Could You Take a Spending Break for a Week?

I could spend a week and not spend anything. I dare you to find anyone who can't live a week off of what is in their pantry.

I know I can, I do it all the time! I am pretty isolated where I live, so there are many weeks I don't spend anything except groceries!

YEP!!! I'd rather have my cash in hand or in the bank instead of in somebody's elses pocket! :)

I'm trying to get rid of stuff and not live in EXCESS - so yeah - i can weeks without spending on EXTRAS...I try to do my grocery shopping once a week and gas every two weeks..

I live like this almost every day! I'm super frugal! My husband is SO not on point with this... if he breaks a 20 dollar bill to buy a dollar pack of gum, the rest of that 20 is as good as gone. I'M the one who holds the purse strings. We rarely purchase something we simply don't need. This comes from years of struggling as a single mom... and now, it's just the smart thing to do :)

I could probaly do this. I dislike running errands during the week and just like hitting Sams Club, CUb (if I need to supplement Sam's) and sometimes Target on Sunday afternoons. Target is where I get in trouble. Somehow I always find a tshirt, or some PJ pants or a pack of undies, or a thin hoodie (always cozy things you will notice and I LIVE in these and have them in every color..I sort of hoarde these things).

If I can avoid Target and only go there once a month (I buy generic meds, paper plates and other Target brand things too)...I can do great!

But I work at home and am not "out in the world" to be tempted by stopping for a coffee or smoothie or all the things that tempt my hubby and others! I truly love not leaving my house till Sunday! (altho now we do a Family Date Night on Fridays...teen daughter hubby and I go to dinner and a movie...usualy Panera for dinner and now I have at least dd convinced for us to stop at the gas station to get bottles of a beverage and a candy bar each, rather than the giant sized overpriced stuff there. Hubby still has to have his keg of soda and a popcorn I guess...)

Do it all the time out of necessity living from paycheck to paycheck. Have fun.

We do go on spending freezes. Not often but they do happen.

My Pastor at my church does a spending freeze every other year.

They only buy what they have too.

The year they are not in freeze mode they take two small vacations and still watch how they spend.

They have been trying to sign people on to do the same! I think in our times it is a good thing to try and do when you can:)

For me the exception is spending money on extras, not the other way around.

Good morning! I just had to answer this one........and I'm doing it with a smile. I loved your question because I "live" a spending break. I work everyday but being a single parent and assisting a child in college, a disabled son and father and dealing with my own "newly found" health issues, there's never any money left to purchase "extras." I'm struggling over here so let me encourage you by saying, you CAN live without the extras but if you're able to purchase them, do it in moderation and enjoy it because I'm on the other side, wishing I could have an "extra" every now and then. (smile). Not bashing......what I'm saying, in a round about way.....you are blessed and enjoy your blessings, just don't overdo it.

Yes, we're doing some of that right now. We are moving next week and our house hasn't sold, so we are going to be strapped until it sells. We are also eating out of our freezer, and the extra stuff is almost gone. Instead of going in to work 2-3 days a week (I teach during the school year and usually teach online and do some research in the summer), I am keeping my kids with me and attempting to work from home. It's not terribly productive, but I'm saving $1000 a month with no day care in the summer. We are eating out much less than we used to and I am cooking more. Our HEB/Walmart bills have gone up a little with me cooking more, but we seem to have more money in our checking acct and I know it's because we are not going out to eat a few times a week. We are slowly but surely getting rid of things in the pantry (less to move!). It takes sacrifice and saying no (and, as someone else mentioned, fewer fresh fruit and veggies when you have canned stuff you can eat). I did let the kids get ice cream yesterday, but if we hadn't been successful living without for the first month of the summer and increased the money left over at the end of the month, I feel confident that I could have said no with no problem, now that I'm getting used to it! It can be done!

I do this every once in awhile. It is nice to have money in my pocket or the bank. But then there are other times where I spend any chance I get.

All the time. My husband owns his own buisness, we don't have a predictable pay check, so even though we are blessed with more than enough, we have cash flow issues often. I'm put on spending feeze at least once or twice a quarter. Some spending freezes are more severe than others.

I've been a graduate student with only a part-time job for four years now. Almost every week is a "spending break". Every thing I buy has to have a use and a value, or it doesn't get bought. I've come to like living this way.

oh yes, we have done this a lot. We have even had a few emergency weeks when an unexpected bill popped up or we needed to make an extra payment and had to get creative with meal plans, it just means the pantry and freezer get really bare and we use everything! If you are conservative and not wasteful you can do it. It doesn't hurt that I am one of those always be prepared type people and I usually if I can afford it build an extra back up meal into each weeks meal plan...making food from scratch I have to keep pretty good stock on hand and cooking from scratch ends up to be cheaper. Also I still have a really little one so there are lots of weeks in the summer when I don't even want to drag out of the house to run an errand. A good way to stop the buying of useless stuff you don;t really need ( you know when kids have the "gimme's") is just to cut back on how often you shop anyway. When we can we buy enough to last two weeks, stock up during sales! I also have a kid closet and I stock goodies for them in there, like coloring books and bubbles and back up batteries for their battery operated toys...its great for last minute car trips, for when the power goes out and even if you have a surprise last minute invitation to a birthday party...dollar stores are great for this type of stuff.
Good luck! you can do it = )

Sure if you take out groceries and gas.... I don't like to shop so the main difference would be no eating out.

I have gone almost a month spending nothing because of a money shortage caused by an unexpected bill.

We used canned vegetables when the fresh ran out. We used rice and pasta when the potatoes ran out. We used meat from the freezer and canned meat (tuna, salmon, corned beef, chili, etc) from the cupboard. I think I could go for 6 months or longer if I had to. I would miss the fresh vegetables, but I would have my garden really producing if I knew I was going tohave to do without.

All it takes is the 5 P's and a little self control.. Good luck to you and yours.

My husband and I used to have a "poor month" each year -- usually in Feb (shortest month!), where we would ONLY spend on necessities like food, gas, etc. It was good timing right after the holidays, and it did seem to help keep us disciplined. It actually was fun and challenging to figure out where we could further trim costs -- like others have mentioned, such as by eating out of what's already in the pantry and freezer. I also will avoid and the mall and certain stores (Target included!) if I want to control spending. Why tempt yourself?? And I then must stay away from Amazon or e-bay online. It's also a great time to clean out closets and garages and get a pile to donate for charitable tax savings...use the time you would have spent shopping to go through the stuff you already own.

I want to try this!! I'll have to find a week when we arent already booked for something and I'll try!

We only shop for Christmas and birthdays a few times a year.
So not spending is what we usually do.
What I really need is time so I can sort out all our closets and get rid of stuff.

I have done this. To many extremes. I have stayed home, not going anywhere... if you can't leave the house you can't spend money (internet not withstanding)! and avoided my favorite stores to not spend money. We have also squeaked by with fewer groceries (forcing us to use what is in the pantry- money already spent).

Depended in how much you spend on "extras", it will either be easy or hard. Once I make the decision to not spend any extra money, it is pretty easy to follow through for me.

Good Luck! You can do it!

I've tried going a week without shopping but it never fails that I make up for it the following week so for me it is an exercise in futility.

We actually do this occassionally- both with "shopping" and "grocery items". We don't do a lot of random buying, pack a lunch daily, take out a couple times a month... gifts at holidays, but not in between. It's actually not that hard once you start looking at want vs. need.

Grocery-wise, once a month we take 3 or 4 days and eat ONLY what is already in the pantry and freezer. Yes, it makes for really random meals, but we also don't toss perfectly good food!

My principal question is: Why do you need all this stuff you buy? If you look around at your house how much stuff you really use and how much is just there sitting on the shelf of in the closet or even unopened? My rule is: If I buy something, something else has to go! Just for the simple reason that you have way to many things and those things also needs some care or space!

However, less is sometimes more!!!
Cherish what you have and do not add on and on ...

Yes, I could. I live that way. We eat out once a month, and it is planned. I think very long and hard about extras and do no make impulse buys except for others at Christmas time or donating extra money to charities at Christmas.

On the day I graduated from college, I had $ 86 in my checking account and a car that barely ran. I worked very hard to put myself thru school and get a job. Three days after graduation I started a full time job and decided (with that paycheck) to never feel the same stress as I did as when money was tight.

It is changing your outlook and making this a habit that makes it easy. Life I said, it is a way of life.
I think you will like how you feel after you try it!! You feel less attachment to "stuff" and pride in preparing for the future.

I have done this off and on for the last three years. Hubby got sick and then had surgery and couldn't work. We lived out of the freezer for a solid three months and put a good size hole in the food. The only things purchased were bread, milk, eggs and some coffee. I made lunches for work which netted us another $100 a month.

It can be done and when you do have money you are more careful with what you do spend it on. My addiction is fabric and I do do my best to stay out of fabric stores. Of course I can make a work wardrobe for pennies as I have the fabric and patterns.

Do take the challenge and find out just how much you don't need and leave in the store. Ask yourself can you really live without it? If the answer is yes, don't but buy it. Also make a list of what you need at the store and buy the items only and don't wander around the clothing departments. Out of sight out of mind and not bought.

The other S.

Oh yeah! Easy peasy! Since we get paid every other Friday, our 'play' money is usually gone by the second week anyway!

My hubby and I are both commission only biz owners. so every month we have NO IDEA how much our checks are going to be. So there are lots of weeks that go by without me spending any extra. And we pay CASH for everything or we don't buy it. Its easy once you get used to living like that. Don't get me wrong, i have my fair share of purchases but its stuff we really need or really love. Good luck!

my husband was unemployed for a year and a half I have been on a "spending break" for a really long time. Honestly I bought that nothing wasnt "necessary" it isnt fun especially with kids.

I do it all the time, mostly because i was raised with this mindset and mostly because i don't want to responsibility of paying the bills so hubby controls the cash flow. I have a co-worker that blows What..$5 on starbucks and then another $5-$10 on lunch out everyday then goes to the mall most nights, Wow what i could do withan extra $50 a week.

yes i do this all the time. i can go a week or even a couple of weeks with out going to the grocery store or buying gas let alone extras, like cute bows, or toys for the kids. its really not that hard...especially when your broke ;)