My Spending Diet

After a month of ridiculous spending, I decided that I would try to see how long I can go without spending any money at all besides paying essential bills such as rent, groceries, car payment, etc. I’ve made it FOUR days so far. These four days have been fairly easy as I started on Sunday, Monday was a holiday and I work full time so I don’t have too much time to shop on the weekdays. Here are some tips about how I’ve saved money so far:

Pack Your Lunch: I pack my lunch to take to work 99% of the time. Occasionally I won’t pack if I know I’m going to be traveling around to meetings all day and my lunch will get left to get hot in my car. Hot lunch = salmonella, so no thanks to that.

Bring Your Own Drinks and Snacks to Work: By bringing pop, bottled water and snacks I already have at home, I can save a bunch of money. The pop machine here costs $1.25-$1.50 per bottle of pop or 60 cents or above for a snack.

Stay off Amazon.com and Other Websites: I LOVE Amazon. I buy most gifts and home items off their website. I also LOVE books. It’s way too easy to click “add to cart.” Solution: Just stay away.

Pay at the Pump: When getting gas, I don’t go into the convenient mart to pay. I use my debit card or credit card at the pump. That’s saves me the temptation of all those delicious goodies inside.

Drink Less Pop: I’ve made a point to try to drink less pop and more water at work. I have a metal bottle that I refill at our handy-dandy water cooler. Less pop = less money out of my pocket.

Think About It Before You Buy It: There’s a gift I would really like to get my boyfriend for our anniversary in October. When I originally saw it, I wanted to click “Buy” right away. Instead, I closed the internet browser and walked away from the computer. Why buy it then? It wasn’t on sale at the moment. I needed to research the gift more. I also needed to ensure he didn’t already have something like it. Instead, I’ve set up a savings plan for this gift AND done my research to ensure that it is a good gift. I haven’t decided whether or not to buy the gift for sure yet, but I’m glad I took the time to think about it before pressing the “Buy” button. Too often, we press that button before thinking clearly and end up buying something we don’t need. Wait a day, a week, a month before you buy something to ensure you actually will use something and you aren’t buying something just for the immediate gratification. Example: My boyfriend has been looking at the Dyson fan for a LONG time. Each time it has gone on sale on woot.com, he’s debated buying it. Yesterday, it was under $100 (that’s about 1/3 of the actual cost). He researched the cost on other websites and looked at reviews. He decided to buy the fan. I applaud him for searching for the best deal and waiting to buy something instead of buying immediately for the instant gratification a purchase can have for some people.

My challenge for my no spending challenge will be this weekend. My boyfriend and I love to go places on the weekends: Lowe’s, the local mall, Target, etc. to get out of the house and go somewhere. We will see how long I can make it. Even if I just make it to 7 days without spending, or 5, I’ll be happy. That’s 5-7 days that I didn’t waste my money on something I didn’t need. How long can you go without spending?