First Person: 10 Days, No Spending
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As I was perusing Facebook one morning, a posting from a friend caught my attention. This virtual liaison pledged to spend no money for 10 days. That's correct: She pledged to spend no money at all, not a dime. She had sufficient groceries, a half-tank of gas, and the will and determination to do it. With this pixelated revelation, I launched a program with my online budgeting group to do the same.
With some tweaking, this can be a powerful way to jump-start a frugal lifestyle, and I have now completed this challenge twice.
Take stock.
First, I rummaged through my cabinets, checked the contents of my freezer, and looked to see what was in the fridge. You can't expect to initiate a challenge like this without an adequate stock of groceries, household items, and toiletries, and I wanted to make sure I was prepared. The secret to the success of this program is removing the store from your equation for 10 days.
Pay the bills.
Remember, you are making a commitment to spend nothing, and that means nothing. I looked at all my bills that would come due in the next 10 days and paid them online. Having that monkey off my back was a wonderful feeling.
Fill up the car only enough to commute to work.
No more, no less. When you run out of gas, that's it. An even better idea contributed by a member of my group is to arrange for a carpool during this period, or to buy a bus pass before starting the challenge. Because I work from home, I wasn't concerned about having enough gas to commute to work. Both times I started the challenge, I had about a quarter of a tank. It was only for emergencies and taking the kids to school and extracurricular activities.
Hide it.
I removed my debit card, credit cards, and checkbook from my purse. I put them in a fireproof safe and left them there for 10 days. Find your own solution, and put your spending tools in a safe place, where they are not easily accessed. By avoiding temptation, you are more likely to achieve success.
Pick a day.
I mark a day on my calendar each month. Just like with starting a workout program, you have to choose a day to start. Mondays work best for most people, as it signifies the beginning of a new week. When I began the challenge, I started on a Monday.
Stay accountable.
Challenges like these work best when you have people around to hold you accountable. In my online budgeting group, everyone would report daily if they were still in the challenge or if they had given in to spending. It was interesting to see who stuck with the program and how they did it. I have to admit that being one of the few that held out for the full 10 days was a fantastic feeling of accomplishment.
Log your progress.
I kept an online diary on my iPhone. The more I logged in the various ways I didn't spend, the more I felt like I was accomplishing something great. Positive reinforcement goes a long way.
Check your bank balance.
This is the moment of truth, especially for over-spenders like me. Seeing a solid balance in the bank, or even an increase if the challenge fell on a payday, is surprising, but in the best of ways. I ended both challenges with more money than I started with, and I was happier for it.
By forcing yourself to repeat this challenge at least once a month, you could easily increase your savings by banking what you would have spent otherwise. If you have tried unsuccessfully to stop the spending train from getting out of control, this might just be the ticket to get you out of the station and down the tracks toward a frugal lifestyle. It works for me, and it's a great repeatable exercise.
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