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| These euros were not spent in January! Partly because they aren't accepted in America and that's where I was all January long. But we'll pretend that they weren't spent because of my iron strong will. |
In an attempt to curb spending and save some dollas, I officially declared January a no-spend month by waking up on January 2nd and thinking that it's just a month and it's no big deal and I really do need to save money for college and then having to promptly stop myself from buying a song on iTunes.
With that knowledge in mind, it'll be no surprise to you that I failed at not spending in January. Of course I don't have to purchase things like groceries, pay a mortgage, or get a car repaired yet, but I often grab some food with friends,
I figured that I could easily put all of that off for just four short, little weeks. Wrong.
what I wanted to spend: $0
what I spent: (try not to be too horrified with me. please.) $2.72
I'm going to break it down:
$2.02 - pictures for my wall quote that I actually didn't end up using.
$0.50 - string cheese at lunch when I thought I was going to die from starvation, but I probably would have made it anyway. And it was warm. Gross.
$0.20 - a library fine. My account said I was a delinquent and I didn't want the nice old librarian to think I was a bad person so I took care of that baby. And I didn't want to go to jail.
I really broke the bank, I know.
Actually, all sarcasm asides, I'm pretty proud of how well No-Spend January went down. It was a lot harder than I had imagined it to be when I dreamed it up while in that whole waking-up-delusional stage that no important decisions should ever be made in.
I noticed that not spending money required a lot more pre-thought and planning than I usually had to put into things. For example, I met with a few friends for a Bible study at Panera and instead of indulging in my usual U PICK 2 and chai tea latte, I packed a sandwich from home and pretended that it was a panini. I didn't fool anyone, but my wallet was happy!
Not spending also meant that I had to be consistent and stick to a plan even when that bargain rack Target skirt was definitely designed with me in mind.
Now that it's "Spend-All-You-Have-February," I'm off to make up for the 31 days that I just spent conserving. If you need me, I'll be in the Target dressing room!
Have you ever tried to go a month without spending?
Happy Super Bowl Sunday!
// Allison
I don't know how you spent so little in a month! I'm not a big spender, but I probably spend $20 to $30 in a month on food, books, etc. I don't think spending $2.72 in January was failing at no spend January at all!
ReplyDeleteThat's usually about what I do, too. I was really surprised that I was able to control myself, haha. It was just annoying that all the things I did spend money on were preventable, but that's me complaining about $2.72, haha. I think I might try this again in March!
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