Did you know Lent is less than a month away? It starts on February 17th, which seems unbelievably early to me. Last year I decided to go big for Lent and ended up exercising for 46 days in a row. No small feat for a lazy girl like me. I’m not especially religious but pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone in order to gain appreciation for what you have is an idea I can get behind.
I started thinking about what I should do just after Christmas; I wanted it to be something feasible but difficult. (Bonus points if the idea of doing it immediately made me queasy.) So I thought about it and thought about it some more and on the morning of New Year’s Eve it came to me.
This year for Lent I’m giving up spending. No eating out. No shopping. Outside of regular budgeted expenses and bills (mortgage, utilities, student loans, etc.) I’m not going to spend a dime. No trips to the mall to buy clothes “just because” or Sunday afternoon book-buying extravaganzas on Amazon. It also means no going out whenever the hell I feel like it or buying whatever I want when I want. For 46 days straight.
How do I feel about doing this? It varies between extreme excitement and crippling fear, depending on when you ask. I’m excited to see how much money I save and what kind of creative (and free) ways I can find to keep myself entertained. But I’m worried about how I’m going to make ends meet working within a strict grocery budget and dealing with the obstacles (birthdays, regular dinners out with friends, boredom, etc.) that lay ahead.
This will be really difficult for me, harder than working over every day because this is something that will impact me 24/7 for a month and a half. But I’m hopping that by the time Easter rolls around I’ll have a greater appreciation for the luxuries I can afford in life, and greater respect for the hundreds of thousands of people who have to watch every single nickel and dime year-round.
I’m working out the last details of my plan (what I’m allowed to spend money on and some rules to live by) and will post those soon. This isn’t going to be easy — far from it — but deep down I know it’s worth the effort.
Good luck to you! This can be accomplished for sure but extremely hard. Just think after it is done you will have some extra cash for something you always wanted.
Wow! That is quite the Lenten sacrifice. Good for you, though. I have a feeling it will end up being a really positive experience!
You aren’t doing this alone, girl. Nate and I are all in!
But my first half is in March. Make sure you leave a trip to Lexington in your gas budget! If not, you’ll just have to meet us in Louisville in April!
(is that okay? does that comment make me unsupportive? I hope not!)
Don’t worry friend — I’m saving some gas money so I can make the trip for your first half!
Good luck! This is totally hard but I think (to my knowledge) this is what lent is about, sacrifice, giving up something hard, challenging yourself. You’ll do wonderful.
I think this is a great goal! And it should be difficult – that’s what Lent is all about right? Making yourself uncomfortable in order to appreciate what you have. If this goal were easy – it wouldn’t be worth it! Good luck!
I think this is a fabulous idea! I am sure the hardest part will be saying NO to going out and spending with friends and lunches with coworkers mostly. There’s no reason you can’t get creative with having fun. Girls’ nights in and such are way under-utilized if you ask me. I propose an evening at my house during lent for some wine drinking and maybe a game of scrabble!
You had me at “wine drinking” and totally sealed the deal with Scrabble. I’m IN!
Good for you! (For a second there I thought you were going to say you were giving up the internet. [gasp!] That would surely be an immensely hard challenge!)
It can be done….if your friends are supportive you could always do potlucks or game nights or something at home, keeping you from spending.
Let us know how it goes!!
That’s hilarious! Last week Krissie sent me a text saying I wasn’t allowed to give up blogging or Twitter. Not to worry — I’m not up to anything that extreme (yet).
I fully expect to be the biggest loser if i’m playing with an English Lit major and a Journalism major. But it will be fun. We’ll get a date on the calendar when we meet next weekend! YAY!
I’m actually kind of horrible at Scrabble, but I love to play anyway. You might have a shot at winning.
Wow, how ambitious! I’m impressed–and very exciting to read about the lessons you learn!
This is a really great idea! I’m not religious at all, is it inappropriate for me to give something up for Lent?
I’m not religious either Rachel but I give something up for Lent each year. Do it!
wow that is an awesome challenge! Can’t wait to see how it goes, i’m terrible at giving things up. One year I gave up boys, and I didn’t date a single one the entire time. Of course that might not have been all by choice…
That’s an amazing idea. I think I might just join you.
Just one thing though – have you built your fresh-flowers-every-week resolution into your plan? Cos it would be sad to have to miss out on that.
No worries Terri — the flower money is built into my weekly grocery budget. (Thank goodness Valentine’s Day is before Lent!)
Oh what a good idea!!! I have a serious shopping problem… I guess it’s part of my overall addictive personality. I can’t wait to read about it on your blog… and Feb 17th??? WTF? Who made Lent so early?
WOW! That sounds like a tough one. Since I got laid off in November I’ve been trying to only purchase things I NEED instead of things I WANT. It is amazing how much stuff I’ve left on the store shelves because I don’t really NEED it. It has been a real eye opener. I’m going to think about doing this no spending thing for Lent too. Good luck!
Great idea! Especially with a new house purchase, it’s smart to see how simply you can live–not to mention how sustainable and enviro-friendly. But what does this mean about your resolution to purchase fresh flowers every week?
I’ll join you! I’ve been working on getting a tighter reign on my budget ever since getting a paycut AND furlough this year (boo!) and spending a little extra this fall and through the holidays.
My goal is to save $700-1000 a month. Of course, this requires me to considerably limit unnecessary spending, but I won’t need to stop it altogether. So, today’s scheduled brow wax and planned nonfat latte purchase for my road trip this afternoon would still be a go!
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