On Challenge Differentials

[sakon76]

One of the blogs I occasionally peruse is The Greening of Gavin. Today he posted about a "buy nothing new for a month" challenge.

This somewhat puzzled me, and I tossed the notion at Wonderful Husband as well, and, simply put, it doesn't seem like that much of a challenge to either of us. At least, not with the assumption that there is an exemption for purchasing groceries. We just don't shop that much, and when we (okay, mostly me) do, it already tends to be secondhand. My estate sale hobby, etc.

Now, if there was a "buy no groceries for a month" challenge, that might be a bit more challenging, on account of we like having fresh fruit and vegetables in our diet....

Comments

[flybystardancer.livejournal.com]

I've done this myself, though not intentionally. Even gone a month between buying groceries, though that's because I tend to use a lot of frozen veggies, and most of the stuff I buy in the store is geared towards family sizes...which means It makes several meals for me.

[playswithworms.livejournal.com]

Hm, yeah, not so hard except for groceries, gas for the car...in summer my weakness is plants, but I could probably get by with transplants and seeds and starts from friends for a month.

[ghilledhu.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't generally count food in "buy nothing." Gas, too. Things you need to survive. I see those challenges as "don't spend frivolously - see how little you actually need to spend vs how much you think you need to spend."

I don't think I've tried deliberately to go a month without non-essential purchases, but I'm sure I've done it, particularly during that wonderful period in 2008-2009 when darthsatyr and I were both out of work. I also try to observe "buy nothing day" after Thanksgiving every year. It's a nice reminder not to get caught up in holiday spending frenzy.