one week without spending (think I can do it?)

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raisedbyignorance
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01 Dec 2009, 9:01 pm

Okay so I've been feeling really bad and guilty about buying something I could've gotten for less than half the price I paid for it had I not developed crowd anxiety on Black Friday...which got me thinking...

My crowd anxiety has caused me to spend and waste alot of money...especially on food. This is because while my parents expect me to take my own lunch to school/work, the breakrooms get so crowded that my anxiety levels shoot up though the roof. So my only option was usually to bring a cold lunch and eat it in the car or go out and spend $5-$10 per lunch. It was easy for me to bring a cold lunch occasionally when the weather was good but now that it's getting colder out, I'm up for quite a challenge.

So to compensate for all the money I've been blowing I actually want to go at least a few days without spending starting tomorrow though I really doubt I'll make it past the weekend. My insane goal was to not spend any money till the 11th or 12th when my friend will be back in town again. But we all know...that aint happening :lol:

Keep in mind, I'm not someone embarking on some grandeur experiement as I live with my parents and get food for free anyway. I'm just trying to convince myself to stop wasting MY money everytime I'm out of the house, given that my credit card debt is about as much as I have left on my checking account. In fact I'm not bringing any credit cards or money out of the house for days just to get myself started (any emergencies I can always contact the parents for).

And I know considering that it's December this may be a silly time to cut back. I do have a Target Gift Card that I plan to use to possibly finish up my Christmas shopping and hopefully the Christmas checks will come and I will feel better about myself but I know that I wont be able to get into the habit of saving until I actually have done it for a while.

I'm really gonna miss drinking soda and Starbucks hot chocolate though...Bah! This will kill me!



RaceDrv709
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01 Dec 2009, 9:59 pm

I've managed to go months without spending money. The longest was about 3 months when I couldn't find my wallet. Sorta off topic, but Have you ever been ripped off by a vending machine?


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Wombat
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02 Dec 2009, 4:15 am

My wife likes clothes. If she lived to be 150 years old she could make do with the clothes she owns now.

Every time we go out she must buy a cup of coffee.

I am a guy. I only buy new clothes when my old ones are worn to rags.



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02 Dec 2009, 6:11 am

I plan on doing that for the months of January and February.


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02 Dec 2009, 12:24 pm

RaceDrv709 wrote:
I've managed to go months without spending money. The longest was about 3 months when I couldn't find my wallet. Sorta off topic, but Have you ever been ripped off by a vending machine?


Nope, I can't think of a day without spending any money at all..... I'm not very rich either and I obviously have to buy my lunch and occassionally top up my oyster card to go on the bus.... I don't like making my own lunch because to me its like too much work and i can't simply keep up with this every single day.

Yes I have been ripped off by a vending machine and I absolutely hate it... I tried to get a bottle of lucozade to bring up my energy for the rest of the day but then the machine took around a whole £1 out of me :( I was simply not very happy about it!! :x
Thats why now i'm trying my hardest to avoid the vending machines. :lol:


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raisedbyignorance
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03 Dec 2009, 6:06 pm

Current report: two whole days without spending money 8)

Though I did bring $1.25 with me to school today because I thought I was going to crack and need a coke from the vending machine, but I held back.

Now comes the weekend...it's soooo gonna get rough here.



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03 Dec 2009, 6:08 pm

I know I couldn't do that.


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03 Dec 2009, 8:04 pm

Since I have enough stuff in my apartment, I haven't been spending my money. The last thing I have bought was a GameBoy game off of ebay in October and I just won an album of The Jingle Cats.


I only spend my money on food and bills. But my husband is buying Christmas gifts and wants to donate $10 to childrens hospital. I still have that check to write. He wants me to do it.



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03 Dec 2009, 10:08 pm

I need to be more frugal. I am living barely within my means right now (meaning I pay all my bills, but my debt is far too high). Most of my spending is on ridiculous little things, soda, music etc...nothing substantial, but it adds up quickly. I need to start leaving my cards at home, I don't have the will power otherwise.


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mitharatowen
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03 Dec 2009, 10:28 pm

Absolutely! I do this all the time! With bills and all, I can't exactly go too long without spending any money. But if you exclude the necessary items of life I probably "spend money" oh... a couple times a year :P



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03 Dec 2009, 10:59 pm

I remember a great story a few years ago.

A young Navy Officer and his wife had (I think) four kids and no money.
They really wanted to buy a small farm as a family home but they had no money.

So the wife went into full "tightwad mode" spending NOTHING that she didn't have to.
No eating out. Buy everything at thrift shops or garage sales. Make your own Christmas presents. Buy food in bulk and if you want cakes or cookies then bake them yourself. Make your own cleaning products.

They achieved their goal in five years, but here is the kicker.
She decided to publish a newsletter on her money saving tips.

The New York Times picked up the story about her achievements and her newsletter.
Overnight tens of thousands of people subscribed to her newsletter making her a millionaire.



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04 Dec 2009, 7:50 am

Excluding the obvious things, such as rent and bills, that need to be paid on a regular basis, I used to go for days, even weeks without really spending money. But I have recently developed an addiction for Caffe Nero coffee and I have to have at least one a day in order to feel human. But otherwise, I don't go shopping regularly for clothes or anything like that (I've had to recently as some of my clothes were a bit old and tatty) as I have enough clothes for all seasons (or at least now I do anyway). My sister seems to buy clothes every month, it makes me wonder what on Earth she does with them to need to replace them, as she certainly does not have the room to keep them all.....


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raisedbyignorance
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07 Dec 2009, 12:53 pm

Wombat wrote:
I remember a great story a few years ago.

A young Navy Officer and his wife had (I think) four kids and no money.
They really wanted to buy a small farm as a family home but they had no money.

So the wife went into full "tightwad mode" spending NOTHING that she didn't have to.
No eating out. Buy everything at thrift shops or garage sales. Make your own Christmas presents. Buy food in bulk and if you want cakes or cookies then bake them yourself. Make your own cleaning products.

They achieved their goal in five years, but here is the kicker.
She decided to publish a newsletter on her money saving tips.

The New York Times picked up the story about her achievements and her newsletter.
Overnight tens of thousands of people subscribed to her newsletter making her a millionaire.


Heh, I actually write a little for Associated Content though you really only get pennies if you have trouble grasping the concept of the money-maker articles like I do.

Made it through the 3-day-weekend hump. Five whole days without spending money...about to be 6. Whoop-ee-doodle-doo! :roll: :lol:



raisedbyignorance
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09 Dec 2009, 7:43 am

Well I managed a week...one whole week. I feel proud and at the same time...eh.

I do have to spend money today though, only because my schedule this week is packed with stuff I need to do and pay for in order to complete my tasks. Heh

Hopefully this experience will get me to spend even less money this month and here on after. Maybe I will attempt going the whole January or February without spending money. Depends on my will power. I'm not gonna have a job for at least another year while I'm in work school so I'll be spending a helluva lot less in 2010.

It's going to suck major balls :P



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09 Dec 2009, 6:11 pm

The only time when I won't be able to spend anything is when its in the holidays, like christmas holidays for example, I don't really tend to spend a single penny then and I always find that I have a couple of money left :) yay meee :lol:

Plus I fail alot because i'm always outside alot, however when I get indoors, the only way I kinda distract myself is going on wrongplanet and deviantart :lol: It actually kinda works though.


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