Monday 11/23, Day 1:
My daily routine consists of working online for one part time job, getting ready, and then heading to my other part time job, coming back, and working online more. I got in my car ready to head to my job in which I travel, and noticed that I had a ¾ of a tank of gas, or about 290 miles until empty. Luckily, I work about 20 miles from home, so I figure this should be enough to get me to and from work Monday-Wednesday, and then Friday (off for Thanksgiving.) I usually don't eat breakfast, but it certainly does not help that I work at a restaurant where we get an employee discount and purchasing temptations swirling around. I avoided purchases, and drove to my dad's house, and he took us out to Chick-Fil-A. It's safe to say I inhaled my Spicy Deluxe Sandwich and salad. I also picked up bread for stuffing from his house, and bottle of red wine that my brother bought for me. (My boyfriend and I will be hosting Thanksgiving this year, and our families were nice enough to buy the ingredients that we will need for cooking.) I headed to a doctor's appointment, where my copay was paid courtesy of my dad. I checked my mileage again, and it read 260 miles until empty. I then headed home to work online, where the reading stood at 250 miles until empty.
Total spent: $0
Tuesday 11/24, Day 2:
Daily dual work schedule, with my gas tank descending to 200 miles until empty. I stopped by my dad's after work and went with him to pick up the turkey (bought from a local farm that raises turkeys specifically for Thanksgiving) and (my dad) bought green beans from the market, the last of our Thanksgiving dinner food purchases. I was super tempted at work to get a sandwich, but I ate a bowl of cereal at my dad's while I was waiting for him to get ready. It took me FOREVER to get home due to a bunch of traffic, and my poor gas tank hit a little under halfway. I had a leftover chicken sandwich for lunch, and then worked, and quesadillas and pizza for dinner. Definitely not the healthiest meal, but it was free.
Total spent: $0
Wednesday 11/25, Day 3:
This was definitely going to be the hardest day since it's Thanksgiving Eve, aka the biggest bar night of the year. I worked online, made eggs and toast, went in to work and there were two burgers that were accidentally made – free lunch. I picked up a shirt from the tailors, and headed home to work. Since people were leaving work early for the holiday tomorrow, there was a bunch of traffic, and my gas tank hit a little before a quarter left. I usually like to fill up at a quarter tank, but we will see. I finished work and my boyfriend took me out to sushi to celebrate our two year anniversary. At the grocery store, I spent $2.29 for milk. We opted to go to Giant instead of Whole Foods to save money, and I used cash that I made from tips at my job. I really did not want to spend any money, but since he took us out for an expensive dinner, and I wasn't taking away from my bank account, I was able to justify it. We met our friends out, after I had a couple glasses of wine from a bottle my brother bought me. At the bar, one of my friends handed me a drink (yay!). Later in the night, I had a couple more glasses of wine and delicious potatoes at the postgame. Needless to say, I slept very well.
Total spent: $2.29
Thursday 11/26, Day 4:
Thanksgiving! Luckily, this meant zero driving and cooking all day for my family. My boyfriend got me a Coke from the convenience store, and I forked over $7 (cash) for a block of Colby Jack cheese because I was starving and decided I REALLY wanted cheese. It was a little disappointing because I swore that Giant sold blocks of Colby Jack cheese for way less than $7, but in the end I got my cheese so I was pretty content. I spent the rest of the night doing dishes, relaxing, and watching my boyfriend play Fallout 4. I would say it was a successful Thanksgiving (and there is plenty of delicious stuffing leftover hehehe)
Total spent: $7
Cumulative total: $9.29
Friday 11/28, Day 5:
Sooo full from Thanksgiving, and I slept extremely well (no work in the morning bc of the holiday weekend.) I woke up around noon, made eggs and toast, watched some TV, then ran some errands. My gas tank was exactly at a quarter tank, with about 100 miles until empty. After depositing a check and mailing some bills, I got ready and headed to my night shift, leaving about 70 miles until empty by the time I got home for the night. Made some soup and a quesadilla, and drank some leftover wine from Thanksgiving. I watched Law and Order until I fell asleep.
Total spent: $0
Cumulative total: $9.29
Saturday 11/28, Day 6:
I woke up to work online and eat breakfast. My friend invited me out in Baltimore, but there was no way I was going to be able to drive there considering my lack of gas. I decided to bite the bullet and fill it up (using my credit card.) I technically could have just sat at home and done nothing just to avoid paying for gas and going out, but I would rather spend my night off doing something enjoyable. Thankfully gas was at $1.91, so filling up cost a total of $24.08. That evening I bought a drink, totally $8 in cash. I'm glad that I went out, and I think it was a better decision that sitting at home rotting in front of the TV.
Total spent: $32.08
Cumulative total: $41.37
Sunday 11/29, Day 7:
I have reached the seventh and final day. I worked a couple makeup hours online, and went to go look at a house with my dad. He took us out to pizza after, and I made sure to order a salad to counteract all the awful food I had been eating with my week of leftovers and such. The rest of the day I watched terrible, trashy television, and just enjoyed the remainder of my holiday weekend.
Total spent: $0
Cumulative total: $41.37
Conclusions from experiment:
-Day 1 was definitely the hardest to avoid impulse buys like food, or clothes. After I got into the habit of no spending, it was a fun challenge to see how long I could go without buying anything unnecessary.
-Unless you live somewhere with super cheap public transportation that you can pay at the beginning of the month, paying for gas is a necessity for work travel, and for seeing your friends.
-Also, monthly bills. If I had tried this a week later, my account would have been debited left and right for rent, internet, electric, etc. I also do not advise anyone to delay paying their bills…
-I spent a total of $41.37 over seven days, equalling $5.91 spent per day, definitely not bad.
-Though Black Friday deals were tempting, I decided that I do NOT need anything from those sales, and I will put off Christmas shopping for a couple weeks to save up more money.
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