Here we are, week one of my little financial experiment. I vowed to limit my extraneous spending to $100 dollars in February. Below is the tally of what I actually spent, and the “wants” I cut out due to budget constraints. On some of my “savings” I have averaged out what I would usually spend to give myself an idea of how much I actually saved. I have had to be extra careful with my budgeting because I have two cultural events coming up that I insist on attending, and those tickets aren’t cheap. (Well, they aren’t cheap when your total weekly budget is only $25, any other month I wouldn’t think twice about it.)
February 1-7, 2011
Budget: $25.00
Spent: $7.57
2/3 – Lunch $1.89 (Soup at Subway)
2/5 – Craft supplies $5.68
Leftover funds: $17.43**
Saved: $105.50
2/1 – Lunch ($7)
2/2 – Lunch ($7)
2/4 – Lunch ($7)
2/7 – Lunch ($7)
Dr. Pepper budget ($10.50) This amounts to one 21 oz. bottle per day, which was what I was drinking the week before. I haven’t had any soda in 9 days.
Parking at the University ($12) If I leave 5 minutes earlier I can park in the free lot 2 blocks away, I don’t need to park 100 yards from my building, I can walk 2 blocks to save $12. Thus, this is a “want” not a “need.”
Office Organizers ($55)* Under normal circumstances, I would have purchased these adorable office accessories without thinking twice about it.
What was not on the list:
Rent + Utilities (electricity, cable/internet, cell phone)
Auto insurance / gasoline
Groceries – no candy or other unnecessary goodies were rolled into my grocery bill. It was strictly necessities.
Two parties with no cover charge and a whole lot of social interaction (yay parties!).
Two social engagements where I was treated to an evening including dinner and entertainment.
**Ok, so let’s talk about this “leftover funds” thing. Yes, I managed to go a whole week without spending more than $10. But it was hard. Really really hard. I have co-workers who I usually eat out with everyday, and while it’s usually something inexpensive, it has been a big change for me to bring a lunch every day. It has also been harder than I thought it would be to save the “couple of dollars here, couple of dollars there” monies by eliminating those minor expenses.
I’ll be honest, if it wasn’t for some entertainment I would have died this week. I lucked out, a good friend invited me to go to a concert with him, I watched a movie with a group of friends, went to a Chinese New Year’s party, and went on a really great almost-blind date. If I had to generate that kind of entertainment on my own for a total of $15 I would have failed my little experiment…or ended up watching old episodes of How I Met Your Mother on my DVR. (Note: a night with a frozen pizza and the DVR is perfectly acceptable for me…about once a month. But I just can’t spend night after night, week after week, plopped in front of the tube. I get cranky.)
I know after my initial announcement of this little project, many of you expressed sentiments that $100 per month was a lot of money and you haven’t spent that in a month in who knows how long. And that is great, really, I envy your savings account. But for me…well, that hasn’t been my lifestyle for a really, really long time. I go out to dinner with friends, I go to movies or plays with friends. I buy a pair of shoes or a book for a little mid-week pick-me-up. This semester, and it’s requisite homework will keep me home-bound (or library-bound) more than at any other time in the last five years. I am constantly planning my next vacation. I don’t have to answer to anyone about my finances, I have a pretty good chunk of disposable income with no real limits as to what I should or shouldn’t do with it.
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Way to go! That’s super hard! I initially thought, oh $100, I could do that. But then I added up what I spent last month on non-essentials (and we’ve been on a strict grocery budget) and it was around the $250 mark. So well done!
Comment by Britt 2011 February 8 @ 8:47 amI think that whether $100 is a lot or a little to someone, any exercise that helps you put spending into perspective is a good idea.
Comment by Britt 2011 February 8 @ 9:23 amYou spent $7.57 for an entire week?!!?! Mad props to you, lady. I’m entirely sure it is not possible for me.
In fact, I’m 99.9% sure that unless I was somehow rendered homeless and jobless I wouldn’t be able to live on $100 a month. My entire lifestyle would have to change. Sigh.
Comment by nancypearlwannabe 2011 February 8 @ 9:34 amWay to go!!!
This is the first year for a long time that I’ve had any disposable income, and hoo baby, it makes a difference. I need to be better about putting myself on a budget again, because I’ve started buying all the little “wants” that I’ve had on the back burner for the past six years. Amazing how those things add up!
Comment by Abby - Bright Yellow World 2011 February 8 @ 9:39 amI agree that it’s all about what you’re used to. For me, after using every extra cent when we were both working to pay off our student loans, I feel way more flush even though we only have one income now. How ironic.
Comment by Janssen 2011 February 8 @ 9:59 amI think this is an awesome idea! Sometimes I do “clothing freezes” where I try not to buy anything for a whole month so I can get a grip on my spending…it’s harder than it sounds. Good luck – I’m inspired!!
Comment by Lynze Lenio 2011 February 8 @ 10:17 amGood job! I know when we started setting a real budget, it was so freaking hard all the time. It was a surprise how much money we spent on EVERYTHING! Then we moved and cut our income and I felt like we never did anything. But I think that was partially because we moved to a new town and didn’t know anyone. It was also January, which is not exactly a get out and about time of year. Now that four years have past and our budget is pretty much the same, I feel like we are much better about entertaining ourselves inexpensively.
I also worked in an environment where we went out to eat at lunch several times a week but my office now is a bring it from home kind of place. It is so hard not to join in when others go out. So bravo for you! And your extra $$$ from this week!
Comment by Stephanie 2011 February 8 @ 10:30 amWell done! I’m trying to cut back on the little things too and it’s HARD. Sometimes you just need lunch with friends.
Comment by Angella 2011 February 8 @ 10:38 amway to go! I think it is amazing that you are only spending $100 a week!
Comment by Jackie 2011 February 8 @ 12:14 pmOOPS! I mean month
Comment by Jackie 2011 February 8 @ 12:14 pmI tried to go the entire month of February without buying a single book. I’ve already failed. So, yeah, good job!
Comment by SR Braddy 2011 February 8 @ 1:34 pmWhile I really do applaud your little experiment because it will help you appreciate what you are normally able to spend (like a good fast, once in a while), this kind of thing is why I like the financial advice of Ramit Sethi on I Will Teach You To Be Rich. (Scammy sounding name, sure, but he has very practical advice.) He is all about finding the big wins in life, like negotiating better deals on big expenses (cars, rent, etc.) and finding ways to earn more money, rather than nickeling and diming yourself out of $3 lattes, which really doesn’t save you that much or put you in a much better position than going after the big wins does. His philosophy is that there are things in life that you are inevitably going to be blowing a lot of money on, and instead of guilting yourself out about that, you should identify the things you really want in life, go ahead and invest in those things for yourself, and then mercilessly cut out all the stuff that you don’t really care whether you spend a lot of money on them or not. (His example: he likes eating out and doing so quite well, but he doesn’t give a damn about buying expensive jeans.) For you, you like traveling a lot, you like reading a lot, you like shoes a lot. Ramit would tell you to go ahead and invest in those things, while identifying the things you can give up or reduce in life. But again, this is not about been ascetic about $3 lattes. I recommend reading his blog. He’s got good stuff. His book is also very good and a quick read.
Comment by Sra 2011 February 8 @ 3:06 pm