Of Miserably Failing: Week 1 Of The Spending Fast

Personal finance blogs, mine included can be very discouraging. Every writer seems to have found the secret to financial success, they seem to be well on their path to wealth, while you the reader keeps slipping back into habits they warn you against day after day. And you wonder what about them is special, and why do they seem to do it so easily?

If you’re a cynic, you figure that most are lying about their success and you give up.

Well, we fail, just that most of us don’t want to talk about it, because we feel it will damage our credibility as personal finance bloggers (or gurus if you prefer). I however believe in being as simple, and as real as possible. Share successes, but also admit mistakes.

Last week, I announced on this blog that I was goi

ng on a spending fast to build an emergency fund. I laid out the rules of the fast as follows:

1. No clothes, shoes and jewelry purchase, but I’m allowed to replenish one brand of perfume if it runs out during the 6 months.
2. No eating out, when out with friends I can have a drink. Definitely no fast food, no Coke.
3. Commitment to vegetarian living for the period, so no chicken meals. A side benefit to this is I have more energy when I’m on a vegetarian diet, than when I consume meats. I also sleep better, and my skin looks great.
4. Unless I get windfall income or extra income, I will not go on vacation or take road trips during this period.
5. In the beginning of every month, I will be setting aside Kshs 10,000 in my savings account, and at the end of the month, any balance in my checking account goes into emergency fund savings.
6. Once my monthly fuel allowance runs out, I walk to work, and take public transport. This is a tough one, so I will want to reduce on unnecessary travel over weekends.
7. I’m allowed to splurge on Christmas day, but the money to do so will have to be from other sources, not the monthly 10,000 bob.
8. The spending fast begins today 4th of October 2012, and ends on 4th of March 2013, after which I will publish the results on here.

For the first 10 days of my fast (4th – 14th of October), I failed spectacularly. I broke rules 2 and 3, my biggest spending pitfalls.

On 8th of October, someone bought me lunch, and I had a Java chicken cheese burger, which triggered a massive backslide

…

The following day, I forgot to carry lunch (I had lunch dates for 8th and 10th, and somehow thought it included 9th too), and I bought a hot sub and a Coke – Kshs 800, rules 2 and 3 broken at once.

11th I was ill and had to go to the doctor, after which I threw myself a massive pity party, and had chicken and fries – Kshs 400 again rules 1 and 2.

On 13th, I went for a 12km run, which I didn’t finish because I was still ill, but I convinced my sister who was running with me that we needed a good breakfast to replace lost calories (it was cold, muddy and rainy). So I bought us brunch at Java – Kshs 1,680. I had a chicken cheese burger and fries at 9am in the morning, rules 1 and 2 spectacularly broken once more!

I’m even afraid of running the totals, but yeah. Kshs 2,880 on chicken related meals in 10 days.

It’s fair to say I won’t be saving much at the end of the month, but I learnt a couple of lessons:

1. The first time is always the hardest. I was doing well on the fast until I slipped and bought a hot sub. After that, it was easier to justify the purchases, and convince myself that I deserved it. Whenever you find yourself tempted to impulse buy, distract yourself, and learn to recognize weak arguments. Did it have to be a hot sub? I could have eaten a fruit salad at a fraction of the cost instead. Next time when going for a run, I intend to carry an energy bar, to keep the hunger away till I get home to a proper breakfast.

2. I associate fast food (cheese) with comfort. There’s something inherently sinful about a chicken cheese burger, and a hot sub with cheese in it. I need to find a cheaper way of getting my cheese fix. A while back I’d make macaroni and cheese every so often to fix it. Most times, purchases are about emotion, not functionality. Most of our spending decisions are driven by emotion. Learn to identify emotions that lead you to spend, and find alternative ways of dealing with them.

I’m almost done with week 2, and so far, I’ve only bought one Coke. Let’s see how this goes.

Enjoy the burger pictured at Mvuli House