Zero Spending Experiment- A Month in Review

One month ago I decided that I would conduct an experiment to entirely eliminate any unnecessary expenses from my daily life.  At the end of each week I posted an update about my progress for that week.  Check out the following links for a detailed description of each week: Week One, Week 2 & Week 3.

My first week was plagued with unnecessary food expenses due to mostly to improper preparation.  As a result, I found myself spending money on junk food because I was hungry & thirsty while out riding my bike.  The most convenient solution to my problem was to stop at a gas station to satisfy my urges.

While my first week was filled with minor infractions, week two was practically a complete failure.  I spent money on accessories for my bicycle, and while I bought only what would be required by law (headlight, tail light & helmet), it felt as though I was on a shopping spree.

I started week three with a new understanding of when I spent my money, which happens to be on the weekends.  In order to curb this habit I decided to stay away from places where I would spend my money, yet still managed to fail.  While out selling some of my extra Stuff, hunger snuck* up on me and I found myself eating lunch at a restaurant.  By the time week three ended, I was left with the feeling that I was spending less before I started this experiment.

Week 4 turned out to be my greatest success of the entire month.  I was able to make it through the weekend without spending any money.  Poor planning and a busy schedule tripped me up on Tuesday and I ended up going to Subway for lunch.  I finished out the rest of the week without any further spending infractions.

What have I learned from this experiment? 

First of all, by paying attention to my money I began to understand how & why I spent it.  By week three I was feeling as though I was spending more money than when I had started the experiment, but now I wonder if that feeling is only because I am paying more attention to exactly where my money is going.

I also began to understand my spending patterns.  Weekends tend to be when I spend my money.  This is likely a result of my busy work and school schedule during the week but may also be my way of decompressing from the stress of the week.  There is a feeling that I need to be rewarded for making it through another week and I do that by purchasing Stuff or going out to eat.  This is something I need to reconsider.  I should not be spending my hard earned money in order to reward myself for making it through another day or another week.

This experiment has been quite the learning experience.  Going through the month with focused attention on my money taught me a lot.  A zero spending experiment may not be for everyone, but I think that it is important that you take the time to track where your money is going.  I didn’t go to the length of tracking every penny but instead just paid attention to when I was spending money.  It made me realize that I have a lot of room for improvement, and I suspect that many of us have some areas in our finances that we can improve upon.

*Note: First recorded in writing toward the end of the 19th century in the United States, snuck has become in recent decades a standard variant past tense and past participle of the verb sneak.  Snuck occurs frequently in fiction and in journalistic writing as well as on radio and television.  It is not so common in highly formal or belletristic writing, where sneaked is more likely to occur. Snuck is the only spoken past tense and past participle for many younger and middle-aged persons of all educational levels in the U. S. and Canada. Snuck has occasionally been considered nonstandard, but it is so widely used by professional writers and educated speakers that it can no longer be so regarded.