#Everydayexperiment 1150 - Life at $50 per week

For the past 3 months I’ve been experimenting with spending $50 per week on ‘life’ outside of bills, mortgage, school fees and travel planning (the essentials).

Why??

Because like many people, the amount of public discussion around money and finally getting to ‘Money Audit’ on my 'To do' list, has seen me thinking about money differently.

Years ago I read a great book called ‘Not Buying it’ about a woman’s journey in, you guessed it, not buying anything for a year.? It inspired me at the time and since then has been noodling in my brain, wanting to be actioned.?

So I decided to take the plunge and rather than just do a budget, critically review my expenses, especially given I work at home and only occasionally travel into an office.?

What I found was initially dispiriting.? But then formed the basis of my ‘Mindful Money’ action plan.?

For my entire working life, I’ve:

• Driven to work $$
• Paid for parking $$$
• Always had the latest and greatest tech $$$$
• Bought my teams morning or afternoon treats $$
• Told myself I need new clothes and accessories $$$$
• Bought 2-3 coffees, more if I’ve had coffee meetings $$
• And shoes (I already have 200 pairs, what’s a few more?!) $$$$
• Indulged my stationery fetish resulting in fab desk set-ups $$$$
• Gone out for lunch or bought my lunch and eaten it aldesko $$$$

While I’ve justified all of these expenses as mandatory, it was time to have a difficult chat with myself.? Do I really need any of this??

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No, of course not!!

On reflection, none of these items were really necessary (well coffee?) but I could live without most of them, or find a more cost effective option.?

So I paired back.?

Set myself a target.

Got to work experimenting.

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I decided $50 was a good starting point, to support my pared down, at-home life.

Some tactics I undertook:

• No coffee - prompted by the increase to $5 for a piccolo which is only 3 sips.?

This lasted a week. Now instead of just buying a coffee each morning and not thinking about it, I use this experience as a way to explore my neighbourhood. So many coffee shops to see. A new experience for $5 is a bargain.?

I also substitute piccolo with peppermint tea at lunch which allows me to be more contemplative

• Making lunch rather than buying it.??

I love the creativity of food prep and thinking about new and delicious things to eat. I’m still chuffed by my healthier choices and $$$$ saved.

Miso soup, bocconcini, vegemite and cheese baguettes, fruit salads, many, many soups, chicken pie etc etc?

• I go shopping in my own wardrobe.?

Having an enormous wardrobe has meant there are items I’ve bought over the years I’ve rarely or barely worn.? I’ve accessories and shoes for days so I could easily never again purchase these categories and remain very well-equipped

• I walk, ride my bike or scooter more than I’ve ever done.? Petrol was the one thing that tipped me over my $50 target a few weeks in a row. So I assessed where I needed to travel and have prioritised health and outdoor contemplation over speed

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Recently I learned just seeing Money has an impact on us. In studies where people were?exposed to physical dollars, they were less collaborative than people who hadn’t seen money.??

Given I run several communities, this is something to look out for.??

Some of my communities are paid, some aren’t.? I haven’t yet noticed distinctly different behaviour between these groups but this learning is a great prompt to be more observant to any discernible patterns.

I’ve seen so many benefits of my ‘Mindful Money’ approach. Rather than being constricting (which I initially thought it would be), it’s been freeing, enabling me to be more thoughtful and creative everyday.

I’d love to hear about your mindful money techniques. I’m always up for learning more.

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Hello I’m Penelope

I help people people craft a life you love. To flourish, have more freedom and fun.??

I’m an Author, Advisor, Innovator and Technologist, transforming good ideas into great Product and Business outcomes.?