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What?
So Jaime and I are trying a little experiment. A little something others have called a ‘No-spend Month‘. I find that name is slightly misleading, but it does express the overall intention. This month, we are both going to put away our debit cards, withdraw a (very) modest amount of cash and make it last. No artificial limits on what we can and can’t buy. No exempted habitual comforts. We will only be limited by our cash at hand. I assume this restriction alone will do wonders to govern our spending. Even so, cooperation is going to be vitally important to our success…

How?
So as of today, our debit cards are put away. We have withdrawn our entire month’s budget in cash. Each of us will take what we need, when we need it. All of our expenses will be tracked and accounted for. At least once a week we will reconcile all of our cash and balance it with our expenses. I imagine the first week will be pretty revealing as we struggle to adjust. This should be a good way to audit unnecessary spending.

For clarification, some monthly expenses will be spared from this budget. The following do not count:

• Mortgage and bills
• Recurring investments
• Bathroom remodel commitments
• Emergencies and Unforeseen circumstances

All other expenses, including gas, groceries, entertainment, incidentals and pet care will come out of our initial budget.

Why?
Good question. As our closest friends and family surely know, Jaime and I are already quite conscious of our spending habits. I like to think we can avoid unnecessary expenses wherever possible, but no matter where one’s starting point, there is always fat to trim. I think even the most budget minded people will blur the line between want and necessity. Even though I am mostly happy with our financial habits, I am open to challenging them from time to time. For example, I expect our expenses on ‘entertainment’ to take a big hit this month. While we always enjoy a dinner out or a bottle of wine, there are some things we will just have to give up.

Let it stand as a personal statement against an out of control consumerist society. Let it just be two young adults trying to save a little money. Take whatever you want away from it. For us, I’d say it’s a little bit of both.

Although this experiment does come at an interesting time with our country’s financial blowup, I wouldn’t say timing has much to do with our intentions. Just last week, Jaime sent me a link to this site and on a whim we decided to give it a go.

I will be taking notes and reporting back as we go…

October 1st, 2008 | Category: Misc, News | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL