January Spending Fast @spendingfast - Tumblr Blog

2016: January 30: Doin’ Stuff for Free

Howdy! Today we are breaking the spending fast by going to a steakhouse for Restaurant Week, though technically we had a couple of little spends this month... getting a glass of celebratory champagne after buying wedding rings!!! that type of thing. I have to say that this becomes easier every year. I had previously figured that last year was an anomaly and it was only easy because I was unemployed, but it turns out this year wasn’t a huge struggle either. Probably helps that I traveled for work, and my job provides free lunch on Fridays (lunch out at work tends to be one of my downfalls, so it’s nice that at least one day is covered). Also, I’m not as hard on myself as I was the first year. I understand that the point is not about perfection and literally spending zero money, but to be more intentional in the spending. In normal life, it’s easy to have a rough day and treat it with happy hour and the spend/food/drink that goes along with that - it’s harder to do that in a spending fast month. And maybe there are some lessons to be learned there for spending months.

Anyway, I’ve made entertainment happen this month - the last couple of weekends we’ve had to go downtown for ring stuff, which can often turn into a festival of bar hopping, eating, walking around, drinking some more, and needing two slices of pizza before passing out on the subway after midnight (not that I’d know). But last weekend, we had a final meeting with the jeweler and then... are you ready for this... walked around to pick out locations for our engagement pictures. No booze at all! I know, I barely recognized myself either, but there you go. Downtown is still exciting enough to me that just being there is fun.

In terms of free stuff you actually care about...

Somehow we heard about this event sponsored by a rum brand called Mount Gay. We got into the event held in a Silver Lake warehouse, which was free. There was an open bar (all rum, of course) and it was technically structured around a panel/talk given by a few prominent “makers” in LA - the owner of Sqirl in Silver Lake, some guys who owned a surf shop, the editor of Eater LA. Can’t say I was paying much attention, to be honest. Because also at this event were upscale Pinks hot dogs, which I haven’t had in forever - and they were amazing with chili, onion strings, mustard, the works. As we were waiting in line for a final drink, I found out that I’d won a contest they’d been running that night for a future food event, plus a subscription to Brooklyn Magazine, whatever the f*ck that is. Pretty nice perk of something we weren’t even sure we wanted to go to!

2016: January 15, Holy Crap It’s January Again

So I’m on a spending cleanse again this year. It’s going well (I guess?)

This year was different. I just got back from four days at a Palm Springs resort. “How in the hell can you spend four days at a Palm Springs resort during a spending fast?” Well, it was for work, and it informs a lot of how my life has been in the last year.

I got this job in February of 2015. There was a re-org and I got a promotion in October. In the span of a year, my income shot up an insane percentage - not because I’m some super duper high earner but because 1. I’m compensated fairly, and 2. My old job underpaid (this is a scientific fact, Jack). As I make a point of saying often - it’s super lucky and I’m really grateful and I am sure I’ll have future rough moments career-wise again, as should we all if we are growing - but for the moment, things are great. Which is handy, BECAUSE: I have a wedding to plan! We were technically engaged last year at this time, but we didn’t want to touch planning until I had a stable job. After my 3-month probationary period was over, we started to look at venues and picked an affordable-yet-beautiful space in a nice area of Los Angeles.

So now there’s that! My parents are generously helping, but there’s a lot to buy even for a relatively small (by wedding standards) event. And you know what? It’s been easy to put away a certain dollar amount each month, but we really need to step it up as we get closer. I used to hear that statistic about “the average wedding costs $27,000″ and roll my eyes thinking “My god, these people are spending thousands on crystal vases or swan ice sculptures.” Even as an event planner and wedding blog junkie, I was woefully unaware of how much sh*t actually cost. Well, not anymore. And I will never again judge the numbers I hear for others unless it’s like, obvious opulence.

Anyway! Anything wedding-related gets a pass this month, but we’re already halfway through January and I’ve done fairly well. The first week/first two weekends was eaten up by prep for my session at the aforementioned Palm Springs sales meeting - staying in, rehearsing, stressing out, working late and bouts of self-doubt. This week was the meeting itself. Held in the nicest resort in Indian Wells - it’s been forever since I walked into a hotel room and was like “Holy crap, this place is nice!” Huge, balcony, double sinks, comfy bed. We didn’t really have time in our rooms, since we were mostly in meetings and doing endless amounts of eating/boozing. Everything was taken care of... er, other than the room service pizza I ordered late on the last night.

So now with a busy season behind me, I plan on enjoying the long weekend and tackling some wedding tasks with the husband-to-be. On a day off such as this, I would ordinarily like to go out to lunch, do some shopping, maybe hit a happy hour, but I’m listening to Drake on my balcony with a glass of wine as I type this long-overdue update. Not bad.

Oh yeah, we went to Cirque du Soleil last week, for free. Another contest win works out nicely for us! We didn’t even have to pay to park - the event was held near Dodger Stadium (a makeshift tent in the parking lot, basically) and we parked down the hill, saving $25! Perhaps in the next update I will share more about that.

#spending fast #no-spend january #drake

2015: January 23

Howdy folks! I can't believe how fast the month has been flying, but I've been doing pretty decently at not spending money. I mean, not perfect. But as a job-seeker, it's pretty easy to stay occupied by the constant applications, interviews, phone calls, emails, etc, without spending money. Some more free stuff I've done since we last spoke is below:

- I shadowed a family friend/mentor who is a Deputy District Attorney. I'd been wanted to do this forever and, well, I finally had time. She took me to different courtrooms and I met soooo many lawyers, judges, and administrative staff, all of whom were great. I don't see myself becoming a lawyer, but it was a really interesting and fun day. Plus we went to lunch at Maccheroni Republic.

- Lake Hollywood is 3.5 mile walk (flat, paved) around the reservoir. Nice views of the Hollywood sign and a fun thing to do instead of the gym.

- Grifting/free open bars. Many of my friends and colleagues know that I go to free events, like, a LOT. Some of this is contest wins, Twitter giveaways, or blind luck, but a lot of it is just being in the know (and on a lot of different email lists). Look, it's LA - there's a lot to do here. People throw parties.

We actually had 2 in one night, which was a new one. Luckily, they were both downtown, or else we wouldn't have bothered with trying to hit both. The first was a whiskey tasting for the release of a documentary called Bourbontucky, held at Jackalope inside Seven Grand. We didn't end up being able to stay for the tasting (whoops) but did manage to have several glasses of a bourbon punch before heading over to The Regent. A magazine called LA Canvas has a membership called Culture Club, and as members we got to go to a reception before an art show opening. There was pizza. So yeah, I'm a fan.

As far as spending, I'm *probably* doing a bit better than I was at this time last year. My first straight-up breach wasn't until yesterday, In-N-Out for lunch - that's not so bad, considering I went to Carl's Jr the 2nd week of the fast last year. Also, I'm realizing that last year we went to a lot of places where we had gift cards, hence bending the "no spending" rule, and we haven't done any of that this year.

Then again, I also fronted the money to go to a speed bartending competition on Sunday, and will definitely be participating in the festivities at my dear friend's going-away party this weekend at Golden Road... so, yanno. Baby steps.

2015: January 13

Nearly 2 weeks into the new year already? Whatever - time is a construct.

You'll be happy/nonplussed to know that I've been doing a variety of free activities (during the day, no less!) When the weather's nice, you can go outside. When it's not, you can watch Netflix. Most of the time, it's nice.

Cool free things to do in Los Angeles that I've done in the last week:

- Lake Balboa: My best friend and I met up to walk around the park's 1.3-mile loop. What a fun place! I used to go quite a bit with my best work friend, and I always loved the vibe. Dogs, families, BBQ, kites, cherry blossoms - what's not to like? At 3 laps, we'd walked nearly 4 miles and actually enjoyed it. My feet hurt like a muhfuh, though.

- Carpinteria: As my mom reached the end of winter break, she suggested going here one day, so we did. "The Carp" (does anyone call it that?) has been a family favorite beach since we used to camp there in the 90s, and I've barely been back as an adult. We ate at the Spot, walked and sat on the beach for hours, and split a beer flight at Island Brewing Co. Not a bad day, not at all. Yes, she paid for things - as I established last year, my mom often invites me to hang out and typically pays, so this was no departure from the ordinary.

- Santa Anita: This is the biggest technicality, but here goes. So, we're super cool and are members of the Thoroughbreds Club at Santa Anita. (It's free). They send offers in the mail, including free admission, guest passes, parking... just to get you in the door and betting (plus buying food and drinks). Well, joke's on them because we packed our own lunch of turkey sandwiches and a couple of crappy beers, and we only bet like $2 a race. Some of them are bound to be winners, so I came out a few dollars ahead at the end of the day!

- Echo Park Lake: Seriously one of the nicest parks in LA - so nice that I just linked to the google image page instead of the crappy Parks and Rec page that had an outdated picture. You really need to gaze upon the splendor in person, but I took great pleasure in showing my sister this park for the first time on a cool, slightly deserted Monday. It's at its best on a sunny weekend, when it's bustling and you can ride a paddle boat, especially when the lotuses are doing their thang.

- Cooking is free! On Friday we freeballed a burrata, Brussels sprouts, and prosciutto pizza which ended up probably my favorite pizza we've ever made.

There's other stuff, such as getting a free tour of the Gamble House (a family friend/mentor is a volunteer docent) or going to a Golden Globes party in Koreatown, but since that stuff is based on relationships I have, it ain't worth talking about here. Still, nice reminder - there's stuff to do, and some of it's free!

#carpinteria #echo park #santa anita

2015: January 4

Hello darkness, my old friend.

Just checking in real quick to say that I'm going to do another spending fast in January 2015. Actually, I'm already doing it, since it's now January 4. Actually...

I was already going to do a spending fast, 'cause it helped a lot in 2014 and set a good tone for the year, even though I ultimately wasn't perfect about it (more on that in a minute). And now I'm *definitely* doing it, because I got laid off. No, I'm not going to the poorhouse and I have some time to figure out my next step, but yes, this would be a good time to save money!

For anyone who would like to know what the hell a "spending fast" *is*, please refer to this list which I wrote in December 2013. Basically, it's a month (or however long you like) of spending on only necessities. No restaurants, concerts, clothes, bars, or unnecessary purchases.

Last year, I was pretty excited about trying something new. I assumed it would be boring and hard, but worth it when I saw the money flow into my account. Well, now that I know just *how* boring and hard it is, I'm not looking forward to it at all.

So here's how it ultimately went down last year. I spent $0 over the course of the first, like 6 days. Which sounds easy, but you try spending no money on New Year's Day when the whole world is relaxing out at brunch. Anyway, the first 2 or 3 weeks I cheated a little bit - Carl's Jr here, a food truck there - and by the 4th week I had basically given it up. I say "basically" because even though I spent money, I felt guilty about it. A year later, I can still remember what I spent that week, which is insane - I can't remember what I spent in any other given week.

Maybe there's a larger point here, about how it's hard to have any fun without spending money. Or that I'm a victim of our consumer culture and need to remember how to have fun without spending money. Regardless, I might need to have some safeguards in place to make sure I don't lose my mind. Some things that I'm thinking are below:

Come up with list of things to watch on Netflix - comedy specials, documentaries, maybe a whole TV series or something

Craft and decoupage the f*ck out of everything I own

Tend to my garden… well, this is tricky if I can't spend money. But I can sit out with my plants, water them, prune them, rearrange them, and talk to them. I don't currently talk to my plants. But this might be a good time to start.

Clean and reorganize everything

Go for a lot of walks in my neighborhood. Lots of exciting stuff is happening - murals, a new tea shop opening up - and it will be nice to have the time to see it.

Go to other neighborhoods (Echo Park Lake or Grand Park, anyone?)

Have people over for game night

Do a lot of grifting/contest entering and free event/gallery openings - more on this later (perhaps).

Make cocktails at home

That aside - other than the stifling sense of boredom I experienced last January, the spending fast was a really positive thing for me. It set the tone for how I looked at money for the entirety of 2014. I'd always been pretty good with money, but last year I saved an unprecedented amount, since I was paying attention and purposefully moving money into savings each month. I began to take my lunch to work most days. Nights out with my best friend became a gathering at a BBQ joint, not a $50 night of dinner and drinks. Suze Orman says that you have to love saving as much as you love spending, and I think I do!

So, that's where I am these days. On January 1, we had friends over. On January 2, we took a nice long walk in the park. On January 3, we went to a gallery opening that was free. Not spending money, especially in LA, doesn't have to be boring.

Not sure how much I'll be updating here this month, but stay tuned.

January 25: Aaaand I'm gonna keep going.

I have gone to Modcloth 2 times in the past 24 hours (once for a dress that Lena Dunham wore at her birthday party in Girls, once for a dress I saw on offbeat bride), and despite some major coveting, I have not purchased anything. God knows how much longer I'll be able to hold it off, but for now I'm ok. So, I made an appointment to get my hair cut next week, two days before the fast ends. I will also most likely be getting the microchip contact info updated, and, come Feb 1, donating to my college friend's adoption fund. Other stuff can wait a bit. A friend is having a shindig at Golden Road on Feb 9. Of course I'm going to go.

Oh, and last night we went to Republic of Pie. Er, and District Pub (for a beer). OH, and January is probably the easiest month I could have chosen to do a spending fast, by the way. There's usually not a lot going on and everyone is ok with staying in/not spending money. It would be damn near impossible to do it during December or the summer, but it's easy enough at this time of year.

It is getting down to the end of the month now, and I moved $400 from my checking account to my savings. This is in addition to the auto-transfer that happened on Jan 1 - I have an automatic $100 going into savings on the first of the month - so that brings my total saved this month to $500. It's almost useless to talk about money in terms of real numbers, since money is relative. An amount can be a fortune to one person and chump change to another. However, it is useful to talk about percentages. $500 of my take-home income (after taxes, 401(k) contribution and flex spending contribution) is more than 20%, which is really good. But for someone who has made a habit of (trying to) save $350 a month under normal circumstances, cutting out EVERYTHING and only coming up with another $150 isn't exactly the result I was hoping for. I think it may take longer - several month's worth of a spending fast - to really see a difference. Because of the way my credit card statement hits, purchases I made on my credit card in late December (groceries... iPhone) I will be paying in February. So my credit card statement is a little higher than I want it to be at the moment, and I likely won't really be feeling a "low" credit card statement until March. At that time, I'll have more money to move into savings. So, what am I getting at here? There's a lot of psychology wrapped up in money. I have always been an anxious person, and I have a hard time letting go of things I think I might "need" someday. (Within reason... I don't have hoarder tendencies.) My anxiety about money has been pretty much a constant, or at least as long as I've been on my own. I make more money than I ever have before and technically have more in my back account than I ever have, but I still worry about money. Coincidentally, an article just came out on XO Jane about people living below their means to radically save: http://www.xojane.com/relationships/heres-why-you-actually-should-be-living-paycheck-to-paychek I identify with that to a degree - there should not be money in my checking account beyond what I need until the next time I get paid, because if there is, I'm just going to spend it. But that means that even though I'm saving, I still have "oh god, when do I get paid" anxiety. I don't need tons of extra money in my checking account, but I still feel a surge of relief come payday. It's totally mind game that I play on myself, to make me think I'm broke when in fact I have a cushion. I don't like "feeling" broke. To be honest, I don't know if any amount is ever going to alleviate that feeling. Like, what amount do I have to have to feel secure? Maybe it's something you never really have, or at least not until you're retired with a pension.

I'm really losing the plot here. But basically, what I'm saying is that the fast is going to continue. I don't know how long. Past January. Past Vegas. Maybe a few months. But it's going to take a different form than "fasting", which I've been kinda-succeeding at. Under a spending fast, you can't spend anything, and I don't think that's realistic or necessary. There will always be things I want to spend money on - friends' birthdays. Friends' adoption funds. Haircuts. Even bullsh*t like restaurants and vacations. What I want is to be intentional and mindful in my saving, and even more so in my spending. I don't know quite what that will look like, but I have a few ideas.

January 17: Whoa, we're halfway there.

Howdy, folks/no one. Well, I’m just over halfway done with the spending fast, and the foundation has - shall we say - begun to crack. In addition to last week’s transgression of a $3.99 thrift store bag, I have spent the following this week:

$7 at Carl's Jr. on Monday

$12 at the Vizzi food truck Wednesday

I won't bother justifying it, but I'll just point out that the Vizzi truck was a special thing and it's super delicious. Pork tacos.

In addition, E's recent streak of winning contests continued and we somehow got into a dinner at the Peninsula Hotel Beverly Hills, sponsored by the LA Times. It was tiny, but amazing. Sponsored by Chivas. Passed apps/cocktails to begin with, then a sit-down dinner with veal cheek, duck, and a fancy French dessert. And whiskey at every step. It was free.

Also, a friend of mine emailed me last week and asked if I would be interested in seeing a Jon Brion show at Largo - on January 31. If I had more willpower, I might have declined. But ya know, I just don't see the point in denying myself a fun experience with a friend I really miss, just because the show is one day before the arbitrary deadline. So, I said yes and she bought the tickets, so it's happening. We'll just be going somewhere for happy hour, though - so it's probably not going to cost an insane amount.

My original plan was to not spend anything until February 1, which is Chinese New Year. I'd celebrate by heading to Chinatown, eating at Chego, and enjoying the festivities. But now, I think that I will change the rules a little bit - a strict spending fast for the rest of January, loosening it up a little bit for that Jon Brion/Chinese New Year weekend, then putting the cap back on it until my birthday trip to Vegas, one month from now (February 16). That includes Valentine's Day - last year we cooked our own dinner on Valentine's Day, so I think we'll do that again. Perhaps we will make each other Valentine's Day cards with supplies we have at home, not spend $7 on Papyrus cards from Target.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

So, it may be too early to make any declarations, but it's payday again and I paid my bills early. I still have to pay several hundred on my credit card - I don't carry a balance, but I also need to change how much I charge each month, ie just gas and stuff I get cash back on.

I also didn't realize how much I was eating out. Maybe because I used to eat out every day - seriously, fast food every day in high school, college, and during the first few years I had a full time job - but I thought I had cut back. I had. But it's still a lot to eat lunch out twice a week at work, plus four times on weekends (takeout Friday, dinner out Saturday, plus brunch/lunch out Saturday and Sunday). That's 6 meals out of a possible 21, or almost 1/3 of the meals I eat. That is way too much, and I think that after I can start spending money again, my ideal will be 2-3 times a week - once during the work week, once or twice on the weekend with E. It takes some advance planning, but it saves a lot of money.

There are other purchases that I've been putting off and might cave on in February - I currently have a running list of things to buy:

- Haircut - haven't had one since *cough* way too long. Maybe May of last year or so.

- Updating the contact info on my dog's microchip - Sheesh. We got him in August 2012 and still haven't paid the $25 gd AMURICAN dollars to update his info. This is straight up irresponsible, I know.

- A car charger for my new iPhone. Not really a problem since the battery life on this thing is excellent, but still a great thing to have.

- A donation to my college friend's baby adoption fund

- iCloud storage

- A new lamp - we currently have a bulb hanging from the ceiling because our paper Ikea lantern shredded.

I am not usually an indecisive person, but I do tend to hem and haw over spending money - always have. As a kid, I would wait months and months to spend any Christmas/birthday money. I still do, actually - I have around $200 in Visa gift cards that have accumulated over the past few Christmases. I spent an entire year hauling my work laptop back and forth on the weekends, because my computer was broken and I didn't want to spend the $$ for a new one (slash was too overwhelmed at all the options). I used my iPhone 4 for way longer than any human should. But there are always going to be things to spend money on - always - and I think I could stand to improve at knowing the difference between something that's stupid and something that's... maybe not "necessary" but will improve my life. Like, my dog's microchip fee isn't a necessity but it kind of goes with being a pet owner, so I have to do it. Haircuts are a luxury but important every so often. Pay cash for things and accept it as the cost of being a human with a decent life - no going into debt over it, but if you need items, buy them. Well - next month, anyway.

January 11: First week down, three to go

Well, the first full week back at work went pretty well. Of course, it's generally easier to not spend money during the week.

Milestones:

- First semi-breach: Ok, I kind of bent the "no depending on others to pay for me" rule - kind of. My mom asked if I wanted to meet for dinner or happy hour after work, which we do once or twice a month. Normally, my mom picks up the tab and I'll throw in a few dollars/cover the tip, but I was unable to do that this time. She suggested going to Baja Fresh instead and paid for me (and my sister), which didn't require a tip. So, I definitely ate at a restaurant, but I didn't pay for it and my mom would have covered me anyway even if I wasn't doing a no-spending this, so it wasn't, like, a pity thing... just disclosing it in the interest of honesty.

- First definite breach: Whoops, I bought something material. After Baja, my mom, sis and I went to Salvation Army. I wasn't planning on buying anything (obviously), but saw a bag with a print I was instantly drawn to (mooses), asked how much it was ($4), checked the label (Abercrombie) and decided that it was worth it.

- Still doing fine. I'm actually considering extending the fast until my birthday weekend in Las Vegas (mid-Feb), making an exception for Chinese New Year on Feb 1. Ya know, saving up extra money to blow in Vegas.

January 5

1/6th of the way done - here is the money I've spent:

- Rent (obviously)

- Netflix. What, this is not a "necessity", you say? While that's technically accurate, YOU try living without media/entertainment. I guess I could have technically just stuck to movies I already have, but what's the point. $8 is totally fine.

- Groceries - they costed more than we usually spend on a week's worth of groceries, on account of having to pay for all breakfasts and lunches in addition to dinner items. PLUS cold medicine and supplies. Still way cheaper than eating in restaurants.

Milestones:

- First weekend over, and we were both sick for it, unfortunately. I didn't intend to do a spending fast by just sitting inside and watching Twilight Zone reruns the whole time, but that's basically how it worked out this weekend. I had plans to hang out with an out of town friend, but felt too sick to do that. So, bummer.

- So far, so good. Lord knows how I'll be feeling in a couple of weeks, but for now I am having an easy time. It was really nice to receive a paycheck on Friday and feel like the money was mine - technically any money I earn is mine, sure, but this money isn't going to be used to fund an endless stream of bullsh*t. There's something I like about that.

January 2: Happy New Year

Happy New Year! It's January 2, and I haven't spent any money! Please, let's not all applaud too thunderously.

NYE was the last restaurant meal I'll see until February 1. Good thing it was delicious. Bar Ama on 4th Street. Guacamole, beef belly, 2 puffy tacos, and green enchiladas, plus a New Belgian IPA. We went to a free Grand Park celebration, and the Metro is free on New Years so I didn't even have to pay to get home after midnight!

New Years Day we cleaned up and put away all our holiday gifts, walked around the neighborhood, made a list of all the restaurants and places we want to go in 2014, vegged out in front of the Twilight Zone marathon (I had never seen any episodes and some of them are amazing!) and made a great dinner. We would normally go out to brunch on New Years, but alas.

No spending is one thing, but no restaurants is going to be incredibly hard for me. See, I am from the Donna and Tom Treat Yo'Self school of thought (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K4if6QkDbo). I buy, eat, and drink anything I want to, pretty much all the time. Life is short, you know? Do things that help you enjoy it. I can't even count how many times I've forsaken some sad desk lunch in favor of a burrito or In-N-Out, because why not? As you can imagine, this creates all kinds of problems, not the least of which is the sheer amount of money spent on meals out. This is in addition to a hefty grocery budget, by the way. E and I both love to cook, so we've basically been spending tons of money to cook at home and tons of money on meals out. Obviously, this is not ideal.

We already plan dinners, so I'm now going to have to take it a step further and make sure that our weekly grocery run also includes all the items we need for breakfast and lunch. Meaning I'm going to have to plan my work lunches. Lately I've been showing up to work with sourdough and a jar of Skippy - no shame in that, but it ain't exactly the most delicious option out there, and is usually is pretty easy to ditch at lunchtime if I want something else. I need better food to begin with.

December 30: Intro

The word that comes to mind the most after the holidays is "abundance." Or "bounty." I first noticed this a few years ago and am feeling it again this year - looking around my small apartment, I see it overflowing with gifts we got from friends and family, treats coworkers brought in, food left over from numerous holiday gatherings. The house is a mess because gifts are strewn everywhere. The fridge is full. I have to go through my things and decide what to donate.

I'm grateful for everything I have, but can't help but feeling like some sort of cleanse is necessary after the holidays and the spending/material binging that occurs. I love to buy and receive gifts, but you can easily spend too much if you're not careful and I just need a break from hemorrhaging money.

January is a common time to cut back, but this year I am going to take it a step further and declare a SPENDING FAST. That's right - I am only going to spend money on things I need. I got the idea from a blog called And Then We Saved - basically, you challenge yourself to distinguish between Wants and Needs and you only spend money on Needs. I'm making some modifications for my purposes, which are below:

YES (DUH) list:

-Rent

-Utilities (this includes DWP, Water/trash/sewer, cable, Netflix)

-Cell phone

-Car/renters insurance

-Gas & transit pass

-Groceries

ALSO YES (with an explanation) list:

-Dr. appts, prescriptions, necessary pet expenses

-Costco and Trader Joes - I am hesitantly putting these on here with the understanding that I have to go in with a list and stick to it. Buying 6-for-$9 frozen teriyaki bowls that we can take for lunch is good! Cookie butter, flowers, snacks and the k-hole of Costco "necessities" are not allowed.

-Personal care items - if I run out of shampoo, deodorant or soap, it's ok to replace that. I'm not a savage!

-A gift for my BF's dad - for Christmas, I promised him a wine-tasting trip which will involve going to Temecula. I probably cannot get out of this for under $100.

-Anything that qualifies as a "need"

NOPE:

-Restaurants! Also takeout, fast food, vending machines, food trucks, the daily lunch service that comes to my office, the corner liquor store (unless it's something like butter or eggs - not a last minute wine or ice cream craving). The only exception would be that we can spend any existing gift cards we may have laying around. Basically if I did not buy it at a grocery store or somehow obtain it for free, I can't eat it.

-Bars! Even at happy hour. Even one beer. (The exception would be the local spot where my BF won an open tab a few weeks ago.) I'll be happy to go along with a group, but I'll only have a club soda.

-Clothes

-Movies, concerts, food/wine/beer events

-Any material object, really

-Depending on friends/family/boyfriend to pay for anything I don't want to spend money on - the point isn't for people to pity me and pay for my way - it's to sacrifice some things. (Exception would be if it's, like, a work meeting where lunch is provided. Surely I can participate in that.)

Along those lines - I'm sure I'll get into this more later, but another reason I'm doing this (besides as a respite from the spendy holiday season) is to make sacrifices. I never, ever make sacrifices. Food, clothes, entertainment, booze, whatever houseware or trinket I want from Etsy - I pretty much indulge myself whenever I get the urge. I don't necessarily have ultra expensive tastes, but I could stand to say no to myself a little more often. No restaurants, no fast food, and no bars for a month is going to be really hard for me, but it might be worth it when I start to see that money add up.

Stay tuned...

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