no-spend week: attempt #1

The very fact that this post has the word "attempt" in the title sort of foreshadows the ending, doesn't it?

This week, Husband and I decided to try a no-spend week. It's all part of wanting to save more in 2012. We usually don't spend too much during a work week anyway, but making it official made it feel more difficult for some reason.

We started Monday, which was easy. But by Tuesday, we had failed. On Day 2, Husband forgot his lunch at home, so he had to spend $5 to eat. Then, after work, I took J for his planned haircut. In all fairness, I took him on Tuesday because it was cheap day at a local shop and it only cost $10 with tip, but still, it cost money.

And then, knowing that we had already lost the no-spend game. I bought a coffee at work on Wednesday, because apparently I have no self-control. None.

* In all honesty, I started typing up this post on Wednesday, while the memory of my forbidden coffee still sat as an empty cup on my desk, and guilt overcame me.

As a result, Thursday and Friday? Both winners! So we had a no-spend three days. This really doesn't amount to anything in terms of our budget, but it did give me a bit of a rude awakening about how easy it really is to drop $20. Turns out, way too easy.

We're planning to give it a go again on Monday. The real premise is to not waste money on things we don't need, like purchased lunches and coffee, and also to thing twice about any spending ... if we want/need something on Monday and it's still important come Saturday, then we'll know better whether it's worthy of our hard-earned bucks.