Read the Entire Series: Day 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
At 6:45 PM on Saturday, July 13th, I stopped spending any money. After a night out for my friend’s birthday, that was the last I touched my credit card or cash. The last thing I purchased was a $10 – extortion-level – ticket to watch World War Z. Then, “The 7-Day Buy Nothing Challenge” began.
I was ready to examine my assumptions in spending and visiting stores. I felt capable of completing the task, but didn’t know what would be required of me. Looking at my Mint.com account, I could see that occasionally, a day would go by without money spent. But honestly, it was a rarity.
Seeing that habitual spending scared me. I was motivated to test these patterns and take control of my financial future.
We Desire What We Can’t Have
Plain and simple, we want things we can’t have. The rarity of things tends to increase their value. Whether it’s related to supply and demand or because it’s a Veblen good, people are attracted to elite and scarce products.
After I ran out of granola, I wanted it; even more so, because I couldn’t buy more. My mouth would water with the dream and thought of getting more. Stopping the urge to spend meant deep psychological restructuring and understanding the power of these more biological urges.
Preparation Is Key
As I’ve mentioned, food storage concerns reigned supreme over this experiment. Preparation is a fundamental necessity for completing this task and possibly extending a Buy Nothing Challenge beyond a week.
Theoretically, if food storage was stronger, I may have had less pressure to go shopping again. At the same point, the urge to spend wasn’t always about shopping. I was often caught by the desire to go ice skating, see a movie, or go to a nice restaurant for a fun little date night.
Reflection For The Future
This experiment taught me a lot about my spending woes and urges. I feel enlightened by my mistakes. But most of all, I’m actually eager to try it again. Pressing pause to credit, debit, and cash really did help my budget and give me a short-term goal that has positive, long-term consequences.
That’s the thing about the Buy Nothing Challenge: You must envision the future-oriented effects of the changes you make in the present. If you can, the reward is a better, freer future.
Day 7: $0 spent.
Thank you for following along!
Wow! I’ve read a lot, but I’ve never heard of the VEBLEN GOOD. Where the heck did you dig that up? My mother thrived on this principle. If you paid more for it, then it must be better. She would never have understood Costco or TJ Maxx. You go, frugal guy!
Adrienne,
Thanks for reading the series. I sincerely appreciate it. 🙂
Veblen Good… Hmm, read it from some anti-consumption site. Haha.
Take care,
-S.
You did it! Now, here is my new wondering; What is the first thing you went out to buy afterwards?
Linda,
This is a wonderful question! I’ll aim to answer this in my upcoming review article of the entire experience. Thanks for following along.
-S.
Did you calculate how much money you have saved during this week?
That’s a difficult question to answer, but an important one. I would venture to say I saved around $50-100 this week by not eating out, shopping as often, and buying gas.
Thanks for the interesting comment!
-S.
I’ve found it is quite easy to not spend on incidentals. It is much harder to spend less on bills and expenses that leak from your wallet. My strategy is to try my best to turn those bills into income…challenge accepted.
Mr Simple
http://lessisbetter.org/2013/06/21/10-bills-that-you-really-should-turn-into-payments/
Mr. Simple,
Thanks for the comment!
Good luck with your challenge.
-S.
Congratulations on the completion of your experiment Sam. I’m excited to read your review post.
Nick! Thanks for following along. I’ll be posting it in a couple days. 🙂
Wow, this is the best thing I’ve read in a long time. I’m on such a kick to cut out paper towels, paper plates, ziplocs, etc. I’m a minimalist who is always looking for new ways to step it up a notch. Your story is truly inspiring. Thanks! 🙂
Kayi,
Thanks for the kind comment! Hope you check back soon.
I, too, am a minimalist and always looking for new ways to save.
All the best,
-S.
What a great challenge! I am going to attempt this once my Jury Duty is over.