No-Spend Challenge Complete!

It's finally over!  The 30 Day No-Spend Challenge is complete!  I was really dragging there by the end, but here's my 30 day, budget breakdown:

Average monthly gas usage - $108.42
Gas usage during NSC - $109.09
No savings here, but just a few cents below average: -$0.67.

Average monthly food purchases - $324.28
Food purchases during NSC - $156.93
I was able to cut my food costs by over half, saving $167.35!

Average monthly "fun money" - $47
Fun money spent during NSC - $17.15
I did break the eating out rule twice, but I was still able to stay way below my monthly average and saved $29.85.

Savings by simply not buying random things during NSC - $72

This brings my total savings during the 30 Day No-Spend Challenge to $268.53!

Photo Credit

I'm very happy with that end total.  It is a surprising amount for me.  I've always thought of myself as a pretty thrifty person, but this challenge taught me exactly how thrifty I could be.  If I kept my spending this tight for a whole year, I'd save over $3,200!  Craziness!  

If I were going to try to do this challenge more often, I think a more reasonable and sustainable time frame for me would be 15 days each month.  By only strictly restricting my spending half of the month, I could still feel like I could live a normal life while still saving some money.  I've heard of people going for a 6 month+ No-Spend Challenge!  I commend them wholeheartedly, but I've got to have a little wiggle room.  I like obscure food ingredients and eating at new restaurants way too much to go without them for a half a year.  

For those of you who tackled this challenge as well, how did it go?  Did you save as much as you thought you would?  Did you surprise yourself?  Thank you for joining me on this journey.  Stay tuned for more budget tips and kitchen tricks.  

Update - Day 20 on No-Spend Challenge

Greetings.  So I totally fell off the wagon on Saturday, but it wasn't a long fall.  I mentioned a few days ago that I made plans to spend the day in Indy, and I was concerned about breaking the No-Spend rules.  I did end up breaking a few:
 - Gas to get to and from Indy ~$7.50
 - Lunch $7.40
 - Frivolous fabric buy $2
 - Donation to Buddhist center $2

I don't regret spending a single cent because my cousin and I had a great time.
Our day began at the Indiana Buddhist Center.  Neither of us had ever been to a Buddhist center before, and we came for a meditation session.  We were treated to butter and milk tea and an impromptu teaching by Hlarampa Geshe Jinpa Sonam.  It was an honor to be there.

After a great meditation, we headed to Irvington for lunch at one of the best pizza places in Indy, Jockamo's.  Ashley had never been to Broad Ripple before, so we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around BR window shopping, walking the Monon, perusing the Indianapolis Art Center, and pining for ice cream.  We had very good self control though and only splurged on lunch.  

Day 10 Update + First World Problems

So far in the first third of the No-Spend Challenge, there have been no grocery shopping binges, no road trips or outings, no U-Pick berry picking, or the like for me.  And I'm fine with that.  I've liked getting creative with the ingredients that I have on hand and/or eating more simply.

The electric toothbrush decided to die this week as well.  It's back to the free, manual toothbrushes from the dentist's office now.  And that's fine too.

I ran out of chili powder, but found that I had all of the components to assemble my own, and so I did.

$251 total savings in 10 days.

Wrangling with the "need" for instant gratification and buyer's high has been a good learning tool.  Most of us in this modern world are incredibly spoiled.  We can so easily and quickly get what we want, and we forget how very little we really need.

Please, please forgive me for posting a link to a horrible song related to this topic, but it's so true.

Photo credit

What are your thoughts?  I hope that I haven't offended anyone, but if I did, it's for your own good.  How have you been going on this challenge?  Is it a struggle or does it lighten your burden?  

Cheap Travel Attempt and Fail

Sooo...Megabus is a really great way to get from big city to big city on the cheap.  The kicker is that you need to book your tickets early and/or be willing to get dropped off at the bus stop at scary hours of the night/morning.  You have to get your tickets immediately when you see a great deal.  And there are some really great deals - like $2 round trip great deals.  If you can score travel bargains this cheap, I wouldn't even consider it breaking any No-Spend rules, but I wasn't fast enough this time.

My two best college friends live in Chicago.  

One of them is expecting her first baby (Natalie, in the middle), and I would love to be there for her baby shower.  I waited an hour or two too long to buy the bus tickets and the price SOARED.  So, I'll be booking my tickets to see her in December after her baby has arrived - waaay in advance.   Luckily she'll be having a shower in her home town as well, which is much closer and without all the insane traffic.