent absolutely zero money today and made it to seven days! 7/10
First full week, aiming for 7 out of 7 days:
Day 1: Sunday, 7/7. Day one, done. 1/7
Day 2: Monday, 7/8. Health appointment. 2/7
Day 3: Tuesday, 7/9. Resisted buying ice cream on the way home from yoga. 3/7
Day 5: Wednesday, 7/10. Happy hour fell through (maybe a good thing?). 4/7
Day 5: Thursday, 7/11. Ok. This day was a little weird. I bought a new dining table. But, I needed it for another item on the list that will be happening next week (and will be posted before this one is posted) so....even though it might be a little dicey, I'm gonna count this day. 5/7
Day 6: Friday, 7/12. Nothing bought today. 6/7
Day 7: Saturday, 7/13. Went to Jester King but AJ bought! 7/7
Halfway done! For the next two weeks to complete this challenge, I'm going to aim to be a little more stringent about my purchases that do need to happen.
Second full week:
The timing of this couldn't have been better, if that's the right word to use. Medical bills and other bills started to pile up and it meant that I really needed to spend as little money as possible this week/at all.
Day 1: Saturday, 9/21. I had to buy gas to get Antonio and me to San Antonio, but otherwise the wallet stayed closed.
Day 2: Sunday, 9/22. Minimal grocery shopping.
Day 3: Monday, 9/23. Our health care system is broken.
Day 4: Tuesday, 9/24. It seemed like replacing the brakes on my car was a worthy investment for today.
Day 5: Wednesday, 9/25.
Day 6: Thursday, 9/26. You guys, I was so bummed about this day, I did such a good job of not spending ANY money, and then I couldn't find the area with free parking downtown for a gig and I ended up spending $5 to park for 3 hours. :(
Day 7: Friday, 9/27. I resisted coffee and tacos at post-running coffee!
BONUS Day 8: Saturday, 9/28.
As soon as I started to see days where I was "forced" to spend money on something (like gas or grocery shopping) it made me want to work that much harder to not spend money on things like coffee or food. I was originally going to do another full week of no spending, but then I took part in an Instagram challenge: Only One Hundred October. The idea was to curb discretionary spending and limit it to only $100 for the entire month. I set a list of exceptions (groceries, bills, cat, car) and then set out to spend $100 or less on fun things for all of October. And...I did it! I came out with having spent only $72 on things like coffee/eating out in October.
This challenge was interesting in that instead of focusing on spending money to have an experience, it forced me to do the opposite. It was a little extreme, but I think it was a good exercise in self control, and forced me to have better spending habits overall (which I hope I can keep up with!).
15 down. 15 to go! Eek! Over halfway there (if you count the partly done ones)!
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