No extra spending for a year

[skives]

Here's a question I was thinking about today. Could you or have you not spend any money beyond your needs for a year? This means only the things you need to live and a vacation doesn't count. Curious to hear the responses.

[My English Castle]

What Would That Include?

What constitutes needs? Food, electricity, gas, car, water, shampoo, toothpaste, doctor, and dentist?
No new clothes, what about haircuts?

I could, but I wouldn't be the happiest camper.

[GeorgeEastman]

Only if I NEED to.

[creditcardfree]

I like the idea of a no spending year. I think it would be easier if I lived alone, or at least without kids!

[bennkar]

I suppose I could, and to some of my spendy acquaintances they probably think I do. That said, I prefer to find ways to get things paid for by someone else. My example is last year's vacation to Florida for a week. Drove down for $0 (gas paid using gift cards earned with online activity - Swagbucks), food was normal expenses, lodging free (free timeshare week through end of decade in exchange for re-roofing mother's house), tickets to parks, dinner theatre + more cost ~$300 (I bought some items at yard sales the morning before I left for $20, parted out and sold on eBay for about $300). Not exactly free, but why quibble. If I had to do without.... I guess I did it in the past, but don't feel the need to do it any more.

And don't get me started on credit card signup bonuses

[GeorgeEastman]

I like the idea of a no spending year. I think it would be easier if I lived alone, or at least without kids!

I'm sure that limit yourself by avoiding ALL frivolous things you spend money on would improve your overall quality of life...but is it worth it?

[marvholly]

NO!
I would HATE to NEVER be able to meet a friend for lunch or dinner out (do about 6x/year & budgeted for but usually use a coupon or groupon.

I like to get mani/pedi every 2 months in summer & evey 3 in winter BUT buy groupons or go to a school ($23).

I try to buy 1-2 new (to me) outtfits each summer & winter season, usually at a resale store.

I try to attened a couple outdoor concerts/summer season - in the cheap lawn seating.

[GeorgeEastman]

NO!
I would HATE to NEVER be able to meet a friend for lunch or dinner out (do about 6x/year & budgeted for but usually use a coupon or groupon.

Humans are social creatures!

[richard johnson]

You can control your spending by money management plan. Don’t shop for fun. I don’t go on big outlet mall trips and when I am low on cash I stay away from Barnes and Noble. Make a list of fun things you can do for free or low cost and post it. Keep away from places you tend to spend money.Play with getting your needs met. Get enough rest, fun, and quiet time so you don’t need shopping to satisfy you.

[cypher1]

Simple answer, yes, if I absolutely had to. Where would you draw the line? Excluding vacation/travel, what about other forms of entertainment? For example going to a movie, or even renting Rebox/Netflix? Or socializing and/or dating?

I realize these are all wants, and it's a hypothetical situation. Otherwise what's the point of working our @$$es off each day, without spending a little money on ourselves outside of needs?

[FrugalFish]

A few years ago, I decided to give the "buy nothing for a year" thing a go. For me, it was a careful consideration for each item as to whether it was needed or not, or if some other item would work as a suitable substitution. I didn't go to the extreme some people I've read about- for example, reading about a family that wouldn't buy cotton balls, so the teenage daughters were taking the cotton from the tops of medicine bottles. I'd go ahead and buy the cotton balls because they were part of my basic lifestyle. It depends on your reason for doing it-- do you want to reduce your frivolous consumer habits? Or do you want to be a survivalist?

Some examples I remember from that time: at one point I saw a set of colored pens that I thought would be nice to have, but in reality, I knew there were a large number of other colored pens at home that would work for the same projects. In the past I would have impulse bought the pens and probably been happy with them, but with the new "don't buy if you don't absolutely need it" standard, after I got home and used my old pens, I was happy that I didn't make the expense. It was the sizzle, not the steak that was getting to me at the store.

At another point I wanted a dish pan, but instead made one by cutting the bottom off of one of many extra spare, rectangular buckets we had around the house. A few years later I've gone through 3 or 4 of those dish pans, but when the buckets run out, I'll buy one. For me it became about making do with what I had before buying something. Another example, I'd find a card from the stockpile around the house or make one to send for a special occasion, but if it was the type of occasion that would dictate a little nicer card, or there wasn't an appropriate card around, then I'd buy one. Not only has this consideration saved money, but it's cut down on excess clutter in the house. So I can say I learned some good new habits from doing this.

BUT, I can also say that for me, sometime around August or September, it started to get old. (Incidentally, I started doing this after feeling sick of spending following a particularly expensive holiday season) I was ready to shop with some flexibility by that point, but still held out fairly well until December. I don't believe I purchased any new clothes that year, FWIW.

Unlike some people I've read about, I did this as an exercise for myself and didn't have other family members participate in it. That probably made it a bit easier on me, though at the time we were not going out to eat much, and we never take formal vacations away from home.

I think, looking back, I'd recommend that someone try it for a month to see how it goes. A year long commitment is a LONG commitment even for someone like me who doesn't enjoy shopping. But in the end it wasn't just a way to save money, it taught me a lot about my habits, and helped me learn some new good ones.

[GREENBACK]

I would be highly reluctant to do anything like that now but I certainly did essentially do that about 30 years ago as a really poor college student. I remember those years to this day and if I somehow got into a bind I know What I'm capable of doing without. You never forget the really hard lessons of life.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Going to try austerity since we'll be living off savings without a job. But who knows.