Roomates' "Buy nothing year"!

[marz1982]

Excellent interview with two room-mates who decided on a whim to not buy anything for a year, and how that resulted in a life-changing experience for them.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2014/08/20/the-buy-nothing-year-how-two-roommates-saved-more-than-55000/

You can guess what they discovered during the year:
* It helped them become mindful about what they were spending money on, and how social pressure caused them to spend even more than they thought.
* Being a consumer is the default setting - the alternative is being a saver.
* It's also made them conscious about what they do with their time - spending time, money or energy is interchangable.

Some great quotes:

If I save enough, I can look at other career paths not focused on money because I have this huge buffer and I’ve learned how to live on a lot less, which is a skill that will serve me for the rest of my life

I’m really involved in my day and my surroundings because I’m not in my car all the time. I’m riding my bike and walking, and it’s caused me to think about the bigger picture in our society

The real entertainment is in the comments though.  I can summarise them as this:
1) That's a terrible idea, not spending money is not fun!
2) Think about the economy!!
3) We can't bike to work, it's too far! We don't have public transport! Waa waaa!
4) They still spend $50k yearly, they could save more (Must be a fellow Mustachian :) )

Enjoy :)

[Metta]

This is definitely mustachian. Two roommates agree to buy nothing for a year (actually they moved toward buying nothing) and what they found in the course of it.

The Buy Nothing Year: How Two Roommates Saved More Than $55,000
http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2014/08/20/the-buy-nothing-year-how-two-roommates-saved-more-than-55000/

My favorite quotes from the article:

"Geoff has a background in psychology, so we used a model called acceptance and commitment therapy where you commit to something but accept that you’re human and you’ll make mistakes. So Geoff and I allowed for conscious cheats. There were days when it was below 40 and I had a shitty day, so I would just order a pizza.

It felt like a fast or an addiction program where you’re slowly changing your behaviors and patterns from something you’re addicted to or that’s habitual for you

."

and

"I’ve developed a lot of mindfulness in my life. Spending money was the theme, but it’s made me conscious of what I do with my time, how I get around. What I’m spending time, energy and money on is kind of interchangeable.  It shows where you put your focus or attention. I used to constantly want things — more, better, nicer and cheaper. I haven’t done that in a year, so my life is richer. It’s a spiritual outcome, which I didn’t expect at all."

[Wolf_Stache]

Thanks for the link! That was an interesting article!

[lifejoy]

Super cool, thanks!

[Squirrel away]

Very inspiring.

[swick]

Thought this was an interesting one. I actually first saw it in my facebook feed - shared by a poor grad student who wasn't horribly impressed because basically they are "living just like us, no biggie"

Some people seemed to think it wasn't a big deal, most thought it was cool but not for them, and some people seemed interested.

I wonder if either one of them are on the forums?

[NoraLenderbee]

One of the commenters actually called them narcissists. LOL, you should spend money because it's selfless?
Great article.

[Elderwood17]

Cool Story.  Thanks for sharing it.

[LibrarIan]

I love the comments from people who most likely didn't read the entire article: "Gee, sounds like a blast! Sorry, I’m not into suffering."

Consumerism: Because not buying that latte is the equivalent of real suffering.

[MrsPete]

Interesting article -- and while they didn't spend literally nothing, they became more aware of their spending.  That's the real theme. 

My husband and I did something not unlike this when we were first married -- but it was more because we were forced into it.  When we married, our worldly assets were $200, three college degrees, two cars (one of which ran), and a house with a brand-new mortgage.  Those first few years weren't always fun, but they definitely set the pace for our financial success.  Equally important, I remember those as wonderful years. 

[hambeast]

I almost quit when I fell off my bike and knocked out my tooth and it cost me $5,000.

Wait a second, I thought they were Canadian, don't they have universal healthcare? Does that not cover dental work like this?

Sounds like the hardest part was the social implications of not spending much.  I think that's probably the most common reason for not cutting back to very aggressive savings rates for a lot of people.  I was curious at first if this was some superhuman accomplishment of literally spending $0 for an entire year but turned out to be pretty standard by mustachian terms. 

[johnny847]

I almost quit when I fell off my bike and knocked out my tooth and it cost me $5,000.

I was curious at first if this was some superhuman accomplishment of literally spending $0 for an entire year but turned out to be pretty standard by mustachian terms.

I don't know, they went pretty extreme in some aspects, such as:

They made their own laundry detergent and surface cleaners, but made a concession for store-bought dish soap, since the homemade version left a gross film on their dishes.

During the last phase, meant to start this July, they intended to stop buying food and grow their own with their aquaponics system and garden, but couldn’t produce enough to feed themselves

And while they weren't successful in actually growing all of their own food, I don't think any significant number of Mustachians have even attemtped that.

[pachnik]

I almost quit when I fell off my bike and knocked out my tooth and it cost me $5,000.

Wait a second, I thought they were Canadian, don't they have universal healthcare? Does that not cover dental work like this?

Sounds like the hardest part was the social implications of not spending much.  I think that's probably the most common reason for not cutting back to very aggressive savings rates for a lot of people.  I was curious at first if this was some superhuman accomplishment of literally spending $0 for an entire year but turned out to be pretty standard by mustachian terms.

I am Canadian and our healthcare does not cover dental work.  People often have a benefits plan through work that covers dental stuff.  I guess these guys didn't have a plan through work. 

Yes, I agree with you about the social implications of not spending much.   Calgary is very much a boom/bust city and they are in a boom right now.  And these 2 are young.  I remember as a young woman going out after work for a drink - haven't done this in years. 

[swick]

I almost quit when I fell off my bike and knocked out my tooth and it cost me $5,000.

Wait a second, I thought they were Canadian, don't they have universal healthcare? Does that not cover dental work like this?
hment of literally spending $0 for an entire year but turned out to be pretty standard by mustachian terms.

Dental is usually not covered by health Care here in Canada, sometimes emergency surgeries are, but that's a real fight. Also, this injury would probably be viewed as cosmetic.

[Travis]

The comments on those kinds of article drive me nuts. "Everyone else is poor and they have no money to save so this is a fluff article" or "This won't work for my specific situation and I'm not going to even try therefore it's impossible."  People can be such effing drama queens and haters. 

[arebelspy]

[MOD NOTE: Merged duplicate topics.]

I was disappointed that this turned out to be what seems like a marketing gimmick.

They still bought plenty.  I was wondering how they grew enough food.  Apparently they didn't.