How many days can you go with out spending any money?

[jewelerman]

Recently was watching a British television show on scrimping and saving.The hostess challenges couples on the show to go a whole week without spending ANY money or using any debit or credit card.I took the challenge and was able to do it for 5 days before having to go to the grocery for milk and bread.Keep in mind that the challenge also includes NOT spending money on gas or bus.How long could you last?

 

[Circe]

... it would sort of depend on how recently I'd gone shopping/refilled my metrocard! I think I have enough clothes, books, etc. that I could go a while without a luxury purchase if I needed to, but I live in a NY apt! I only have the storage space for so many canned goods!

 

[JewelFreak]

About 15 minutes......

 

[NewEnglandLady]

If I have a menu planned for the week that allows for leftovers every day and I do my usual Sunday grocery shopping, I can go M - F without spending money on food. I do that fairly often.

My issue would be money for transportation. I take a commuter rail into work and have a monthly pass, so that would be fine, but I wouldn't be able to avoid paying for parking.

I like trying to get through a work week with spending as little as possible--it's a little game for me, but I don't think I've gone for more than a few days without spending any money at all.

 

[MonkeyPie]

A week is easy for me, two weeks is harder. But I've done it. Two weeks can only happen if I don't work a full 5 day week and can stay home instead. If I have to work all 5 days, then on day 7 I always need gas.

 

[kittybean]

Hmm . . . I think I could probably do this for a week, but not much longer. I would have to be really good about walking to work and bringing my lunch and coffee from home--provided, of course, that I already had these things at home. I always start out the week telling myself I'm walking to work every day and packing my lunch, but then reality sets in, and I end up driving and buying lunch because I'm lazy, or late, or both.

 

[zoebartlett]

I have no problem not using my credit card, but my debt card is another story. I never carry cash so I pretty much use my debit card for most purchases. It would definitely be a challenge not to spend any money in a whole week. I could probably last a few days but then my Dunkin' Donut's iced tea craving would kick in and I'd cave.

 

[lbbaber]

I would fail miserably. I spend money like its water. Thank God I am married to a saver. I like to shop WAY TOO MUCH!

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

It is very easy when I work--just to go work and come home, exhausted. I will stop by the flower shop while leaving the hospital, and get myself some flowers since I hadn't bought anything all week! (actually flowers make me happy).

cheers--Sharon

 

[bee*]

I would fail miserably. I spend money like its water. Thank God I am married to a saver. I like to shop WAY TOO MUCH!

I'm the same. Plus I like to buy a lot of fresh food so I usually go shopping every 2nd day, if not daily.

 

[somethingshiny]

I pay bills, go grocery shopping and that's it for 2 weeks most of the time. Sometimes I'll have to go the second week for bread and milk or get some gas before the 2 weeks, but that's pretty much it.

So, I guess I could go a month if I had enough groceries and some extra gas.

 

[diamondringlover]

I dont usually spend money thru the week, I work from home so I eat at home and gas isnt a issue

 

[ksinger]

I hope I don't find out anytime soon, because that will mean I'm unemployed.

 

[merilenda]

I could do it easily if we did our weekly grocery shopping trip and I bought gas on the same day. In fact, we've probably done it before without trying to do it. Much past one week though, and my gas tank would be on empty because of work. We like to grocery shop for one week at a time because that saves us from going more often. But it would be difficult to plan too much further out than that because a lot of foods wouldn't keep long enough.

 

[luv2sparkle]

I can go a week pretty easy minus gas. Sometimes I can make a week on one tank but not always. I would rather not though. I love
to go to Chipotle with my DH for lunch. We split a bowl and bring our own ice tea so we spend a little over 6 bucks.

I usually do a Costco run every two weeks and after about a week we need more milk and fresh veggies.

 

[stephbolt]

I could make it a max of 8 days of commuting to work without filling up on gas - so maybe 10 or 11 days adding in some weekends? That's about the extent of the time I could make it without buying groceries too...we keep a pretty well stocked pantry but after that amount of time it would be stretched pretty thin.

 

[taovandel]

Like others have said...depends on how recently I went grocery shopping and bought gas for the car.

I could go a week probably.

 

[iheartscience]

Like others have said...depends on how recently I went grocery shopping and bought gas for the car.

I could go a week probably.

Ditto. I don't see how anyone could go longer than a week unless you're eating only canned food or have a garden. I wish I could only buy my veggies and fruits once every two weeks...I hate going to the grocery store!

 

[kenny]

. . . on FCDs?

 

[ksinger]

Really, it's kind of a weird "challenge" if you think about it. You're spending money simply by breathing. You spend money every time you switch on a light, flush the john...etc,etc. I understand that this is likely just a fun little game, but still, is it supposed to accomplish something? The self-sufficient agrarian days of yore are over and the vast majority of people have neither the skill nor the space to be self-sufficient for more than a short time. Unless they're survivalists of course. And beyond trying to not overspend or spend recklessly, I don't see that NOT spending money is such a good thing, certainly not for our economy, and by extension, not even ourselves.

Reasonably, if I kept driving to just back and forth to work and one uber-planned trip to the store(s), I could probably go about a week and a half. But that makes for a really boring existence, IMO.

 

[stone-cold11]

About 4 weeks, the limit being gas, with everything stock up before hand. Without transportation, 1.5 mths before my canned/freezer food runs out.

 

[Autumnovember]

I could do it for probably 4 days or so but the issue would be money for gas. I travel to school and back everyday and then from NY/NJ area to Philly every weekend.....lots of gas.

 

[manderz]

I'm super forgetful, and I'm always forgetting things, so not very long.

 

[jewelerman]

Really, it's kind of a weird "challenge" if you think about it. You're spending money simply by breathing. You spend money every time you switch on a light, flush the john...etc,etc. I understand that this is likely just a fun little game, but still, is it supposed to accomplish something? The self-sufficient agrarian days of yore are over and the vast majority of people have neither the skill nor the space to be self-sufficient for more than a short time. Unless they're survivalists of course. And beyond trying to not overspend or spend recklessly, I don't see that NOT spending money is such a good thing, certainly not for our economy, and by extension, not even ourselves.

The point of the exercise by the shows hostess was to show the couple that they could do without all the extra spending they were doing that was getting them further into debt.These couples were spending huge amounts on entertainment,eating out,magazines, taxi cabs,designer brand bags,shoes and clothing.Most of these couples wanted to buy a home and had never learned how to live on a budget or how to be conservative with money let alone water or electricity.

 

[marcy]

I am twitching just thinking about it! The longest I seem to go is 5 days; that is only if we don't go anywhere during the week and I don't buy anything online. On the weekend though I try to make up for it.

 

[dragonfly411]

I'd probably last five days if I had a full tank of gas.

 

[AprilBaby]

I wouldnt last a day...It just burns a hole in my pocket!

 

[elrohwen]

I go shopping every Sat or Sun and only need to fill up my gas tank once per week (less if DH and I carpool) so I wouldn't have a problem going for a week without spending money.

There are definitely weeks where I go Monday through Friday without spending any money - about the only money we spend on those days is on takeout which we don't get every week.

 

[April20]

If I sat down and actually planned out our meals and didn't need to drive very far during the week, I could easily go a week w/o spending money. I don't see how I could go two weeks. I don't have enough fridge/freezer space for that much food and my gas tank will only stretch so far.

Now if we're talking about how long can we go without spending money on "wants', that's a completely different story. I bet I could go at least a month if I was focused on it. Certainly longer if it was really a necessity.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

ZERO DAYS!

I spend money every day. For example, I buy meat and am super picky about pull dates so I go to the store every other day so we have fresh meat. Then, the days I'm not doing that, it's either an appointment or just some random item I'm needing like cat food or dish soap. Then today, I have a dr. appointment and I bought my son a muffin & milk at the grocery store so there goes $.

The only days I cut back are on the weekends...usually I stock up on food on Friday, but we ALWAYS get at least one Redbox movie and a six pack of beer on Saturday! lol Then the Sunday paper. So, yeah, zero.

Travel is another issue...I drive my kids to school & sports so I spend A LOT on gas. At least fill up every 5 days X $35ish.