So how did I fair, dear readers?

In total honesty, I broke down last night and spent about $10. But let it be known, it was not for me. My kitten needed food and litter. I didn’t expect her to run out of her dry cat food so fast, so it was an unforeseen expense I couldn’t prepare for. Plus, I couldn’t exactly expect her to forgo eating for some silly challenge.

Either way, she’s adorable and deserved to om nom nom some food. Fact.

Other than that, I was successful in achieving my goals of spending $0 (on myself).

I’d also like to thank those people that were generous and bought me either tea (thanks Scott!), lunch (thanks Todd!) or beer (thanks Brandon!). I feel like a bit of a mooch to be honest and I’ll be sure to repay their kindness some way or another in the future. But other than that, I lived off leftovers and food already at home.

I even managed to play soccer, go to an improv class and go to a comedy show this week without spending a single cent. I think that takes talent, friends! ;) (And perhaps some planning, haha.) I definitely didn’t sit at home at nights, which usually meant I was eating dinner standing up in the kitchen at work before running to catch the TTC. As someone that likes to make fancy meals and cook, or barring that, eat out, it was a little painful but I adjusted.

It was a short challenge but on Tuesday, as many people who follow me on Twitter knows, was a really bad day for me. I was exhausted, overwhelmed and stressed out about some personal issues, which resulted in some tears (how girly!). Knowing I couldn’t make myself feel better with a hot cup of tea or some chocolate almost made it worse. I didn’t realize how much I depended on those little things to soothe me when I’m having a bad day. Funny our relationship with food, no?

All in all, I have been thinking all week about ways I can adjust my spending habits and rework personal finances. I’m glad I did this – just so that I could see it’s possible to go a day or two without spending some moolah. :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

]]> http://www.emmabrooks.ca/2009/10/23/recap-the-0-challenge/feed/ 3 http://www.emmabrooks.ca/2009/10/18/experiment-the-0-challenge/ http://www.emmabrooks.ca/2009/10/18/experiment-the-0-challenge/#comments Mon, 19 Oct 2009 00:17:41 +0000 Emma Brooks http://www.emmabrooks.ca/?p=367 (I know some people are uncomfortable talking about finances and money and if so, you may want to skip this post and any subsequent posts.)

So I’ve been spending a lot of time lately at my personal finances lately. Trying to figure out what my weak points are and where my strong points exist in my personal financial economy. I’m not going to lie – it’s been a little tight these last few months. Unexpected expenses… expected expenses that were more than assumed… spending habits that aren’t flexible… it’s been adding up. In a really bad way.

Part of my problem is I don’t have a set budget from the onset. My habit – one that I’ve only recently started getting into again – is to “post-budget,” as I call it. I take all the information from my online bank account: credit card, debit card, etc and pull those numbers down into a spreadsheet where I break all my purchases into categories. Eating out, grocery shopping, sports, alcohol, travel, cabs, cell phone, personal/beauty, etc. Then I take a look at these numbers and try to figure out where the bleeding is. Where I need to put pressure to stem the flow.

It helps in that I know I eat out a lot. (I buy a lot of food in general.) I like to shop. My alcohol spending is below where I assume other people’s spending is. This helps me try to adjust my behaviour. But adjust to what? I’m not really aware of how much I should be spending – or can afford to spend in a month on anything. This is a big, red flag to me and something I plan on addressing in the long-term.

But for now, I want to focus a little more short-term. I know I am heading to Montreal this weekend to see a very old and dear friend. And I want to make sure the cash flow is there so I can have fun and not be horribly embarrassed that I can’t afford to go out with him. Thus, I am challenging myself to a  4-day $0 Challenge. From Monday morning until Friday morning, I want to see if I can go without spending a single dollar. Not even a cent.

I asked Twitter 30 minutes ago:

Going to try to spend $0 from Monday am to Friday am. Think it’s possible?

The answers I received?

No! Because if it is possible, I’ll have to stop making excuses.

You will fail.

Sure, it’s possible to spend $0 if you’ve prepared for it the week before :)

No. ;-P

No

No! (Prove me wrong.)

Definitely not positive (not to confuse that with non-supportive). But it comforts me, in a way, to know I am not the only one dealing with this issue. And as we all know, it’s never really the big purchases that do us in, but the small, every day ones. Especially for me.

So, how am I going to do this? Read on…

1. No More Bought Breakfast, Lunch, or Dinner.

This is going to be the hardest one, for me, I think. Because boy, oh boy, do I love to buy food. Om nom nom. Especially because I’m tired in the morning, so have no energy to make breakfast. Then I’m lazy at lunch so will not bring a lunch. Then I’m in a rush for dinner so it’s easier to get something quick and easy than make dinner. Always with the excuses.

This is going to be hard for me, yes, but even more difficult this week, as I have social obligations every night – meaning my ability to go home and cook a meal are going to be severely limited.

To address this: Planning is of the upmost importance here. I know am going to be busy so I will have to make sure I have meals to cover breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next four days. Luckily, I bought some pasta and pasta sauce on Saturday and made a huuuuge pot of pasta. I now have ready made meals on-hand, in the fridge and freezer. No more excuses!

I also plan on making my lunch and dinner the night before and have it ready to grab in the morning when I am bleary eyed and sleepy. Doing this the night before will ensure my tiredness will not be able to be the excuse.

Finally, I love myself some Diet Coke. And our office has a Coke machine where I tend to spend $1 a day getting my fix on. That’s $5 a week or $20 a month of over-spending. If I took the time to actually go buy a 12-pack of Diet Coke at Sobeys of Loblaws, those packs only run about $5 at most. Right there, I would save $0.59 a day. It’s super small, yes, but honestly? There’s no reason for me not to do this. Now, I say this, and am lazy so I will not be heading out to a grocery store tonight. BUT! I did just buy myself 4 Diet Cokes at the convenience store just so I can ensure I will get my jolt every day, without spending any money in the pre-determined challenge period. At least I planned for that… right?

2. Suck it up, Buttercup.

Another problem with me is that I tend to bring food with me to work, and then not eat it in favour of going out. Why would I want this ratty old, kind of warm sandwich when I can have a hot delicious wrap? Screw you, homemade food, I’m going out! This results in a lot of unnecessary money being spent AND a lot of wasted food. It’s horribly bad how much food tends to go to waste when I am around.

To address this: I will just suck it up! And hope that the pride of actually eating my homemade lunch will overpower the loss of deliciousness I could have from the hot wrap down the street. Mmm, tasty…? Secondly, I’ll try my best to ensure that my lunch is somewhat appealing for me this week. A little creativity, and a little tempting my tastebuds could go a long way…

3. Avoid Impulse Purchases.

Seriously.

I went into Shopper’s on Saturday with the clear objective of getting 1. Shampoo, 2. Conditioner and 3. Kleenex. Somehow I walked out having spent $97 – and I forgot the Kleenex! Aaargh! (To defend myself, I actually ended up buying a bunch of groceries at the store so it wasn’t like I just spent $100 on beauty items. But still.)

To address this: Do. Not. Walk. Into. Any. Store.

Got that, Brooks. No stores. None. Not even just for a look. Hey, remember that time you decided to pop into a super sweet boutique with nothing you could afford with the clear goal of “touching only!”? And how you somehow walked out with a $70 purse? Remember that? THAT WAS WRONG OF YOU. YOU WERE A BAD PERSON THAT DAY.

Ok, now every once in a while is fine. And I can be good about letting the guilt of an unplanned and expensive purchase override my desires for a new shiny object. But for this challenge? Don’t even tempt yourself, mmk?

4. Be a Social Debbie Downer.

Yep. It’s true: Hang out with friends and you invariably spend money. The group mentality works well here. I know I have plans this week where I will be tempted to grab a beer with friends, or join in on some food. And again with the small purchases! I buy a beer or two every night of the week, as a social norm when hanging out with friends and suddenly I’ve spent $70 on beers in a 5 day period. That is insane!

To address this: I could be socially awkward and explain that I’m doing this weird $0 challenge. Or I could make people uncomfortable and say I can’t afford to buy even one beer (and make myself uncomfortable in the process -”Oh god! they’re judging my lack of ability to handle my own finances properly! What will they think of me!?”). Or I could just say, “I’m fine with water, thanks.” Or claim I’m on a diet. Or whatever.

I’m not sure which route I’ll choose. But I do know that I will stick to this challenge, even if it makes me a minor social weirdo for the night. I’m fine with that. And hey, readers, if you have any suggestions, let me know! (Note: No suggestions on how to get friends to buy me drinks; I’ll just feel horribly guilty if they do that!)

So! These are my tips to get me started. I start tomorrow bright and early. I have my breakfast already in my head. I know what I will make for lunch and what I’ll have for dinner. I’m curious to see how I’ll fare. The Queen of Spending is stepping down from her throne and going out to hang out with the villagers.

I’ll update this blog with any rants, raves, catastrophes or if it’s entirely uneventful, the outcome. Stay tuned!