The first time I considered a month of no spending – otherwise
known as a fiscal fast, I thought I was crazy. After all, if I only knew only
one thing about myself, it was that I liked to shop. Like many people though I
am caught in a pattern of unhealthy spending habits.
It isn’t that I’m
constantly out spending wildly on big designer items, but my little daily habits
are draining me. With two crazy cats and a boyfriend who has a bottomless pit
of a stomach at home, I often need to pop to the local shops. Of course a trip
to the shops also meant a stop at Starbucks and lunch at out, and then, because
I was tired from a day of running around and working, it often meant ordering pizza
or grabbing Chinese takeout on the way home.
So while am not in
debt, I am not making any real headway with my savings either. Every penny that
comes in, I spend and I have decided that something had to give.
I decided that I would challenge myself to an entire
month of no spending. A full on fiscal fast. No eating out. No Starbucks. No
Amazon.com. And definitely no Ebay. Furthermore, there would be no new makeup,
clothes or beauty products (have I mentioned I am a product junkie?!) So I made
a pact with myself - this is the day I will change the way I look at spending.
This is the day I will stop making excuses and stop justifying yet one more
purchase. This is the day I will, for one whole month, commit to spending
nothing. And it starts today…..
With my mind made up and my commitment to myself made it’s
time to set up the ground rules for my month. It was pretty simple: no spending
on anything that wasn’t absolutely essential.
Paying my regular bills and utilities, and some essentials
(like bridge toll and petrol) were of course included in what I could spend. As
well as a weekly BUDGETED food shop for items that would make meals out of ingredients
that I already have in the cupboard, I allowed myself to account for special occasions such as friends
birthdays and planning for them ahead of
time.
With my TO Do list sorted I made a NOT TO DO list. For me
they include –
•Eating out at restaurants
•Coffee from
coffee shops
•Clothing, beauty products
and make up
•Hobbies—crafts
classes, yoga, gym memberships and other fun workshops I like to sign up to.
•Theatre and the cinema
•Alcohol
•Lottery tickets
•Furniture and
home décor
Today is day 1 and also pay day. At 6am this morning I
paid all my bills and did a budgeted food shop. 29 days to go………………
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