October Money Experiment

Being a huge fan of J. Money and his budgetsaresexy site, as homage to one of my favorite bloggers, I decided it was time to conduct my own money experiment. Although I’ve tried money experiments in the past, by documenting my trial here, my accountability to see it through will increase. My October money experiment is incredibly simple: Can I limit my out of pocket expenses to $100?

 (Photo By DiH)

Since my wife started back to work in September, I noticed that I’ve been spending much less cash. One of the main reasons for my decrease in cash expenses is that I’m bringing a lunch to work more frequently than when my wife was on maternity leave. Since my wife is as smart as she is beautiful, she generally prepares bigger dinners when she works, in order to create some leftovers for lunches. Since she returned to work in September, I’ve bought exactly three lunches.

With October half over, here’s what my cash situation looks like today after buying my first lunch of the month.

 (Photo By DiH)

Although I’ve never been much for budgeting or tracking expenses, I can provide an overview of what I’ve spent my cash on so far in October:

-          $20         Race entry for a 5-km run

-          $20         Hair cut (including tip)

-          $10         Book of stamps

-          $4           Hot dogs for my two nephews

-          $4           Lunch today

-          $3           Miscellaneous (mainly tipping baggers at grocery store)

Although $39 might not seem like a lot for 15 more days in the month, I feel like it’s plenty. With no need to pay for a haircut until next month, a low chance of entering another  road race, and a near 0% chance I’ll need more stamps (I use about one a month), I should be fine. I might bring my nephews out for milkshakes this weekend, but at most, that’s only an extra $20 out of my pocket.

I’m optimistic that I can make my remaining cash last until November 1^st. If my money happens to run out, I still consider this experiment a big success, as it’s made me more aware of what I spend on regular monthly expenses.

Have you ever conducted a money experiment? Do you think I can make the $39 last until the end of the month?