I tried not spending any money for a month — here are 5 things I learned after failing in the first week

Katie Warren/INSIDER

I'm the first to admit that I'm not always mindful with my spending.

To challenge myself, I decided to do a "no-spend" month. The goal wasn't necessarily to save a specific amount of money, but to be more thoughtful with my spending and convince myself that I didn't need to spend money to have fun. 

I still had to eat and pay rent, so the challenge didn't mean spending zero dollars for an entire month. The premise was that I could spend money only on necessities. This included rent, utilities, transportation (a $120 monthly Metro pass, in my case), credit card payments, groceries, and household and hygiene items that might run out.

It was a daunting task for me: no eating out, no happy hour drinks or takeout coffee, and no shopping. It also made me realize my own privilege is undertaking this as a test and not out of necessity.

Spoiler alert: I only lasted five days. Even though I wasn't successful, I did learn a lot about my own relationship with money through the experiment.

Here's how it went.

Thanks to homemade meals, I was able to spend nothing for the first few days.

Katie Warren/INSIDER

I didn't expect to spend much money the first few days of my challenge, because I almost always bring food from home to eat during the workday. I also usually wait until the end of the week to go out for dinner or drinks.

The first day of my "no-spend" month, I brought a bagel and avocado from home to make an avocado bagel for breakfast. My requisite morning coffee was provided for free by my office.

Lunch was leftovers from the night before: a garlicky, chili pasta with parsley. I ate outside my office in the 75-degree weather, which was more than welcome after a long, cold spring in New York City.

I snacked on baby carrots (free at my office) back at my desk, because I am always hungry. 

Over the next couple days, I continued to eat only home-cooked meals.

On Wednesday, I went to happy hour with my work team, but my boss kindly bought us all a round of drinks and some nachos to share, so I didn't spend anything.

After work the next day, I spent $14.27 on some groceries that included asparagus, zucchini, and avocados.

I caved on the fifth day, partially because I'm uncomfortable bringing up money in social situations.

Katie Warren/INSIDER

After work on Friday, my original plan was to go to a small get-together at a friend's house that didn't require I bring anything. Perfect.

But then I got a text from another friend; she'd had a really bad day and asked if we could get a drink.

And because I'm such a good friend, I didn't bother her with any of this "no-spend" month nonsense. (At least, that's what I told myself at the time.) I met her at a wine bar in the neighborhood to drink some rosé.

Each glass was $9, which, including tax and tip, came out to $23.60 of non-essential spending for the day.

I realized that this could have easily been avoided if I were more comfortable bringing up money in social situations. After all, my friend would have completely understood me not wanting to spend any money despite her bad day. 

My second slip-up happened because, well, I forgot about my experiment.

Katie Warren/INSIDER

Having spent money on drinks the night before, I must have subconsciously switched out of my no-spending mindset and forgot about the experiment. 

That Saturday, I ate at home during the day without spending any money. But when my boyfriend suggested grabbing drinks at a neighborhood spot we'd been wanting to check out for a while, I immediately said yes without thinking.

It was only after we'd arrived at the Cape House and settled at an outdoor table that I remembered my no-spend month. Because we were already there, I figured I would just make an exception rather than drink water while my boyfriend sipped a delicious cocktail.

Looking back, the excuse I made was pathetic. I spent $18.78 on drinks and an appetizer we shared.

 

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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