On spending.

Check it:

Sunday night, I told myself that I would get through Monday without spending a SINGLE dollar. Not a cent. I had some groceries left over from the weekend and enough random food to get me through the day that I wouldn’t have to buy anything and enough gas in my car that I could go to and from school without a refill. Said I could get by without spending any more money on top of the things I already had.

This endeavor may sound stupid or self-absorbed…I don’t know. I don’t know how it sounds to you, and I hope it’s not offensive in any way, like I’m some douche who wants to “choose” not to spend money for a DAY, but think about it. When was the last time that you went through an entire DAY without spending a CENT? I’m not talking about percentages of your rent or power bills that are included on that day, but spending on top of what you have already paid for, like buying added groceries to what you have, or useless items and coffees that you don’t need. Can you remember?

I can’t. I hit the grocery store up pretty much EVERY DAY, even when I have veggies and meal materials in the fridge. These things go bad sometimes because I don’t get to them in time, thanks to the added things I buy during the week. I also go through days where I BUY my lunch at school. I’ll drop $3.50 on a couple of carrot sticks and a coffee when I HAVE all of this at home, but didn’t take the time to prepare it for the road. Ridiculous. And then there’s the useless stuff on top of this, which can include anything from parking costs to a new t-shirt to that ONE song on iTunes that I HAVE to download for my commute. Stupid.

So I tried it. Monday came, I went to school, hit the gym, and made dinner with food I already had, and it felt pretty good. Thought it was something I needed to practice more often.

And then I remembered I downloaded a song on iTunes that morning while I was getting ready for class. I broke my own promise before I even left my HOUSE and spend 99 cents on a download of the “What’s Going On” cover by the All-Star Tribute from 2001. It’d been stuck in my head and I did it without even THINKING. I hadn’t heard the song in a LONG time, and Marvin Gaye’s version was stuck in my head, so I wanted to hear it again. Took like 12 seconds to download it straight to the touch. Twelve seconds to spend a buck on a day I said I wouldn’t. Idiot.

Anyway, I wanna do this successfully, but it’s HARD to go a day without spending money, and that makes me sad. It sucks that we live in a society where it pretty much HAS to happen on a daily basis, but I have to admit that I’m as guilty as anyone else in this area.

It’s a weird thing to think about, but why not give it a shot? It could be the cool thing to do, like jumping onto a trend before the rest of the world does. Give up spending for a day and see how you feel. Use whatcha GOT and work with it. Because, dang it, most of us PROBABLY have everything we need already. No need to spend. Just live.

Ramblin’ on,
D.