At the beginning of the month we set our sights on minimizing the amount we spend to stop and reflect on how thoughtless consumption can have a negative impact on our everyday. Denis Diderot was gifted an elegant new robe that led him to despise the rest of his belongings. He eventually replaced all his stuff with nicer items to match his robe- leaving him depressed and in debt. We don’t want to follow in his footsteps. Well, the month’s halfway through and I think we’re doing pretty well with holding off on the non-essentials.

The Necessities

Off the top, it was obvious that a “no-spend” month would not go completely without some form of spending. We started by taking a snapshot of how much we would be required to spend for the month. In order to be able to conduct our day to day business, we would need to pay for our fixed expense obligations such as the mortgage, bill payments and daycare. We also have other financial commitments such as tithe and donations. There is no wiggle room in our budget for these line items as they are an essential part of our identity and well being.

While eating is a necessity, it comes as a variable expense- what we eat and how much we eat factors into the costs. Through mitigating snacks (even the healthy ones) and impulse buys, we’ve been able to keep our bellies and our wallets sufficiently full. Gas, arguably, is another necessitated variable expense. I generally take the car while Emily takes the subway to work. The less we drive less and the more we work remotely, the more money we save.

The Untouchables

Everything apart from the necessities are considered verboten unless we can align the decision to spend the money with a valid reason; identifying how it brings value to our lives. Clothes, personal care, eating out and entertainment are perfectly fine in moderation, but we’ve been trying to limit these as well.

The Progress Thus Far

In the past 15 days we’ve spent a grand total of $275, averaging to just a little over $18/day. Here’s what it looks like:

Fifteen Day Spend

[table delimiter=”|”]
Date[attr style=”width:50px”]| Amount Spent[attr style=”width:110px”]| Item
April 1| $0| No spend day
April 2| $0| No spend day
April 3| $40.96| Dinner
April 4| $0| No spend day
April 5| $3| Parking at Toronto Zoo
|$6.58| Lunch at zoo
|$23.16| Groceries – fish and chicken from the butchers
|$11.00| Subway day pass
|$33.78|2 tickets to see The Red Violin (hosted by Tafelmusik and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra), cocktails and hors d’oeuvres included
|$15.88| Midnight snack at Burrito Boyz
April 6| $16.83| Men’s haircut
|$30.08| Groceries
April 7| $27.50| A week’s worth of subway tokens (arguably a “necessity”)
April 8| $0| No spend day
April 9| $0| No spend day
April 10| $0| No spend day
April 11| $8.23| Frozen yogurt at Yogurty’s
April 12| $53.15| Groceries
April 13| $4.40| Chinese buns for breakfast
April 14| $0| No spend day
April 15| $0| No spend day
Total|$274.54|[/table]

We’ve had a little bit of an advantage this month- if you can call it that; I’ve been on the road for the past two weeks for work. Emily’s been wonderful at home holding down the fort and as a result our weekday spending is more or less ziltch. Even though I’m away from home, we haven’t experienced decreased the amount we spend on food; Emily’s sister has been staying over to keep her company and help out (thanks!). We have, however, decreased the amount we spend on gas since the car is rarely used.

On the flip side, we’re living for the weekends and that’s where the money is being spent. We like to grab snacks on the weekend and pay to play. We took a trip to the zoo; tickets were gifted during Christmas but we had to fork over the parking fee as well as lunch between the bears and the tigers. On the same day, Emily purchased tickets for a Tafelmusik 35 and under movie night event and we went on a much needed date. She landed the entertainment event that keeps on giving. In addition to cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, we were gifted 2 additional tickets to the symphony and 2 more tickets to chamber music concerts. Best. $15. Ticket. Ever.

Next Two Weeks

Two weeks down, two more to go. We anticipate the spend rate to increase a bit. I’m still travelling this week but I’ll be home soon and Emily is taking a couple days off to spend some time with the kid. We hope to continue to keep spending low, and more importantly, to consume consciously and according to our values. Wish us luck.

Photography Source: Afford Anything