Skirt: River Island | Shirt: New Look | Shoes: Office
Unlike some, I'm lucky to not live on the bread line, but in the last month my bank account has been, for want of another word, 'raped' with the obligations of moving house. Rent, deposit, Christmas, bills and food have all totted up, and a recent glance at my bank statement left me feeling slightly alarmed. I'm not frustrated at myself, as I paid a big portion of debt off in the last few months, but right now I am poor, and I need to watch what I spend.
In London it is far too easy to spend money. You take £200 out of the cash machine, and after a few days of buying lunches and coffee, tube fare, a few bits of food, some toiletries and maybe a new top, you're left with a few coppers in change. Before you know it, your entire wage packet has been sucked into the big smoke, and really you have very little to show for it.
One of my Happiness Project goals is to address the topic of money, and I hope to have a much healthier approach to my spending this year. For now, I just need to last until pay day without dipping into my savings, and so I've decided to declare this week (until Friday), 'no spend week'.
Admittedly there are a couple of exceptions: two coffee dates that I already have in the diary and wouldn't want to cancel. But other than that, I plan on spending nothing. Nada. Not a single penny. Gulp.
In theory it shouldn't be too hard - I've already paid for my travel, I have plenty of food in the house and an unlimited cinema card that can always keep me busy, but can I really go five days without spending a thing? We'll see.
Not spending money obviously puts a dampener on my social life, so I've put together a little list of things I can do instead of spending cash.
- Go to the cinema using my unlimited card
- Write a blog post
- Phone my mum
- Write a letter
- Watch a dvd
- Cook something from scratch
- Read a book
- Have a bubble bath
- Play Scrabble with Frank
- Visit a free gallery
- Go for a run
It's hard not to spend, especially when you leave the house on a daily basis. These days I'm home more often than not and I now find it easier not to spend money on things I really don't need, even with the temptation of internet shopping (the secret is to have an uncomfortable chair at the computer so you don't spend too long in front of it!).
ReplyDeleteI wish you the best of luck with your challenge.
~S.
A friend of mine goes out with no money at all, so that she makes sure she spends nothing. I wouldn't dare it, though. ;)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your "no spend week"!!!
Good luck! I think the bigger the city the easier it is to spend a lot on "nothing". I totally felt that when I moved to Madrid (okay, smaller than London, but waaay bigger than my hometown Tallinn). It's like money is just this disappearing piece of paper. I am also trying to limit my spending 'cos I would love to save up some extra money for a new camera. xx
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I'm pretty good, but wow the last few months have been bad...! Not me but my car, my heating breakdown,,,I'm hoping to pay off all my debt in the next few months (if you don't count my mortgage) I've not been out of debt since I was 18-I'm 34 now! However I've also decided that I need to sort this casual spending so I've got a little note book where I write down everything I spend, literally everything and its interesting to see! I also recommend working out what your hourly wage rate is, it really makes me wonder now if something is worth buying so much when you equate it to an an hours work!
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