30-Day No Spending Money Experiment

Today is Day 1 of not spending any money, other than food and the absolute absolute essentials- like gas if needed- for a month.

Yes, November, 30 days of Shop Now for Great Gifts and You NEED this NOW and shop shelves filled with colour and texture and novelty! Not the best time? Perhaps. I could've done it, say, in February, but the pressure to buy and the impulse to pick things up are constant. Now is as good a time as any. Maybe even a great time.

What this means.
No Starbucks, no magazines or books, no clothes (and I don't need any underwear), no snacks, no nothing.

Today, it will be easy. I start teaching at 10:30 and go til 9 pm. Tomorrow will be easy, too, because I'm here all day, teaching and cleaning. Things start getting challenging by the end of the week, when I go to the city... for whatever it is I go to the city for.

I'm doing this to get more conscious of my dealings with this energy force we call money.
I'm doing it to watch more carefully just where the money goes.
I'm doing it to save money.
I'm doing it to keep the clutter down.
I'm doing it to make sure I think before I buy.

I'm wondering a few things...

• will I also pay attention to other things as well, like food?
• what about having tea with friends?
• what about Christmas presents? Can I rationalize that it's not for me? Will that open up a whole Pandora's box of what else?
• will this feed the picky persnickety part of me and make me unbearable?

We'll see. I'm staying tuned.