Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge

Today is Easter. While Lent officially ended on Thursday, I counted my Lenten piggybank money today. I also broke my soda fast on Saturday, though this year, I was sorely tempted many times by the hospital vending machine. Coca-Cola really is the nectar of the gods.

I got:
1 $5
23 $1
2 Quarters
11 Dimes
10 Nickels
16 Pennies

$30.26 Total

So less than a dollar a day during the 40 days of Lent. I know, you’re thinking that it’s a pretty lame figure. But I can tell you right now, that’s already $28.00 I didn’t spend because I didn’t leave those bills in my wallet. I hoard quarters for the laundry, so I’m surprised there were any quarters in there at all.

I tend to use my credit card or debit card for all my daily expenditures. I have been working on buying everything with just my debit card. For the last two paychecks I’ve done pretty good with that. There’s only a few things I’ve put on credit in the past month, mostly recurring subscriptions. I even paid for the first two months’ of car/home insurance with debit.

For anyone who’s thinking that I’m not saving enough for retirement, don’t worry. This experiment was in addition to my 401k and regular savings. I just wanted to see what kind of cash I could save if I tried this route. I found myself often not depositing into the piggybank thinking that I might need that cash for the next day. It definitely helped me budget a little more on a daily basis. I was much better about spending less than $15 a day on food, often trying to spend less than $10. I found myself yanking out $40 bucks from the ATM and reminding myself to drop a few dollars into the piggybank. I tried to make sure that I would come home at night with some money to drop in rather than have absolutely nothing. I was actually *excited* to put in my money, kind of the way little kids are when they get their first bank.

I guess the other reason there isn’t more in there is that I went away for a week. I could have taken the bank with me, but it wouldn’t have reflected my true spending activity since sometimes my mom would give me a few dollars to eat at the hospital cafeteria when she didn’t bring me a sandwich. (I don’t really like sandwiches, mainly because my mom didn’t really know how to make them when I was a kid. I am proud to say that she’s much better now after living here for 30+ years. Though perhaps it shouldn’t have taken this long…)

The main lesson learned? I’m not sure. I’m still thinking about the meaning of this sacrifice. If asked me if I lost out on anything, the answer would be no. I suppose this represents $30 bucks worth of sodas that I gave up this year, but probably not the beer I didn’t drink.

Subsidiary lesson? Cut a bigger hole. I had a hard time stuffing wads of dollars into the bank because I cut the slit too narrow.

Is it worth doing again? Yes, I think so. I think I’ll do this again and I won’t wait for Lent. I am going to keep this piggybank and try to make an effort to put money into it in a more disciplined fashion. I really liked that I became more conscious of how I was spending money on a daily basis by using this in conjunction with a Paycheck Challenge.