Reviving SAP

Hi everyone,

I'm ready to conduct the next experiment. If you were following me previously, you know that I burned out from all the online activities I was doing in order to try to maintain my previous lifestyle.

Since I ended the last experiment prematurely, I haven't quite reverted back to my old ways. I don't drink coffee at Starbucks as much as I used to. I'm more likely to pack a lunch instead of eating out. And I've become much better at not buying every single piece of clothing my little heart desires.

I've also paid off my credit card and I have around $2800 in my savings account. So I've certainly improved.

However, I'm ready to challenge myself again. My goals, in a nutshell:

• Spend $250 a month on food (around $50 a week)
• Only spend $50 a month on clothing
• Have $5000 in my savings account
• Pay an extra $1000 on the principle of my car loan

I have until my graduation date - December 17th - in which to do this.

So starting July 1st, I will try to cook everything I eat. Food is still the area of my life where I experience the most waste. What I want is a sustainable relationship with food, not the fast food junkie lifestyle I'm prone to fall into anytime I am under stress.

My plan is to upload a picture of every piece of food I buy, every bit of food I eat, and everything I throw away. I'm still deciding how to go about this, whether or not I should open a tumblr or post to here.

This is going to be difficult because I am living with my parents, and they are huge wasters of food and lovers of convenience foods. But living with them is the only way I've managed to put so much into savings. I'm supposed to graduate with my bachelor's degree in December, and living with my folks has contributed to my lack of student loans and massive credit card debt. If I wanted to live in an apartment, even with a roommate, I'd be in the hole about $500 a month. And I can't live under the pressures of debt like that.

Hopefully, I can further better myself, become a better citizen, and be a good example for my parents.

The end of SAP

I'm ending this project early, for one reason:

Spending all my time trying to make extra money so that I don't have to change how I spend is really eating away my soul. Like, seriously... I've become more consumer-focused than before. My quality of life is suffering from doing all these odd-ball things online to make money, so while November was a success money-wise (yes I know I didn't post it) it was probably my least successful month as a HUMAN.

I'm taking this month to evaluate where I want to be and how I want to get there. Obviously I need to make change, but the change I was making wasn't the one I needed.

I did get my credit card down to $900, so at least it hasn't been a total loss.

Great news article: From Farm to Fridge to Garbage Can

How much food does your family waste?

A lot, if you are typical. By most estimates, a quarter to half of all food produced in the United States goes uneaten — left in fields, spoiled in transport, thrown out at the grocery store, scraped into the garbage or forgotten until it spoils.

NY Times: From Farm to Fridge to Garbage Can 

Esra Su, sxc.hu

I've noticed that I've quit throwing away as much food since I started this project. I still throw a lot away, however. Like the roma tomatoes that I bought two weeks ago and forgot about.

Why is it crisper draws always become the black hole of the fridge?

I'm back for November!

Now you can follow my spending follies on this handy-dandy Google spreadsheet.

I have not given up, though!

I ended October $83 in the hole. The good news is I put $633.43 on my credit card and I put $184.68 in my savings account.

So I guess there's success even in failure.

I've also started packing my lunch and eating at home a lot more frequently. Yes, I know what you're thinking -- I really did eat out that much more than you saw in October.

On Social Expectations and Set-Backs

Well, I've experienced a bit of a setback.

First, I spilled a drink on my keyboard. I had to buy a replacement. $11, but I'm not counting it since it's necessary.

Second, I've had a lot of social obligations lately. I purchased $68.35 worth of gifts this week, for a friend who is getting married, a relative who just moved, and a friend who is having a baby (not the one who is getting married).

And then yesterday I had lunch out with friends and dinner out with family. $15.73

On top of that, I purchased three Lorac lip glosses for $9 total from Haute Look (free shipping). I did this before any of the above spending happened. Really, I was trying to get ahead of the game for the holiday season. I also bought a $3 12-pack of Pepsi Throw-Backs.

So if you're with me, that's $96.08!

I'm so depressed. I pretty much know that this month is going to end in the red. I'm going to work my tush off to make up the deficit and be back in the black during November.

My dirty little secret...

Part of being a Spoiled American means not appreciating what I already have.

egads!

Now that I have a good system down for cutting out unnecessary clutter (unless I go out and earn the money), I need to focus on taking care of what I have.

My grandmother never left anything messy like this. She grew up during the Great Depression, where stuff just wasn't available. I have the opposite problem. I am drowning in stuff. To make matters worse, I live with my dad and step-mom, so I only have a tiny bedroom. Not that I'm complaining, it's just that I have more stuff than can fit in here comfortably.

My next step is to take care of the stuff I own, and get rid of my extra stuff. Now that I appreciate how much it costs to buy new things, this shouldn't be "one thing out the door, two more in" situation.

Look for weekly clutter updates. I'm again heading into uncharted territory, so please give me feedback...

My Zevia Addiction is Costly...

Well, here we go. First official crisis of my project.

No, it's not a real crisis. It's a crisis only an American would have.

I'm out of Zevia.

Nooooo!!!!

That's right, I'm out of my $1 a serving diet soda made from Stevia, an all natural, calorie free sugar substitute. (Gee, I haven't bought into the entire concept of this soda. Not at all. /rollseyes)

I love Zevia. I love its taste, its lack of aftertaste, and the fact that the caffeine in it is derived from coffee. How cool is that?

Yeah, it's official. I'm spoiled.

So far this week I've earned a little over $16. Do I go buy Zevia and essentially wipe out all my earnings for this week? Do I find an alternative? Or do I just throw a virtual temper tantrum...

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!

I want a bento box!!!!

I want one I want one I want one I want one I want one I want one I want one...

Hey, calm down. You don't need one. Remem-

I WANT A BENTO BOX!!!

The bento box you want is $28 before shipping!  Where are you going to get that kind of money? You've made $43 and some change so far this week, and you've already spent $19 of it. That leaves $24, and I doubt that's the only thing you'll want this month.


But if I have one my lunch will be perfect and I'll have everything in the same container and I'll be so cool and people will be envious of my lunch and...


And you'll pay for it, how?


...can't we just not tell anyone about this?


Uh huh. And then what? You'll have absolutely no incentive to be honest after this. After all, you done fooled everyone once.




I'll be honest.


Liar.


...


Do the right thing.



Man, this sucks.



You are spoiled.

Ugh, this commercial is hideous!

Seriously, man. Watch this:




So the guy loses his job. He passes by a homeless man (who wants dog food?) and doesn't give him money. Yeah, OK, I can understand that.

Then he goes into a coffee shop and buys a coffee WITH HIS DISCOVER CARD. Uhh, dude, you just lost your job. Then he goes home, gets a call informing him he won a million dollars (presumably for buying that coffee), and within a few minutes receives a shiny metal briefcase via a courier containing $1 million dollars in $100 bills.

He then gives origami-folded Benjamins to tons of people and starts his own Philanthropic business.

What's wrong with this commercial? It encourages people to not change spending habits after a life-changing event. Don't worry, you, too, can win $1 million dollars and then you won't have a care in the world.

We don't see the reality in this commercial. For example:

• The guy immediately wins $1 million dollars after being laid off
• We don't see his credit card statement, nor do we know how much money he owes
• We don't see a real emotional response from him in regards to being laid off
• He doesn't have to deal with paying taxes on his money
• He doesn't have to wait for his money
• He doesn't have any of the headaches that come with winning money (i.e. relatives wanting handouts)
• The homeless guy doesn't have real problems besides not being able to feed his dog
• Oh, and one of the guys who got $100 dollars uses it to buy roses and win his true love

Puhlease!

Of course, I guess they couldn't make the REALITY into a commercial, because it would look like this:

The guy loses his job. He passes by a homeless man and doesn't give him money, all the while avoiding eye contact.

Then he goes into a coffee shop and buys a coffee WITH HIS DISCOVER CARD. He proceeds to ignore the reality of his situation and starts charging everything. Eventually, he can't even answer his home phone because bill collectors won't stop calling him.

He finally gets a part time job that's way below his experience and education, and files for bankruptcy after he pays his attorney the upfront fee.

Dang it...

I lost my steel water bottle
.
Man I'm so bummed. I had that thing for less than three months. It was beautiful.

Usually, I would use this experience to justify going out and buying an expensive, more beautiful replacement. I'm spoiled, remember? I did think about it. After all, if I can't buy single-serve water, how will I survive all day?

I lamented to my step-mom about my situation. She produced a steel water bottle that she never uses. It's nowhere near as sexy as my old one, but it works.

The spoiled brat in me is throwing a fit.

The scientist in me (the one that is conducting this experiment) is quite pleased with my ability to swallow my pride and use a second-hand water bottle.

What is the Spoiled American Project?

I was sitting around one day, upset that I live paycheck to paycheck. There's really no reason for me to do this. I have enough money each month to live comfortably, but I got used to buying whatever I wanted. Of course, that was before divorce and the recession.

http://freerangestock.com

The problem is, I keep spending as if I have the same amount of disposable income. Some months are fine. Some months, I use my credit card. Right now, I have around $1900 on my credit card. I also owe around $9000 on my car. But I'm sick of debt. I'm sick of spending money mindlessly. I'm sick of equating happiness with things.





So this is my project:

• All money from my primary source of income (VA disability and the post-911 GI bill) will only be used for essentials.
• If I want anything else, I must pay for it out of some sort of secondary income, i.e. a part time job, freelance writing, Swagbucks, uPromise, etc.

This is how I define essentials. I know it's going to seem extravagant, but I'm a spoiled American. I consider certain things necessary that really aren't required for my life to continue:

• Rent
• Anything associated with maintaining my automobile: I live in Arkansas and there is no way possible I can use the public transportation system here. It's not feasible at all. If I were in Seattle, D.C., or New York, I would use public transportation.
• Anything required for my education
• Any healthcare expenses
• Food: this is limited to food I can buy at the grocery store, excluding luxury items like gourmet cheeses, meat over $3/pound, single-serving packages, TV dinners and the like, and ready-to-eat foods.
• Household cleaning supplies that I actually use (and I know the ones I do use)
• Health and beauty items that I actually use. I don't wear perfume or cosmetics, and I don't dye my hair, so I don't count these at all.
• Clothing - but only IF I need to replace something I already have that is not fit to wear.

YOU can help me by cheering me up, giving me feedback, or using any of my referral links to make purchases or earn money yourself. If you want to join me, feel free. You can make changes as you deem necessary. I don't copyright ideas.