Remember the Quiet Game? Yes, that game where an adult would try to get a group of noisy kids to play and see who could be quiet for the longest?
Well, here’s a grownup version – the Spend Nothing Game. You’d be surprised at how much money passes through your fingers on a daily basis. Sometimes it’s just a few dollars here and there. Lunch. Coffee. Drinks. Dinner. Rent a movie. But it adds up to serious money. Do you really know how much money you just waste? And social media games and fads like Foursquare and Yelp! probably aren’t helping. They’re just encouraging you to go places and spend money.
You might want to try this game and see what it feels like to NOT let that money just slip away.
Here are the rules:
- Spend nothing.
Lose already? OK, here are some exceptions:
- Any fixed expense, like your rent or mortgage, utilities, etc. Any fixed monthly expense can be exempted from this game. You can start working on these when you master this first level.
- You may exempt up to $50 per person in your household for weekly food. This includes ALL consumables, including coffee, sodas, alcohol, gum and candy – anything you might eat, drink or consume in any way.
- You may exclude transportation costs, but only for those things related to earning a living or for maintaining your life and health.
Which leaves the items that do count:
- Any food or beverages outside of your home or exceeding the $50 per person weekly allowance.
- Any item purchased that is not required for your base maintenance of life and health. Prescription drugs are exempted, salon and beauty products are not.
- Any entertainment purchases or expenses.
And if you really want to become a game master, spend a week or so prior to the game recording ALL of your expenditures. I think you’ll find it enlightening and frightening. When my wife and I were first married and for several years after we were still in school we recorded every penny we spent. It’s a fascinating historical document now, but it kept us above water and helped us to understand where we had to spend and where we could cut back.
Frugality can be sexy. Frugal doesn’t have to mean deprived. And when you get to the point where you prefer water to soda, the library to Amazon, a well-prepared meal at home to one out, you’ll begin to see the freedom and richness it offers.
How long can you go without spending?
New! See More: Weekly Posts On The Spend Nothing Game
The The Spend Nothing Game – How Long Can You Go Without Spending ANY Money? by Randy Murray, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }
Good article. Quite a challenge!
Really enjoy your writing style, your topics, and your “voice” —
Keep up the good work…
Janet
PS: You may want to fix your title on this particular posting. Cheers.
Thanks – and corrected!
Randy
This is a great idea and I actually debated it for Lent, coming this week. I did it several years ago before kids and it was HARD! But it’s such great training to STOP and THINK about whether you really need to buy things. Many, many, many people could benefit from this exercise, even for just a week!
It is difficult. For the last few years I’ve gotten to the point that if I see something interesting – a book, music, a gadget, something tasty – I just buy it. We’re careful with debt and don’t carry balance on credit cards, so I’d become very free with my spending.
I’m not suggesting turning your back on the material world and growing tomatoes on your roof, but the idea is attractive. Back in college I subscribed to “Mother Earth News” and the ideals of being self sustaining and completely free are intriguing.
A recent bout of cleaning and organizing the house has made me think more about all of the STUFF. I’d rather not collect more of it. And being able to decide which project I take on is an incredible freedom. Not spending without thinking makes it possible for me to do work I’m interested in, not just work that keeps the coffers filled.
Forced frugality quickly clarifies the difference between need and want. My husband and I became pros at loading up a shopping cart, reviewing its contents, and putting everything back without spending a nickel.
several of my friends are trying to see who can have the least amount of stuff…it’s pretty interesting…and choosing frugality feels wonderful…very freeing
I can not stay more than a week. Guaranteed!
Ha, this ones easy.
I spend 20 euro (30 dollars?) a week on food.
about 35 on prescriptions and 20 on transport.
Thats it. Entertainment=laptop i bought 2 years ago.
Havent had a haircut in about 8-9 months. I am ruling this game.
I cut my own hair, but it’s easy to do a buzz cut.
ha ha i have you all beat.I’ll be flat broke for the next 14 days,not even two cents to rub together.Change counted and rolled this morning.Then spent!!!
I am going to give this a shot. I’ll update you tomorrow when I fail.
Seriously, though, interesting idea.
Many of us do this all the time. It’s called being poor.
So far, seven years, 23 days. Being poor helps.
This is a great idea, but I do know where all my money goes, I am very careful with my money and keep receipts for everything. Great post thanks.
Interesting, and interesting comments too. I’m pretty cheap anyway, but I’m sure this will be more difficult then I anticipate.
In high school I went on a kick where I did not spend dollar bills. I could spend all the fives, tens and twenties I wanted, but if I got singles in change I couldn’t spend them. It got to be easy after the first month or so. I ended up saving something like $1500 in six months, and that was when I was 16. Been thinking about starting that game up again. After this article I think I will
Good for you! But why not kick up the game? I’d recommend kicking it up a notch. Take all of your change at the end of the day and put it in a jar. And consider putting anything that doesn’t keep you alive for the moment on a 24 hour hold for spending. The goal is to eliminate impulse spending.
I think here the most important to find a way to reward yourself somehow. When we, coders write grinding code we program in little rewards. Flash things that make us feel good. Just like that, in the game there should be some sort of rewards. Not only just reduction in spending.
Good idea. But like the Quiet Game, the Spending Game is one of personal triumph. It’s more fun when played with others.
One of the side effects of intentionally reducing and eliminating spending is that when I decide to treat myself, reward myself for saving, I feel queazy over spending on that reward.
What we need is an anti-Foursquare. A program that rewards the players with not going places, not spending!
I already win. I was unemployed for almost 6 months and I lived on far less than $50/wk in food/transportation. I bought nothing for myself, even shampoo and deodorant (which made it really difficult to ace an interview by the way). Also I was kind of homeless so I paid no utilities. I had a good time though; wrote a lot and played in this interesting place called “outside.” It was an extended camping trip.
Sometimes life enforces frugality or poverty on us.
That’s why it’s a challenge and a chance to really think about spending when it’s an option.
Freecycle groups can be a great resource for getting free stuff when you’re poor – or giving stuff away when you have too much!
I agree – but concentrating on getting rid of stuff feels much better than getting it. It probably comes from my GTD, clear things out mindset.
I once played this with myself and existed for three months without spending ANY money, not rent, not food, nor anything else, but i worked in a bar where i ate for free twice every day. i remember dreading a bicycle tire bursting because i didn’t wanna have to buy a new inner tube…
I’ve been doing this for about a semester and a half now… Most college kids already know this.
My husband and I already do this somewhat. We don’t spend change at all, we save it in this big jar and it gets invested in mutual funds Jan 1 of the new year. I’m debating stepping it up to $1, but I would probably only clean that out 1x a week. We don’t go out alot, we spend $9 on netflix, and I don’t really shop or anything. We’re pretty careful cuz I”m in school, and we’ve got 5,000 of his debt to pay off from before we got married.
I still use a change jar. And I remember well the first year of marriage. My wife and I would check the jar before we’d decide to got to a movie or go out for something to eat. 9 times out of 10 we’d decide on something else, even if we had the money.
I do this periodically, because I have to. It is enlightening to realize all the things you can do without. It is hard to make enough money to live on in the winter where I live so before the winter I stock up on canned goods, dry food stuffs, pantry items, buying everything very cheaply on sale. During the winter we can sometimes go for a few weeks without food shopping, just orange juice and milk for the kids. My daughter who is working her way through college once thanked me for passing on my frugal ways, she said she couldn’t do it without knowing how to be frugal.
This is an absolutely great idea. Of course, I’m already very frugal as things go. But making an effort to be even more frugal is always a plus IMO. There is always something that can be cut.
One thing I think is a good habit to start is to live by the 80/20 rule. I do that in my everyday, and I actually live on far less than 80%—over the years when you follow this rule that’s what inevitably happens. The 80/20 rule allows you to live better and actually allows you more choices rather than sacrifices.
The 80/20 rule is pretty simple. You get your paycheck and you spend 80% and put the other 20% in the bank or into an investment (house investment not included, sorry). I’m talking 80% of NET by the way. We don’t see gross wages, so we don’t include them in the rule.
You then carry the 80/20 rule into every aspect of your large ticket purchases. If you can afford a $25,000 car, you start looking for one for $20,000. If you can afford a $200,000 house, you start looking for one for $160,000.
The reality is that “live for today” will actually mean you will be working long after guys like me retire. And contrary to popular belief, guys like me don’t have to make near as many sacrifices as guys who don’t.
Great article BTW. Loved it.
Great comment, Jim – thanks for sharing your example.
The 80/20 rule, or Pareto’s Law, is very useful in almost any aspect of life. In regards to personal spending, the thing to remember is that 20% of your spending will give you 80% of the benefit.
That means the 80% of your spending is likely wasted. You’re spending too much or you’re spending on the wrong things.
The 2nd tool to use along with Pareto’s law is something I learned long ago in inventory management. It’s called “Velocity Coding”. In the case of spending you take everything in your budget and code it A, B, C, D, & E. The A and B items are the critical, life sustaining items. The other three represent all of the things that don’t keep you alive or healthy or really improve your life in some way.
And if you want to get brutal with it, you then cut out all of the C, D, & E items.
Then you recode everything left A-E and do it again.
It all gets down to what you want out of life and how you’re willing to live it.
Thanks!
Randy
Mr Murray.
Without realizing, I have been playing “the game of spending nothing” all year. This is one of my resolutions for 2010, and beyond.
Society’s insatiable appetite for more is driven by the erroneous view that “things” will make us happy. We can thank the media and genius marketing campaigns for this fallacy.
I recently posted on the subject. http://wp.me/pLCpY-1X.
One of my favourite websites summarizes the syndrome perfectly. http://www.theflowmarket.com/site.php
k.
I am one of the “marketing geniuses”, so I share some of the blame. But I find that I am not interested in convincing people to buy things they wouldn’t’ ordinarily want or need, but to help them find the products or services that would make their lives, work, and activities better.
Shaping our individual wants is critical. It requires a degree of maturity that I’m only now realizing for myself. It doesn’t mean sacrifice and depravation. It means that I literally shape what I want most from life. And if the things I want most are freedom, then I can hold up the things that require me to give up freedom in exchange for thing that don’t really give me what I want, and decide that I don’t want them after all.
Thanks for your comment,
Randy
An interesting challenge and a great article! Thanks!
Dear Mr Randy. I have already tried this, as you said except from fixed expenses, I have been very careful while spending money, this decision i have taken because I want to pay my credit card dues.
The best message I want to give you guys is whenever you want to buy something, Just ask your self “I need this?” OR “I want this?”
If Answer is “I want this” just dont buy. You will able to save money, and it helps
Thanks,
RR
Excellent point – Thanks!
Randy
K, so I started this whole do I “want it” or “need it” thing a few years ago, and as I have found out over the years, everything we spend money on is a “want”.
Hear me out, we “want” to have a place to sleep, that is our own (nothing wrong with that by the way) We don’t “want” to have to move back in with someone else, so thus we have rent. You don’t “need” it you “want” it. Same with “wanting” to be able to drive to work in 20mins, I “want” that. I don’t “want” to have to ride my bike for hour, or walk for 3 1/2 hours. It is something that I “want”.
Apart from food and maybe water, everything you spend money on is a want. Live this way for a few years and you will never have to work again in your life. I am 3 years away from being able to retire, and I am only 25 years old.
I am not saying that I don’t spend money on anything but food or water, in fact I live in my own house, I pay bills, I even have a cell phone. But because I am in the mind set that everything I spend money on is a want, what I choose to buy is thought out and goes into a whole new thought process. “How bad do I want this? By buying this how many more months will I have to work before I retire?” Being able to retire under 30 always wins for me.
Good for you!
Awareness, mindfulness, is exactly what I’m talking about with the Spend Nothing Game. Far too many of us, myself included, often mix up the want and need in our minds, and because of that, we’re less free than we might be.
Congratulations on your success in the game!
Randy
i’m pretty frugal but i really despise advice like this.
spending less money in a recession = less income for businesses = less profit = more layoffs = more unemployment
save money if you have to, pay off your bills, and enjoy the rest… best advise i ever got was “if you die with more than a penny to your name, you’ve done something wrong”
Really? It’s your patriotic duty to go out and spend, spend, spend!
“Eat, drink, and be merry. For tomorrow we die.”
I think this is exactly the type of thinking that got us into this economic mess. Living within ones means is an art, a skill that requires practice. And the core of the matter is this: the majority of our spending on “wants” just doesn’t make us happy.
I’m a marketing professional. I know the difficulties that businesses face in getting people to spend their money. But that’s a challenge for business and ones with vision, the right products and services, and the ability to communicate will do fine.
I knew a man who died recently deeply in dept. That was his goal and he delighted in the thought that he would “win”. But what he really did was make a mess for his family and hurt a number of businesses as well. I don’t know anyone who regards him as a hero.
You can make your choice. If you want to support the economy, get out their and spend. If you want to support yourself and your family, think about what you’re spending on and consider finding ways to enjoy yourself that don’t require spending at all.
Thanks for your comment,
Randy
Like the concept.
We are playing the zero spending days game. It’s similar. The catch is you can only spend money on Saturday and then it has to be budgeted, approved by us both. If it is a want and over 20 dollars we must wait at least 2 weeks to reconsider. If it is a bigger purchase we may set a month.
Long term we seek to beat or budget categories down from 24 to around 6. We have little categories like soda/flavored beverages, water bill, trash bill, phone, food out. We don’t just bunch a lot of stuff into a category of misc..
This helps to break the pavlov’s training to buy, buy, buy! Now we take pleasure in save, save, save. In 3 years we will have a net monthly expense of zero or less. We make our own wine and vodka, grow tobacco and food. Our power is solar and sold back to the utility. Our car electric and charged at home. So we’re stuck with things like insurance, health care, soap, groceries. Still with the produce we sell and power we sell our net will come pretty close to zero. So we will be saving all of our income and paying very little if any tax. Our home, land, car everything is deductible due to our produce business and electric business. We pay almost no sales tax as well.
Our income goes directly to a corporate trust so that we have no personal income and qualify for medicaid insurance and food stamps.
In fact, we are playing the game and winning, and winning big. We live a pretty awesome lifestyle, travel lots (mostly hiking and canoeing) visit with friends and family at our farmstead over homemade drinks, organic fruits and veggies and some home raised meats.
As you can imagine we can retire at anytime. I feel most anyone in this country could achieve this by age 30 or sooner if they would live intentionally and think about their choices and momentary behaviors.
You go!
Good for you, Bob!
I think you’re running an amazing experiment/game and I applaud you for it.
Randy
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