No Spend Week--Day 7 Update. Challenge Completed.

Money spent today: 0
Finally! I can spend again! For some reason I have done no spend weeks before but I never felt so stressed about not spending. I think it may be because I didn't really prepare for this no spend week because the prior week was so crazy. Anyway, I am down to eating frozen fruit (because I didn't prepare ahead of time and buy enough fruit), I have one onion and one tomato left (ditto), my eye liner is a stubby stick and my face powder is scraping bottom, my hair is a frizzy mess because I put off my haircut by two weeks (too busy to get my hair cut the previous week and no money to pay for it last week), and my bus pass has $1 on it (again, I didn't recharge it prior to challenge) so I couldn't go anywhere on the bus yesterday.
The good things: I am sure I saved a lot of money this week. Today hubby and I spent an hour at Costco this afternoon eating free food samples. And, we are actually eating some of the food that has been stuffed into the back of cupboards and the fridge because we didn't go out and eat at all this week (other than food provided at work). I am also even more thankful that I actually have a job and money to spend and this challenge just reinforced how much we take for granted having the ability to run out to the store and buy anything we need (people in many poor countries don't have this luxury).
Overall the challenge went well and I may even try doing a no spend week once a month (we seriously have enough stuff to tide us over for a week of no spending, it's just that I want NEW stuff, not OLD stuff when it comes to food, clothing, etc).
p.s. Thanks to all who made comments that kept my spirits up through the challenge!!!

No Spend Week--Day 6 Update

Today I spent $0! Six days, I can't believe it!
I actually stayed home all day recuperating from my very busy week. A friend rented a huge bus to take people from our city to downtown Seattle to participate in the immigration march but I was really wiped out so I didn't go, however that would have been a free thing to do today.
What I wanted to buy: everything! I am feeling really constrained by not being able to spend. Actually I wanted to do a Volksmarch today but the cost is $3 and I am not spending today so I couldn't go. Also, I was suddenly in desperate need of new clothes but again, I didn't go to the mall so I wouldn't be tempted to spend. This evening hubby wanted "something good" for dinner but I told him I had two days left of no spending so we ended up eating leftovers. It wasn't bad (free prime rib leftover dinners from yesterday's conference) but it is hard not to treat ourselves even at the local Wendy's (dollar menu of course).

No Spend Week--Day 5 Update

Today (again, this was for yesterday because when I got home from a 12 hour work day I was exhausted) I spent $0.
This is a unique week in that almost every day I have been at day-long, work-related events including training sessions, conferences, and day long meetings. Fortunately most of these events included lots of free food so I didn't have to plan to bring food with me from home or, for that matter, cook much at home either. Today was a day long conference hosted by one of my clients which meant I got to work for about 12 hours straight. Fortunately this conference includes lots of food being served all day long so I didn't go hungry.
What I wanted to spend: not much. I was so tired that I went straight home from work and went to sleep. I was thinking, however, that it had been a long time since I bought a Frapuccino at Starbucks. It is also weird not to spend ANY MONEY for five days. Without a conscious effort, I am sure I would have found some stuff to buy or at least went to the mall or dropped by Walmart. But when I am trying not to spend money, I just naturally avoid these places so I won't be tempted to spend.

No Spend Week--Day 4 Update

Another LONG day of meetings. Unfortunately, no breakfast/snack items were provided and during the break while everyone ran to the local deli to grab a snack, I stayed in the meeting room and drank (free) water. Lunch was paid for by the client, and I had a late dinner at home. I thought today would be the end of the challenge because my friend called to tell me her mom was having surgery at the university hospital so I hopped on a bus after the meeting and rode from Kent to the University of Washington. Fortunately, my prepaid transit card had just enough to get me from my meeting (which I carpooled to) to the University hospital to the ferry and back home. Now I have about $1 left on my transit card until I can spend money and recharge it.
What I wanted to buy: a mid morning snack/breakfast since I forgot to bring something with me, something from the University Bookstore (they have such cool office supplies there and I love office supplies) and some Indian food on the way home. But I held onto my money and didn't buy anything...wow four days and I haven't spent ANY money :)

No Spend Week--Day 3 Update

Today (yesterday if you are looking at the date) I spent $0.
I had a morning breakfast meeting with a client who (yeah) bought me breakfast. I was then able to be home for lunch, went to another meeting, and got back in time to eat dinner at home.
What I wanted to buy: a haircut (I usually get my hair cut at the end of each month but since this is a no spend week, I will have to put this off until next week), a watermelon (the first of the season...it was only 39 cents a pound but I can't spend so no watermelon this week :( ), and makeup (I am scraping the bottom of my powder and eyeliner but these items too will need to wait). Eating at home is definitely cheaper than eating out and, since this is a no spend week, I need to plan for each day. If I won't be home, I need to bring food and/or a beverage with me or else I will be out of luck (and hungry)...fortunately, food has been included in nearly every meeting I have had this week.

No Spend Week--Day 2 Update

Money spent today: $0.
Today I had another full day of conference classes. A friend bought me my morning hot chocolate on the way to class and again, there was plenty of food all day at the conference. A late evening meeting right after the conference left me with no time to go anywhere or do anything that would require money.
What I wanted to spend: actually nothing today because I didn't have time to do anything but work although my friends at the conference all went to the student store (the conference was at a university) and bought cute pens. I didn't because #1 I didn't bring any money with me which kept me from buying, #2 I seriously didn't need to buy a pen (they were giving them away--not as cute mind you--by the handfuls at the conference), and #3 this is a no spend week and I didn't want to mess that up.
On a down note, a month or so ago we paid around $1000 to fix something important in hubby's car (like the engine) and today hubby took the car to the shop because it was making a weird noise when you turn the wheel and he got an estimate to fix the problem--for about $1400 :(

No Spend Week--Day 1 Update

Money spent today: $0
For this entire week, I am going to attempt to spend no money at all. Today was the first of a two day training. Fortunately my ride to the class bought me a hot chocolate today which was really nice of her, then there were all kinds of snacks, beverages, lunch, dessert, and more snacks at the class so I ended up not needing to spend anything at all.
What I wanted to spend: $20 to register for college (will do this next week), $5 for a Baskin Robbins Blast (we like to stop by for a treat after meetings but I said it was getting late so we zipped right past the place--and saved us each $5), $10 for a battery for my cell phone which seems to be holding a charge for shorter and shorter periods of time (will buy this next week as well).
Seems odd to be out all day and not spend ANY money!

A No Spend Week

Last Saturday I wrapped up a no spend week. I like to do this occasionally as it seems to reorient my thinking about spending, or rather, mindless spending. The idea is to pick a week and don't spend a single penny for that entire week. For many people this is pretty difficult as we tend to spend money randomly throughout the week and not even think about it--candy from the vending machine at work, a latte on the way to the office, lunch out, handing money to the kids as they request it, etc.

I started my no spend week on the Sunday before Christmas. Sunday was fine as I stayed home all day thus I didn't go anywhere that required an outlay of cash. Monday, the start of the holiday week was also a stay at home day as I didn't have to go to work so I basically stayed home and got caught up on work. Tuesday I stayed home by choice--the hubby asked if I wanted to go with him and walk around the mall while he got the oil changed in his car. I declined because the only thing that going to the mall was going to do was make me spend money. Wednesday was a little trickier. I had a couple of work related meetings to attend. At the first meeting I had to make a conscious effort to NOT go to Starbucks as this is a habit when I go to this particular meeting. Then I went to a second meeting. After this meeting I was waiting for the city bus to get back home but it was cold outside so I wandered into a store in a strip mall mainly to keep warm. They had sales! I couldn't buy anything! Any other day I would have bought a snack to eat while I was waiting (it had been a long day and I didn't have lunch) and if there were good sales, I probably would have bought at least one thing, but I resisted the temptation to spend and waited until I got home to eat. At the bus transfer center there were a couple of kids asking their mom for change for the candy machine; ordinarily I would have given them a couple of quarters but, again, I had to resist because it was a no spend week. Thursday was Christmas eve. All of my Christmas shopping was done so I didn't NEED anything but it is a habit to check out the sales on Christmas eve day just to see if there is any good day-before-Christmas sales. Again, I stayed home just to avoid the temptation to spend money. Friday was Christmas so it was basically a bonus--nothing was open so I actually couldn't spend money. Saturday was the most difficult. I almost always go shopping the day after Christmas and pick up heavily discounted Christmas wrap and Christmas decorations to use next year. I went for a walk instead and didn't go anywhere near the stores just so I wouldn't spend money.

So that's it. A week in which I didn't spend even a penny. It does take a bit of thinking ahead if you are going to do a no spend week. Do you have enough gas to last the week? Do you have enough food? Do the kids have their week's worth of lunch money ahead of time? But the way a no spend week changes your thinking is well worth the effort. This week I am much more aware every time I pull out my cash to buy something. Do I really need it? Do I want to let go of my heard-earned money? Can I wait until next week to buy this item (something I though a few times during my no spend week)?

If you want to save money, or just make yourself way more aware of how you spend your money, try a no spend week challenge yourself!