How I Stopped Buying Food and Survived for Six Whole Days

For years now, I've called May "The Month of No Money." An average May involves two Mothers Days, three birthdays, an anniversary, an annual luncheon, and at least two unscheduled events. And they all seem to happen in pairs. Usually during short-money weeks.

This year is no exception. I found myself having to fund a couple's shower, a visit from an out-of-town friend, a birthday party, two Mothers Days, and a day trip--all the same week!-- out of the same paycheck that had already covered my rent, gym dues, two weeks' worth of groceries, and two credit card payments. Thank God I'd already paid for that luncheon. I took one look at the paltry sum left over-- a sum that ordinarily wouldn't be enough to get me through a week without events-- and realized that the time had come to implement drastic measures. Such as not buying any more food.

No crumble cake at Starbucks because I overslept. No lunches from the sandwich place because my co-workers were putting in an order. No bags of salad greens or jar of artichokes or can of smoked oysters on the way home to make a quick dinner. I'd just put two weeks' worth of groceries in the house; surely they could last a whole two weeks.

Well, yes, but I wasn't quite sure that I could.

It wasn't my tummy that was rumbling; it was my sense of entitlement. Understand that I was in no danger of starving, or even of having to eat anything I didn't like, since I'd bought all the food in the first place. But I was in danger of having to settle for something that didn't move me right at that very moment, like cooked frozen veggies when I really wanted a salad, or of having to eat the same thing for dinner several nights in a row because I still had four servings left. Or of disrupting my whole weekend by not buying Saturday breakfast out when my best friend Denise and I both conveniently ran out of time to eat breakfast at home.

But I did all those things anyway. I ate my cooked broccoli with bleu cheese dressing and got something like five encores out of the Italian sausage soup. I called up Denise and reminded her not only to eat breakfast before she came over, but to check her fridge for lunch food so I'd know if I should bring anything over. When I went to the luncheon, I didn't buy a drink at the bar. When Denise came over for dinner on Sunday night, I served her leftover baked chicken with a complete lack of self-consciousness. For probably the first time since college, I was managing to live day-to-day without spending money.

I'm not saying I went completely without cheating. I started last Tuesday with $40 in my pocket, and spent over half of it that very day on-- you guessed it-- meals out. I've bought three bottles of water at the gym (though I finally got wise and saved the last one to refill for next time). When I overslept last Friday, I bought a lox-and-bagel sandwich and a bottle of iced tea with the last of my ready cash. The other days, I've been breakfasting on the granola bars and Pop Tarts we keep in the break room at work. But for five-and-a-half days out of the last seven, I haven't bought any extra food. And I haven't broken out my ATM card even once since the grocery run.

In the beginning, there was a definite feeling of pressure. It wasn't the holding-my-breath-for-two-weeks kind of feeling that I usually get during a money crunch; I knew I wasn't going to overdraw my bank account. It was more like the kind of pressure that comes with trying to break a bad habit. Which, come to think of it, is exactly what I was doing. But the more I did it, the easier it got. One short week later-- allowing for the Sunday luncheon and the two meals I haven't eaten yet-- I've had six homemade dinners, five homemade lunches, and four homemade breakfasts (six, if you count the break room supplies). I calculate that I've saved at least $80, or possibly more depending on how long those groceries last. And that was really the whole point. It wasn't about learning to eat better or to manage my time more wisely, though they've both been valuable side effects. It was about learning to control my spending. And I think I have laid a small but very solid foundation for that-- even if I do have occasional flashbacks to my broke college days.

And if I survive the next six days-- the ones with all the events in them-- I just might have enough resources to survive the remaining two birthdays, another party for a different out-of-town friend, Memorial Day festivities, a couple of other unplanned events, and the airline tickets for that friend's wedding in June. But that's another paycheck.